i agree with the six teams you mentioned (DAL, LAL, MEM, OKC, LAC, SAS) i think the rockets and portland will fill out the playoff teams unfortunately (im pro-tank) lottery GS-same no defense team. depending on mark jackson to improve it. good luck w/ that DEN- just nene, gallinari and lawson. everybody in china SAC- actually has a good roster with additions of hayes and hickson PHX- just nash UTA- good roster. jefferson and harris and good young players MIN- adelman can only do so much w/ a 17 win roster NOH - so who's on this team? ariza and some former clippers?
Not so sure about Spurs, not only they have not improved, but they don't even have McDyess neither, a very important part of the team these last years. You gotta bet for them still, but I think that signing Dalembert we would have the potential to beat them. The Clippers... there is no doubt that they will improve, but remains to be seen how much, they won 32 games last season. Anyway I bet for them as a playoff team.
I am afraid we will struggle to stay at .500 Just like last year. To be honest we don't know the rotation or who will even start. What would even be the point of getting Dalembert? Either play the players you have, stay young and see where that takes your, or trade everybody. I don't want another Astros season for the Rockets. Make moves or accept what we are.
Winning the 7th or 8th seed isn't necessarily meaningless. One thing nobody seems to mention, new stars are born out of the playoffs almost every year. With a decent center, Sammy, Chris or whoever, we very well could end up deep in this year's playoffs. This would give K-Mart and Scola more exposure, causing their value to increase. So whether you see them as integral to our chances to win, or just trade fodder...a solid play-off run by K-Mart would help this team immensely. And could possibly even propel him to All-Star status. As hype often trumps talent, most NBA fans have never seen him score in bunches, because Kevin's never been on a playoff run. And his "D", its not like Dirk is known for his defense either. A little National exposure for this team, and all of our assets could grow in value.
I'm just gonna throw around some numbers and dollar signs. 18,043 x ~$165 = $2,977,095 x 2 = $5,954,190 x 3 = $8,931,285 14th pick makes around $2-3 million per season.
Without Chuck we cant. We have just lost the only interior protection we had and minus 5-6 rebounds to go with that. BUT We are an instant playoff team if we add Dalembert. This way Chuck wont be missed too much. Chuck is probably the best one on one big man defender in the league. But that doesnt guarantee rim protection and intimidation. Thats what SammyD provides. Plus more rebounds. Lowry/Dragic Martin/Lee ?????/Bud Scola/Patterson SammyD/?????? This team makes the playoffs with out Flynn, T-Will, Hill, Thabbet or Morris and D-Mo. But if you fill my gaps on the team with decent players then we can get past 1st round. 1. Dallas 2. Thunder 3. Memphis - if they add depth behind Gay and Gasol. 4. Lakers - too old, no more Phil Dogg. 5. Spurs - Too old, no depth at 3,4,5 positions. Blair, Splitter and McDyess are so so. 6. Denver - They got NeNe and will get Affalo. They replaced Chandler and JR. They can beat Lakers and Spurs if they add another front court player to compliment NeNe. 7. Portland - Too thin up front with injury prone Camby. 8. Rockets - If we get SammyD we cab be here, other wise it will be Clippers. 9. Clippers - Clippers will make further improvements before trade deadline. But season not long enough to gel. 10. Utah - Solid core - Harris, Jefferson, Millsap, Okur + Favours, Kanter, Burks, Hayward. But no chemistry, new coach. 11. Hornets - They need a PG and support cast. 12. Wolves - Only Love and Williams plus Aldeman. Rubio will screw them. 13. Phoenix - Nash and Hill are too old. I want Gortat. 14. Warriors - None of their peices compliment Curry. Dismal team. 15. Kings - Jimmer, Evans, Thornton, Salmons, Cousins all need ball in their hands to be effective. Horrible team.
In short, I hope not. I'm tired of being in the middle of the pack. Be bad and get a good player since none want to come here.
We didn't last year, nothing changed except we have no Hayes in the Middle, why would we make it this year
Denver, Portland and Hornets are getting worse than last season. Hence, Rockets get a chance to make playoff. But I hope they fail so that Rockets could keep lottery draft picks, which could turn into a higher pick than 14th.
DAL, OKC, SAN, MEM, LAL will all certainly be in the playoffs. I am also thinking DEN, and while people always think UTA will drop out, they are like Jason or Freddie is the horror movies... you can shoot, stab, electrocute, etc , but the scary music plays and they keep coming at you. So that is six spots for sure. LAC improved, so they will be at the tail end of the playoff picture. Leaving a bunch of teams (HOU, GSW, POR, PHO, NOH, and even MIN under Adelman) fighting for #8. I am just not feeling it for the Rockets. In fact, since the "feel good" story will be the Hornets, I am picking them for #8. We *could* end up behind everyone. A situation I would never have even imagined going into the past few seasons.
Rileydog, you remember when francis and company were playng for the rockets? There was excitement in trying to make the playoffs because of who was on the team. For the most part, their best players were francis,mobley,yao,and taylor. At the time, I don't think any of those guys were over 25 yrs old and weren't maxxed out on their abilities. Look at this team assembled and their 2 best players are pushing 30 and maxxed out on their abilities. I don't have a problem with making this magical playoff push which i think is possible, I just want to see it done with the younger guys.
43 wins last year gives me hope..I think the Rox will be one of those 2 'meh' teams that you listed and fills out the last of the WC playoffs. Of course, we will most likely get bounced by OKC, who will be either the 1 or 2 seed in the West IMO... Of course much hinges on how the players respond to McHale and his system...
I doubt it. We'll probably just miss the playoffs by a couple games and land a #12 spot in the draft. Hooray mediocracy! Seirously, just tank and rebuild. Even if we land a couple good players, we're not going to beat the mavs, lakers (assuming they get another star like howard), OKC, heat, knicks, etc. Competition is way too hard right now, even if DM worked some magic like everyone here thinks he can. Just plan to start making a run in 3 years or so when some of these teams are slowing down.
