What the future holds in my opinion

I always think itz neat to look at where certain teams will be in a few years. here is my opinion on teams w/ promise and teams on the downfall.

Going Up

1.Rockets- great young core... only will get better... needs some veterans who play D. francis must assert himself. i dont care for mo taylor. he's not a team cancer though. losing dream might hurt us. but we have alot of good young talent.

2.Mavs- ditto for the most part. but can finley/nowitzki equal one bona fide superstar?

3. Sixers- yes they are. group of veterans in their prime. iverson will continue to improve.

4. Wolves- they lost joe smith. so what? they have a good group of veterans and young players. billups is good garnett is great, wally will be good, brandon is good when healthy.

5. Lakers- sorry... but shaq and kobe are still real young. they need to address the forward spots and PG spots. but those 2 are all they need to win the game.

6. Orlando-when they get everyone healthy they will be an excellent team. they need some big bodies though.

7. Hornets- sounds odd. but they are. lots of young guys. smart to get rid of coleman. baron davis is awesome. wesley is playing hte best ball of his life. magloire is good.

8. Denver- if they get their act together they will be just fine. they have alot of talent.

9. Suns- great overall talent. needs to trade some swingmen for a real good bigman.

10. Clippers- they r playing hard. they have talent all over the place. they will improve.

MAYBE going up

11. Kings- if webber stays they will be incredibly dangerous for a long time. Peja, JDUB, the bench, christie, b.jackson, etc.

12. Spurs- Duncan is there 3 years. anderson can play. daniels is good. rose is aright.but the rest of the team is old. who knows how duncan will do if he has to lead the team on his own.

13. Indiana- lots of young talent. needs to start producing. thomas will do fine as a coach. the ? is how much longer will miller be there. they need a badass center

14. Blazers- have lots of good young talent in stoudamire, wells, and wallace. they have alot of medium vets in smith, davis, anthony. but they also have some guys that r old and unproductive like pippen, kemp, sabonis, augmon. they have almost too many good guys. i dont think they come to play every night. but hey they will be contenders for a while.

15. Cavs- andre miller is very solid. i like matt harping/ gatling. mihm/ the Z guy are good centers. but
they need 2-3 scorers. they need a scoring 2 or 3. they play nice D. murray at the 3 isnt that good. basically they need another star. heh i hate to say but cuttino mobley would look superb on this team.

16. Vancouver- great young core w/ swift, bibby, dickerson, abdur rahim. they still suck however. sorry but they do. they still dont have much of a bench. O harrington wants out. they need to just figure out how to win. i like their coach.

Going Down

17. Sonics- ugh. what a diapointment. payton has about 3-4 seasons left. while he is awesome beyond words he still is a ballhog at times and a team cancer. bakers career at this point cant be salvaged. rashard is great but he isnt quite ready. the jury is out on mason. patterson will be gone quick. ewing if he stays does not have alot of time left. barry and williams r ok bench guys. not alot of big bodies.

18. Heat- mourning if he comes back might not be as effective. still not alot of offense. horrid bench. hardaway does not look good at all some nights. no true scorer. jones n grant r nice tho.

19. Knicks- spreewell might leave. they want mutumbo yet he is still real old. too many swingmen. houston is not the player people thought he would be.

20. Jazz- malone has 2-3 seasons left. stockton has a few. but no matter how long they stay together they still wont win anything w/ all the good teams out west. stevenson could be awesome however.

21. Raptors- carter is awesome. that is a given. but look at the rest of his team. lots of old veterans. oakley n jackson do not have alot of time left. willis is old. their bench is not that great. williamson has flopped. Mo peterson can play yes. but he wont be a star. carter is in my opinion screwed without mcgrady

Going Nowhere

22. Pistons- owe rockets a draft pick quick, stackhouse is only guard that can score. cleaves/atkins r nice but not great. no center to speak of. PF is pretty good w/ wallace/smith. No SF

23. Bulls- too young too bad too ignorant. they still use the triangle. why?
brand is good. fizer is not a 3 sorry. their PGs r bad. crawford is years away. mercer is shot happy and overrated. no center or small forward. artest is an ok 6th man.

24. Hawks- about to trade dikembe. dermarr J will be real good in 2-3 years. the word is out on terry. he might not have an NBA game. PF is ok w/ wright. jackson is a solid vet. they still will stink for a while though.

25. Golden St.- hughes is not too much of a team player. he is overrated IMO. jamison is a damn good player but not a star. fortson is nice when healthy. sorry but i dont think cowens is a great coach. the big men on golden st. r even worse than ours. the backcourt is ok cummings could be aright. sura is good. this team sucks at shooing so bad. blaylock is old. not good in any 1 area.

26. Bucks- sorry but its true. so many ballhogs on one team. pryzbilla is years away. their center and PF r awful. no frontline at all.
they play no D. cassell is a good PG. allen is a good SG. robinson is a good SF. none can be stars on their own sorry. tim thomas might have a shot at stardom if he was on another team. but he hasnt done much this season.

27. Wizards- they actually added two not bad at all swingmen in nesby and lopez. but not bad isnt that great. r.hamilton is a nice player. so is whitney and j.white. the rest of the team is atrocious. where has juwan howard's career gone. richmond is too old. ditto for strickland who is a crybaby.

28. Celtics- they dont play D. walker is overrated. if they would make pierce the first option they would be fine. their backcourt is not good at all. pierce is a good 3. walker is an ok 4. moiso could be very good one day. battie is inconsistent. their center is horrid. their bench is horrid. they look like they do not care.

The Jury is out on

29. Nets- they just cant seem to be healthy. marbury is great but must learn to pass. Kmart will be a damn good pro. still have no center. their D is much improved. van horn is good when he asserts himself. kendall gill is good. as is stephen jackson. their bench is pretty solid. they need some big bodies. good coach.

------------------
--TEX

 

i just dont know about the raptors. personally ive never been a lenny wilkins fan. carter looks like he has to do everything every time i see them play. they dont have a true center. jackson is getting up there in age. and carter might leave via free agency. morris peterson will be a nice player. but in terms of room to grow for a team...... MJ had pretty decent talent around him. carter doesnt have near the level.

vj
they really arnet in any order. just what i could think of. i agree w/ u on the clips. they have so much talent. i just hope sterling isnt foolish enough to blow this.

on the spurs
well when they have their big man in hand ill be a believer. they stil have alot of good young talent so maybe i shouldve put em in the going up list. but duncan IS only there for 3 years which is how long robinson is going to play at most.

DEANBCURTIS
i just dont know about the heat. they have some real real good players in jones, grant, n mourning. but all 3 are good overall and made for defense. if mourning returns healthy and back to his old self or jones/grant start winning a ton of games then i agree they should be moved up.

Lynus
Kings r in the maybe cuz webber might leave..
on the wolves
partly agree but w/ KG's salary they r so capped out it wouldnt have mattered.

------------------
--TEX

[This message has been edited by TeXaSalsa (edited December 03, 2000).]