Cavs, Suns among teams stuck in the 'Summer of Bleh'

Is it Newton's Law or LeBron's law?

For every action, there is an equal and opposite and reaction.

Or to put it another way: Miami goes up and Cleveland goes splat.

For all of the teams that gained ground with the movement of the off-season, there were just as many that wasted the summer:

Cleveland Cavaliers -- Is there anything left but a smoking hole in the ground and a lot of angry folks walking the streets wearing those "Quitness" t-shirts? Team owner Dan Gilbert promised that his team would win a championship before LeBron James and the Heat in Miami. But so far he hasn't announced his plans for getting the Cavs an entry into the Little League World Series or even a beer keg softball tourney in Akron to do that.

Give new coach Byron Scott credit for putting on a brave face. Really, what was he gonna do, jump off the roof of the Q? After the public spurning by whathisname, the Cavs put out on offer sheet on Kyle Lowry, but Houston matched. They tried to land Matt Barnes, but he preferred playing for championships with the Lakers over playing in an empty arena in Cleveland. All the Cavs fan can do is tell themselves it's not their fault.

Toronto Raptors -- The NBA left Vancouver in 2001 when the Grizzlies fled to Memphis. Is anybody holding the door open at the border crossing in Toronto?

Chris Bosh never proved that he could be the type of Alpha-dog player that could carry a franchise during his seven seasons with the Raptors, but his departure puts basketball in the land of hockey on thin ice.

G.M. Bryan Colangelo definitely has his work cut out for him getting the Raptors just to be mediocre again and that five-year contract to lock up Amir Johnson might not have been the best first step. Well, they've got Linas Kleiza back from Europe to play with all his Euro buddies in Toronto. All, that is, except Hedo Turkoglu, who was as ill-fitting as a cheap suit in his one year with the team and was shipped out to Phoenix for Leandro Barbosa, hardly a game-changer.

The Raptors were even embarrassed by fumbling a supposed free agent deal with Matt Barnes, because it was simply not legal under the rules. Maybe it's time to take up curling.

Minnesota Timberwolves -- What's another 15-win season between friends? Really, does anybody see the Timberwolves definitely headed anywhere except another seat back at the table in Seacaucus, N.J. for the 2011 draft lottery. Sure, they picked up a decent point guard in Luke Ridnour, but hasn't Minnesota already cornered the market on that position? And with all of the point guards on hand (and Ricky Rubio in Europe), didn't G.M. David Kahn send the player you'd most want to pass the ball to out to Utah?

A year ago, Al Jefferson was the franchise. But now he's gone and Michael Beasley's checkered past has climbed aboard. So has Sebastian Telfair. It seems like the Wolves just take an empty pickup truck out to a flea market and toss whatever leftover pieces of furniture they can find into the back.

There will be a lot of howling this season -- in pain.

Denver Nuggets -- The Nuggets ended last season like they had stepped into an empty elevator shaft and still haven't climbed back out.

They obviously lost their swagger and their edge when coach George Karl had to leave the team all the way through the playoffs for his cancer treatment. There is no indication yet that they've gotten that edge back. Not in a summer when the sharp front office pair of Mark Warkentien and Rex Chapman were shown the door and when the team still hasn't been able to convince Carmelo Anthony to accept a contract extension.

Maybe the first step is to get veteran point guard Chauney Billups re-signed and show 'Melo that he'll still have his quarterback on the team. Getting Al Harrington gives the Nuggets a big shooter who can stretch the floor. But he doesn't help with the defense. With Kenyon Martin and "Birdman" Chris Andersen dragging around balky knees, they're not as rugged up front. The team that was in the Western Conference finals in 2009 is rolling in reverse.

Phoenix Suns -- Back in May, the Suns were making a memorable playoff run that carried them all that way to the Western Conference finals. And if Ron Artest hadn't caught that Kobe Bryant airball at the end of Game 5, who knows how much more magic they could have produced?

But that team is just a memory after Amar'e Stoudemire fled to New York and G.M. Steve Kerr fled back to the safety of the TV booth and now they're stirring up an entirely new recipe. Lon Babby gave up the agent's gig to become team president and promptly hired former Cleveland exec Lance Blanks as his G.M.

Blanks walks into a team that has replaced the powerful Stoudemire with skinny free agent Hakim Warrick. They've also brought in Hedo Turkoglu, who was unhappy during his one-year stint in Toronto, and signed free agent Josh Childress, who returns from two seasons in Europe.

It's an interesting mix of players and abilities. But the maestro Steve Nash is 36 is running out of time to make his first trip to the Finals and this looks like a clear step back just to fit the pieces together in some kind of new plan.

Fran Blinebury has covered the NBA since 1977. You can e-mail him here and follow him on twitter.

The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.