Summer BLOCK BUSTER TRADE! Ariza to Hornets, Lee to Rockets and more

Ok, it looks like New Orleans is serious about keeping Chris Paul and they are making moves to build a team around him. There was a 4-team 5-player trade that all teams involved came out a winner.

New Orleans sent: Darren Collison
New Orleans received: Trevor Ariza

Houston Rockets sent: Trevor Ariza
Houston Rockets received: Courtney Lee

Indiana Pacers sent: Troy Murphy
Indiana Pacers received: Darren Collison, James Posey

New Jersey Nets sent: Courtney Lee
New Jersey Nets received: Troy Murphy

There was also a separate trade involving the New Orleans Hornets and the Toronto Raptors, a 1-for-1 deal: Julian Wright (6-8 F) for Marco Belinelli (6-6 G)

The Big Shamrock... Shaquille O'Neal is the newest Boston Celtic, ranking the top 5 Eastern Conference

Shaq introduced as Celtic in news conference

Welp, the Eastern Conference just got tougher. I suppose for Shaq the Celtics are a better destination for the sake of winning, he wouldn't have to be THE MAN on the team the way he would have been with Atlanta, he won't have the pressure of dominating the way he would have had to for the Atlanta Hawks to be successful. And of course, with the Celtics having won the 2008 Championship and possibly were a Kendrick Perkins-injury away from a 2010 Championship, it makes Boston a much more attractive destination for the chances of winning. Shaq will be teamed with all 10+ season veterans and collectively they will be a very strong, big, and wise basketball team.

So where does that leave the Atlanta Hawks? With no significant additions to the roster and every other elite team in the East loading up, how can the Hawks expect to seriously contend in the Eastern Conference? Simple. Chemistry. Consistency. The Atlanta Hawks have improved in the category of wins every season for 6 seasons now, if the Hawks can keep the chemistry improvement and Joe Johnson can be the leader this team has STILL been missing, it is not impossible to see even a slight improvement to 55 wins SHOULD make Joe Johnson an MVP candidate, even though he will probably not be awarded, because he is not popular enough.
This season will be the ultimate test for Joe Johnson and the Atlanta Hawks to see if they are a true title contender, we shall see ;)