So, here we are again!
Another glorious NBA season.
Unfortunately, my beloved Bulls will be an afterthought as they attempt
to be the first team in NBA history to average less than 70 points per game on
purpose. Anyways, here we go…
o
Atlanta Hawks
Ø I
get what they’re doing, I really do. But
you don’t get better when you get rid of one of your three best players (Joe
Johnson). That move was a straight
salary dump. They did add Kyle Korver,
Devin Harris, Anthony Morrow, and Louis Williams, but all are on one-year deals
(except Williams who has a two year deal at $5 mill a year). Atlanta only has about $17 million on the
books for next year in hopes of making a run at a few free-agents. As for how good they’ll be this season? Well, that depends heavily on if they’re
committed to no new salary past this year.
When the trade deadline comes around, will Atlanta stand pat, or would
they be willing to add a contract/talent while still keeping room for next
summer? If they decide to stand pat,
they are going to struggle mightily on the defensive end. Their days as a Top-6 team in the East will
end this year unless they become proactive.
o
Boston Celtics
Ø This
is a very interesting team. They are
deep in the backcourt (adding Courtney Lee, Jason Terry, Leandro Barbosa, and
(essentially) Jeff Green) but are very thin in the front court. The more you look at this team, the more they
look like the Clippers of last season when the Clips added two veteran bigs
mid-season, both of which ended up playing big minutes in the playoffs. In the meantime, their best team might be
Jeff Green going full-time at the 4 position (say, 30 minutes a night). With Green at the 4 full-time, it will allow
for more play time for players like Avery Bradley and Courtney Lee. This team does not have any cap flexibility,
so, unless they get creative with a trade, they’ll have to rely on players
who’ve been bought out. I think they
have a good chance to get back to the Eastern Conference Finals but still don’t
have the horses to beat Miami.
o
Brooklyn Nets
Ø Wow,
this team is on the books for $73 million…in 2016!!! We are an entire presidential election cycle away
before we can even discuss Brooklyn having cap flexibility. With that said, I do like the more subtle
additions to the team (Reggie Evans and CJ Watson). Both players have played in the playoffs
before and both expect to get backup minutes.
Obviously, this team is in it for the long haul, and having nearly every
player locked-up for the next year shows that this year is more about coming
together and jelling than it is actual results.
Two questions about this team stand out the most. 1) Is their best lineup one without Lopez on
the court? Looking at this roster, they
could have a good running team with Deron Williams, CJ Watson, Joe Johnson,
Gerald Wallace, and Kris Humphries all on the court at the same time. I’m not sure Lopez can play an up and down
system that better fits most of their other players. 2) If the Nets struggle early, will they look
to replace Avery Johnson? Again, this is
about the long-term and I would think that their owner is ready to drop big
money on a high profile coach. Mike
D’Antoni anyone? (Sidenote: why not name
the team The Dodgers? They go with the
old-school Brooklyn look, so why not name the new basketball team the same name
as the team that is most synonymous with Brooklyn?)
o
Charlotte Bobcats
Ø This
team is in full re-building mode and that’s easy to see. They have a lot of cap flexibility coming up,
but will they be able to a) get anyone to sign and b) actually have the money
from ownership to pay the guys? The best
thing for this team is another bad year and another high pick. The high pick will keep their cap number low
giving them the chance to inevitably over-pay for a free agent next year. No matter what they do, this team will struggle
this year. They have a talented
backcourt (Ben Gordon, Ramon Sessions, Kemba Walker, Gerald Henderson, and
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist) but they will not be able to guard anyone if they are
going to play 3 6-footers 30 minutes a night.
Oh, and they have zero offense on the inside. So, there’s always that to keep them from
winning games.
o
Chicago Bulls
Ø I’m
not ready to talk about this yet. The
best thing for this team is to just be horrible this year, get a top-7 draft
pick, amnesty Boozer, pay Gibson, give Rose a full-year off, and find a way to
turn Deng (expiring contract in 2 years) into an offensive big man inside and
an athletic, young wing. What will most
likely happen? This team will be
horrible offensively, Boozer will have a good year, but not good enough to
actually be traded, and the Bulls will finish 5th or 6th in the East. They’d have a higher ceiling if they would
have had the bench mob stay intact, but the Bulls are too cheap to do that
(although I don’t blame them on the Asik deal).
o
Cleveland Cavaliers
Ø The
Cavs do not have one guaranteed deal past next season. Not one!
