I thought about this last night, seeing Boozer go to Chicago and Amare to NY I think the Rockets, as is, could cause some damage. 1) LA 2) OKC 3) Denver 4) Houston 5) Dallas 6) Portland 7) Utah 8) SA Phx, NOLA, Memphis and Sac Town will challenge for a playoff spot but come up short. If the Rox could make that one MAJOR IMPACT move then I think they could grab the 2 spot and challenge the Lakers.
1. L.A.Lakers - Does this really need an explanation? 2. Portland - With a bit more experience, this team can give LA a run for their money. 3. Dallas - A year older and an upgraded roster. Another great regular season...another disappointing playoff series. Sorry dallas fans, Dirk isn't going to get you there. 4. Houston - With Yao healthy, we can make a real run till the 2nd round of the playoffs. Still need that true tag team with Yao that'll get us over the hump. 5. OKC - Bigger, more experienced, and go a taste of blood against L.A.. Durant's a stud and proving to be a true franchise. 6. Denver - Health issues, no apparent upgrade except the possibility of Keiza re-signing with the team. How much can they commit $$ to Kleiza with Melo's contract looming over them? 7. San Antonio - The core's old(er). They're still playoff bound but no better than their last season. 8. Utah - With the disappearance of Boozer and small market that they're in, they'll be hurting finding a replacement for what Boozer gave them. 9. Phoenix - Nope, Hakim Warrick can't replace Amare. 10. Memphis - Randolph's a legit 20/10 dude without his slacker ways, legit big man in Gasol (the other Gasol lol), resigned Gay, and Mayo's got skillz. Too bad they don't have a true leader and our back up PGs (Lowry) an up to Conley. Nice pickup on Xavier though, should be interesting to see how they fit him in with Gay being re-signed. Doesn't seem to be a particularly deep team. 11. Sacramento - This team's finally got teeth. They've got great size and good talent. Should be a team to watch out for in few, maybe couple, of years. Good example of rebuilding mostly through the draft. 12. New Orleans - Healthy, CP3's franchise as we've seen. Too bad he doesn't have anywhere near the supporting players he needs to make his team a true contender and wooing top talents to a small market is tough at best. (Psst, Morey...you reading this? ) 13. L.A. Clippers - Donald Sterling at the helm and a busted diva in Davis leading the charge. What a waste of talent. The perpetual cesspool of the NBA. Still, i think they're good for at least a few Ws for our team. lol 14. Golden State - A team in transition with a motivationally challenged, over the hill, gimmicky Nelson as coach doesn't bode well for GS. Chris Cohan's out with legal issues and the possibility of Larry Ellison being in. Think King of Sparta aggression with the money to roll and no senate to hold him back. 15. Minnesota - It's a toss up between this headless chicken of a team and GSW. Hmm...what can i say about Minni? It's under Kahn. That is all. This is my guess given that each team is playing with a healthy roster.
1. Lakers 2. OKC 3. Dallas 4. Portland 5. Denver 6. SA 7. Houston 8. Memphis 9. Utah 10.Phoenix 11.SAC 12.NO 13.LAC 14,GS 15.MINN
1. L.A. - Fakers will be strong once again. THING(S) TO WATCH THO:Kobe's arthitic finger which apparently is getting worse, Derek "cheap shot" Fisher's contract situation, Phil Jackson's health, and the Laker bench is a question mark.
1. L.A. - Fakers will be strong once again. THING(S) TO WATCH THO:Kobe's arthitic finger which apparently is getting worse, Derek "cheap shot" Fisher's contract situation, Phil Jackson's health, and the Laker bench is a question mark. 2. OKC- Good young talent gets chance to gel together even more= scary. THING(S) TO WATCH THO: Will they add a much needed post presence ala David Lee? What kind of encore will KD have after last year? Either way a safe bet for a 1-4 seed. 3. HOU- Good young talent + YAO= things are looking up! THING(S) TO WATCH THO: With Bosh off the market how will the ROckets react? Whats plan B? Still missing back up big as well as that "last piece" to go deep into the playoffs. LA vs. HOU conference finals? 4. DAL- Solid squad same team from last year. THING(S) TO WATCH THO: Dirk is back but is another year older. Can they sign Raja Bell? Mark Cuban is always looking to throw money somewhere. 5. S.A.- Solid but older look for Hill to have breakout season. THING(S) TO WATCH: Is Tony Parker's stay w. the Spurs numbered? Will Shaq sign with the Spurs as reported? How will Tim hold up? How much time will Pop play his main guys? 6. POR- Fun team to watch with Roy coming back from injury THING(S) TO WATCH THO: How will B.Roy's knee hold up? How much better has Aldridge gotten? What will happen with Rudy? Bench is a question mark? 7. UTAH- Loss of Boozer will be tough. THING(S) TO WATCH THO: How will D-Will respond to loosing his buddy boozer? Milsap will have to step up even more! Jerry Sloan time to retire now? I must say anything that goes bad for the j*zz brings things much better for us! 8. PHX- Loss of AMARE will be huge. THING(S) TO WATCH THO: With amare gone who can take over at the post? Bigs will have to step up BIG. Nash on the way out? If Nash can keep them afloat and make the playoffs at his age then he deserves to be in the MVP talk! (GET'R done MOREY!) THE REST: DEN MEM LAC GS NO SAC MINNY
It seems that the East is becoming much better, but it really depends on how having a team of an all-star or two and scrubs turns out.. The West has become depleted though because the teams are getting old or the big-name FA's are going to the East. This could help in balancing them out, because I still can't live down that a team can be in the PLAYOFFS with a losing record just because they are on the eastern side of the country. Just because they are on the eastern side they actually have a chance, however microscopic it may be, at a championship. It sickens me.
1) Lakers (i was hoping to put in a surprise team here, but nobody else makes sense here...of course the Rockets, but i dont wanna be biased) 2) Portland (there's too much talent on this team. If they can stay healthy, they'll make some noise in the league) 3) Denver (They were top 3, if i'm not mistaken, before George Karl left.) 4) Houston (We struggled to score in stretches last year. With a healthy Yao, K-Mart for a full year, and Ariza going back to his natural position, i'll be surprised if we finish in the west lower than a 4 seed) 5) Dallas (They have enough talent on the team, but also filled with a bunch of Chokers) 6) Oklahoma City (They have the talent, but still lacking a Big man in the middle. I dont think Cole Aldrich will make them leaps and bounds better) 7) San Antonio (Though they're older, but they still have Duncan, Manu, and Parker. Hill's getting better each year and they've got GP as coach) 8) Memphis (I think they'll be the surprise team this year...they'll finally make the playoffs again, and maybe...JUST MAYBE get rid of that goose-egg next to their playoffs win record -currently at 0-12 all-time in the playoffs) ************************ 9) Utah 10) Clippers 11) Phoenix 12) New Orleans 13) Sacramento 14) Minnesota 15) Golden State
1. Lakers- with a giant gap between them and team USA, i mean the Heat. 2-8. Doesn't matter, giant gap between lakers and #2, meaning an even larger gap between heat and western conference.
1. Lakers (Decent gap) 2. Denver (Decent gap) 3. Houston (assumes Yao can play at least 70 games) 4. Oklahoma City 5. Portland 6. Dallas 7. San Antonio (Decent gap) 8. Utah I'd expect the Lakers to win well over 60 games, the Nuggets to win around 60, Houston - San Antonio to all win between 50 and 56 games, and Utah to win 46.
