Meaning this is the last year for
him to win another championship for Cleveland and without Irving it makes the
percentage even higher he will leave, leaving the Cavs without a potentially relevant
future. New Cavs GM
resigned with Irving demanding a trade and getting it. They put a
band aid on this season by getting PG
. Lebron will have to carry
an injured/injury prone team to make the finals this year.
The two additions make them a great team but they
lost their depth along with Hayward breaking his Tibia and dislocating his
ankle. They will make the playoffs in the weak East but it means Irving will
have to prove he can lead a team by itself to the playoffs. His help will be C
to try to be a top 5 team. PG
did the same last year.
They think they can challenge Lebron and Co. by adding
. The
got swept by
them in Eastern conference playoffs last year and the previous year lost in the
previous round. Even with all that talent to be a top 5 seed in the weakened East
they still can’t get past the hump (Lebron and crew), so they will have to wait
till the King changes league before they have a chance to be in the finals. Well,
it hopes to be the year for the
to finally make the playoffs based on
sheer talent and the state of the Eastern conference. A full season of C
have the making of a future
super team if they all live up to expectations, they can be an 8
seed. They also still have big man
on the roster, and they added veterans (which they didn’t have much of in
previous years) in PF
Any young up and coming team needs a veteran presence to guide them through the
struggles of a season. Now we have gotten to the portion about both New York
teams (
). The Nets will not be the worst team because
of the Bulls, Kings and Suns. With the Knicks finally trading SF Carmelo
Anthony away it is now F
seed or to be pretty close to it.
(who should be starting). If C
is healthy he doesn’t need to be the center of the
offense. He did play with a young superstar before (Derrick Rose). Brooklyn
isn’t tanking, they actually have some good players on their roster minus PG
who is out for the year due
to knee surgery. They finally traded C
from the Lakers (who didn’t need him with them drafting Lonzo Ball),
plus having Jordan Clarkson and signing KCP),
who will now control the ball
without Lin. He is still young enough to evolve into the player he was destined
to be.
Southeast
Division: It is still the Wizards division and they are one
of three teams to be even in the conversation with Lebron and Co., but their 3rd
& 4th best player will have to step it up if they face them in
the playoffs. C Marcin Gortat will
have to use his height to his advantage as most teams are going small. They
retained SF Otto Porter Jr. to keep a
mini big 3 together with the two all star guards in John Wall and Bradley Beal.
Health will be the big factor along with Wall being a more willing passer since
he has talented teammates.
The bench is still a question mark with no real big
offseason moves to fix it. After missing the playoffs the
Hornets hope to get
back since the conference is weaker and they should be making the playoffs
every year in the East (weak conference). The real reason is they have a top
PG/player on their team in PG
Kemba Walker. They added another veteran big man again further delaying the
growth of C
Cody Zeller (last year Roy
Hibbert and previously Al Jefferson), this year they traded for C
Dwight Howard. They already have a log
jam for big men with
Frank Kaminisky (not
enough minutes to go around). Since they are a playoff team they will go the
veterans in Howard and stretch four
Marvin Williams and have the same issue at wing with G
Jeremy Lamb (who didn’t get a chance in OKC and isn’t here), since
they are going to play SF
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (can’t shoot/score), and SG
Nicolas Batum, and they drafted a talented guard in
Malik Monk in the draft.
The
Heat will
make the playoffs this time (after losing out on the last day to the Bulls last
year) due to the weakened conference and they have a few really talented
players. They have all world PG
Goran Dragic and one of the five best centers in the league in
Hassan Whiteside. They also retained SG
Dion Waiters who had a career year last
year since the team gave him a chance to play (unlike OKC and Cleveland), and
brought in big man
Kelly Olynyk who
should fill the PF hole they’ve had since Chris Bosh had his heart problems.
They also are hoping for a full healthy season from SF
Justise Winslow who was
the 10
th pick in the draft two years ago and who missed most of his
sophomore year due to both wrist and shoulder injuries.
