Lets get it on with the West.....
Northwest Division (in predicted order of finish)
Denver Nuggets- They had a great year last year making it to the Western Conference finals. and the good news is that they got better. They brought in Arron Afflalo to replace Dahntay Jones, which will be an upgrade at a better price. But most importantly, they traded for a first round draft pick and selected the apple of my eye, Ty Lawson. Lawson will bring a speed dimension that the Nuggets didn't have last year and will enhance the Nuggets when they're speeding up the tempo. The bad news is that the Lakers and the Spurs both improved more than the Nuggets, so getting further than last year will most likely be a pipe dream.
Portland Trailblazers- The Blazers learned a lot in their first round loss to the Houston Rockets last season. They're a young team who will need to play more disciplined to advance in the postseason. They signed veteran point guard Andre Miller as a free agent. Miller is not the perfect complement to superstar Brandon Roy in the back court. But he's also a player who has never won in his career, and this is a chance to win. With the Blazers just signing LaMarcus Aldridge to a rich 5 year deal, they've got a core in tact for the next 3 years with Aldridge, Miller, and Roy. I have faith in head coach Nate McMillan's ability to make it work. With that said, that may not generally translate into making it further than last year. Its a deep, difficult Western Conference and Portland will get better, but this will be a tough year to break through.
Utah Jazz- The Jazz brought the same core group back with the addition of first round pick guard Eric Maynor, who looks ready. Head coach Jerry Sloan will be challenged in handling the situation at power forward. Carlos Boozer is on the last year of his contract and will be on the trading block until he gets dealt. Paul Millsap just signed a 4 year $32 million deal and is clearly the Jazz' future at the position. Sloan is a hall of famer, but he may have his hands full with this. Ultimately, the best the Jazz can hope for this season is to be cannon fodder for either the Spurs or the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.
Oklahoma City Thunder- The Thunder will certainly be improved. And Kevin Durant is a star in the making. However, before we send Durant to Springfield, Massachusetts, can we see him learn how to guard someone? The Thunder are young and athletic, but the West is too deep to envision them creeping into the playoffs. They have a nice core of Durant, Jeff Green, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden, but they're just not there yet.
Minnesota Timberwolves- Minnesota GM David Kahn has taken a lot of heat in the media for his gutsy move to trade for an extra lottery pick and use both picks on point guards. I continue to believe that he did the right thing for the organization long term. With Rubio staying in Spain for a few years, Kahn has the luxury to hand Jonny Flynn the keys and see what's he's got. If Flynn, works out, then he's got a great trade chip in Rubio to wheel for whatever they need. And if Flynn doesn't work out, hand the keys to Rubio. Unfortunately, none of that will translate into a lot of improvement for this year. Another year out of the playoffs will mean another year in the lottery and the ability to add another productive member to the rotation. Minnesota has got themselves on the right track to be competitive in 2-3 years. And the added bonus is that the only big money they have committed long term is to franchise cornerstone power forward Al Jefferson.
Southwest Division (in predicted order of finish)
San Antonio Spurs- I give the Spurs front office and ownership a lot of credit. They reloaded to make one last run at a title with an aging superstar. The Spurs are smart enough to realize that Tim Duncan is a once in a generation star and you need to make hay while the sun shines. If Duncan's minutes are properly economized in the regular season, he still has enough gas in the tank to be a force in the playoffs. The Spurs traded Kurt Thomas' and Bruce Bowen's expiring contracts for Richard Jefferson. If Jefferson can revert back to his early career habits of quality shot selection and stifling perimeter defense, he's a difference maker for the Spurs. Of course, the Jefferson we saw in Milwaulee and at the tail end in New Jersey, is a player who can implode the Spurs' title hopes. The good news for San Antonio fans is that Spur head coach Gregg Popovich will keep RJ on a short leash. The Spurs also added Antonio McDyess as a free agent and had the wonderful good fortune of having power forward DeJuan Blair fall to them in the 2nd round of the draft. McDyess and Blair will take minutes and pressure of Duncan in a way that Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto never could. ANd as good as all that sounds, they still need to have Duncan and Manu Ginobili healthy for the playoffs or its all for naught. Count on seeing the Spurs playing into the end of May.