Now, they’ll keep some of those guys, but they have a real chance to
remake this team and it’ll be interesting to see if they stay bad to mediocre
to keep their cap space. Most, if not
all, of this team’s chance to be good relies on just how good Kyrie Irving can
become. If he becomes an All-NBA point
guard, this team will be set-up extremely well and their re-build will be put
into overdrive, similar to the way the Bulls rebuilding was after Rose became
one of the best players in the league.
Between Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiter, and Tyler Zeller, two of the
three guys need to become running mates with Irving to make it work. If that happens, they can sign the type of
player they need (a 3 man who can defend and score) when they gain cap room
next season. I believe this team will
have a good chance at getting the 7 or 8 seed, but may be better served to stay
in the lottery to pick up another top-10 pick.
o
Dallas Mavericks
Ø This
is a pretty deep team…deep with mediocrity.
I’m not sure what their plan is exactly for this season. They don’t really have a lot of cap space
next year ($37 million guaranteed next year, $32 million to Marion and Dirk
alone), so I wonder if they try to make a trade for expiring deals while giving
up Marion. For this season, they are
relying heavily on guys like Darren Collison and OJ Mayo and Chris Kaman. Not exactly playoff material. Their first round draft pick, Jared
Cunningham, looks to get a lot of playing time at PG now that Delonte West has
been let go. If this team is to win and
make the playoffs, Dirk is going to need to have an MVP like season, and at 34
years old, that’s not likely to happen.
o
Denver Nuggets
Ø ESPN
the Mag picked this team to finish first in the West…What?!?! I am strongly considering canceling my
subscription just due to that horrendous projection. Will Denver be good? Of course!
Will they have an All-Star or All-NBA performer…um, no. This is a team set-up to play 10-11 players
with everyone contributing. That is
going to happen. However, they do not
have a closer. Who takes the shot in a half-court
set with 10 seconds remaining in a playoff game for this team? Right now, my guess would be Gallinari,
someone who doesn’t exactly strike fear in the heart of the opposing team’s
defensive stopper. If they can figure
out a way to get their 5 best players on the court and make it work,
(Gallinari/Iggy/Chandler/Lawson/Miller) they could become impossible to match
up with and extremely fun to watch! (Interesting
note, Igoudala has a player option after this year. If he has a good year, with inflated stats by
playing an up-tempo style, watch for him to opt-out of his deal and attempt to
get a max deal from either Denver or a team with cap space. If this happens, and Iggy were to leave
Denver, that would give the Nuggets a great chance to get a star player. They’d be able to take on salary (as they’d
be under the cap) and have the assets to trade for a top player. Would
OKC trade Harden next summer for 2 first-rounders, Wilson Chandler (only 25
years old) and Kenneth Faried? This
would allow OKC to stay under the tax, add two good young players, and get two
first round picks that can be flipped later. (Before the Harden trade, this was
my favorite scenario for Harden).
Other options would be to do a sign-and-trade for Monta Ellis or Tyreke
Evans, or, and my favorite, trade for Amare.
Cmon, New York has a roster/salary problem, and someone taking the final
two years of Amare off their hands (he’s due $45 million over the final two
years of his deal!) would be a huge help.
This is why teams like Denver collect assets – so that they can package
them and trade them to desperate teams who give up on players for 60 cents on
the dollar.
o
Detroit Pistons
Ø Some
people really like this team; I am not one of those people. I do, however, like this team’s cap
situation. If they could somehow
convince Villanueva to decline his option, they’ll only have $32 million in
guaranteed contracts going into next season and a nucleus of: Greg Monroe,
Brandon Knight, Andre Drummond, lottery-pick X, and Rodney Stuckey. That’s not bad. Add in a real-good 3 man (say Igoudala) and
they would be a playoff team. I expect
this team to do what they can to trade Villanueva and Prince for expiring
deals. If they do decide to play it out,
they just don’t have the horses to make the playoffs yet.
o
Golden State Warriors
Ø Is
anybody outside of the Bay Area actually excited for this team? They have $71 million in contracts this year
and $64 million next year. They’re two
years away from cap freedom (when they’ll only have $20 million in salary plus
whatever they pay Curry). Until then,
this team is going to trot out Andrew Bogut, David Lee, Andris Beidrins, and
Carl Landry as their bigs. Harrison
Barnes, Richard Jefferson, and Brandon Rush on the wing. And Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Jarrett
Jack in the backcourt. Unless Klay
Thompson makes a huge jump, or Bogut becomes the second best center in the
West, this team has a chance to be really bad.
