Atlanta:
Replaced Jamal Crawford with Jerry Stackhouse and T-Mac. In 2011, that’s not a good thing. They’ve got some depth as long as Jeff Teague can play the way he did in the playoffs last year. Unless they trade Josh Smith for pennies on the dollar, (J-Smoov is owed $25.6 million over the next two years of his contract and doesn’t leave much cap wiggle room for Atlanta) I say ATL is still a top team in the East.
Boston:
Traded Big Baby for Brandon Bass and lost Jeff Green for the year. They’ll be good but might struggle in the regular season with so many games. Interesting to note that the Celts lead the league in salary this year ($88 mill) but are only on the books for $34 mill next year. So, this could be it for Boston unless they re-sign Garnett/Allen/Green/Bass.
Charlotte:
They’re tanking. And that’s all you need to know. Cap hit this year: $52 mill. Next year: $40. They have a lot of wiggle room with the cap but expect them to move their highest paid guy (Maggette) as an amnesty next year to go after 2 big time free agents. A lot of assets on the team, but most are only as role players so drafting well next year and getting those free agents will be huge.
Chicago:
I’m biased and that should be known. I think the Bulls can be very good this year. They go 10 deep and if Jimmy Butler can turn out to be a good pick out of Marquette, they could go 11 deep. My guess is a top-3 seed but it all depends on health. Getting Rip was a very good move for them. I actually said they should do that last summer on this blog…I wonder if Paxson reads this blog…
Cleveland:
They suck. What else do you want to know? Antawn Jamison is an expiring contract and expect him to be bought out and move to a team that needs a four man who can score off the bench. Otherwise, not much to see here other than my boy Ramon Sessions!
Dallas:
Apparently Lamar Odom will play SF for them…not sure how well that will work as Marion was a big part of the team last year with his wing defense. Vince Carter sucks but they still have Jason Terry. Anyway you look at it, this team is not deep but is still good. Expect them to go with a closing line-up of Dirk/Odom/Marion/Terry/Kidd to give other teams with old-school centers a match-up problem.
Denver:
Got screwed with 3 potential starters getting stuck in China. They still have talent but lose a lot of depth without those guys. I actually am one of the few who think Afflalo was overpaid. I think he’s good, but not sure he’s worth that much money. Same with Nene, who’s going to get $13 million for the next five years. They could still be good because of how many assests they have but would need to pull off a trade for a PF who can score (Scola? Pau?).
Detroit:
Why did Prince re-sign with this team? And why did Stuckey? Nothing about this team looks good. They’re a shitty mix of old and young that really doesn’t work well. Brandon Knight will probably be good down the line but when will he play in a backcourt that has Stuckey/Ben Gordon/Will Bynum?
Golden State:
Warriors have talent and can score but aren’t very deep and have a rookie coach. Hard to gage them, but they’ll definitely need a lot out of rookie Klay Thompson as a back-up to Curry and Ellis. Otherwise, those two will have to play a lot. I’m also not sold on their front court as they try to become more defensive minded…
Houston:
Wow. This team could be bad. Or they could get an 8 seed. Hard to know what will happen with them but know that they have a lot of cap wiggle space starting next year when K-Mart becomes an expiring contract worth $13 million. This team could easily be 7-8 new players by this time next year. No real depth, no stars. Not a good combo. But, they have assets (including cap space) to make a trade (Pau?!?!?) and get the team moving towards signing a big time player in free agency. Dalembert is just a fill-in until they make a run at someone this summer…whomever that may be.
Indiana:
This is my surprise team of the year...and apparently everyone else’s as well. They aren’t too deep, but they could be good. A good starting 5, and they have 3 former starters coming off the bench (Dahntay Jones/George Hill/Hansbrough) and that gives them a good 8-man rotation come playoff time. IF David West can be healthy and come back to form of his all-star days, that would be huge for this team. They need a second establish scorer to go with Granger. Watch out, this team could be a top-4 seed if Hibbert turns into a 20-10 guy.
LA Clippers:
My boys, Trey and Trav, need to make the team so I can get some free tickets! Haha. Trey will make it because they’re short on bigs but not sure about Trav. Anyways, on to the talk of the NBA and the acquisition of Chris Paul. To me, this helps them more next year, when they can get a vet player for mid-level, because right now they are thin at the big spots. They really only have 4 bigs unless you count Ryan Gomes as a 4. They are deep on the wings though. They have CP3/Billups/Mo Williams/Eric Bledsoe/Randy Foye/Caron Butler. That’s six players for 3 spots. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them (most likely Foye or Williams) is traded for a veteran big.