Dallas Mavericks- Here's another team in a foot race with Father Time. This past offseason, in making every effort to maximize their title contention aspirations around star power forward Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavericks re-signed 36 year old point guard Jason Kidd, signed free agent forward, 31 year old Shawn Marion, and signed 32 year old free agent forward Tim Thomas. Dallas has done great job of surrounding Nowitzki with the right type of players to win with. With the addition of power forward Drew Gooden, they have the ability to be good going big or small. I'm not the biggest Jason Kidd fan at this stage of his career, but there's no disputing he fits very well here. And very frankly, the worst thing the Mavericks have going against them is the presence of the Lakers and Spurs in the same conference. They've improved significantly, but for this season, it won't be enough.
New Orleans Hornets- Another team that managed to improve in the highly competitive West. Unfortunately, they've got a major problem that the other top teams in the West don't have. The Hornets completely quit on their coach Byron Scott last year during a home playoff game, losing to Denver in excess of 50 points. And with Scott in the last year of his contract and some players openly questioning newly acquired Emeka Okafor's current injury, which has kept him out of most of the preseason, the Hornets are not exactly a picture of team unity. The Hornets' best chance to make a run in the West will be to dump Scott midseason, considering he's on the last year of his contract. Still, the best they can hope for is winning one playoff round.
Houston Rockets- As impressive as the Rockets were in last year's playoffs, this is a very different team without Yao Ming and Ron Artest. Yao will sit out the year with a foot injury and Artest signed with the Lakers as a free agent. Houston GM Daryl Morey would have you believe that the free agent signing of Trevor Ariza from the Lakers represents an upgrade over Artest. Morey would be mistaken. Artest may be certifiably insane, but he was the straw that stirred the drink for the Rockets on both ends of the floor last season. Ariza is a very nice complementary player. The Rockets will take a step back this year, but once they get Yao back for next season, I expect them to contend in the West all over again.
Memphis Grizzlies- If the game were played with 3 basketballs and teams needed parole officers instead of head coaches, the Grizzlies would be set. But in the current NBA landscape, this team is a mess. This was a team plagued last season by the offensive selfishness of young players Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo. So GM Chris Wallace's answer was to bring in two of the biggest chuckers in the league in Zach Randolph and Allen Iverson . Wallace will regret the day he passed on Carlos Boozer's expiring deal to take on Randolph for three years at the league max. Matter of fact, Wallace will end up regretting it before the calendar turns to December. This is an impossible situation for head coach Lionel Hollins to succeed. Its no secret why this organization has been such a mess, for so long.
Pacific Division (in predicted order of finish)
Los Angeles Lakers- The Lakers hierarchy has made it very clear that they are interested in cementing a dynasty after willing their first title in their post-Shaq era. They let Trevor Ariza go sign with Houston as a free agent and committed the same money to Ron Artest. Regardless of whta you read anywhere else, this is an upgrade in every way, Artest's off court insanity not withstanding. Artest is a team player on the court and can carry the load for long stretches on both ends of the floor, which is huge in keeping Kobe Bryant fresh for playoff time. Keep in mind, he led the Rockets without Yao Ming to push this same Laker team to 7 games in the same round of last year's playoffs. Also, Artest will HELP team chemistry on the Lakers. Please allow me to explain. The Lakers chose to bring back my man crush, Lamar Odom for four years at a minimal paycut, which was his best offer. The worst kept secret on the Lakers is the not so terrific relationship between Odom and Bryant. That relationship virtually torpedoed the Lakers in the 2008 finals against the Celtics. Artest is Odom's old friend back from AAU days in New York. Bryant oppenly campaigned to have Artest brought in and admittedly has a very good realtionship with Ron. Ron can actually build a bridge between Kobe and Lamar. And besides, what does Lamar have to be unhappy about? He won a title, got paid, gets to play with his old friend and shares a bed every night with my favorite Kardashian sister. In summary, there is no way anyone beats the Lakers come playoff time....and they may win 70 games in the regular season on their way.