Like Sacramento Kings bad! Half
of their players cannot play defense at all.
The other half do not have any offensive abilities. Half of the players play well in an up-tempo
style, the other half plays well in a half-court style. This team was not put together well. Best thing for this team is to suck for the
next two years, don’t add any contracts (besides re-signing Curry), and just
hope to do well in the lottery for the next two years.
o
Houston Rockets
Ø This
is not the worst team in the NBA, but they’re not far from it. They only have $37 million in guaranteed
contracts for next year (including Harden), so don’t expect them to do anything
to change that. The reason why? They owe Asik and Lin $30 million for the
2015 season! That’s an insane amount for
a back-up point guard and a back-up center that can’t score. I think they’ll try and trade for someone
already under contract. My original
paragraph was about K-Mart for Joe Johnson, but now that’s out the window. So, I believe they will still try to flip a
bunch of assets for a power forward.
Meanwhile, Harden will keep this team in some games and will help them
to close out the bad teams as they find themselves squarely in the lottery at the
end of the year.
o
Indiana Pacers
Ø This
team’s biggest weakness is their depth.
I like their starting line-up and so does everybody else. The problem is a bench the centers around
Tyler Hansbrough, DJ Augustin, and Gerald Green. Not much talent there. If they can’t agree to a deal with David West
to keep him around for a few more years, look for Indy to flip him for 2-3
players from a team that wants the cap space.
If the Pacers don’t make any moves, their cap number next season,
without West, will be $45 million, and that doesn’t include Tyler Hansbrough,
who is a restricted free agent. This is
the prototypical decision between keeping together a very good nucleus or
preparing for the future. Wouldn’t San
Antonio trade Danny Green, Boris Diaw and Tiago Splitter for David West? If the Pacers do not make any moves, they’re
going to be a good team. Most likely a
top-4 team in the East. The best-case scenario
they can hope for is to sign a veteran or two who is bough-out midseason and
get on the other end of the bracket from Miami and meet them in the Eastern
Finals.
o
Los Angeles Clippers
Ø This
is an interesting team as this may be their last year to be really good. Chris Paul’s contract is up at the end of the
year and there is no guarantee that he will want to stay with the
Clippers. This is a team that has built
itself without a real plan. Griffin is
injury prone, but definitely has the ability to be the second best player on a
championship team. The problem is, do we
know if they even have a third best player?
DeAndre Jordan gets paid like one (he’s owed $33 million over the next 3
years) but he does not have any offensive ability. They’re deep and full of veterans, but can
they beat San Antonio, the Lakers, or the Thunder? My guess is they can’t. Their biggest mistake was signing Jamal
Crawford when they should be giving Eric Bledsoe 30 minutes a night off the
bench. It’ll be interesting to see this
team’s closing line-up. Does it include
Odom? What about Grant Hill vs Caron
Buler? A lot of questions surrounding a
team that has talent and a below average coach.
o
Los Angeles Lakers
Ø This
team has been the talk of the offseason and for good reason. Just like the other L.A. team, the Lakers
have a ton of questions. Who takes the
last shot? Can Kobe play without the
ball in his hand for the majority of the game?
Can Pau be productive in an up-tempo offense? Who will Nash guard when they play OKC? Is their bench (outside of Jamison) full of
holes? Will Dwight be able to co-exist
with Kobe and play second banana? Is
Metta still an effective player or will Jodie Meeks/Devin Ebanks supplant
him? I have a lot more questions that
just these, but nobody has any answers yet, so why bother? This team’s goal shouldn’t be “how do we beat
Miami?” It should be “how do we beat
OKC?” I don’t know the answer to
that. Again, they do not match up with
them at all, but they do force OKC out of their offense (won’t be able to drive
to the basket non-stop with Dwight down there).
So, who wins in that case? If
Dwight was an offensive force, I would say that LA has the advantage. But, Dwight just gets fouled late in games
because he can’t shoot free throws. So,
unless LA puts Dwight in pick n rolls at the end of games, he’s not going to be
very useful and will just take up space.
