By Michael Levine

Oct. 15 -- A lot of things can happen to an NBA team between June and October. Between the draft, free agency, trades and the coaching carousel, a roster can be completely overhauled in a matter of months. What's more, a doctor's scalpel, a trainer's handiwork or simply another year of maturity or wear and tear can impact one important player for the better, or for the worse.

The Boston Celtics' record for largest single-season turnaround, set when they jumped from 24 wins in 2006-07 to 66 wins and the franchise's first championship in two decades in 2007-08, will not be duplicated. No team made moves as dramatic as importing Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, and none of last year's lottery participants are projected to compete for a title just yet.

Still, a handful of teams took considerable steps in the right direction since we last saw them on the court. With all that in mind, let's take a look at the five teams that should see the biggest improvement from 2007-08 to 2008-09.


1. Portland Trail Blazers 2007-08 record: 41-41
The Blazers were one of the league's big surprises a year ago, posting 41 wins and narrowly missing out on what would have been their first playoff appearance since 2003. And they had an offseason that, while relatively quiet, was a certain home run.

They didn't make a splash in free agency, but the Blazers added some significant pieces through the draft process, including both the class of 2008 as well as earlier selections that, for one reason or another, have not yet made their mark on the NBA.

The foremost among the additions is Greg Oden, who was taken first overall in 2007 and was expected to be the latest in a long line of game-changing centers, but sat out all of last season after undergoing knee surgery. The debate that raged a year ago – Oden versus Kevin Durant – will resume as Oden tries to match Durant's Rookie of the Year trophy, albeit one season later.

Also making a delayed NBA debut is 23-year-old Rudy Fernandez, who was taken 24th overall in 2007 but remained in Europe, starring last season in the Spanish league and leading his nation with 22 points in the Gold Medal Game loss to the United States in Beijing this summer.

Yet more rookies with the potential to make immediate impacts are University of Arizona combo guard Jerryd Bayless, who dominated the Vegas Summer League after being taken at No. 11 by the Pacers and traded to Portland on draft night, and Nicolas Batum, a 19-year-old Frenchman originally taken 25th by Houston. Both are in the mix for spots in the regular rotation

But the value of those fresh faces in the hunt for a spot in the 2009 Playoffs will be trumped by the importance of the development of the young returning Blazers. Chief among those "seasoned veterans" are third-year burgeoning stars Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. The pair combined to score 37 points per game last season and will need to another step towards stardom in 2008-09, especially with expected starter Martell Webster out for the first two months of the season due to a broken foot.


2. Philadelphia 76ers 2007-08 record 40-42
Rarely is a team able to fulfill all its goals in one offseason, but that's just what the 76ers did this summer. Coming off a pleasantly surprising spring that saw the young team sneak into the playoffs and give the Pistons a run for their money, Philadelphia spent its hard-earned salary cap space filling the most glaring hole on its roster with the cream of the free agency crop, the Clippers' Elton Brand.

While it seems like Brand has been in the public eye for a lifetime thanks to his time at Duke, he's only 29 and should still be useful at the end of the five-year $80 million-plus contract he inked this summer, assuming the Achilles injury that limited him to only eight games last year doesn't turn out to be a chronic one. Brand is one of the league's best all-around big men, and his arrival alone would likely propel the 76ers towards the top of the Eastern Conference.

The Sixers are clearly expecting to compete sooner rather than later, as they also imported veterans Donyell Marshall and Theo Ratliff, both of whom have seen better days. In fact, Ratliff enjoyed his prime in the City of Brotherly Love during the Clinton administration.

But Philadelphia accomplished some other important forward-thinking housekeeping tasks over the break, inking cornerstone Andre Iguodala and up-and-coming gunner Louis Williams to long-term deals and acquiring another decent big man prospect, No. 16 pick Marreese Speights, through the draft. Those three youngsters, along with second-year southpaw forward Thaddeus Young, should give these 76ers a shelf life beyond the end of this decade.


3. Miami Heat 2007-08 record: 15-67
The Heat would belong on this list even if the only thing they did all offseason was monitor Dwayne Wade's performance in Beijing. Fighting through injuries to his left knee and left shoulder last year, D-Wade played in only 51 games for the second straight season before shutting it down in early March. He looked impressive in Olympic play, and at 26, the 2006 NBA Finals MVP could conceivably only be entering his prime years. Yikes!

But Miami fans have more to look forward to than just Wade's return. Shawn Marion, who has this season to prove that he's worth another max-level contract and averaged 14 points and 11 rebounds in 16 games following the blockbuster February trade that sent Shaquille O'Neal to the desert, will have had a full training camp and preseason to adjust to his new teammates.

Not least among Miami's acquisitions is Michael Beasley, the dynamic scoring forward selected second overall out of Kansas State. He averaged 26 points and 12 rebounds in his only collegiate season, and should get the opportunity to contribute right away, if his preseason numbers – 16 points and eight rebounds per game, as of this writing – are any indication.


4. Houston Rockets 2007-08 record: 55-27
It will be hard for the Rockets to top last year's regular season win total, what with the 2007-08 squad running off 22 consecutive wins between Jan. 27 and March 18, the last 10 of which came without franchise center Yao Ming, who missed the last two months of the regular season and Houston's typical brief foray into the postseason due to a foot injury.

Yao's return and another year from future Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady (yeah, I said it) won't be enough to guarantee the Rockets a spot in the Conference Semifinals, a place that neither of the stars have ever ventured. That's why management took a considerable risk in trading for Sacramento's Ron Artest.

Artest has well-known baggage, but his well-earned reputation for defensive prowess will help take the Rockets from an elite defensive team to a historically memorable one – think of last season's Celtics. Artest, not yet 29, also averaged 20 points per game for the first time in his career last year if you neglect the suspension shortened 2003-04 campaign, as he surely does.

Another critical addition that won't yield substantial benefits until playoff time is the ageless Brent Barry, who will combine with role players like Chuck Hayes and Shane Battier and improving young players like Carl Landry and Aaron Brooks to give the Rockets an above-average supporting cast.


5. Toronto Raptors 2007-08 record: 41-41
The Raptors only made one noteworthy move this summer, but it was a big one. Trading T.J. Ford for Jermaine O'Neal simultaneously cemented Jose Calderon as the starting point guard and gave Chris Bosh the competent frontcourt-mate he's never had.

Calderon was already the more productive and less injury-prone of Toronto's tandem at the point, but the ousting of Ford and the contract he inked with the team this offseason will open the door for him to play 35 to 38 minutes per game and attain the All-Star spot he probably deserved a year ago.

O'Neal turned 30 this week, but he's put a lot of wear and tear on his body in 12 NBA seasons. Even if he never again averages 20 points per game or carries a team, he'll continue to have value as a secondary player because he does one thing very, very well: block shots.

Even when J.O.'s production dipped dramatically last season in other areas, his rejection numbers stayed north of two per game, keeping him among the league's elite. His health and the size of his contract (two years, $44 million left) are deterrents, but the Raptors don't need him to be the star he once was; If he does nothing other than cover Bosh's backside and score in double figures every night, the Raptors will be one of the East's more dangerous teams.