Phoenix Suns- This is a team who's laying in the weeds a little bit. The trading of the artist formerly known as Shaquille O'Neal is a clear case of addition by subtraction. Shaq slowed the Suns down and confused their indentity. This is now a team with something to prove. Amare Stoudemire is in a contract year. Steve Nash and Grant Hill would like to prove they're not finished. Jason Richardson is a good fit in their up tempo system. And first round pick Earl Clark replaces what they lost with trading Boris Diaw for Richardson last season. Also, 2nd year center Robin Lopez (Brook's sister....I mean brother...) is a much better complement to Stoudemire in their up tempo system that Shaq ever was. At the very least, I expect the Suns to make the playoffs and be a royal pain in someone's rump come mid May.
Los Angeles Clippers- Lots of good offseason news for the Clips. They were blessed in the #1 pick in the draft and they were lucky to enough to have a star in the making for them in Blake Griffin. And GM Mike Dunleavy was able to unload roster and salary cap albatross in Zach Randolph, turning them into Craig Smith and Sebastian Telfair, two productive bench players. He was also smart enough to keep Marcus Camby for the last year of his contract. The problem is that once the season starts, the team will be coached by head coach Mike Dunleavy, who does a substandard job when compared to GM Mike Dunleavy. Dunleavy truly lost these guys last year, and most everyone is back. Extricating Zach Randolph will help, but it won't fix everything. Dunleavy had major problems with Baron Davis, Al Thornton, and Ricky Davis among others, and its naive to believe that they'll go away. They will be improved, but the best it will result in will be the 8th seed in the playoffs and canon fodder for the Lakers.
Sacramento Kings- They're a long way from looking good, but its starting to appear they're on the right track. They selected Tyreke Evans with the 4th pick of the first round. Evans is a freakish athlete thats got star written all over him. When you combine that with their first round pick last year, forward Jason Thompson, they now have some building blocks. They also are going to only have one big money player after this season in Kevin Martin, who's only 26. The bad news is that they probably won't be much better this year, but they will be back in the lottery to continue to build.
Golden State Warriors- This has become such a dysfunctional situation and from all appearances, it didn't have to be. The Warriors have drafted pretty well. In the last three years, they've selected Monta Ellis, Andris Biedrins, Anthony Randolph, and Stephen Curry, who are all 23 or younger. But Don Nelson's handling of this whole Stephen Jackson situation is providing a damaging distraction. The longer Jackson's trade demand goes unmet, the more he poisons the culture among the young players. Nellie should have seen this coming. If you buy a house on a golf course, don't act surprised if golf balls fly through your windows. If you try to rebuild and keep Stephen Jackson as your veteran presence, you'll have golf balls flying through your windows. I hate to say it, because Don Nelson has been a coach and an executive in this league for a long time and has had plenty of success, but the sooner Warrior owner Chris Cohan turns the organization over to someone else, the better. It will be another year out of the playoffs, but their success this season will be predicated on how well the young players develop together.
Predicted Playoff Seedings
1) L.A. Lakers
2) San Antonio
3) Denver
4) Dallas
5) Portland
6) Phoenix
7) New Orleans
8) Utah
Final Four
L.A. Lakers over Dallas
San Antonio over Denver
Western Conference Finals
L.A. Lakers over San Antonio
NBA Finals
L.A. Lakers over Orlando ( 7 games)- I hate to predict a repeat. It almost appears lazy. But the bottom line is that the two best teams from last season are the two that improved the most. Y'all be cool. Giddyap.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 08, 2009
With a week to go before opening night, its time to preview the season. I'll give you a little something on each team, starting with the Eastern Conference today. I'll take on the West next week.
Atlantic Division ( teams are broken down in order of predicted finish)
Boston Celtics-Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels are very nice additions to the Celtics, which they desperately need. Heck, they could add everybody's favorite psychotherapy patient Stephon Marbury and he would help backing up Rajon Rondo, but in the end its all noise. If Kevin Garnett does not return to his 2008-09 form, there's no way the Celtics compete for a title. Hear that creaking......its the Celtics window closing.
Toronto Raptors- Raptor general manager Bryan Colangelo had an aggressive bold offseason signing Handsome Hedo Turkoglu and Jarrett Jack to rich free agent contracts and extending former first overall pick Andrea Bargnani with an enormous deal. Colangelo starts the season with an eclectic group that's fun to watch, but will be short on rebounding and perimeter defense. I'm also not sure if he's got the right coach to make this team compete in Jay Triano. All of this spending was designed to show pending star free agent Chris Bosh that the organization is committing to winning. If it doesn't end up being enough to keep Bosh in Toronto, the Raptors are on the hook for a lot of money with a team that can't compete. The good news for Colangelo is that Jack is Bosh's college teammate and good friend and he's signed for 4 years, so you never know.