This team will be the most interesting storyline all year.
o
Memphis Grizzlies
Ø The
only thing I hope for is that the Grizz and the Lakers play each other in the
playoffs. What a PERFECT matchup that
would be. The bigs just going at it all
game. Rudy Gay v Metta. Tony Allen giving it his all against
Kobe. Mike Conley v Steve Nash…yeah, we
can work on that one. This Memphis team
has everything you’d want but one key ingredient: shooting. If they are to win a lot of games, they need,
most likely, rookie Tony Wroten to give them that spark off the bench. Wroten was a top-15 recruit coming out of
high school and is full of talent at 6 foot 5 inches. The hopes of this team will rest on his
ability to adjust quickly to the NBA and play both guard positions while giving
them Jason Terry-type scoring off the bench.
If he can’t do it, then that will put more of a scoring burden on
Conley.
o
Miami Heat
Ø Well,
does much need to be said about this team?
Only the playoffs matter for them and no one in the East can play with
them. I’m a little surprised they didn’t
try to sign a traditional center to take the pounding of guarding centers off
Bosh during the regular season. The
going small thing is great, but it can and will take a toll on your bigs during
an 82 game season. So, that’s why I
expect Joel Anthony to get a lot of play time against teams like Philly,
Brooklyn, and Indiana. Also, a very
interesting note, everyone keeps talking about LeBron opting out in two
years. However, not only can LeBron
opt-out after the 2014 season, but he has the opportunity to opt-out after the
2015 season as well. And, maybe more
interesting, Bosh and Wade can do the same thing. Why wouldn’t Bosh opt-out after 2014 and go
play somewhere else now that he has a ring (or maybe 3 by then)? This is something that is underreported
because if everybody were to opt-out of their contracts, this team has $0 of
guaranteed contracts after the 2014 season.
Don’t forget, the LA Lakers currently have just $10 million of guaranteed
money after 2014. What if LeBron decided
to go to L.A.? What if Wade and Bosh
decided to go? The summer of 2014 might
just be awesome!!!
o
Milwaukee Bucks
Ø I
kind of like this team. I don’t think
they’ll be very good, but I like them.
They have the wrong coach, that’s for sure. This is a team built to run, and if they do
run, they could end up as a 7 or 8 seed.
Most likely, they won’t run, will fire their coach, and head into the
lottery with their fingers crossed as they try to remake this team. Jennings is going to be a restricted free
agent and would the Bucks pay big money to keep him? There is a chance that a team with a lot of
cap space tries to pull him away for near max money. He’s not worth it, but someone will do
it. Why wouldn’t Dallas do it if they
can’t get Dwight? Also, Monta has a
player option, so there is a good chance he gets traded as well to get an asset
in return from him.
o
Minnesota Timberwolves
Ø ESPN
picked this team to finish 3rd in the West…yet, currently, their back-up shooting
guard is named: Alexey Shved.
Really? REALLY?! This team is built around Kevin Love, but do
they have the horses around him to win consistently in this league? The West is very competitive and if Brandon
Roy can’t give them a second option, they’re going to be in a lot of
trouble. Don’t forget, Rubio might
comeback mid-season, but he’s not going to be 100% until next season. No one ever is with an ACL injury. A lot of hype is being played to Nik Pekovic
by the media. He averaged 21 and 11 last
year per 40 minutes. However, how much
of that was skewed because Love wasn’t out there? I don’t buy into him being an All-Star just
yet. To me, he’s a guy who puts up
numbers because (when Love was out) he was the only good big man on his team
last year.
o
New Orleans Hornets
Ø I
really like how this team is set-up for the future. Greivis Vasquez and Austin Rivers fighting it
out for starting point guard duties (don’t rule out Vasquez just yet). Two very talented, yet underperforming
players in Al-Farouq Aminu and Xavier Henry (both guys were top-10 recruits
coming out of high school). Also, and
maybe a more underrated transaction, Robin Lopez will be a huge help to this
team. Anthony Davis is not ready,
physically, yet to guard big, strong centers.
That means Memphis, the Lakers, Golden State, San Antonio, and to a
lesser degree, many other Western Conference teams. Even Coach Cal said he wasn’t ready yet. So, Lopez will be that guy to bridge the gap
for the next few years as Davis matures.