LA Lakers:
They really, really should have amnestied Ron Artest. He’s still owed $22 mill over the next 3 years. A lot for a player past his prime and coming off the bench. Or amnesty Walton, who’s owed $12 mill over the next two years and he probably wont even play! Anyways, losing Odom hurts, but they made some good little pick-ups: Josh McRoberts, a young guy who can get you 10 ppg. Troy Murphy, a big who can spread the floor for Kobe to work. Jason Kapono, a sharp-shooter who can spread the floor. Those guys are minor pick-ups but they will all be able to contribute 10-20 minutes a night and score. With that said, they still need Devin Ebanks to step up and make plays and, hopefully for them, become the starter at the 3. He’s their X-factor.
Memphis:
This was a team with a great playoff push and return essentially the same team. The only difference is no Battier and Rudy Gay is back. I like this team but they are really cash strapped and have a big cap number. Randolph ($71 mill over 4 years), Gay ($69 mill over 4 years), Gasol ($58 mill over 4 years) and Conley ($36 mill over 5 years). So, in case you’re wondering, that means in 2014-15, those four will have a cap hit of approximately $64 mill. That’s insane. The one thing I hate is how people keep saying they have depth. What depth?!?! Darrell Arthur is injured and they want to trade OJ Mayo. THAT’S THEIR ENTIRE BENCH!!!!! People need to actually look at who the back-ups are this year and they’ll realize that the team isn’t very good off the bench.
Miami:
Obviously, they’re going to be great. Very hard to beat. Thier bench now includes: Battier, Mike Miller, Haslem, and James Jones. Nothing too great, but remember, last year they didn’t have Battier and Miller and Haslem were injured most of the year. So, with good health, no reason they can’t be the number 1 team. The most important player? Chalmers. He needs to become more valuable, otherwise, expect them to go w/ Battier and Wade at the guard positions down the stretch.
Milwaukee:
Not a lot to like about this team. I fully expect Skiles to get fired as they find their way to one of the worst records. They have some good assests, like Bogut and Jennings and Stephen Jackson, but really don’t have a very good team. Drew Gooden and beno Udrih are both overpaid. I think they can trade some players and try to build around Jennings, but it’ll mean trading Bogut to dump the dead weight.
Minnesota:
Not sure what to make of this team. They aren’t good, but have some talent. They could surprise some people just because they go 11 deep (not really a good thing in this case) and should get some teams on back-to-back when at home. Biggest thing for them is that every player is on a very tradable contract which could lend itself to a trade for a good player to team at center with Kevin Love.
New Jersey:
Their cap space is INCREDIBLE!! Only two guys are getting paid above $4 mill (Deron Williams and Kris Humphries) and no one, I repeat, NO ONE is signed past next season! This has all the makings of a Dwight and Deron next year and an average FA the following year. Could be kinda like what the Knicks have done (Amare then Melo, then Chandler this off-season). They’ll struggle this year (leading to a top-8 pick) and need to re-sign Brook Lopez at some point but the future look bright for Brooklyn! With the recent Lopez injury, expect Deron to suffer an “injury” and New Jersey to try and get a top-5 pick.
New Orleans:
Not a deep team but have a decent starting five. They’ll go Jarrett Jack, Eric Gordon, Trevor Ariza, Emeka Okafor, Chris Kaman with Aminu and Carl Landry coming off the bench. Don’t be surprised if they trade Kaman and Landry for picks or young players. Both are in the last year of their deal and it’s unlikely they’d come back, especially Kaman who could go a lot of places like replace Dwight in Orlando.
New York:
They only have 3 players getting paid more than $1.7 million. Kind of crazy. Not sure what’s going to happen with their point guard position but that’s this team’s X-factor. If Baron Davis can be 80% of 2007 Davis? Whoa! Otherwise, not much of a bench, so a lot will be expected out of rookie Iman Shumpert. I like the team but they will wear down as they’ll show the problem with teaming up w/ your buddies when there is no one on the team to back you up when you come off the bench. Amare will get WAY worn down during the year.
Oklahoma City:
This is the same team that looked real good last year. And all of their rotation players are signed through next year…Wow. I mean, Nick Collison, a solid back-up, is due $11 million over the next 4 years. Serge Ibaka, $7 million over the next 3 years. James Harden $18 million over the next 3 years. Well, you get the point. A lot of good contracts for a lot of good players. They’re going to be around for a loooong time.
Orlando:
Aparently they have Larry Hughes…who knew Larry Hughes was still alive?? Anyways, just as puzzling is what happens to this team this year. Do they play good w/ and w/o Dwight (like Denver last year). Or bad w/ Dwight and good w/o (Dwight being a cancer). Or good w/ Dwight and bad w/o (see: Cavaliers, Cleveland). They’re still a good team and if they get a replaceable center for Dwight, they’re still a playoff team. Also, with Gilbert amnestied, expect any team trading for Dwight to have to take Hedo and his $32 mill over 3 years contract. And with Gilbert/Hedo/Dwight off their books, they’ll have a real good chance to turn the team around with great cap space.