New Jersey Nets- This is going to be a team to watch this season for all of the right reasons. And they are certainly going to be better than people think. Very athletic with a very good point guard in Devin Harris and a very promising young big man in Brook Lopez. Lots of verys for a team only projected to win about 25 games. This team will be a very attractive option for one of the superstar free agents of the class of 2010, especially now that they have a billionaire Russian owner who is willing to spend a few bucks. Mark my words, the Nets are a more likely destination for LeBron James or Dwyane Wade than their higher profile crosstown rivals.
Philadelphia 76ers- As good a coach as Eddie Jordan is, he's going to have a tough time turning around this disaster. They did not have the financial willingness to re-sign point guard Andre Miller and their up tempo system does not run without the right point guard. They drafted UCLA frshman Jrue Holiday with their first round pick leaving Carolina point guard Ty Lawson on the board. Holiday wasn't even good enough to start in the Pac-10 last season. He's at least two years away from running the Sixers. In addition, their highest paid player, Elton Brand is a half court player who is ill-equipped to succeed in the Sixers' up tempo system. Get ready for lots of empty seats at the Wachovia Center.
New York Knicks- The Knicks look so bad, they make the Sixers look like the Lakers. They bring back most of the same group as last season. They added the Bust of Draft Past in Darko Milicic and the Bust of draft future in Jordan Hill. The only real building blocks they have are last year's #1 Danilo Galinari and Wilson Chandler, and Chandler had very little trade value when GM Donnie Walsh shopped him in the offseason. And on top of all of of this, their misguided off season pursuits of Grant Hill, Jason Kidd, Carlos Boozer, and Ramon Sessions wreak of a situation where the general manager and the coach are not on the same page. LeBron, do yourself a favor. Stay far far away.....unless you're folowing the Nets to Brooklyn.
Central Division (in predicted order of finish)
Cleveland Cavaliers- The Cavs little makeover reminds me of the town of Rock Ridge from the movie Blazing Saddles. Rock Ridge was the fake town that was built with just store fronts with nothing behind men to throw the sheriff's men off the trail. On the surface, the Cavs should look better from the addition of Shaquille O'Neal, Anthony Parker, and Jamario Moon. But O'Neal at this stage of his career is not all that different from Zydrunas Ilgauskas, except Shaq has a TV show and 5 championship rings. Bringing Shaq in was a nice gesture to try and keep LeBron in town this offseason, but its not going to translate into more playoff wins, which is what the Cavs need to be better than last year. The Cavs biggest problems in the playoffs was having enough athletes to match up with Orlando's big wing players. Parker is 34 years old, and not athletic enough to match up with Rashard Lewis or Vince Carter. And Moon is a good athlete, but couldn't hit the water if he threw a bag of garbage off a pier. In the end, it will probably mean the same fate as last season... a conference finals loss and a lot of nail biting over whether LeBron James is going to stay in town.
Chicago Bulls- This is the year the Bulls will make their move towards being an elite team in the East. They will benefit tremendously from the continued development of young star point guard Derrick Rose. Center Joakim Noah will show some offense to accompany his intense defense, rebounding and athleticism. Luol Deng should be back healthy and he adds to their athleticism. And they subtracted the biggest ball hog this side of Allen Iverson in Ben Gordon. I even think that head coach Vinny Del Negro took his lumps in last year's playoffs and learned plenty. The Bulls will challenge the Cavaliers for Central division supremacy and will be a clear pain in someone's rump come playoff time.
Indiana Pacers- They won't be great, but they'll be better than people think. Their big offseason additions were first round pick Tyler Hansbrough and free agent signee Dahntay Jones. Hansbrough should help marginally and Jones probably less. The big factors for the Pacers will be the continued development of 2nd year center Roy Hibbert, who has looked like a monster in preseason, and the return from a knee injury of swingman Mike Dunleavy. With an improved Hibbert and a healthy Dunleavy, underrated and under appreciated star Danny Granger should get enough help to make this team a 6, 7, or 8 seed in the East, which represents progress in Indiana these days.
