The big market teams are making it rain on some hos (in this case "hos" refers to free agents).

The baseball off-season has been slow to develop, unless your team was already awesome.  The Yanks got Granderson; the Sawx got Lackey and Mike Cameron; the Phillies traded one ace to Seattle (Lee) for another from Toronto (Halladay); the Angels got Matsui; the Mets will probably land Jason Bay; the Cardinals are desperate to re-sign Holliday.

What is the significance of these moves other than to their respective teams?  The good teams got better, and they’re all big markets except the one with the best player on the planet [Note: the Mets were not good last year, but they are a big market team with a high payroll].  That’s how it goes in recession-era sports.  Want more proof?  Here are the major NBA off-season moves:

LA got Artest; the Spurs got RJ; Dallas got Matrix; the Magic got VC; Atlanta got Crawford; the Celtics got Sheed; Houston got Ariza; and the Cavs got Shaq.

The parallels are all there.  If your team was in contention or close to it, they got better.  If they weren’t, they got worse.  Why?  Winning teams in big markets sell tickets.  Thus they can afford to raise payroll (or in the case of the NBA, afford to pay the luxury tax for exceeding the salary cap).  All of those teams who did/will contend are from big markets with two exceptions 1) Orlando is a small market, but only has one team that is well-supported and contends; and 2) the Cavs/Cardinals: both desperate to hang onto the best player of their respective sports (LeBron & Pujols) with the fear that they will leave town for a team with a higher payroll who can pay for other top players and win titles thus ultimately devastating the team and the city’s economy and perhaps lead to the team having to leave town.

Yes, these are the economics of sports in the current recession.  Yes, the playoffs of both sports will be immensely entertaining due to the arms race of talent signings and trades.  The good teams got better.  The bad teams got worse.  And we may see a series of teams having to relocate in the next few years as a result.  Just like in real life over the last decade, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.  Oh, and then there’s my Chicago teams which are in the 3rd biggest market and have tons of money, and yet all of them suck (except for the Blackhawks, but nobody cares about hockey anyway).  At least my fantasy teams are worth rooting for.

This is actual game footage. This dunk really happened. Like, for real. I'm cereal, guys. Cereally.

So here are my predictions for the season: LeBron will win the MVP, Manu will win 6th man, Blake Griffin will win the Rookie of the Year (despite his broken knee), Gregg Oden will win Most Improved Player, Dwight Howard will win Defensive Player of the Year, Jerry Sloan will finally win Coach of the Year, and the Spurs will win the championship over the Celtics in a showdown of the two greatest power forwards ever, because they are healthy for the first time in a long time and added some sick players in the off-season (RJ is gonna be HUGE for them).

While dunking, both Vince and Dwight like to ask their opponents "How's my dick taste?"

Vince Carter to the Magic:

I’m not nearly as big a fan of this trade as I am of the others.  First, this trade looks like a knee-jerk reaction to the Cavs trade for Shaq.  And I’m not sure it addresses their needs, helps them against the other title contenders, or if it’s even an improvement at all.  Vince Carter is a shell of his former All-Star self.  He’s known to take nights off, take it easy on D, and go for the more spectacular play as opposed to the smarter play.  On top of that, his contract pretty much assures that the Magic won’t be resigning Hedo Turkaglu.  I may be wrong about that, and if I am then this trade looks a lot better.  But if that’s the case, the Magic are trading their best offensive player, and one of the best 4th quarter players in the league for a guy who is streaky and unreliable.  One positive though, is that Turkaglu and Rashard Lewis are pretty much the same player, so now the Magic have diversified their attack a little.  But on top of Turkaglu, the Magic are giving up Courtney Lee after a very promising rookie year.  I like Lee a lot and I’m not sure why they would give up a player this young and this good.  They did acquire power forward Ryan Anderson, a fellow second year player, who should provide them with an actual 4 instead of the two 6′ 10″ small forwards they played last year.  Judging this trade depends entirely on whether or not they resign Turkoglu.  If they do, it’s a great trade.  If not, I think it’s a step in the wrong direction.  One interesting side note, these two might be the best dunking teammates in history.  I know Vince can’t get up like he used to before injuries and age set in, but these two should still be fun to watch.

