The playoff teams
16. INDIANA (37-45) - The disparity between East and West will continue. I don't see Indiana doing much better next year, but it'll still be enough to make the playoffs. They made an interesting trade for George Hill to boost the back-court with Darren Collison.
15. PHILADELPHIA (41-41) - I don't envy their salary situation, but at least they believe in themselves again. I'd be surprised if Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala both stay with the team all year. They hope Evan Turner lives up to his draft status and Thaddeus Young continues to improve.
14. HOUSTON (43-39) - With the Yao Ming era officially over, the Rockets need a new center, but they seem pretty comfortable at power forward. Luis Scola, Patrick Patterson, now Marcus Morris and Donatas Moteijunas. Jonny Flynn gets a second chance to play back-up, now to Kyle Lowry. Kevin McHale should continue positively what Rick Adelman had going.
13. NEW YORK (42-40) - I'm surprised the Knicks kept Billups another year. Can't underestimate veteran leadership, though you can overpay for it. They have Chauncey, Melo, Amare, Toney Douglas, Landry Fields... and that's it. Can't do much in free agency when they already have $60 million committed and the salary cap coming down. But... big stars can overcome a lot and so I see
the Knicks returning to a first-round exit.
12. PORTLAND (48-34) - Brandon Roy and Andre Miller never really meshed, but now Andre's gone and Brandon's a shell of himself. Now it's the LaMarcus Aldridge-Wesley Matthews-Gerald Wallace-Nicolas Batum show. Raymond Felton should take the year to make Charlotte,New York and Denver regret passing on him.
11. ORLANDO (52-30) - Dwight Howard could be the league MVP if he had a better team. Last year's mid-season trade made them worse, and if Dwight leaves, Orlando could easily become the wreckage site that Cleveland and Toronto became last year. Gilbert Arenas's contract prevents them from being able to do much. The Magic have to ask themselves: do they want to have the future of the Nuggets and Jazz, or the Cavaliers and Raptors?
10. MEMPHIS (46-36) - This team has a lot of questions. Will Zack Randolph, Marc Gasol and Rudy Gay all be back? Will OJ Mayo be traded? Now that they've tasted winning, I expect them to continue, after some answers.
9. ATLANTA (44-38) - Kirk Hinrich has a chance to be the starting point guard again, and I expect the team to remain steady, but their cap situation is atrocious. Joe Johnson, Josh Smith and Al Horford alone with make over $42 million next year.
8. DENVER (50-32) - Usually when a superstar gets traded away, the team that loses the superstar loses. Not so in Denver's case. They're now brimming with affordable talent. I expect them to try to get Nene back, but they're adding Kenneth Faried and Jordan Hamilton to a team that already has Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler (maybe), Ty Lawson and Arron Afflalo.
7. BOSTON (56-26) - Salary-wise they're handcuffed this year, and the cupboard's looking bare behind the Big 4. Hard to question the heart of champions, but can KG, Allen, Pierce and Rondo rally past the Heat or the Bulls in the playoffs? They traded away Kendrick Perkins for Jeff Green who so far hasn't justified it, and they could lose him anyway. Glen Davis might not be back either. They need Jermaine O'Neal to reach way down and become his 2005 self. Rookie JaJuan Johnson will get hsi chances.
6. SAN ANTONIO (61-21) - Somehow they were the best in the west, but they crashed and burned against the Grizzlies. Sure, the match-ups were a problem, but they never should have doubled-down on Richard Jefferson. But the rich get richer: they got Kawhi Leonard for George Hill. Wouldn't surprise me if the ever-slower Tim Duncan retires after this year.
5. L.A. LAKERS (57-25) - It was glorious to watch the Lakers implode against the Mavericks, but it was the Conference finals; it wasn't like a first-round embarrassment. With Mike Brown in and Phil Jackson out, I can see the egos rising. Ultimately though, somethng will happen. Wouldn't surprise me to see the Lakers trade Odom & Bynum for Dwight Howard.
4. CHICAGO (62-20) - Derrick Rose may have been the MVP, but he can't do it alone. The Bulls will desperately try to move Boozer or Deng to get that elusive magical all-purpose two-guard. They should still be great, but somewhere int he playoofs, probably the EC finals again, they'll fold.
3. DALLAS (57-25) - I'm happy for Dirk Nowitzki and Mark Cuban, and they should be really good again, but I don't see them repeating.
2. OKLAHOMA CITY (55-27) - I expect this to be the year the team makes their move and goes to the NBA Finals. Durant is the Tim Duncan for the new decade, humility-wise.
1. MIAMI (58-24) - Okay, they got embarrassed in the Finals, but I expect LeBron, Wade and Bosh to be surrounded by a better team next time around.
No comments:
Post a Comment