Milwaukee Bucks- The Bucks are a team that may got a little bit better. It probably won't be enough for a playoff berth, but they should make some progress. They traded Richard Jefferson for cap relief, which will end up being addition by subtraction for two reasons. Jefferson's shot selection has gotten progressively worse as time has gone on. And his departure opens up playing time for last year's first round pick Joe Alexander, who is a good athlete that can shoot but needs live action to develop his game. The Bucks also chose not to re-sign restricted free agent point guard Ramon Sessions and drafted point guard Brandon Jennings in the first round. Jennings is a dynamic athlete with potential to turn into an electric point guard, so there's upside there. The Bucks also brought in a couple of good athletes for good prices in Hakim Warrick and Carlos Delfino. The big danger for the Bucks is that head coach Scott Skiles doesn't lose patience with some of these young players and kill their confidence before they ever have it.
Detroit Pistons- So, if you're Joe Dumars, and you make an awful trade last season, shipping out a seasoned championship point guard in Chauncey Billups and bringing in the world's biggest chucker (Allen Iverson), essentially torpedoing the Pistons' entire season?? If I'm Joe D, I trade Prince and Hamilton for cap relief and draft picks, blow the whole thing up and start from scratch. Unfortunately, for Pistons fans, I'm not Joe D. Dumars attempted to remake this thing on the fly and threw ridiculous amounts of money on the world's second biggest chucker, Ben Gordon, and a three point shooting power forward who doesn't defend or rebound in Charlie Villanueva. And to top it off, Joe D hires a career assistant who's last head coaching job 20 years ago resulted in the worst season in Division 1 college history as HIS new head coach. We will spend the season gawking at them as if they were a car accident, sort of the NBA's version of a rubber necking delay.
Southeast Division ( in order of predicted finish)
Orlando Magic- No one would have blamed Magic GM Otis Smith if he had decided to bring back the same team from last season. that made a surprise run to th NBA finals All he really HAD to do was re-sign Handsome Hedo, and they could run it back with Dwight Howard being a year better. But Smith saw an opportunity to improve this team, and with ownership's blessing (financial commitment), he made them a force. He let the Raptors overpay Turkoglu. He brought in Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson for Courtney Lee and some expiring contracts. Carter is a huge upgrade over Handsome Hedo and Anderson is the kind of stretch "4" that Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy loves. Smith also signed free agent undersized power forward Brandon Bass from Dallas, who makes an excellent front court mate for Howard and Rashard Lewis and gives the Magic a power presence, which will allow Van Gundy to go big or small. Smith also recognized the value of backup center Marcin Gortat and matched Dallas' offer sheet to keep him in Orlando. And for Otis' last trick, he signed Jason Williams to backup Jameer Nelson at point guard. Williams spent a year out of basketball, but was an extremely functional point guard for the Miami Heat 2006 title team. All in all, a stellar offseason for my man Otis. Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2009-2010 Eastern Conference champions.
Atlanta Hawks- The Hawks made attempts to improve in the offseason, unfortunately I'm not sure they worked. They brought Jamal Crawford in from Golden State. Crawford is a chucker in the Iverson/Ben Gordon mold, which won't exactly help team chemistry. Joe Johnson has one foot out the door in the last year of his contract. And if he doesn't come back, it turns quickly into a disaster. They've got big financial decisions to coming up on Marvin Williams and Al Horford. And considering that they're already paying Josh Smith and Mike Bibby for awhile, this thing goes in reverse quickly without Johnson. The East is too tough for them to advance anywhere. It will be a first round playoff loss and lean times on the horizon once again in Atlanta.
Miami Heat- I hate to say it, but things don't look all that good here either. Yes, they've got Dwyane Wade in his prime. And with Wade being a free agent after the season, he may have one foot out the door as well. The Heat's best chance to keep Wade may have come and gone with their failed offseason pursuit of Lamar Odom and Carlos Boozer. Now their best chance is to hope for significant improvement from Michael Beasley, Mario Chalmers, and Daequan Cook. In other words, Wade's probably good as gone. The good news for Miami is that with the shot Jermaine O'Neal in the last year of his ridiuclously bloated contract, they have virtually no money committed beyond this year.
