We're finally about done with an offseason in which trades in Boston, Brooklyn, Indiana, Phoenix, Detroit, Milwaukee, New Orleans, and Philly outpaced free agency in reshaping the league. Only one franchise-level guy, Dwight Howard, changed teams as an outright free agent, though the sign-and-trade of Andre Iguodala to Golden State comes close. The middle class of NBA players took a financial hit, teams at the top either cut players or generally stood pat, and a bunch in the middle rather loudly announced their intention to either win now or, um, win a little bit less now.
With just three weeks (!) before tipoff, it's time for my annual attempt to categorize the NBA's 30 teams into distinct tiers.
