I had to break this off in two parts because it was so long. So there will be two posts to this.
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Originally posted by 088nd
I'm bored, so I figured I'd predict rankings for next year in the NBA. I'll start with the good 'ole Western Confernece first. I'll do these maybe a few more times before the season starts, as the off-season shapes up. |
Nice, my man. Nice.
Well, you got it started now man. Since I saw this last night, I've been ranking the teams in my head and since ol' boy 088nd got it poppin' on the Western Front, I'll hit it off from the East Coast:
Disclaimer: THIS PREDICTIONS OF MINE ARE IF THE SEASON WOULD START AS OF THIS MOMENT, RIGHT NOW! THIS ARE SUBJECT AND PROBABLY AS TIME GOES ON, TO CHANGE.
:: The Eastern Conference ::
1. Miami Heat
Do I really think that the Heat can be the first place team in the East. Not really, no. But with the East sort of wide open at the moment and being the current NBA Champions, the Heat have the best chance to be the first place team in the East. All last season, fans were wondering if this team was real and that if team can beat Detroit, let alone win the Championship in a six game sweep. They shut those guys up and if the Heat want to be in the top of the East, they need to watch out of injuries since this is be no means and youthful club,
Shaq needs to reserve himself, and
Dwyane Wade needs to continue his current trend towards the top of the NBA tier. If only he can just stop with bullsh** injuries and all that crap with getting to the free throw line.
2. Detroit Pistons
Last year, the Pistons had the best record of the NBA. And last year, they finally developed an ego as well. Exposed by Cleveland and put away by Miami, the Pistons need to actually develop a bench to give its starting five a rest once in a while. Come on (aside from
Antonio McDyess, when the first guys of the bench is
Maurice Evans,
Lindsay Hunter, and
Tony Delk, you know you got problems with the bench. Losing
Ben Wallace sucks hard for the Pistons as he was so much more on the court but they replaced him with
Nazr Mohammed, who is actually better than Wallace in an all-around game and signing
Ronald "Flip" Murray helps the bench greatly. Although, these signings make the Pistons much more weaker as a defensive unit all-around (their greatest strength) becuase Murray is a contender for one of the worst defensers in the NBA.
3. Cleveland Cavaliers
Although it looked like head coach
Mike Brown was just eye-candy in a suit to fool everyone in thinking that Cleveland does in fact have a head coach (I still don't think they do), Cleveland had a tremendous year last year, making the playoffs for the first time since 1997. Although they haven't done anything big yet this off-season, expect lock up
LeBron James with a contract extension, the Cavaliers unexpectiontally took Detroit to seven games and the pressure will be on to see how far Cleveland can go this time around. Re-signing
Drew Gooden is important task for them coming up and with
Flip Murray flipping to Detroit with
Flip Saunders, the Cavs are going to need another shooter to help James and co. Another important aspect is making sure
Larry Hughes stays healthy. He's one of the leagues best defenders and during the time he was healthy, he helped out LBJ incredibly as a backcourt scorer and defender.
4. Chicago Bulls
I'm saying this once, so please pay attention: Last year in the playoffs, the Chicago Bulls did the best job against the Miami Heat. There, I said it. The Baby Bulls had everything that was the Heat's weakness; incredible shooting, the ability to play small ball and speed. This year, the Bulls started the off-season with a bang, signing
Ben Wallace, trading for
PJ Brown , getting rid of
Tyson Chandler and getting rookie Tyrus Thomas in the draft from Portland. From their experience against the Champions, the Bulls realized that shooting 60% from the field in amazing and all but you need defense and an inside game, which they now have in spades. Also, look out for the continued development, under
Scott Skiles' coaching, of
Ben Gordon,
Kirk Hinrich,
Luol Deng, and when healthy Chris Duhon. These are the Bulls and adding veterans to the club will help them out as well over the season.
