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The Atlantic Division flexed its muscles this past season for the first time in a while. It had Michael Jordan, reincarnated once again, this time as a member of the heretofore irrelevant Washington Wizards.
The division produced the representative in the NBA Finals in the surprising New Jersey Nets. It produced the runner-up in the equally surprising Boston Celtics. It had been 17 years since the conference championship was decided between two teams from the once-potent grouping.
The division also underwent a seismic shift in power. Usurpers toppled the longtime kingpins, Miami and New York, with neither team managing to make the playoffs. Reigning champion Philadelphia was undone by injuries and the obligatory in-fighting that seems to follow Allen Iverson and Larry Brown everywhere. Orlando's hopes once again were dashed by an injury to Grant Hill.
Now that the draft is over -- and free agency and summer leagues await -- here's a to-do list for the seven teams, all of whom can legitimately think they are playoff-worthy.
Boston Celtics
Open the vault, Paul. Celtics owner Paul Gaston is penny-wise and proud of it. But is he also pound-foolish? We'll see with the decision he makes on whether the team re-signs Rodney Rogers. Gaston is determined to stay away from the luxury tax, but he's so close now that it hardly matters. If he does not allow his basketball men to bring Rogers back, which they desperately want to do, they all should turn in their resignations. That would mean they traded, in essence, two first-round draft picks (Joe Johnson and Casey Jacobsen) for Tony Delk. Uh, no Paul. That shouldn't work.
Find someone to play center. It's not like the Celtics even have one, but Tony Battie did a nice job masquerading as one last year. But with Vitaly Potapenko (another power forward cum pivotman) out with an ACL team until Lord knows when, the team will have to find someone to help. Free agent Mark Blount is the logical choice, but that would involve spending money. Rogers played center last year, making his re-signing seemingly even more critical.
Give fans their money's worth. After their stunning playoff run, the Celtics did what all teams do under similar circumstances: They raised ticket prices. Well, they didn't actually raise them. They put them on the top of a Jupiter missile. This team will now understand what high expectations are all about. And they're going into next season with no appreciable help from last season, unless one counts fringe point guard Omar Cook.
Keep up the good health. It certainly didn't hurt the Celtics' cause last year that both Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce were healthy all season. Pierce went wire to wire and Walker missed only the meaningless season finale. An injury to either for any period of time would have been calamitous and, given that they are still essentially the same team, would still be calamitous. Boston enjoyed unusually robust health last year. They need to keep that going.
Miami Heat
Spend wisely. In case you missed it, Miami boss Pat Riley said the Heat would not base their offseason decisions solely on the looming luxury tax. He also said he no longer believed in the tooth fairy. The Heat, you may recall, blew everything up last year worrying about the luxury tax -- and it never came. Now, Riley says he may be able to tread ever so lightly into luxury-tax land. It's not like his boss can't afford it. But it won't bring back Tim Hardaway, Anthony Mason, Bruce Bowen or Dan Majerle.
Make a point -- find one. Do we really want to see 36-year-old Rod Strickland back as the starting point guard? Not unless you consider the alternative, which is Anthony Carter. So, in other words, yeah, probably. The Heat didn't go for a point guard in the draft -- they were too low for Jay Williams and too high for Dan Dickau, Frank Williams or Juan Dixon. But they could use something at the position.
Rebuild or retool? The Heat are built on the three-headed monster of Alonzo Mourning, Brian Grant and Eddie Jones. Zo is always going to be a perpetual question mark because of his health, while the other two are coming off uninspiring seasons. Grant has been rumored to be going somewhere, but, in the end, the guys will probably still be there. The addition of Caron Butler in the draft will bolster one of Miami's biggest needs: athleticism. He's also a scorer and he's determined to make teams pay for allowing him to slide to No. 10 overall. Pierce said the same thing four years ago. The Heat still need to get quicker in a hurry.
New Jersey Nets
Hire an interior decorator. Do you think the Nets will draw more than the 8,749 that crammed their way into Continental Airlines Arena for last year's season opener? Do you think there will be pounding noise when the conference banner is raised to the rafters? The one thing the Nets' rise to the Finals did was showcase how woeful the Meadowlands is as a venue. (Remember, they once pumped in crowd noise there.) Maybe Newark would be better, but that sounds a lot like going from Bangladesh to Afghanistan.
