NBA Season Preview

I've finally gotten a chance to do something productive with this blog and make some predictions before the league I'm talking about actually starts. In my opinion, there are more questions than answers this season in the NBA, but i'm pumped up.

Truthfully, the NFL has been garbage this year, so I'm more ready for the NBA than I think I've ever been in October. Without further ado ...

Eastern Conference

1. Cleveland Cavaliers – The time is now for LeBron to put up or shut up. Last season, he snickered and sneered his way to 30, 7 and 7 despite an open disdain for the play of many of his teammates. Now, they seem to be one of the deepest teams in the east. I expect them to make the leap, with King James finally ascending to the NBA’s throne.
2. Boston Celtics – This year, I expect a lot of parity in the NBA for a change. That said, the Celtics and Pistons will probably do what most veteran contender teams do in the NBA; take off the first 1/4 or 1/3 of the season, then turn it on down the stretch.
3. Detroit Pistons – Joe Dumars should’ve blown this team the past few years. The problem is, they are always good enough to finish no worst than third in the East and make a championship run, even though they need a chemistry change to get them back to the top.
4. Miami Heat - D. Wade is back, and he has a nice mix of youth and experience with him. If they pick up the pace (which they should sans Riley), they can easily take control of the weakest division in the NBA.
5. Toronto Raptors - The 4th best team in the East is here only because of NBA alignment rules. The pick up of Jermaine O’Neal shows an interesting potential rift between coach Sam Mitchell (a traditionalist) and Bryan Collangelo (a big fan of the international, fast pace style of ball). J.O. will also relegate more bench time for Andrea Bargnani, who may never live up to his #1 pick potential.
6. Philadelphia 76ers – A good, but not great team with too much hype.
7. Charlotte Bobcats - I don’t know how, but I have a feeling that Larry Brown will find a way to get these guys in the playoffs.
8. Washington Wizards – These next few teams are pretty much interchangeable (and definitely Charlotte at #7 as well), as far as potential. The Wiz have too many injuries to really be a threat, and are married to this bunch of players that doesn’t quite fit for the foreseeable future.
9. Atlanta Hawks – The Hawks have good talent, but an aging Bibby and constant friction between players and the coach, the coach and front office and the front office with each other usually isn’t a good mix for a winning program.
10. Orlando Magic - I might be the only person who has these guys out of the playoffs, but I’m not sold.
11. Indiana Pacers – If they stay healthy, they could easily sneak their way into the playoffs.
12. Chicago Bulls – They need to make some moves quickly to get better fitting parts if they want to make a playoff run this year.
13. New Jersey Nets – Everyone is expecting Vince to mail it in. Also, I’m not that big on the whole Devin Harris going to the next level in New Jersey theory. I saw a stat somewhere that showed his shooting percentage dropped by like 6% after he moved to Jerz. This is because in Dallas he was taking mostly open jump shots and layups. Asked to carry more of the load in New Jersey, he’ll be prone to taking bad shots.
14. New York Knicks – Love D’Antoni, hate this team.
15. Milwaukee Bucks – Probably like this team more than most, hate Skiles.

Western Conference

1. New Orleans Hornets – I think Posey puts them over the top. Overall, I think this year will have the most parity/mediocrity in the league in recent history. I expect them to be one of the few dominant teams.
2. LA Lakers – I think the West will be N.O. and the rest. These guys could easily drop lower, with injury and chemistry problems seemingly on the horizon. It would be in their best interest to trade L.O. as soon as possible.
3. Utah Jazz – The Boozer situation could get ugly, and so could the situation with D-Wil’s ankle. If they hold it together and keep Booz or get equal value, they could jump the Lakers.
4. Houston Rockets – T-Mac and Yao are going to get hurt. They will likely be hurt at the same time, at least for a few games, putting the keys in Ron Artest’s hands. This could either validate them as a title contender or validate the critics of the Artest experiment.
5. San Antonio Spurs – They’ll mail in the first half season, especially with Ginobili out for a while, then turn it up after the all-star break. Be prepared to read several articles abut how scary they are in March.
6. Denver Nuggets – Like spots 7-13 in the East, 6-14 is up for grabs in my opinion. The Nuggets have an ugly team but before you put them out of the playoff picture, you have to remember that Melo always makes the playoffs.
7. Dallas Mavericks – Do not be surprised if they don’t make the playoffs, especially when Jason Kidd misses the inevitable 10-15 games.
8. Phoenix Suns – Definitely don’t be surprised if they miss the playoffs. Nash, Shaq, Raja Bell and G. Hill could combine to miss 100 games this year. Even if they all play 82, this team doesn’t fit well together and Nash is essentially a waste in a slow paced offense.
9. LA Clippers – Don’t be surprised if they make the playoffs. They have a team of hardheads, which could be problematic for chemistry, but if B. Diddy stays healthy, the team meshes quickly and Dunleavy gets his rotation in order, they’ll definitely be playing ball well into April.
10. Portland Trailblazers – Too many people on the bandwagon, but should definitely be a playoff team in 09-10.
11. Minnesota Timberwolves – A potential sleeper this year, should be a definite sleeper next year.
12. Sacramento Kings – Ditto.
13. Memphis Grizzlies – Ditto.
14. Golden State Warriors – Ugly, ugly situation in Oaktown. They are definitely “Atlanta Hawks West.” It sucks because they had so much momentum with fan support after they knocked off the Mavs a few years ago.
15. Oklahoma City Liberty – Bad karma from Seattle, worst uniforms in the history of professional sports hands down. I hope they only win 8 games and still miss out on the #1 pick.