Washington Wizards- The notion that the Wizards somehow made themselves a playoff team by moving the #5 pick in the draft for Mike Miller and Randy Foye and getting all-world chucker Gilbert Arenas back from injury is faulty at best and utterly absurd at worst. I'm a big fan of Ernie Grunfeld, but he's got it wrong here. He could have started to rebuild this thing around Ricky Rubio. Instead, he's grasping at straws with a selfish veteran team. The only thing the Miller/Foye trade did was get them closer to making the playoffs, which will mean less balls in the lottery jar, utlimately setting the organization back. The good news is that another lottery pick will be pending.
Charlotte Bobcats- Don't look now, but Larry Brown took the wrong job again. Ownership has very little financial commitment to winning considering that owner Bob Johnson is dying to sell the team. General manager Rod Higgins has not done well on a shoestring budget. President Michael Jordan is too busy playing golf and giving unique and entertaining Hall of Fame induction speeches. The bottom line is that outside of Jason Richardson (chucker) and some young point guard depth, the Bobcats have nothing. They can talk up the Tyson Chandler-Emeka Okafor deal all they want basketball-wise, getting Chandler was all about saving money considering that Chandler cannot stay healthy enough to stay on the court. If Larry doesn't want this to be his last job, he better jump ship quick, because this team this season is not going to be his lead item on the old resume.
Predicted Playoff Seedings
1) Cleveland
2) Orlando
3) Boston
4) Chicago
5) Toronto
6) Indiana
7) Atlanta
8) Miami
Final Four
Chicago over Cleveland
Orlando over Boston
Conference Finals
Orlando over Chicago.
Western conference preview will be up before next Friday. Y'all be cool. Giddyap.
Atlantic Division ( teams are broken down in order of predicted finish)
Boston Celtics-Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels are very nice additions to the Celtics, which they desperately need. Heck, they could add everybody's favorite psychotherapy patient Stephon Marbury and he would help backing up Rajon Rondo, but in the end its all noise. If Kevin Garnett does not return to his 2008-09 form, there's no way the Celtics compete for a title. Hear that creaking......its the Celtics window closing.
Toronto Raptors- Raptor general manager Bryan Colangelo had an aggressive bold offseason signing Handsome Hedo Turkoglu and Jarrett Jack to rich free agent contracts and extending former first overall pick Andrea Bargnani with an enormous deal. Colangelo starts the season with an eclectic group that's fun to watch, but will be short on rebounding and perimeter defense. I'm also not sure if he's got the right coach to make this team compete in Jay Triano. All of this spending was designed to show pending star free agent Chris Bosh that the organization is committing to winning. If it doesn't end up being enough to keep Bosh in Toronto, the Raptors are on the hook for a lot of money with a team that can't compete. The good news for Colangelo is that Jack is Bosh's college teammate and good friend and he's signed for 4 years, so you never know.
New Jersey Nets- This is going to be a team to watch this season for all of the right reasons. And they are certainly going to be better than people think. Very athletic with a very good point guard in Devin Harris and a very promising young big man in Brook Lopez. Lots of verys for a team only projected to win about 25 games. This team will be a very attractive option for one of the superstar free agents of the class of 2010, especially now that they have a billionaire Russian owner who is willing to spend a few bucks. Mark my words, the Nets are a more likely destination for LeBron James or Dwyane Wade than their higher profile crosstown rivals.
Philadelphia 76ers- As good a coach as Eddie Jordan is, he's going to have a tough time turning around this disaster. They did not have the financial willingness to re-sign point guard Andre Miller and their up tempo system does not run without the right point guard. They drafted UCLA frshman Jrue Holiday with their first round pick leaving Carolina point guard Ty Lawson on the board. Holiday wasn't even good enough to start in the Pac-10 last season. He's at least two years away from running the Sixers. In addition, their highest paid player, Elton Brand is a half court player who is ill-equipped to succeed in the Sixers' up tempo system. Get ready for lots of empty seats at the Wachovia Center.