Philadelphia:
This team has some talent. May not be a big player in the playoffs, but they should be a playoff team. Cap situation isn’t too good but Elton Brand comes off the books after next year. But, for this season, on their bench they have Evan turner, Thaddeus Young, Lou Williams and Marreese Speights. That’s a pretty good bench. If Jrue Holiday and Jodie Meeks can progress, watch out, this team could surprise as a 5 or 6 seed in the playoffs.
Phoenix:
I don’t really like this team. They just seem to not be good anywhere. Nash is in his last year of a deal and the team has a lot of cap space next year, so, this could become a rebuilding project quick if they struggle. The positive? No real bad contracts and a couple of good ones, like Dudley ($21 mill over the next 5 years)
Portland:
This is a tough one for me. They have a real good lineup and a real good bench. But how good will they actually be? There is reason to believe they could get the #1 seed but I don’t buy it. They have a lot of nice pieces, A LOT, but only really have one reliable offensive player down the stretch and that’s Aldridge. Jamal Crawford could be the second guy but that means he’d be playing point at the end of games and that’s not a good thing.
Sacramento:
Has a team ever tried more to be bad? I do not understand how they are trying to build this team. Tyreke and Jimmer like to shoot. A lot. And now they share a backcourt. They’re undersized in the post…and go out and sign a 6’6 center in Chuck Hayes. To sum up, I don’t get it. They’re going to suck and will for a few more years.
San Antonio:
I like this team, but, at the same time, I don’t. No bench and for an old team, that’s rough. I’m honestly not sure who the 6th best player on this team is…I mean, is Tiago Splitter any good? Will Kawhi Leonard be good? James Anderson? TJ Ford? They may want to trade Tony Parker simply so they can get 2-3 pieces back that can actually help this team.
Toronto:
The Sacramento of the East...only worse. They got a lot of players who like to shoot the ball. They got…a lot of players…and none of them are really any good. I mean, their center, Bargnani, who is seven feet tall by the way, averaged of 5 rebounds last year! YES, FIVE! And he averaged 35 minutes a game! That’s one rebound every 7 minutes of play!!!! I could do that!!! Ok, enough with Toronto…
Utah:
This team has pieces. They really do. The problem, that’s all they’ve got. Pieces. So, until those pieces mature into real players, they’re going to struggle. Expect Al Jefferson to get moved this year. He only has one year left after this year and the Jazz want to go with Kanter and Favors inside. Also, I like Alec Burks, the rookie, a lot.
Washington:
Oof. What a rough looking team. John Wall may want to request a trade…and soon. Look at this team and tell me what they actually have, assets wise? I don’t know if I’d trade for anyone other than Wall. Maybe Jordan Crawford and maybe Nick Young. But how do we know those guys don’t just put up numbers for bad teams? I mean, the Wiz are going to score 95 points a night and lose every night, so somebody’s gotta score. It doesn’t mean that somebody is good though. Pretty easy to score when you’re down 25 entering the fourth quarter.
2 TRADES THAT NEED TO HAPPEN:
1) Dwight/Hedo for Bynum/Ebanks/McRoberts/two-firsts. The magic need to do it because it gets Hedo off the books and Dwight is not coming back. And the 3 guys they get back? All young, and all could start for them in their post-Dwight era. The Lake Show gets a star center and slot Hedo into their aging 3-man rotation at the 3 spot with Barnes and Mr. World Peace.
2) Steve Nash/Josh Childress/Channing Frye to Portland for Marcus Camby/Ray Felton/Greg Oden. This gives Phoenix expiring contracts of decent players they can try to resign if they’d like. Also, it gets Childress and Frye off their cap because their contracts SUCK! Biggest reason to do it though, a chance to resurrect the career of Greg Oden. Image what that medical staff could do! For Portland, it’s obvious, you get Nash. He leads this team all the way to the Championship. And yes, I think they could get there with this trade. Plus, Frye can be a player for them spreading the floor. Just think about the deal. It’s a doozy.
Here’s How I See It:
East
1 – Heat
2 – Bulls
3 – Pacers
4 – Knicks
5 – Magic
6 – Hawks
7 – Celtics
8 – Philly
West
1 – Thunder
2 – Portland
3 – Clippers
4 – Dallas
5 – Memphis
6 – Lakers
7 – Spurs
8 – Denver
I say Bulls and Heat in East finals with Bulls winning. Then, heat will sign a good pg in the offseason and they’ll win about 4 straight. I see Thunder over the Clippers in the West Finals. Thunder have a better constructed team than the Clippers. Then, Thunder over Bulls in the Finals. Kills me to say it, but not sure the Bulls can score with them.
Go Kings!!
ReplyDeleteI like it man but i don't think the Bulls can beat the heat over 7 games...and that hurts to say that. - taylor
ReplyDelete