Trade Keith Van Horn. This will be Rod Thorn's single greatest challenge since adding up the fine money he levied against Dennis Rodman. Two guys to call: Mark Cuban and Paul Allen. They may actually return your calls because they won't be deterred by Van Horn's ludicrous contract, as most everyone else will be. If Thorn can get a decent power forward in return, that would be a bonus. But you can't be paying Van Horn what he's being paid and then watch him turn into a baseball pitcher -- plays every fifth game.
Give Jason whatever he wants. Do it. New uniforms? Better team plane? Postgame spreads? Public access for Joumana? More face time for TJ -- if that's possible? A butt-kicker inside? Do it. Do it all. Kidd, for what he did and what he represents, is the single most valuable commodity in the conference. Lose him after this year and it's back to square one. Oh yeah, continuing to win won't hurt, either. But Kidd wants a ring and he has to be convinced he'll get it there. He'd also like a backup point guard who doesn't belong in the developmental league. That made the Nets' draft selection of Nenad Krstic a little puzzling in that point guards were there when they picked.
Keep up the good health, Part II. Is it any coincidence that the Nets and Celtics finished 1-2 in the division because they were the only teams that weren't totally ravaged by injuries? In the Nets' case, that was indeed unprecedented, for the only thing more predictable than losing seasons and poor shooting had been a rash of injuries. Like the Celtics, they can't afford an injury to any of their key people, especially Kidd.
New York Knicks
Send those cards and letters to Kiki. Remember when the Knicks lusted after Kiki Vandeweghe the player? Remember that when they finally got him, in 1998, and he was about as useful as his father, Ernie? Well, the Knicks finally got their end of the Kiki deal on draft night, when Vandeweghe, now the Nuggets' general manager, shipped them Antonio McDyess in a draft-day deal. In the Third World Eastern Conference, that's like an interest-free loan from the World Bank.
Get real -- get a real big man. Yes, the trade for McDyess gives the Knicks something they haven't had since Patrick Ewing wasn't calcified -- a presence in the post who actually has to be guarded. But in dealing away Marcus Camby, does that mean they are going into the season with Kurt Thomas as the center? OK, in the East, you can get away with a 6-foot-7 center; the Celtics did with Rodney Rogers. And Camby never liked playing center and was hurt way too much anyway. Thomas did play reasonably well after Camby went down, but everything is still relative. It wouldn't hurt the Knicks to get a bigger body in the middle, which is where Scott Layden is probably looking these days. They're not easy to find, however. By the way, where is Sir Frederic Weis these days?
Stencil Don Chaney's office-door title in pencil. As someone wrote to the New York Times: "What did Jeff Van Gundy know and when did he know it?" Don Chaney is on board, but for how long? He has a one-year deal, also known as your basic vote of confidence. The players publicly backed him, then went out and played like the Celtics played in the Final Days of Rick Pitino. Chaney probably doesn't deserve this mess, but he's a coach and that comes with the territory. He knows that as well as anyone. As much as he'd like to believe otherwise, he's on a very short leash.
Peddle a point guard. It's amazing that with all the teams out there looking for help at point guard, the Knicks now have three: Charlie Ward, Howard Eisley and draftee Frank Williams. It isn't necessarily bad to have three. It isn't great to have three when two make big money and neither is particularly desirable. Layden has to find a new home for either Ward or Eisley, but he has been trying to do that for some time. He shouldn't stop. But their contracts may make them next to impossible to move.
Orlando Magic
Get Grant Hill on the floor when it matters. No one wants that to happen more than the man himself. He has basically missed two entire seasons and no one knows how he'll play once -- if? - he gets back. We're assuming, however, that he will be an upgrade over Pat Garrity and Jud Buechler. That was No. 1 on the Magic's to-do list last summer as well. This year, it looks a bit more promising.
Add big men without AARP and Medicare cards. Ewing already has retired; he just hasn't figured it out yet. Same with Horace Grant. No wonder the Magic went into the draft with desiring eyes on moving up to land one of the primo power forwards. They didn't do that, however, and they ended up with Ryan Humphrey from Notre Dame and the rights to Rashard Griffith, who plays in Turkey. In other words, they did nothing in the area. Not even the return of Hill is going to hide this alarming deficiency -- one that presumably will be rectified next summer unless Steven Hunter suddenly turns into Jermaine O'Neal.
