If you don’t care about baseball and can’t relate to the fact that a game where you catch and pass the ball is called ‘football’, it’s been a long summer. The NBA offseason has been eventful, even for players not named Bryant, and as Training Camps open next week, it’s appropriate time for all two-bit media organisations to do a cliche’d run-down of each team and their summer-time scorecard.

This is the Atlantic Division.

New Jersey Nets

Offseason Mark = A
If keeping the most influential player in the Conference in town is a coup, then how do you describe winning the race for one of the game’s best defensive big men? Success breeds success, and it does not matter if New Jersey are over the salary cap for the rest of the decade. When an organisation is this well run, potential dramas such as Byron Scott’s authority and Kenyon Martin’s free agency status are effectively controlled. The only downside would be the loss of assistant coach Eddie Jordan.

Question Mark = Zo
Alonzo Morning is 33, not 43. He’s a veteran, sure, and his health is a risk, but Zo was injury prone even before his kidney disease, which may actually mean his tyres have done less miles than your regular elite big man. The Nets’ only real weakness is in the middle, where last season’s Mutombo experiment failed and Jason Collins regressed. Mourning will, at miniumum, be an upgrade.

Exclamation Mark = Kidd
As good as Tim Duncan is, Jason Kidd can legitimately feel agreived by his MVP snub, as no other player in the game makes his teammates better the way he does. On a lesser squad, Martin and Jefferson would be unrealised potential, and Kerry Kittles a liability. But not here. Last Regular Season the Nets were hot and cold, but Kidd alone turned it up in the playoffs, and took them to the Finals.

2003/04 Mark = 55 wins ? 2

Philadelphia 76ers

Offseason Mark = B+
They added Glenn Robinson, they added Marc Jackson, and they subtracted Keith Van Horn, but, like their Division Rivals, the biggest move of the summer was making no change at all. Allen Iverson’s 4 year contract extension, inked just last week, will keep him in Philadelphia until 2009, by which time AI will probably be only scoring 27 points a game. Under new coach Randy Ayers, things aren’t going to change. Iverson will shoot, and everyone else will rebound, defend, and get him the ball.

Question Mark = Ayers
Will the loss of Larry Brown affect the psyche of the Sixers franchise, and, if so, in what way? Will the looser atmosphere around the club allow the players to relax, or reduce their discipline? A former college coach, Ayers spent 6 seasons in town under Brown, so none of the strengths of this team should change. His relationship with Iverson will be crucial.

Exclamation Mark = Offense
With Robinson’s electric shooting touch added to Iverson’s relentlessness, the Sixers will be able to out-score their opponents every night. Whether they have the balance defensively and on the boards to win the tough games in a very even division remains to be seen. Philly are always intense, and if they can get it right, they have the firepower to go all the way.

2003/04 Mark = 51 wins ? 2

Orlando Magic

Offseason Mark = B
Two steps forward, one step back. Tracy McGrady made yet another leap into the NBA stratosphere with his single-handed postseason display which, in years’ past, would have resulted in the elimination of the 7th-seeded Pistons. Unfortunately, the limitations of his squad were exposed from thereon in, but the Magic had done enough to annouce themselves on the main stage. Into this mix comes Juwon Howard and a couple of point guards, but out goes Grant Hill, maybe for good.

Question Mark = Point Guard
With Darrell Armstrong, Chris Whitney and Jacque Vaughn all leaving town within 6 weeks of each other, Doc Rivers has a quandry. Does he start rookie Reece Gaines at the point, or the vastly over-rated Tyronne Lue? Or possibly himself. Most probably, McGrady will continue to carry the ball-handling load, but imagine if they had an elite one.

Exclamation Mark = Tracy
Despite generating more offseason headlines by his observation on gay content than by his superb play throughout the year, McGrady, the NBA’s leading scorer, has become one of the game’s best players, top to bottom. Of Orlando’s 8 major statistical categories, Tracy lead them in 6, and certainly has the ability to top in FT and 3-point percentage as well. And he’s only 24.

2003/04 Mark = 45 wins ? 4

Boston Celtics

Offseason Mark = B-
Last May’s hiring of Danny Ainge as Boston’s Buck-Stops-Here man overshadowed a rather moderate offseason from an addition of talent standpoint. A solid performance on draft night was backed up by the optimistic courting of free agents Karl Malone and Juwon Howard, only for Ainge to end up with the signatures of Walter McCarty and Jumaine Jones instead. This summer’s losses of PG sharp-shooter JR Bremer and former draft sleeper Darius Songalia may come back to haunt him.

