The Winners And Losers of the NBA Free Agency Period

You win some, you lose some, goes the popular saying. This couldn't have held more true than it has in the 2010 NBA free agency period. With all of the major moves completed, and only a few more low profile additions to complete each team's rosters, here are the top 3 winners and losers of free agency so far.

WINNERS

Miami Heat: Anytime a six seed in the playoffs gets eliminated in the first round after five games, and then becomes the Eastern Conference favorite the next year, you know they had a good offseason. "Good" would be an understatement. The Heat pulled off probably the greatest (and most interesting) offseason ever after they signed the top 3 players. In addition, they were able to lock up some nice complementary pieces such as Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem.
It remains to be seen how this team will gel, but they are already winners for a few reasons:
1) They have everybody talking about the NBA during a time where most people aren't talking about the NBA. Excitement for the upcoming season is at an all time high, and the Heat are a big part, if not the main reason for that excitement.
2) They are now the undisputed team to hate, the Yankees of the NBA, if you will. They will sell out even the cities that never sell out. It will be a huge deal when they lose. It will be a huge deal when they win. Anything less than a championship will be a disappointment. That alone will heighten the excitement of next year's playoffs.
Chicago Bulls: They went from one of the biggest losers to one of the biggest winners in a short amount of time. After failing to sign one of the premier free agents, the Bulls used their enormous amount of cap space to sign Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, and CJ Watson, and there's still room for more additions.
While those names aren't as sexy as Miami's, all of their game's complement each other, which is a possible issue in Miami. Chicago was also in a different situation than Miami this offseason. They already had great young players to build around, while Miami was in the middle of an almost complete overhaul. While the Bulls won't be the favorite in the East like the would have if they added one of Miami's pieces, they are still in a great position to compete in the East. They also have a budding superstar in Derrick Rose, that some people still seem unaware of.

Joe Johnson: With all of the big names in the 2010 free agent pool, who would have thought the man to come out with the biggest contract would be Joe Johnson? Johnson signed a 6 year 120 million dollar deal to stay in Atlanta. One can only speculate what was going through their minds when offering Johnson the deal, but it's never a good thing, when nobody, not even Atlanta fans, were happy with the contract.
The only person happy is Johnson. Imagine being a 29 year old shooting guard, heading past the prime of your career and landing a deal like that, despite relatively little playoff success. His contract will surely set back the franchise for future moves, and the present doesn't look too bright either. Most people think the Hawks have already reached their ceiling and with an improved Eastern Conference, are destined for an early playoff exit.
But Joe Johnson got paid, more than anyone, and for that, he came out a huge winner. Even though he won't be winning anything this year.
Honorable mentions go to Richard Jefferson, who got a larger extension that people expected, after he decided to opt out the final year of his deal worth 15 million. And Brad Miller who will be making 5 million a year for the next 3 years.

LOSERS

Small Market Teams: Cleveland, Toronto, Salt Lake City, and Phoenix all lost players to Miami, Chicago, and New York City, all bigger markets. The MLB doesn't operate under a salary cap, so the biggest markets can lure in the biggest players all they want. While it is harder for the NBA to do this because of salary cap restrictions, if this offseason is any indication, all it takes is a little creativity.
Miami simply had to clear enough cap space, and the city pretty much sold itself. Players want to come and play in the big markets because of marketing opportunities, and for a desirable place to live. That part isn't tough to sell, it's just a matter of having the cap space to sign these players. The small market clubs are once again left in the dust by the players they drafted and allowed to make a name for themselves in their city.
New Jersey Nets: The Nets, with their tag team duo of Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov and rap mogul Jay-Z, were supposed to make a big splash in free agency this year. They had enough cap room to offer two max contracts. They also had the two promising young players in Devin Harris and Brook Lopez, as well as the number 3 overall pick that they could have packaged if they wanted to make a deal for a star player.
Like the Bulls, the Nets didn't come up with any of the major free agents, and settled on Travis Outlaw, Anthony Morrow, Jordan Farmar, and drafted Derrick Favors instead. While the Bulls added complementary pieces that could start for them, the Nets added a bunch of players destined to be back ups. They got a steal in Morrow, but overpaid for Outlaw and Farmar.
They did it to themselves though. You can't blame players for not eagerly flocking to a 12 win team.

Xavier Henry: After the sharpshooter out of Kansas was drafted 12th overall by the Grizzlies it already appeared to be a rough road for him. As a shooting guard/small forward hybrid he'd be competing with O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay for minutes. Gay just signed a huge extension, and Mayo is likely to follow when the time comes. If he wanted any chance of contributing his rookie season, he's have to learn to play the point, a somewhat unfamiliar position to him.
To make matters worse, the Grizzlies have refused to pay him the 120 percent of the rookie salary scale. Almost every lottery pick receives the full 120 percent, which factors out to 2 million dollars in Henry's case. Even if a player doesn't pan out, the team loses little. On the flip side, the player is extremely cost effective should he develop into a great player.
The Grizzlies have offered somewhere between 1.3 and 1.6 million for Henry, with the remaining money coming coming from performance based incentives. While it seems good on paper, Henry obviously isn't happy that he's not getting the guaranteed money that the other rookies are. You can't blame him for that. Unfortunately for Henry, the Grizzlies hold all the cards here. They own his rights up until next year's draft. Henry wouldn't benefit at all from sitting out a year, so he will essentially be forced to agree to their terms.