My love for the sport of basketball knows no bounds. I am such a geek for the game that I even find the off-season interesting. Right now the most intriguing trend is the league and its response to the sudden need for fiscal responsibility.
The falling salary cap and the dreaded luxury tax are ferreting out which team owners actually want to win games and which team owners are simply in it for the money as well as which general managers are able to scout talent and which general managers are completely inept.

Fans lucky enough to have Lakers tickets are fortunate enough to have an owner (Jerry Buss) and a general manager (Mitch Kupchak) that are hell bent on building a dynasty before LeBron James has that final epiphany and learns how to own the league for the next decade.
The Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry is trying to figure out how to build a winning team around that young superstar. He has tried bringing in players like Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, and a host of other veterans to no avail.
As long as LeBron stays in Ohio fans will purchase Cavs tickets and the major networks will televise games throughout the regular season. James may jump ship if the newest quick fix, Shaq, does not result in a trip to the finals. He is already openly being courted by the New York Knicks and the reportedly-soon-to-be New York Nets.

Another general manager that is trying to save his job and his franchise is Danny Ainge. Ainge pulled off a miracle when he brought Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics. The 2008 NBA Championship bought him a few more seasons, but he needs to make another masterful move before Celtics tickets become like Piston tickets in the last few years, tickets to a team that is destined to be a one and done contender.
The Pistons Joe Dumars has been true to his word that he will tear apart the beloved roster of a talented almost stars. With trades to clear more cap room and the willingness to let contracts expire he has tried to reinvent the Pistons. He has signed Ben Gordon to add a scorer to a backcourt that includes Rip Hamilton and underpaid Rodney Stuckey. He has also signed Charlie Villanueva a power forward that is a great shooter but an enigma on defense and in the post.

I respect Dumars for accepting that an all-defense team is no longer the answer. Normally it takes a terrible demise for a general manager to change his ways, but Dumars has quickly taken a liking to offense as he has changed his team to play at an optimal level as the league changes.

Two teams that have shown a willingness to compete, luxury tax be damned, are the Dallas Mavericks and the Orlando Magic. The Mavericks have historically, at least since Mark Cuban took over ownership, paid no attention to the luxury tax penalty. Cuban wants to win while Dirk Nowitzki is in his prime and will over pay for Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion if they can challenge the Lakers.

The Orlando Magic have become major players in the championship talks after reaching the finals in 2009. General Manager Otis Smith and the ownership group have surprisingly learned its lesson after the franchise lost Shaq all those years ago.
Dwight Howard is surrounded with perimeter threats like Rashard Lewis and Vince Carter and Jameer Nelson is primed to be an actual floor general with the departure of Hedo Turkoglu. The team management has made a costly investment in ensuring that Magic tickets will be tickets to a championship contender for the next few seasons, which is really as far ahead as any general manager can see.