New York Knicks- The Knicks look so bad, they make the Sixers look like the Lakers. They bring back most of the same group as last season. They added the Bust of Draft Past in Darko Milicic and the Bust of draft future in Jordan Hill. The only real building blocks they have are last year's #1 Danilo Galinari and Wilson Chandler, and Chandler had very little trade value when GM Donnie Walsh shopped him in the offseason. And on top of all of of this, their misguided off season pursuits of Grant Hill, Jason Kidd, Carlos Boozer, and Ramon Sessions wreak of a situation where the general manager and the coach are not on the same page. LeBron, do yourself a favor. Stay far far away.....unless you're folowing the Nets to Brooklyn.
Central Division (in predicted order of finish)
Cleveland Cavaliers- The Cavs little makeover reminds me of the town of Rock Ridge from the movie Blazing Saddles. Rock Ridge was the fake town that was built with just store fronts with nothing behind men to throw the sheriff's men off the trail. On the surface, the Cavs should look better from the addition of Shaquille O'Neal, Anthony Parker, and Jamario Moon. But O'Neal at this stage of his career is not all that different from Zydrunas Ilgauskas, except Shaq has a TV show and 5 championship rings. Bringing Shaq in was a nice gesture to try and keep LeBron in town this offseason, but its not going to translate into more playoff wins, which is what the Cavs need to be better than last year. The Cavs biggest problems in the playoffs was having enough athletes to match up with Orlando's big wing players. Parker is 34 years old, and not athletic enough to match up with Rashard Lewis or Vince Carter. And Moon is a good athlete, but couldn't hit the water if he threw a bag of garbage off a pier. In the end, it will probably mean the same fate as last season... a conference finals loss and a lot of nail biting over whether LeBron James is going to stay in town.
Chicago Bulls- This is the year the Bulls will make their move towards being an elite team in the East. They will benefit tremendously from the continued development of young star point guard Derrick Rose. Center Joakim Noah will show some offense to accompany his intense defense, rebounding and athleticism. Luol Deng should be back healthy and he adds to their athleticism. And they subtracted the biggest ball hog this side of Allen Iverson in Ben Gordon. I even think that head coach Vinny Del Negro took his lumps in last year's playoffs and learned plenty. The Bulls will challenge the Cavaliers for Central division supremacy and will be a clear pain in someone's rump come playoff time.
Indiana Pacers- They won't be great, but they'll be better than people think. Their big offseason additions were first round pick Tyler Hansbrough and free agent signee Dahntay Jones. Hansbrough should help marginally and Jones probably less. The big factors for the Pacers will be the continued development of 2nd year center Roy Hibbert, who has looked like a monster in preseason, and the return from a knee injury of swingman Mike Dunleavy. With an improved Hibbert and a healthy Dunleavy, underrated and under appreciated star Danny Granger should get enough help to make this team a 6, 7, or 8 seed in the East, which represents progress in Indiana these days.
Milwaukee Bucks- The Bucks are a team that may got a little bit better. It probably won't be enough for a playoff berth, but they should make some progress. They traded Richard Jefferson for cap relief, which will end up being addition by subtraction for two reasons. Jefferson's shot selection has gotten progressively worse as time has gone on. And his departure opens up playing time for last year's first round pick Joe Alexander, who is a good athlete that can shoot but needs live action to develop his game. The Bucks also chose not to re-sign restricted free agent point guard Ramon Sessions and drafted point guard Brandon Jennings in the first round. Jennings is a dynamic athlete with potential to turn into an electric point guard, so there's upside there. The Bucks also brought in a couple of good athletes for good prices in Hakim Warrick and Carlos Delfino. The big danger for the Bucks is that head coach Scott Skiles doesn't lose patience with some of these young players and kill their confidence before they ever have it.
Detroit Pistons- So, if you're Joe Dumars, and you make an awful trade last season, shipping out a seasoned championship point guard in Chauncey Billups and bringing in the world's biggest chucker (Allen Iverson), essentially torpedoing the Pistons' entire season?? If I'm Joe D, I trade Prince and Hamilton for cap relief and draft picks, blow the whole thing up and start from scratch. Unfortunately, for Pistons fans, I'm not Joe D. Dumars attempted to remake this thing on the fly and threw ridiculous amounts of money on the world's second biggest chucker, Ben Gordon, and a three point shooting power forward who doesn't defend or rebound in Charlie Villanueva. And to top it off, Joe D hires a career assistant who's last head coaching job 20 years ago resulted in the worst season in Division 1 college history as HIS new head coach. We will spend the season gawking at them as if they were a car accident, sort of the NBA's version of a rubber necking delay.