Trade Mike Miller. We keep hearing, "But he was the Rookie of the Year?" So what? That was the most hideous rookie class in NBA history. And he was a questionable winner at that, given that Marc Jackson and Kenyon Martin had better seasons. In other words, he's average. Did he do anything this past season? Trouble is, most NBA teams also know this, which is why he's likely to stay put. He's not horrible. But offering him up for trade should not be construed as the act of a Luddite, especially if it leads to someone bigger. If Hill is healthy, they need to seriously investigate this scenario.
Start making nice with the city again. Orlando and its environs draw zillions of mindless idiots, er, free-spending tourists each year. If you tax every person at Disney World $1 for every pound over 200, you'd have enough in a week to build five new arenas. Somehow, with all that out-of-state money coming in, something should be able to be agreed upon to get a hole in the ground. The original O-Rena was fine. But this is a new century and it's already out of date.
Philadelphia 76ers
Stop calling it practice. Maybe Iverson will then show up on time and actually work on his game instead of his cell phone speed dial. Yes, Larry Brown never should have brought up the Iverson issue -- again -- at the end of the season. Iverson is what he is and he ain't changing. But to hear Iverson dismiss practice as if it were some community relations appearance was painful and revealing. These two will never be Sale and Pelletier. But one has to go if they continue to squabble. And with Brown, you know there's always going to be speculation.
Find a second scorer. Ever since Brown decided to allow Iverson to shoot at will, this has been a crying need on the team. That's because Iverson has no compunction about jacking it up 30 times -- or missing 20 of them. It would help immeasurably if their key role players stayed healthy. They got a couple of guys in the draft who figure to make the team, but it's a stretch to think John Salmons or Randy Holcomb will become contributing regulars. There's still talk that Larry Hughes might be on his way back to Philly. Maybe the second time will be a charm for him.
Add a mobile big man. Did anyone notice how cumbersome Dikembe Mutombo looked against the Celtics in the playoffs? He was so ineffective he basically gave way to Corie Blount down the stretch in many of the games because the Celtics went small. The Sixers have been a little bit better than average since they traded for Mutombo, and he isn't getting any younger or quicker. That explains the move for Efthimios Rentzias. He once was considered one of the prime big men in Europe. But he probably is going to be this year's Zeljko Rebraca. At least it's an improvement over what they had, which was nothing.
Washington Wizards
To MJ or not to MJ? We got a pretty good answer to that question with the trading of Courtney Alexander to the Hornets and the drafting of Jared Jeffries and Juan Dixon. (Psst. None of the new guys play MJ's position.) Mike might well be angling for the Sixth Man Award this year -- he's got just about every other one -- but unless his knee breaks down, he should be there again. Otherwise, it made no sense to deal away Alexander, who can put points on the board. MJ off the bench? Hey, Bill Walton did it at the end of his career and loved every minute of it. Of course, he was playing for the 1986 Celtics.
Call on Kwame. Um, Kwame? OK, we weren't expecting Karl Malone last season. But we also weren't expecting Jerome Moiso, either. No top pick has failed to at least make the All-Rookie team in years, but this one did. You've got to think that Brown will be jumping at the chance to play summer-league ball this offseason and to play well enough to remind Jordan, Doug Collins and Wes Unseld why they spent the No. 1 pick on him. Everyone loved this kid at this time last year.
Re-sign Popeye Jones. No, he's not going to be the difference in making the playoffs or making the lottery. But he's exactly what a young team needs: a seasoned voice of reason who busts his butt all the time and has perfected an art (rebounding) that is very much valued. He's worth more to the Wizards because of those traits and because the kids know him and respect him. He should be a priority re-sign.
Open up the offense. The Wizards were one of the more curious offensive teams last year in one category that is becoming more important by the year: 3-point shooting. They led the league in 3-point shooting accuracy while being among the least-prolific shooting teams from beyond the arc (less than 10 attempts per game). What's up with that? You have 3-point shooters. Why not use them?
Peter May, who covers the NBA for the Boston Globe, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.
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