Their cap space is amazing. If
they have a bad year, get a top-6 pick, and sign a top-level swing man, they
could be pretty good by year 2 of this rebuilding project. Signing Eric Gordon was a huge deal for them
as well. Every one of the players in
their rotation is either signed through the 2015 season, or a restricted free
agent after 2014. Also, watch for Darius
Miller out of Kentucky to find a way into the rotation. He’s a hard worker who “does the little
things”. Something coaches of rebuilding
teams love.
o
New York Knicks
Ø Count
me as one of the many not sold on the Knicks.
They are already over the cap for the next 3 years. If they don’t make a move (i.e. trade Amare)
they are going just be a good team in the East.
They are not better than Boston, Miami, Chicago (w/ Rose), or
Indiana. I don’t know how this team wins
as presently constructed. I like a lot
of their players, just not together. If
they go to a half-court, grind it out style, they might actually be a better
team than if they go up and down.
However, this would call for never playing JR Smith and instead just
playing Shumpert and Brewer at the 2-guard position. If they go to a speed it up type play, they don’t
have the point guards to do it (Jason Kidd is 40, he’s not going to be able to
do it anymore). If this team doesn’t
change anything roster-wise, they will not be a threat in the East.
o
Oklahoma City Thunder
Ø I do
not like this Harden trade at all. Next
year, Perkins and Ibaka will make $21 million and $22 million the next year. Tell me why you can’t pay Harden $14 million
next year and replace the two bigs through trades? You could have at least traded Ibaka tried to
trade Ibaka for a cheaper option at PF.
James Harden had the ball in his hands a lot at the end of games last
year. Yes, he struggled in the
Finals. However, he’s only 23 years
old. This was a great nucleus that was
growing up together. In two years, the
Lakers and Heat could be broken up and it could be the Thunder winning multiple
titles and talking about a dynasty.
Why? Because their best three
players would have been 27-26-26 for the 2015 season (And, in case you’re
wondering, yes, that is younger than the Heat’s trio last year of
27-28-29). The Thunder threw it all away
because their cheap and paid the wrong player.
With that said, they are still one of the favorite in the west. But they will probably have a different
dynamic this year at the end of games. I
would expect to see Thabo, Perk and Ibaka all in at the end of games to make it
very hard for teams to score at the end of games (don’t forget, Westbrook is a
very good defender as well). The most
interesting thing will be if they/can they re-sign Kevin Martin? He will most likely get $8-10 million a year
on the open market and will OKC be willing to give him that type of money? If he gets $10 million a year, that would put
OKC very close to the tax line next year and probably over it the next season.
o
Orlando Magic
Ø Oh
boy, this team could be really bad. Why
did they re-sign Nelson for $25 million over the next 3 years? Why did they not insist that Hedu (owed $22
million for the next 2 years) must be in ANY Dwight deal? Why did they take back Al Harrington and his
$21 million over the next 3 years? Can
they even re-sign JJ Redick, one of their 5 best players and a free agent at
the end of the year? This team is about
to enter a long rebuilding project. If
they’re smart, they’ll trade Afflalo for an expiring deal and picks to a team
that really needs a two-guard. One deal
would be Arron Afflalo to Chicago for Jimmy Butler, Marquis Teague, Rip
Hamilton, and a 1st rounder. Rip has an
expiring deal and Butler and Teague are young assets. My brother is iffy on this trade. I, as a Bulls fan, would probably pull the
trigger. I don’t know any Orlando fans,
but I’m sure they’d be iffy too. And, if
both teams are iffy on a deal, that’s usually a good sign.
o
Philadelphia 76ers
Ø Let
me start with this, when healthy, Bynum is the best offensive center in the
league. He could average 27 points a
game with this team if healthy, if only because they have no other offensive
options. Or at least not good ones. Losing Lou Williams could ultimately hurt
this team the most. They needed a guy with
his skill set. They’re replacing him w/
Nick Young, but Young isn’t the combo guard Lou was. So, now, they have a problem of no back-up
point guard. This means Jrue Holiday
needs to step up for this team. Jason
Richardson was a good addition for this team, but will they have to hide him on
the defensive end? Look for Thaddeus
Young to have a big year if they play him mostly at the 4 position. With a talented center, Young will be able to
move around the mid-range area and will find that his man will be helping off
him a lot and onto Bynum. Real quick, if
Bynum does not resign, Philly only has $30 million in guaranteed deals next
year, so they could do a quick rebuild with this team. If Bynum stays, they’ll have a good nucleus
of Holiday, Turner, Young, and Bynum to build around.
