Your Morning Dump… Where things are really going to get quiet

 Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump. 

The NBA goes into hibernation officially Sunday night, not to resume until media day and preseason in September. It’s a time to reflect on everything that’s gone on, and what’s to come

[…] Free agency kicked off the most insane period many have ever seen. Deron chose Brooklyn, the money, andJoe Johnson over Cuban, Dirk, and Dallas. The Nets proved that Mikhail Prokhorov may have 99 problems but a luxury tax ain’t one. The Hawks blew themselves up. The Knicks were going to get Steve Nash, so the Raptors overpaid Landry Fields to block that, then neither the Knicks nor the Raptors got Steve Nash, and the Lakers walked away with him, in a move that just feels… wrong. So Jason Kidd went to the Knicks to back up Jeremy Lin, right? Only… not. Houston gets him, and no one understands what happens there but for some reason it’s Melo’s fault. Lin and Asik and 1900 combo forwards make up Houston’r roster. Ray Allen“betrayed” the Celtics before they could trade or bury him, while JET went to Boston. Raymond Felton‘s a Knick again, Goran Dragic is a Sun again, and Camby is a Knick again. We’re somehow going backwards in time.

Michael Beasley‘s a Sun and I’m not sure what that’s about.

The Suns tried and missed for Eric Gordon, the Hornets landed Ryan Anderson. The Magic let Anderson walk, but re-signed Jameer Nelson, and we really don’t know what that’s about.

The Nets deal for Dwight Howard fell apart. Nine times. Like Edward Rooney says, niiine. Times.

And then Dwight went to the Lakers. The best center in the league, joining a team with Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. Gasol, who two years ago was considered the best big man in the league, is now the fourth option on a team. It would be disgusting in terms of its overt opulence if we hadn’t become so used to seeing it from the Lakers. The Dwightmare is over, Orlando is in ruins, and Bynum’s a Sixer? Seriously?

And guess what. The Bobcats, despite getting Ramon Sessions and BenGordon, are still terrible.

Pro Basketball Talk:  And at long last, the NBA goes to sleep for about a month

That’s just part of a nice recap of the season and the offseason as we head into what will really become the doldrums of the NBA season.  Get ready for a steady diet of “all time teams” and debates over which teams are better historically than others.

We could sit here and speculate about Doc Rivers being one of the front-runners to become the next coach of the USA men’s basketball team (Doc’s pushing for Doug Collins)… but they’re not even going to start really looking until next year.  The next big tournament will be the new “World Cup of Basketball” in 2014.   There’s time.

The Celtics appear to be done this offseason, though I won’t chisel that in stone because it’s our first summer under the new CBA.  I don’t know if the money that we thought some guys might get will be gone, leaving them scraps and minimum offers.  So the C’s MIGHT have one more trick up their sleeves.  And they still have to button up Jeff Green’s deal.

But the good news is “about a month” really only equals a few weeks.  And a few weeks goes by quickly.  It won’t be long before guys are trickling in to Boston (if they’re not here already) to start working out at the team facilities.  Guys like Kris Joseph will be looking to make an impact, so don’t be surprised if they try to do that by showing up to work a little early.