The Spurs haven't had a dunker like this since... ever.

Richard Jefferson to the Spurs:

I actually think this is the best trade of all three.  The Spurs were old, injury riddled, and increasingly nonathletic.  Enter RJ, a high-flying, vicious-dunking slasher who can also bury a three and play some D.  And according to the several people I know who went to the University of Arizona, Jefferson is a super nice guy (whereas his teammate Luke Walton is a complete Douche).  Jefferson isn’t a superstar, but he’s in that next tier of guys who could be the second best player on a championship team.  The great thing for the Spurs is that he only has to be their third or fourth best player, depending on how healthy Manu Ginobili is.  With Duncan dominating the paint, Tony Parker running the point as well as anyone, and Manu and RJ scoring from the wings and getting in the lane, the Spurs should be pretty hard to stop.  Add in the additional steal of a draft pick in PF DeJuan Blair, adding more size and strength in the paint, and the Spurs have had the best of-season of any team so far.  I will now go out on the limb that I seemingly live on, and say that, if Manu stays healthy, the Spurs are the 2010 NBA champs.

The new Kareem and Magic.

Shaq to the Cavs:

I already covered this one in yesterday’s post.  But to summarize, this trade was made for two reasons.  First, the Cavs need a post presence on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor to combat Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, and other bigs.  Second, they need to show LeBron that they are capable of building a championship team so that he doesn’t leave after next year.  The added bonus is that, if hey can’t get it done with Shaq next year, they can use the money from his expiring contract to nab one of the other marquee free agents to go with LeBron.

Jamaal Crawford to the Hawks:

I feel compelled to mention his deal only because the Hawks are a playoff team.  Crawford is pretty good, but I’m not sure how much better he makes them.  I’m not even sure where he’ll play of how much time they can give him given their current roster.

The Unloaders:

Now it’s time to discuss the teams that gave up these stars.  I already covered the Suns’ move to save cash above fielding a winning team.  As for the Nets shipping out Carter, this is a move designed to save up cash fo the free agent bonanza next summer.  They think they can nab LeBron, and if not, they will go after others.  In the mean time, they now have a back court combo of Devin Harris and Courtney Lee, which is a good foundation for the future provided that they get some front court help.  The Bucks moving Jefferson is a much different story.  The are a franchise lacking direction, a major fan base, and any kind of foundation to build on.  They are saving money with this move, but I’m not sure it’s to sign a free agent next year.  Will they have enough cash?  Will anybody want to sign with them?  And even if they do, it will be one star player surrounded by scrubs.  I think the Bucks will be the worst team in the NBA next year, and I’m not sure it will get better for them any time soon, even with the addition of Brandon Jennings.

The Failed Deal:

The Celtics trying to move Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen for Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton, and Rodney Stuckey was stupid.  Rondo is the type of player you can build a team around.  And the entire point of getting Allen and Garnett last year was to win chamionships until they’re too old to do so, then rebuild.  But now thy’re trying to rebuild while contending, which never works.  On top of that, Detroit would never trade all three of their best players for Rondo and an expiring contract.  ON TOP OF THAT, the Celtics just pissed off two of their best players.  Overall, just a dumb move by Danny Ainge.

Deals to Come:

Undoubtedly there are more deals to be made.  The Suns will probably continue their fire sale by moving Amare Stoudamire, probably to the Warriors for a package of young players, and may even move Steve Nash.  The Rockets are trying to move Tracy McGrady because he’s washed up and overpaid.  The Bulls will try to move Kirk Heinrich, and possibly other players depending on what they do about free agent Ben Gordon.  The Wolves might be moving teenage PG Ricky Rubio, at least that would be the smart move after drafting two PGs.  The Knicks will probably deal for someone because they’re the Knicks.  There will pobably be more deals made by contenders to keep up in the arms race, and I’m sure more deals will be made by non-contenders who are feeling the effects of the poor economy.  So, stay tuned.