Awards
MVP – LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
Coach of the Year – Jerry Sloan, Utah Jazz
ROY – Greg Oden, Portland Trailblazers
6th Man – James Posey, New Orleans Hornets
Most Improved – Jose Calderon, Toronto Raptors
Defensive – Josh Smith, Atlanta Hawks

All-NBA
C – Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic
PF – Amare Stoudamire, Phoenix Suns
SF – LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
SG – Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
PG – Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets

Playoffs

East

1st Round
Cleveland def Washington (again); Boston def Charlotte; Philadelphia def Detroit; Toronto def Miami

Conf. Semi’s

Cleveland def Toronto; Boston def Philadephia

Conf Finals

Cleveland def Boston

West

1st Round
New Orleans def Phoenix; Lakers def Dallas; Utah def Denver; San Antonio def Houston

Conf Semi’s
New Orleans def San Antonio; Utah def Lakers

Conf Finals
New Orleans def Utah

NBA Finals
New Orleans def Cleveland

NBA Trade Deadline Re-Cap

The trade deadline finally came and went with a few minor trades, two semi-important trades, and a huge deadline deal.

For the minor deals, Toronto traded Juan Dixon to the Pistons for Primoz Brezec. No comment about this one.

Houston traded Kirk Snyder and a 2nd round pick for the T’Wolves Gerald Green. Its bad news for Green when a team like the Timberwolves gives up on you.

Portland traded Taurean Green to the Nuggets for Von Wafer. Yawn.

In a very interesting move, the San Antonio Spurs acquired Kurt Thomas from the Supersonics for Francisco Elson, Brent Barry, and a 1st round pick. This is a big, big move for them. Thomas gives them depth and good shooting from the center position that the Spurs seem to reserve for players that provided defense and rebounding only.

Add to the fact that Brent Barry was bought out by the Sonics soon after the deal and could re-sign with the Spurs. If he does that, they would’ve upgraded from Elson to Thomas at backup center at the low cost of a low first round draft pick. Amazing.

Another interesting trade was New Orleans getting Bonzi Wells and Mike James from the Rockets for Bobby Jackson. Bonzi is an excellent role player for a team lacking depth, although he’s nuts. Playing with CP3 might keep him sane at least for the rest of the season.

However, I think Mike James is a downgrade from Bobby Jackson. The only thing that’s good about James is he’s a lot more durable than Jackson. For the Rockets, they continue to have one of the weirdest rosters around. They have no depth at the 2 or the 3, but seem to only acquire power forwards and point guards.

Of course the biggest deal was the three team trade between Seattle, Chicago and Cleveland. The Sonics received Adrian Griffin, Ira Newble, and Donyell Marshall; Chicago got Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Shannon Brown, and Cedric Simmons; Cleveland got Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West.

For the Sonics, they continue to cut salary I guess to help make their move cheaper. This sucks for Seattle as the NBA is going to sit back and allow a franchise with loyal fans to be moved in the name of corporate welfare.

For Chicago, they got rid of Ben Wallace’s ugly contract and officially ushered in the Joakim Noah/Tyrus Thomas era. The move also suggests that Ben Gordon’s Bulls days are numbered, although I still think the Bulls should just buy Hughes out.

For Cleveland, LeBron finally has a decent supporting cast. I don’t know where Ben Wallace fits in, as he’s just a more expensive Anderson Varejao. Joe Smith is a smarter, although less athletic, Drew Gooden. Szcerbiak is not the catch and shoot guy he’s been made out to be, but he’s a hell of a lot better than Larry Hughes (and cheaper too).

He didn’t fit in with KG, which should be another red flag. Still, he has to fit in better with this team than Hughes.

My favorite part of this deal for the Cavs is the addition of Delonte West. I don’t know why nobody wants to keep this guy. He’s solid at all aspects of the game; he can shoot with range, play defense, rebound, and pass. Him and Boobie Gibson are a solid young point guard combination, comparable to the Lakers combo of Jordan Farmar and Sasah Vujacic.

Now that everything’s said and done, doesn’t this year’s playoffs seem like they will be epic? I can’t wait.