5. Indiana Pacers
I have to admit, this is a little bias because I'm down with the Pacers as my favorite Eastern franchise. So with that out of the way, the Pacers still have many issues to face. For one, they gave up both
Ron Artest and
Predrag Stojakovic for basically nothing (a rookie but I have no idea what his name is) which really hurts. If those trade rumors about
Al Harrington are true, then he can help a lot in that position as a starter this time around. They have to have the worst physical trainer in the world because the Pacers are ALWAYS injured. But although for the majority of the time that they are injured, the Pacers are always able to play and more importantly, pull off wins. Its time for my boy
Jermaine O'Nealto either put up or shut the hell up. He has promised that if the Pacers don't make any noise this year, that he'll demand to be traded for the good of the team. With Jermaine healthy, he's the best big man in the East (much love, Shaq) but people seriously doubt if he can actually lead a team. The Pacers are set as far as the bench goes with
Freddie Jones,
Sarunas Jasikevicius, and bringing in the athletic
Marquis Daniels from Dallas. Also, they still have
Stephen "Whoo!" Jackson, who is also a great shooter and defender but he maybe just as (or even crazier than) Artest. The point is if the Pacers can stay healthy, then are one of the best teams in the league.
6. New Jersey Nets
With the trio of
Vince Carter,
Jason Kidd, and
Richard Jefferson, the Nets can expect to be one of the top-tier teams in the Eastern Conferece. With
Jacque Vaughn signing with San Antonio and Kidd's health and endurance always in question, the Nets need to look for a backup point guard (
Jeff McInnis, but does he still play?). The weakest point in the Nets game (aside from Carter's shot. Damn!) is the front line. When you have
Jason Collins starting, that just screams the fact that you need a real center. And with what happened to
Clifford Robinson in the playoffs, his status in unknown as well. But the bright spot is
Nenad Krstic, who exploded during the middle of season and never slowed down since. With Lawrence Frank being brought back as head coach in a contract extension, the Nets can expect to make the playoffs with the core group intact for years down the road.
7. Washington Wizards
If anyone needs an inside game, its the Washington Wizards. They have the worse inside presence (hell, there's not even a presence) in the NBA and that's one of the first things they need to address. Kudos for picking up
Darius Songalia from the Bulls (too much money though in my opinon) but the Wizards are going to need more than that. The good, or incredible thing, is the Big Three that Washington has in
Gilbert Arenas,
Antwan Jamison, and
Caron Butler. Arenas is one of the best offensive players in the game (damn near averaged 30 a game, 29.3), Jamison is an all-around powerhouse who doesn't really need the ball to get 20 points, and Butler on his third team, is developing into a great defender who can score just as good as well. The bench is okay with
Antonio Daniels,
Jared Jefferies, and
Etan Thomas but needs some work to go further up the scale in Eastern tier. The Wizards are good, they are able to beat the top teams in the NBA in Detroit, San Antonio, and Miami, but need to address the inside issue of their game to get better (Looks at
Brendan Haywood).
8. Toronto Raptors
This is my surprise pick in the East for the year and with the way the off-season has started, I really can't be blamed. New GM
Bryan Colangelo has really heated things off in Air Canada by bringing in veterans in
Rasho Nestrovic,
Anthony Parker, and
TJ Ford. And also by drafting with the first pick in the draft with
Andrea Bargnani, who people are comparing to a young
Dirk Nowitzki (I wouldn't go that far but...). Although
Sam Mitchell is still the coach, Colangelo has giving him some good pieces, along with
Morris Peterson and
Joey Graham, the Raptors have done a fine job in surrounding franchise star (Vince who the hell?)
Chris Bosh with a cast that can make a serious run towards the playoffs.
Side note: I just went to the Raptors website, and Alvin Williams is still listed on their roster. Being that I haven't seen him play in three years, I find that to be awesome.
Part two later.
Peace.
).
Smooth moves, Nellie. We're ready to get back to the Finals with these guys! [/sarcasm]
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