o
Phoenix Suns
Ø I
wanted to say that this team has a chance to be very good. Then I realized they are relying heavily on
Beasley. So, scratch that idea. They are, however, maybe just one year
away. I like the additions of Dragic and
Scola. Both guys are underrated. Gortat is a solid big man (15-10 last year)
and Jared Dudley is a solid 6th man.
This team will need either Wesley Johnson or Shannon Brown to really
step-up big for them at the 2-guard position.
If not, they are going to be thin on the wings. Also, they don’t have any big contracts
(Dragic makes the most money at $7.5 million a year) but they also don’t have
much cap room ($56 million this year and $51 million next year). Without tradeable assets (besides their
starters) this team is going to have to rely on the draft next year to fill
their holes (back up big and 2 guard).
o
Portland Trail Blazers
Ø It’s
hard to judge this team right now. Will
Lillard be good right away? Is Meyers
Leonard any good? Can Wes Matthews
regain his old form? Can LaMarcus
Aldridge carry this team night in and night out? This team does not have any cap flexibility
for the next three years, so they will have to rely on trades and their rookies
to perform. I do like the addition of JJ
Hickson and I think he’ll end up playing the most minutes at the center
position. I asked my buddy Miles, a
die-hard Blazers fan, about the team and its lack of depth and here is what he
said: “Clearly they have no depth. They
will be in trouble regardless, unless Aldridge has a monster year
(26/10/3). Even then, Matthews and Batum
will need to score 16 each for the Blazers to compete for the 8th seed.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.
o
Sacramento Kings
Ø This
team has a great group of young players.
However, that does not mean they are good. It just means they’ll win some games that
will make you scratch your head. I could
easily see them go into Miami and win, then host Charlotte a week later and
lose. If they can find a way to make
Demarcus Cousins not crazy, to make Tyreke Evans an all-around good player, and
get Jimmer to become a 20 minute a night, lights out shooter, they could be
good! However, most likely, only one of
those things is possible. The most
interesting thing will be if this teams resigns Tyreke. He’s a restricted free agent after the year
and there will be teams willing to give him a lot of money hoping to recapture
the magic of his rookie year when he averaged 20-5-5.
o
San Antonio Spurs
Ø This
team is probably in its last year as presently constructed. A lot of contracts are running up and that
includes Manu. Of course, they will do
what they can to resign Manu, but will they be able to? The Spurs will probably want him to come back
at a discount like Duncan did (who has 3 years and $30 million left on his
contract) but what another contender offers Manu more money? How can he say no when his ability to make
money is running up very quickly. But,
about this year, they’re going to be good again. I expect them to make another mid-season
trade and we’ll probably learn the name of some guy who plays really well for
them out of nowhere (my guess: Patty Mills).
Don’t get confused though, this is Tony Parker’s team. He is the man and he needs to be an All-NBA
player for this team to be great and contend to win the West. They can compete with the LA’s, OKC, and
Memphis, but to do that, they’re going to need Tony Parker big time.
o
Toronto Raptors
Ø This
team could be pretty good real soon. They need to worry about DeMar DeRozan as he
enters restricted free agency after the year, but if they can keep him, they
have a good nucleus. I like the addition
of Kyle Lowry a lot. Everyone is hyping
up Jonas Valanciunas and for good reason.
He’s a talented big man and needs time to develop but he could be a good
one. If they can, the best way for this
team to get better is to trade Calderon.
He’s on a $10.5 million expiring deal and could be used to get better
depth from a team looking to dump salary.
Would the Raptors trade Calderon to Orlando for Al Harrington and Josh
McRoberts? With John Lucas III in
Toronto, they no longer need Calderon and adding two offensive bigs who add
depth could really help.
o
Utah Jazz
Ø Boy,
this team only has $26 million in guaranteed deals for next year. Al Jefferson, Mo Williams, Marvin Williams,
and Paul Millsap all have expiring deals.
