Western Conference –
1. Los Angeles Lakers – Their starting lineup is Steve Nash at PG, Metta World Peace at SF, Pau Gasol at PF, Dwight Howard at C, and of course Kobe Bryant at SG. You could call up the Bakersfield Jam to fill out the rest of the roster and the Lakers would still win 62 games. Ok, maybe a stretch, but not really. If Dwight can stay healthy and Nash can continue to shoot at the clip he does, this team will be scary good.
2. Oklahoma City Thunder – Yes they just traded away James Harden to the Houston Rockets, but I actually think they will still be a contender and challenge the Lakers. They are taking sort of the “moneyball” approach in that to replace the production lost by moving Harden; they are replacing it with Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb. Plus they got two future first-round picks from teams that will be in the lottery. Good trade.
3. Los Angeles Clippers – Anytime you can run the best PG in the game onto the court, I like your chances of winning. CP3 is incredible and when healthy, is without a doubt the best PG in the NBA. This team also has a lot of depth to it with the additions of Grant Hill, Lamar Odom, and Jamal Crawford. I just hope I don’t get bombarded with highlights of Blake Griffin throwing the ball toward the inside of the rim.
4. Denver Nuggets – I still continue to like what the Denver Nuggets are doing. I love the addition of Andre Iguodala and pairing him with Ty Lawson is just pure genius. Those two are going to be running guys up and down the court that there won’t be enough oxygen masks to go around. And with the development of Kenneth Faried, the Nugget could be a dark horse to win the Western Conference.
5. San Antonio Spurs – I think by the tail end of this season, we will actually see Tim Duncan going up the floor in a wheelchair. The Spurs will be lucky if they get 50 games out of Manu Ginobili, and I question how much they can truly rely on Boris Diaw, Tiago Splitter and DeJuan Blair to help carry your front court load. The future is somewhat bright, as Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green are developing nicely.
6. Memphis Grizzlies – I’m not quite ready to put this team in the upper echelon of teams in the Western Conference. They may surpass the Spurs, but they aren’t finishing ahead of the Nuggets. Mike Conley, Jr. is still a wildcard for me at PG and they don’t have a lot of depth on the bench. But with a front court of Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph, and Marc Gasol, they will get a playoff spot in the West.
7. Utah Jazz – The Jazz are just one of those teams that are fundamentality sound and aren’t going to wow you. They are good, but not great. They are going to have trouble at the guard position with Mo Williams and Gordon Hayward as their starters, but with a front court rotation of Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson, Derrick Favors, and Enes Kanter, I like their chances of making the playoffs.
8. Dallas Mavericks – Dallas Mavericks Fans (I’m staring at you, Professor); the only reason I have you here in the 8th spot is out of respect for Dirk. I could have very easily put the T-Wolves or, dare I say, the Warriors, here in this spot. I think Dirk muscles through his injury and gives you guys 60+ games. That and I like the new backcourt of Darren Collison and O.J. Mayo.
9. – 15. – The Minnesota T-Wolves have one of the elite players in the NBA in Kevin Love, but he is out for a month, along with their stud PG (Ricky Rubio). The Golden State Warriors won’t stay healthy, mainly Steph Curry and Andrew Bogut. The Houston Rockets have Kevin McHale as their coach and Jeremy Lin as their PG, enough said. Homer bias here, but I think my Sacramento Kings will be competitive this season and finish with over 35 wins. The Portland Trail Blazers are in full-blown rebuild mode. The New Orleans Hornets are about two-three years away from making some real noise. And I can’t name one good player currently playing for the Phoenix Suns.
Eastern Conference –
1. Miami Heat – You have the Big Three plus Ray Allen. There are no excuses for the Heat to not finish with the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference and make another NBA Finals. LeBron James is the best player on the planet and is finally starting to take this team away from D-Wade, which is a good thing. And of course Bosh will be Bosh and give you 18 and 9, and be an All-Star by association.
2. Boston Celtics – This is the only team in the Eastern Conference that I can see giving the Heat a run for the title. This team not only got younger, but better. I like addition of Jason Terry to come off the bench and rookies Jared Sullinger and Fab Melo will be instant contributors as well. And like Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, I can’t bring myself to count out a Doc Rivers led team.
3. – 15. – Honestly, does anyone care about the rest of the teams in the Eastern Conference after the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics? You can very easily see the 5th or 6th seed in the Western Conference finish with a better record than the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference, and you could also see teams in the West not make the playoffs but would be a 6th seed in the East. The Indiana Pacers are good and will compete hard with Roy Hibbert and Danny Granger, but they aren’t the Celtics or the Heat. The New York Knicks have Carmelo Anthony and a team average age over 35, need I say more. The Chicago Bulls may have to deal with the reality of playing this season without Derrick Rose, and that’s a shame. I’m tired of drinking the Atlanta Hawks Kool-Aid every year, thinking they will accomplish anything. The Brooklyn Nets have a new arena, but it is in Brooklyn (J/K, actually Brooklyn is getting better as a neighborhood). Good luck to the Philadelphia 76ers in dealing with Andrew Bynum this season. Between Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings, I don’t think anyone else on the Milwaukee Bucks will be able to take a jump shot, nor do I think you want them too. I actually kind of like the Detroit Pistons and think they can be a dark horse team to fight for one of the last playoff spots. The same could actually be said for the Euro All-Star team Toronto Raptors as well, after looking at their roster. Will this be the year that John Wall finally lives up to the hype that followed him out of college and to the Washington Wizards? I don’t think so. If anything, at least John Wall isn’t Kyrie Irving and playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers. I think it’s a joke what the Orlando Magic did this offseason with Dwight Howard and how they basically gave him away to the Lakers. How they still have any season-ticket holders is beyond me. And how anyone even attends Charlotte Bobcats games is beyond me as well.
Eastern Conference Champions: Miami Heat over Boston Celtics
Western Conference Champions: Los Angeles Lakers over Oklahoma City Thunder
NBA Finals: Los Angeles Lakers over Miami Heat
Summary: Arguably the two best teams in the NBA square off in the NBA Finals. I think the Lakers starting five as a whole will just be too dominate and imposing on the Heat’s big three. I would say Lakers in 6 games.
MVP: Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder
Coach of the Year: George Karl, Denver Nuggets
Rookie of the Year: Anthony Davis, New Orleans Hornets
Mr. Armchair Speaking!!!
I'm liking the Mavs playoff pick more and more and the Lakers top seed pick less and less. Of course I like your fantasy team even less. We going to a Mavs/Kings game this year or what?
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