Salary-cap moves unlikely to alter NBA landscape
The NBA is not a league that likes to sit still. Over the past few days we've seen two big trades in New York (Jamal Crawford for Golden State's Al Harrington, and Zach Randolph for the L.A. Clippers' Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas) and coaching changes in Oklahoma City (Scott Brooks for P.J. Carlesimo) and Washington D.C. (Ed Tapscott for Eddie Jordan). Along with the earlier Denver-Detroit swap (Allen Iverson for Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess), it has been a busy opening four weeks.
Will this recent flurry of activity have much impact on the standings? Probably not. Of the five teams that made moves, only the Clippers (and maybe the Wizards if they ever get healthy) can expect to see dramatic improvement this season -- and even that is no sure thing. As for the top of the league, L.A. and Boston remain head and shoulders above the pack.
This week's high riser: Spurs (No. 13 from 20)
This week's big drop: Pistons (No. 10 from 5)
NBA Power Rankings
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