He can ease himself
back into the lineup since he has four talented teammates surrounding him. Well,
Atlanta no longer has any of the four all stars they had in one season (Al
Hordford, Jeff Teague,
Kyle Korver and let Paul Millsap left in free agency)
they also traded Dwight Howard away. Their best player is PG
Dennis Schroder who is a fine player but
not the center piece of a team. Their streak of making the playoffs 10 straight
times is ending this year and they will start a new one of missing them.
Kent Bazemore is really talented like
Schroder but again a good complimentary player which sums up the roster. Their team is full of veterans who are good
role players/backups and inexperienced players.
The
Magic again will be a
bottom feeder despite having top picks in many consecutive drafts (bad drafting
and they fired their GM-hired Hall of Famer
Tracy McGrady to the front office
as special assistant, which could be the most exciting thing they do). They are
full of young talent that hasn’t proven themselves as a whole in PG
Elfrid Payton who is in year 2 without G
Victor Olidpo, F
Aaron Gordon (who is
a tweener and hope to take steps every year to get better), F
Mario Hezonja and C
Nikola Vucevic who can be a top center in the East.
They also have
good veteran pieces but that’s it on this team in G
Jonathan Simmons, G
Terrence Ross, G
Evan Fournier, G
Aaron Affalo, C
Bismack Biyombo, F
Mo Speights,
and PG
DJ Augustin who all are trade
bait.
Pacific
Division: It’s repeat at winning a championship or bust for
the Warriors but they will have
stiff competition in the West this year as many teams improved. Golden State
did re-sign PG Steph Curry and SF Kevin Durant this offseason.
They were
also able to retain their core by bringing back PG
Shaun Livingston, SF
Andre Iguodala, C
Zaza Pachuila and C
JaVale McGee. While they also added SFs
Nick Young and
Omri Casspi to their bench making them even deeper, allowing the
rest of their core of Durant, Curry, F
Draymond Green and SG
Klay Thompson to
remain fresh throughout the season and the playoffs. With the improved West it
may be hard for the
Clippers with
PF Blake Griffin & C
DeAndre Jordan to make the playoffs this
year with four other teams vying for last two spots.
They finally have a real
SF in a trade acquiring
Danilo Gallinari from Denver, but they longer have PG
Chris
Paul and SG
JJ Redick to put it
all together. They traded Paul in a blockbuster trade to Houston and got back
PG
Patrick Beverly who is a stud
defensively, bench scorer
Lou Williams
and a few youngsters and a pick. Redick
left as a free agent and they even traded away Jamal Crawford to clear cap space
but signed Serbian PG
Milos Teodosic to help out at PG. The rest of this division is all teams rebuilding and have
no shot to make the playoffs. The
Lakers
drafted PG
Lonzo Ball, signed SG
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, traded Russell
away with Mozgov’s contract for C
Brooke Lopez, and signed C
Andrew Bogut to be competitive this year but to also build for the future as they drafted
four players.
They want to build a team around Ball, G
Jordan Clarkson, F
Brandon Ingram and F
Julius Randle, but
not be the 76ers and have no veterans to lead which is why they got Lopez
(expiring contract), Bogut, and still have F
Corey Brewer and F
Luol Deng.
The
Kings finally traded away
DeMarcus Cousin this past trade deadline so this is the first full season
without him, and the team is half old veterans and half young players as they
drafted three players in first round (four draft picks total) with one being
promising PG
De'Aaron Fox.
To not rush
him they signed PG
George Hill to start. For now, it’s G
Buddy Hield’s team till Fox and fellow rookie, SF
Justin Jackson takes over. They also
signed the ageless wonder
Vince Carter,
PF
Zach Randolph, and F
Bogdan Bogdanovic to mentor the rookies
and other young players like C
Willie Cauley-Stein. The
Suns team is
full of young players and three rookies and top four pick SF
Josh Jackson. They have young guns SG
Devin Booker, PF
Marquesse Chriss, PG
Tyer Ulis, and
Dragen Bender.
