HLBT Daily: When Owner/Player Relationship Goes too Far

Wyc Grousbeck, owner of the Boston Celtics, on one of his players' new slimmed down physique: "Al Jefferson looks like Jessica Simpson." With all due respect, Mr. Grousbeck, I disagree.

Doc Rivers, one of my favorite people in the NBA, took a more... normal... approach to commenting on Jefferson's offseason pound shedding. "We felt that he needed to get in better shape... He committed himself to unbelievable work and that's what happened to his body. ... I still think that the McDonald's of the world are going to do pretty well with Al but I think he's improved (his fitness approach) in a lot of ways." The Celtics have a ton of talent on the roster. Al Jefferson, Kendrick Perkins, Gerald Green, Telfair, Delonte West, and Rajon Rondo - the list goes on and on. Paul Pierce and Wally Szczerbiak are both studs, so if Boston can put it all together (play better defense), they will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.

Since in the past few posts I have talked about all of the teams who I think will have great seasons, I will tell you which teams will be getting the other teams' losses: The Raptors and Blazers will remain at the bottom of their conferences. In the East, Philly and Washington did not get any better. Atlanta got better simply because their young players improved, though they still lack a reliable big man and point guard. I give them another year before they contend for a playoff spot. In the west, Memphis is going to struggle because Pau is injured, and they are extremely young. Seattle did not make much of an improvement, and the Hornets will not enjoy the same type of early success they had last year. In general though, it seems that the NBA just got better. No team really got worse, and plenty of teams got much better.