I don’t think they bring all those guys back. In fact, I think Millsap and both Williams
will be gone. They have young bigs (Enes
Kanter and Derrick Favors) and young wing players (Gordon Hayward, Alec burks,
Jeremy Evans, and DeMarre Carroll) who all need play time. The key will be how much Jefferson wants. Utah is not in a position to pay the tax and
may part ways with Jefferson too if he commands too much. Remember, for this team, it’s all about the
long term and at some point they’ll have to resign most of those young
guys. They are going to be good this
year because they’re deep. The question
will be who plays back-up at point? Will
it be Randy Foye or Jamaal Tinsley? They
could always trade Raja Bell, who wants out and is on an expiring deal, for a
point guard, but who could they realistically get?
o
Washington Wizards
Ø Both
Wall and Nene start the season injured.
That’s not a good start, obviously.
But, they do have a nice foundation.
Bradley Beal should develop into a 17 point scorer who will pair well
with Wall. However, the trade for Ariza
and Okafor (due a combined $41 million for the next two years) boggles my
mind. How can Okafor and Nene play at
the same time? Both are on-the-block,
back-to-the-basket big men and fill the same space on the court. We’ll see how that turns out because they really
don’t have much talent at the big position.
This is why second year man Jan Vesely needs to step up for this team
and give them a stretch 4. Another down
year will lead to the Wiz hopefully getting another big man in the
lottery.
So, there you have my team summaries. Let’s move onto how I think things will shake
out this year. These predictions are
based on no major injuries and no major trades (obviously won’t happen, but it’s
impossible to guess how well a team will do otherwise).
East
1. Miami
Heat
Þ Not
much of a surprise here. Without D-Rose,
this team will not have a regular season competitor.
2. Boston
Celtics
Þ I
believe their young bigs will be good enough to not lose them games. However, they will be bunched up with the
next few teams in this list.
3. Indiana
Paces
Þ Depends
heavily on staying healthy, but if they are healthy, they may jump up to the 2
spot.
4. Chicago
Bulls
Þ Don’t
laugh this one off. They can’t win a
playoff series but they will beat a lot of bad teams and will be in the mix for
a 4 seed.
5. Philadelphia
Þ A
healthy Bynum will be a very hard match-up for any East team. They need to find guard scoring but they play
good team defense and will surprise some teams.
6. New
York Knicks
Þ This
team will have a few swoons during the year as they attempt to mesh as a team
and it will cause them to fall in the standings.
7. Brooklyn
Nets
Þ They
have enough talent but are they good enough and do they care enough to beat
teams like Philly in January?
8. Toronto
Raptors
Þ This
team won’t be good (roughly .500 or worse) but that will be enough to make the
playoffs for this team.
9. Atlanta
Hawks
Þ Their
defense will fail them and Atlanta fans will quickly realize that a team that
always makes the playoffs and no shows is better than a team that doesn’t make
the playoffs.
10. Cleveland
Cavs
Þ They
are going to need some help to get here but Kyrie is very good and should be
able to carry this team to 20 wins himself.
11. Washington
Wizards
Þ The
early injuries will really set them back and their inability to play Okafor and
Nene together with kill their offensive efficiency.
12. Detroit
Pistons
Þ Enough
good young players to win a few surprise games but this team will not be a
factor this year.
13. Milwaukee
Bucks
Þ Wrong
Coach. Wrong Roster. Wrong System.
Whatever it is, something is wrong here and this will not end well.
14. Orlando
Magic
Þ Enough
talent to win games against other bad teams but this will not be an enjoyable
team to watch.
15. Charlotte
Bobcats
Þ They
will be competitive in a lot more games this year. With that said, they still won’t win many of
those games.
West
1. Oklahoma
City Thunder
Þ I
don’t like the Harden trade but they are still young and will win a lot of
games as the Lakers and Spurs take some nights off to keep their older guys
healthy.
2. San
Antonio Spurs
Þ They
have a way of developing a very good bench out of a bunch of nobodies and that
bench will carry them to victories.
3. Los
Angeles Lakers
Þ Don’t
forget that Dwight/Kobe/Nash all have had injury issues the past few years and
that will lead to their horrid bench being exposed and a 3 seed because of it.
4. Memphis
Grizzlies
Þ If
they can find that wing scorer, they’ll be a threat in the playoffs. Otherwise, they will just be a good regular
season team.