They
have potential all star PG
Eric Bledsoe (who
wants a trade), veteran C
Tyson Chandler,
C
Alex Len and G
Jared Dudley on the team as well. They did lose G
Brandon Knight to injury in the offseason which
doesn’t help their win total on a team full of kids really. Another top five
pick is in their future.
Southwest
Division: The Rockets
went out and got Chris Paul in a
blockbuster deal but already were successful at PG with James Harden but now he will move back to SG.
They traded away 7
players losing lots of their depth. They signed F
PJ Tucker and F
Luc Mbah a Moute while resigning
Nene. They
have sharper shooters in G
Eric Gordon,
SF
Trevor Ariza and PF
Ryan Anderson, which they hope helps
them complement the facilitator in Paul. The question will be how Harden and
Paul work together since they both like having the ball in their hands but they
sure can match the Warriors in terms of fire power. The
Spurs will always be a top 5 team even if PG
Tony Parker is out for a bit with an injury and Tim Duncan is retired,
because of the system
Greg Popovich has installed and the good complimentary
role players. It is still a one man show in terms of stars with SF
Kawhi Leonard (who is out for a few
months with injury as well).
They resigned
Pau Gasol, PG
Patty Mills and G
Manu Ginobili, and added SF
Rudy Gay who will come in handy since
Leonard is out for a bit. If you combine PF
Lamarcus Aldridge with Gay and Gasol you might have a big 2 with great solid role
players in Mills (who’s starting till Parker comes back) G
Danny Green, SF
Kyle Anderson
and crew (some youngsters). This is why they are not winning a championship;
they are good but not good enough. The
Grizzlies
have two of the best players at their positions (also underrated) in PG
Mike Conley Jr and C
Marc Gasol which means they have a
chance for the playoffs (with four other teams for last two spots).
The
question falls on the other players they have like SF
Chandler Parsons (one of the highest salaries in NBA), and SG
Ben McLemore (who never showed how good
he could be despite all the talent in Sacramento). The hope is Parson can stay
healthy and the change of scenery can do wonders, while McLemore reaches his
potential, then they would be a threat. Those two things don’t seem the most
likely to happen which is why they also signed G/F
Tyreke Evans and PG
Mario Chalmers to solidly the bench, with C
Brandan Wright who they hope can stay healthy. No longer do they have Zach
Randolph, Tony Allen and Vince Carter as all 3 left in the offseason. Also fighting with them for a playoff spot are
the
Pelicans who have two of the
best big men playing together (going against the league that has lots of
stretch fours and one big man lineup).
Anthony Davis and Demarcus Cousins will
have a full season to work together to see if this experiment will work.
They
added PG
Rajon Rondo despite having
an all star PG in
Jrue Holiday so
they will try to play 2 PGS and two big men. At the same time rotate out a wing
player all season which would be
Tony Allen or
Dante Cunningham to name
a few. They also brought in PG
Jameer Nelson and F
Josh Smith for
depth. It will be how well the two big men and two PG system works to see if
they can make the playoffs. The
Mavericks
are in a rebuild mode despite the fact future Hall of Famer PF
Dirk Nowitzki may still has some years
left.
They also have a good amount of talented veterans on their team in SG
Wesley Matthews, SF
Harrison Barnes, guards
JJ Barea, Devin Harris,
Seth Curryand F
Josh McRoberts. That’s usually
a roster that is trying to make playoffs not rebuild. They do have a top 10
pick from the draft in PG
Dennis Smith JR who should get the bulk of playing time
at PG since they really don’t have one. Smith, Matthews, Barnes, PF
Dwight Powell and C
Nerlens Noel would seem like a good core to build a future on, but
in the West that isn’t good enough to make the playoffs and they still will be
starting/player Nowitzki a lot this year. They are a confusing team that will
finish towards the bottom again. Look for them to sell pieces at the deadline.