Question Mark = Antoine Walker
You’d think Vin Baker’s name would be here, but the Celts have planned their 2003/04 roster without him, so even if reports are true that he’s back in good health it won’t matter much. Toine, on the other hand, is at a cross-roads. He was not himself over the 2nd half of last season, and he needs to step back up alongside Paul Pierce for this team to stay in the top half of the Conference.

Exclamation Mark = Chemistry
This is a team with only 2 scoring options yet they made the 2nd round of the playoffs last season. Jim O’Brien did another great job coaxing his players this far, and Boston’s excellent chemistry is seen as under-valued by those outside the team. In adding much-needed size, defense and scoring alternatives, Ainge must ensure he keeps the strengths of this group in place.

2003/04 Mark = 44 wins ? 3

Washington Wizards

Offseason Mark = B-
With the Michael Jordan era officially over and a wealth of revisionist history unofficially recorded, it’s time to digest the nature of MJ’s legacy. Thomas, Haywood, Brown, Hughes, all these kids have something to prove. In a team where only Jerry Stackhouse is a proven commodity, there’s a lot of encouragement and positivity to be deployed before writing any of these young talents off. Incoming Coach Eddie Jordan brings patience and structure, incoming point guard Gilbert Areans brings athleticism and confidence.

Question Mark = Youth
The Wizards have a host of young talents – as their average age of under 25 attests – with Christian Laettner now the only greybeard on the roster. Can they meld together to become the exciting, relentless outfit they promise? Jeffries, Dixon and Hayes – all taken in the past 3 drafts – present a superb set of building blocks for any new coach to work with.

Exclamation Mark = Smarts
Last year’s Wizards team, despite finishing 5 games out of the playoffs, were in the top 5 in 3 significant statistics; FT shooting, fouls and turnovers – all measures of savvy play. This, and Michael Jordan, were the reasons they were an impressive 19-13 in games decided by 5 points or less. The Wizards may have lost 45 times, but they didn’t get blown out.

2003/04 Mark = 36 wins ? 5

New York Knicks

Offseason Mark = C+
Astonishingly, Scott Layden had a good draft. At the 9th pick, he passed on everyone’s mock favourite Marcej Lampe to take Michael Sweetney, a Georgetown F/C with delightful touch, only to pick up the 7-foot Lampe in the 2nd round. But instead of being content with adding size, and a healthy Antonio McDyess, to last years’ team, he somehow figured that trading away his gutsiest player for the timid Keith Van Horn would be an upgrade. Sprewell’s toughness will be seriously missed, both on the court and off it.

Question Mark = McDyess
For more than a decade, the only question in New York each September would be whether this will be the year the Knicks will win the title. Nowadays, it’s whether this will be the year the Knicks will make the playoffs. The oft-injured McDyess, one of the game’s best power forwards when he can walk, is the answer to this question, even more than Allan Houston.

Exclamation Mark = Size
When you have 15 players on your roster and 12 of them are 6′ 6″ or over, you’d better hope that strength is indeed a strength. Don Cheaney, possibly the game’s most precariously balanced coach, has a tough task this season to rotate his 6 or 7 starting-calibre big men into a successful frontcourt unit. Don’t rule out a trade for a needed little guy.

2003/04 Mark = 34 wins ? 7

Miami Heat

Offseason Mark = B
As loathe as he is to admit it, Pat Riley is actually enjoying the Heat’s extended trip through the looking glass into lottery land. Less pressure, less scrutiny, and much more flexibilty to undertake the God-like challenge of building a team from nothing. Recent gems uncovered have been Caron Butler and Malik Allen, and into this setting comes the mercurial Laram Odom and 5th overall pick Dwayne Wade. Riles actually signed 5 free-agents over the offseason, 6 if you count Elton Brand.

Question Mark = Lamar Odom
Has to be. A kid with as much natural ability as anyone, even Odom himself believes that all he needs is some discipline to become an elite player. It doesn’t happen by magic. But if he’s in shape and ready to rumble after experiencing a full Riles training camp, it will seem like it. The same goes for 2nd round prospect Jerome Beasley, aiming to fill that large hole inside.

Exclamation Mark = Effort
It’s a truism, but Pat Riley teams, no matter how over-matched, never give up. Miami may have been the second worst team in the league in scoring and dead last in assists, but the players retained pride in each other and won more games than they had the right to. Take this attitude and add some actual basketball talent, and Riles will be dyeing the grey out of his hair before too long.

2003/04 Mark = 31 wins ? 3