5. Denver
Nuggets
Þ A very
deep team that will be able to win a lot of games simply by running around
teams in that high altitude in Denver.
6. Los
Angeles Clippers
Þ I’m
worried about how this team’s chemistry is going to be. Almost too many players even though CP3 will
carry them to a lot of victories.
7. Utah
Jazz
Þ A
deep, talented, young team will be able to compete with everyone in the league
because of their athleticism.
8. Phoenix
Suns
Þ Similar
to Toronto, won’t be much of a team but will be just good enough to make the
playoffs.
9. Dallas
Mavericks
Þ They
just don’t have the talent to win enough games this year. It will be weird to not see Dallas in the
playoffs but would you bet on this team with an injured Dirk?
10. Minnesota
Timberwolves
Þ Early
injuries will set this team back and they don’t have the talent to make a comeback
when healthy.
11. Houston
Rockets
Þ Harden
will make a difference with this young, inexperienced team, but not enough to
make the playoffs.
12. Portland
Trail Blazers
Þ To
be a playoffs team, they would need a lot of things to fall their way and I
just don’t see that happening.
13. New
Orleans Hornets
Þ Not
sure how good they are, but, when healthy, they should be able to compete with
more than half the league and pull out the some wins in those games.
14. Golden
State Warriors
Þ I don’t
know what type of team this is and can’t find a reason to believe they’ll be
any good.
15. Sacramento
Kings
Þ This
might be, nay, IS the first
NBA team that needs an HBO 24/7 dedicated to it! Cmon, do you think Cousins and Jimmer even
know each other’s names?
East
Finals
Heat over Celtics in 5 games. No surprises here. Same as last year. Indy and Boston in round 2 might be a great
matchup.
West
Finals
Thunder over Lakers in 7 games. Dwight’s inability to be on the court at the
end of games and Kobe’s inability to allow anyone else to shoot at the end of
games will submarine this team when it matters most.
NBA
Finals
Heat over Thunder in 6 games. I believe Durant and Westbrook are 2 of the
10 best players in this league and that will carry them to this point but they
will not be able to win when it matters.
This is why you don’t trade Harden for Kevin Martin. Because you have a chance to be a dynasty and
you just can’t give that up.
All
NBA First Team
G – Russell Westbrook (no Harden means more shots for
Westbrook. Good luck, League.)
G – Dwayne Wade (he’ll play with a chip on his shoulder
this year.)
F – LeBron James (do you really need an explanation.)
F – Kevin Durant (no Harden means more shots for KD as
well.)
C – Dwight Howard (Lob City 2.0.)
All
NBA Second Team
G – Rajon Rondo (he will carry his team and will put up a
crap load of triple doubles.)
G – Kobe Bryant (his scoring will decrease but his
shooting percentage will increase.)
F – Carmelo Anthony (he’ll never stop shooting, and nor
should he.)
F – David West (in a contract year when his center just
finished his contract year.)
C – Andrew Bynum (Will get a lot of chance to score with
nobody to take shots away from him.)
All
NBA Third Team
G – Chris Paul (he’ll play well but not sure his stats
will be worth more than this spot.)
G – Tony Parker (they really need him to be at his best
this year and I think he will be.)
F – Josh Smith (A good player who puts up good stats on a
bad team.)
F – Pau Gasol (and up-tempo style will make him a 20-11
guy as Nash rejuvenates his career.)
C – Chris Bosh (He’ll play a lot of center and will be
open a lot because of that.)
All
Rookie Team
G – Damian Lillard (will get every opportunity to be
great.)
G – Bradley Beal (I believe he has a chance to be the
best player of this class.)
F – Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (there is a chance he’ll
player 38 minutes and his number will look great because of it.)
F – Anthony Davis (see, Kidd-Gilchrist.)
C – Jonas Valanciunas (everyone loves this guy and he may
end up a double-double machine.)
MVP –
LeBron
James – Going to be hard to go with anyone else.
Rookie
–
Damian Lillard – as Miles points out “3 of the last 4 ROYs were PGs”.
6th
Man –
Ray Allen – Greatest shooter ever coming off the bench? Count me in.
Coach
of the Year – Scotty Brooks – has to rebuild his team,
rotation, and closing unit on the fly.