Northwest
Division: This is the best and most improved division in the
whole NBA. Each team could make the playoffs and three of them made big moves
to improve their team. The Thunder added
SF Paul George from the Pacers for
Oladipo and Sabonis. They also got another SF who will play, PF Carmelo Anthony from the Knicks for
Kanter and McDermott.
The question will be how three dominant ball players
learn to the share the ball. Mr. Triple-Double PG
Russell Westbrook had to do it all for them last year to win games
but they don’t have to worry about him sharing it with SG
Andre Roberson because he can’t score (who I wouldn’t start but rather
start George at SG and Melo at SF) or shoot well, and C
Steven Adams is all about hustle. They also lost two good bench
players in these trades and will have to rely on PG
Raymond Felton and PF
Patrick Patterson to lead the second unit. But don’t worry, they will finish as a
top 5 seed and Westbrook hopes it convinces George to stay when he becomes a
free agent. The
Timberwolves were a team
that everyone thought would make the playoffs last year with all the young
talent.
They just got better by trading for G
Jimmy Butler and signing PG
Jeff Teague, G
Jamal Crawford and
PF Taj Gibson. You add those veterans to the young core of F
Andrew Wiggins, C
Karl-Anthony Towns, F
Shabbaz Muhammad and C
Gorgui Dieng, they can
challenge for a top 5 seed. They had too many youngsters on their team and no
real leadership but with Gibson and Crawford they will have that. Plus it gives
some defenders for head coach
Tom Thibodeau. The
Trail Blazers failed to get Anthony which might be the difference
in the league as teams try to make super teams as the Thunder and Rockets
succeeded in doing. They still have one of the best PGs in the league in
Damian Lillard and a potential all star
in SG
CJ McCollum.
The hope that a
full season with their guards and C
Jusuf Nurkic who missed significant time last year to injury is healthy so they
can have an inside presence/side kick. They still have a team full of
bench/role players or inexperienced players. They are playing a SF at PF since
they have no PF and a team full of SFs in
Evan Turner,
Moe Harkless,
Noah Vonleh, and the guy playing PF
Al-Farouq Aminu. The
Jazz did lose SF Gordon Hayward to the
Celtics (but he is lost for the year) but still are one of the best defensive
teams and most talented teams in the league since they have C
Rudy Gobert (who could be the best center).
They got a top
defensive and elite passer in PG
Ricky Rubio which will help them (since he doesn’t like shooting), as he will
feed the ball to Gobert and PF
Derrick Favors as much as possible or let SG
Rodent Hood fill it up. They had bad luck with injuries last year so they hope they
can count on PG
Dante Exum and G
Alec Burks who hasn’t lived up to his potential
yet because of injuries. They still have
G
Joe Johson,
Joe Ingles as part of
their core and added veterans F
Jonas Jerebko, G
Thabo Sefolosha and C
Ekpe Udoh to round out the bench of
youngsters to provide some more veteran leadership. The
Nuggets have a good chance to make the playoffs this year and it
will be centered on that all around talent and potential they have. They added
F
Paul Millsap to the core of C
Nikola Jokic (who came out of nowhere)
guards
Jamal Murray,
Emmanuel Mudiay,
Malik Beasley, and veterans SF
Wilson Chandler, C
Mason Plumlee (who
can now backup), PF
Trey Lyles, SF
Richard Jefferson and F
Arthur Darrell.
They have even more
young talent outside of the three main guards and Jokic, in guards
Gary Harris and
Will Barton, but we are also forgetting about the manimal
Kenneth Faried who may not even play
since they got Lyles and Plumlee. They have the talent to compete, the question
is can coach
Mike Malone figure out a way to manage all this talent and minutes
for the many talented guards they have?
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