Top 5 NBA Transactions of the Offseason

In the past month, we've seen the NBA landscape undergo a drastic facelift.

It started with the draft in late June, one of the biggest conventions centered on the future in professional sports. Then free agency began, blockbuster trades started rolling across the ESPN ticker, and things increased to another level.

All the rage has focused on the summer of 2010, but the past month has given us NBA fans a ton of entertainment. Here are the top five transactions of the NBA offseason.

5. Rasheed Wallace to the Boston Celtics.

With Kevin Garnett benched with an injury and Rajon Rondo posting nightly triple doubles during last season's NBA Playoffs, it looked like any success in the near future for the Boston Celtics would begin with its back court. Instead, Boston signed former Detroit Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace, giving it the deepest and most talented frontcourt in the league.

The risk is obvious. Wallace will turn 35 a little more than a month before the regular season begins. He's clearly a short-term option and won't provide more than a couple solid years in the Hub.

But Wallace averaged 12 points per game in the Pistons' equal-opportunity offense. His defense has yet to noticeably decline, with 2008-09 averages of 7.4 rebounds 1.3 blocks per contest. His length will make Boston perhaps the biggest team in the league, and his 3-point shooting ability will stretch the floor.

The Celtics needed to make a splash to keep up with Orlando and Cleveland in the Eastern Conference. Wallace more than suffices.

4. Shaq to the Cleveland Cavaliers

No offseason move has been more praised and scrutinized than "The Big Freeze" leaving the sunshine in Pheonix and joining the chill in Cleveland. Depending on what you've read, Shaq either makes Bronland the undisputed title favorite or will haven no influence at all.

Reality lies somewhere in the middle.

Shaq is a huge upgrade in the Cavs underwhelming frontcourt. Even at the age of 37, Shaq is much more polished offensively than Anderson Varejao. He's a much better defensive option than Zydrunas Ilgauskas. And in his 16^th season last year, Shaq averaged 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. The Deisel can still produce at a high level.

All that said, Shaq isn't enough to make the Cavs favorites to win next year's championship. The biggest problem in Bronland is a lack of another athletic perimeter defender with good size. (They had a chance to fill that void with Ron Artest, but he chose to head to L.A.) Until the Cavs add a perimeter defender, chances are they won't have the right mix to win a title.

3. Vince Carter to the Orlando Magic

I love this pickup. I don't understand why the Shaq deal overshadowed this trade. Vinsanity ensures last season won't be a fluke for Orlando.

There are four components a legit title contender must have: 1) a dominant big man; 2) solid point guard play; 3) bench depth; and 4) an athletic scorer on the wing. The Magic had all but the last component when they won the Eastern Conference last season. Their torrent 3-point shooting accounted for everything else.

But you can't build title hopes on a long-range jump shot.

Carter's lost a step since entering the league in 1998, but he's still got plenty left in the tank. He averaged more than 20 points per game for the 10^th straight season last year. He can still get to the rim with ease. His 3-point shooting has improved 10 percent since his rookie season, and he gets to the free throw line with the same efficiency.

Most importantly, with all the attention on Boston and Bronland this offseason, Carter makes the Magic favorites to repeat as Eastern Conference champions.

2. Richard Jefferson to the San Antonio Spurs

You think San Antonio Spurs; the first thing that comes to mind is Tim Duncan. It's been that way for more than a decade.

But the Jefferson trade gives San Antonio the best backcourt in the NBA. (Really, it's the inverse trend of what happened this month in Boston. Frontcourt play has dominated San Antonio's identity for two decades. Tim Duncan is still the most identifiable piece of the franchise, but the Spurs' identity this upcoming season will be guard play.) I don't understand why the media hasn't made a bigger deal about Jefferson to the Spurs. There's no doubt this was the most underrated and undervalued trade during the offseason. Tony Parker at point with Ginobili and RJ on the wings and Duncan in the post? It makes my head hurt just thinking about it.

For about two weeks, this was the best transaction of the offseason. That was until ...

1. Ron Artest to the L.A. Lakers

There's an unlimited supply of reasons to make this one of the all-time great free agent deals.

Foes become teammates. Two polarizing personalities. A painfully detailed and organized task master with a loose, free an easy spirit. A family man with someone who seemingly wants to "ghettoize" everything. The best offensive player with the game's greatest defender.

Yeah, conflict is inevitable.

But, despite the risk, L.A. needed to make a deal if it wanted to keep pace with San Antonio. Artest needed a chance to prove he's actually a basketball player and not one of the thugs from Training Day. And if everything falls according to plan (and L.A. realizes their need to keep Lamar Odom in SoCal), this will become the best offseason transaction.

Kobe Bryant stood on the stage at the ESPY Awards Wednesday night giving his thank yous as the Lakers were crowned the best sports team of 2008-09. One of the first to receive gratitude was Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak. One year from now, he'll be singing the same kind of praise.

Maybe it wasn't the summer of 2010. There weren't guys like LeBron, D-Wade or Chris Bosh on the market.

But it was still a lot of fun, a good appetizer for what's left to come.