Southeast Division ( in order of predicted finish)
Orlando Magic- No one would have blamed Magic GM Otis Smith if he had decided to bring back the same team from last season. that made a surprise run to th NBA finals All he really HAD to do was re-sign Handsome Hedo, and they could run it back with Dwight Howard being a year better. But Smith saw an opportunity to improve this team, and with ownership's blessing (financial commitment), he made them a force. He let the Raptors overpay Turkoglu. He brought in Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson for Courtney Lee and some expiring contracts. Carter is a huge upgrade over Handsome Hedo and Anderson is the kind of stretch "4" that Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy loves. Smith also signed free agent undersized power forward Brandon Bass from Dallas, who makes an excellent front court mate for Howard and Rashard Lewis and gives the Magic a power presence, which will allow Van Gundy to go big or small. Smith also recognized the value of backup center Marcin Gortat and matched Dallas' offer sheet to keep him in Orlando. And for Otis' last trick, he signed Jason Williams to backup Jameer Nelson at point guard. Williams spent a year out of basketball, but was an extremely functional point guard for the Miami Heat 2006 title team. All in all, a stellar offseason for my man Otis. Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2009-2010 Eastern Conference champions.
Atlanta Hawks- The Hawks made attempts to improve in the offseason, unfortunately I'm not sure they worked. They brought Jamal Crawford in from Golden State. Crawford is a chucker in the Iverson/Ben Gordon mold, which won't exactly help team chemistry. Joe Johnson has one foot out the door in the last year of his contract. And if he doesn't come back, it turns quickly into a disaster. They've got big financial decisions to coming up on Marvin Williams and Al Horford. And considering that they're already paying Josh Smith and Mike Bibby for awhile, this thing goes in reverse quickly without Johnson. The East is too tough for them to advance anywhere. It will be a first round playoff loss and lean times on the horizon once again in Atlanta.
Miami Heat- I hate to say it, but things don't look all that good here either. Yes, they've got Dwyane Wade in his prime. And with Wade being a free agent after the season, he may have one foot out the door as well. The Heat's best chance to keep Wade may have come and gone with their failed offseason pursuit of Lamar Odom and Carlos Boozer. Now their best chance is to hope for significant improvement from Michael Beasley, Mario Chalmers, and Daequan Cook. In other words, Wade's probably good as gone. The good news for Miami is that with the shot Jermaine O'Neal in the last year of his ridiuclously bloated contract, they have virtually no money committed beyond this year.
Washington Wizards- The notion that the Wizards somehow made themselves a playoff team by moving the #5 pick in the draft for Mike Miller and Randy Foye and getting all-world chucker Gilbert Arenas back from injury is faulty at best and utterly absurd at worst. I'm a big fan of Ernie Grunfeld, but he's got it wrong here. He could have started to rebuild this thing around Ricky Rubio. Instead, he's grasping at straws with a selfish veteran team. The only thing the Miller/Foye trade did was get them closer to making the playoffs, which will mean less balls in the lottery jar, utlimately setting the organization back. The good news is that another lottery pick will be pending.
Charlotte Bobcats- Don't look now, but Larry Brown took the wrong job again. Ownership has very little financial commitment to winning considering that owner Bob Johnson is dying to sell the team. General manager Rod Higgins has not done well on a shoestring budget. President Michael Jordan is too busy playing golf and giving unique and entertaining Hall of Fame induction speeches. The bottom line is that outside of Jason Richardson (chucker) and some young point guard depth, the Bobcats have nothing. They can talk up the Tyson Chandler-Emeka Okafor deal all they want basketball-wise, getting Chandler was all about saving money considering that Chandler cannot stay healthy enough to stay on the court. If Larry doesn't want this to be his last job, he better jump ship quick, because this team this season is not going to be his lead item on the old resume.
Predicted Playoff Seedings
1) Cleveland
2) Orlando
3) Boston
4) Chicago
5) Toronto
6) Indiana
7) Atlanta
8) Miami
Final Four
Chicago over Cleveland
Orlando over Boston
Conference Finals
Orlando over Chicago.
Western conference preview will be up before next Friday. Y'all be cool. Giddyap.
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