NBA free agency notebook: Who got better, and who didn’t?

Opening up the remaining doors from the NBA’s Let’s Make A Deal weekend:
– Just in case this green-green-grass-of-home thing doesn’t work out, LeBron James can opt out of his Cleveland contract same time next year, and it’s a 2-year deal regardless. The stated reason for his temporary commitment, which will not quite take him to the end of the Obama administration, is that James can then sign a bigger deal with his beloved Cavaliers when the NBA’s TV contracts get renegotiated. No reason to disbelieve the man. But the last two times James was on the market, he changed markets.
– Provided it signs Dwyane Wade, Miami won’t fall off the map. The Heat kept Chris Bosh and signed Luol Deng, who is useful on many fronts. Deng might not be a King, but he did go to Duke.
– Paul Pierce left the Nets after one year and signed with the Wizards, where he can at least tell, if not show, his teammates where a championship lies. After all, if there’s one town that could use some Truth, it’s Washington, D.C.
– Optimists in Lakerland were originally figuring they would welcome James to Staples Center to join Kobe Bryant in a great renewal. These are the same people who think the Lakers will eventually wind up with Kevin Love and Kevin Durant somehow, with Mike Krzyzewski coaching and Magic Johnson as principal owner. Instead the Lakers became the receptacle for Jeremy Lin so that Houston could chase its dreams. Then they lost Pau Gasol, one of Bryant’s best friends. Their money isn’t any good these days and neither, apparently, is their pedigree.
– The Bulls were already the most likeable team in the NBA because of their commando work ethic and their refusal to acknowledge excuses. They just became more likeable with Gasol. Can you recall a better big-man passing combo than Gasol and Joakim Noah, especially since Gasol has always been at home in the low post?
– The Spurs did nothing and appear to have gained on everybody.
– And with all the talk of legends bringing it all back home, will the Wizards be tampering If they gently start reminding Durant where his district is?