The best and worst of NBA free agency.

Now that NBA free agency is for all intensive purposes over with by way of the major moves, it’s time to look at which GMs made the best and the worst moves overall.

Best Overall: Miami Heat

The Miami Heat’s front office learned from the mistakes of the Dallas Mavericks and got stronger by adding instead of subtracting and juggling.

To win multiple titles in the NBA, chemistry is the key and where the Mavericks decided to tinker with their core by shipping Tyson Chandler to New York and in other moves, the Heat continued to build.

They played with the psyche of their arch-nemesis the Boston Celtics by talking Ray Allen out of a Boston return and into a Miami debut.

Allen ‘s one of the greatest sharp shooters of all time and as we saw in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, the Heat are deadly when they can start getting production from beyond-the-arch.

Rashard Lewis brings the benefit of size and shooting ability to the table and although some (myself included) have said that they Heat needs a big man to anchor their efforts, it’s starting to look like they only care about creating their own thing…which for now is working.

Best Adjustments On The Fly: Boston Celtics

Speaking of Ray Allen, Celtics GM Danny Ainge did not waste a whole lot of time crying over the old days and time spent with Allen after he headed south.

He picked up the phone and immediately went to work on finding not one but two guys that can fill Allen’s shoes.

Using their midlevel exception, Ainge first brought in sixth man Jason Terry on a three-year, $15 million deal.

“Jason is one of the best sixth men in the NBA and his versatility in the backcourt is a great addition to our roster,” Ainge said last week.

Terry like Allen is a veteran that won’t buckle under the pressure that comes with being a Celtic.

“The Celtics have such a great tradition of winning and it was something that drew me to the team right away,” Terry said. “I look forward to getting out onto the court and helping this team in its pursuit of another banner.”

However it was the addition of Courtney Lee that could prove to render Allen as something of an afterthought.

Lee is on the upswing of his career and if he gels with Rajon Rondo, Ainge and Coach Doc Rivers may send Allen a thank you card for forcing their hand.

The Celtics were sure of their position with Allen going into this thing but when all seemed to be lost, Ainge made the adjustments and turned sour into sweet.


Smartest Plays: Brooklyn Nets & New York Knicks (Tie)

The pursuit of a ring and public support has made many a franchise do stupid things. As they both do battle over brand support and face time in the biggest market of them all both the Nets and the Knicks held strong and refused to set themselves up for long-term failure.

The Nets opted to sign Brook Lopez to a four-year $ 60.8 million deal instead of giving in to the insanity that the Magic demanded in exchange for Dwight Howard.

Howard for the moment could easily be the best big in the league yet his back injury could end up rendering that observation moot.

As bad as Howard may have wanted to play with Deron Williams and vice-versa the Nets decided that Lopez is a solid piece in an inaugural puzzle in their new digs.

With his free agency looming after this season, Howard could still land in Brooklyn but if so the Nets are making a statement that they won’t shoot themselves in the foot to get him.

Williams, Lopez, former Atlanta Hawk Joe Johnson and the newly re-signed Gerald Wallace and Kris Humphries at forward have the Nets feeling pretty good about where they are at.

“We haven’t looked this good on paper in a long time,” Coach Avery Johnson told the New York Times.

As crazy as the Dwight Howard situation is and continues to be, that would almost pale in comparison to Houston’s decision to give point guard $25 million for three years of service.

There are arguments on both sides of the table in regards to whether or not Lin did the smart thing.

One thing that is pretty factual is the by not bowing down to Lin’s escalating price as he negotiated with the Rockets, the Knicks did not overpay for a PG that is still proving himself.

It does not matter that the Knicks decision could be based on pride and bruised egos.

What matters if that they recognized that at this stage of the game, they still have more to offer Lin than in has to offer them.

It was time for Lin to get paid just not overpaid.

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