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Preseason Picks
EAST
ATLANTIC
1. Boston Ainge has done a good job in surrounding Paul Pierce with budding young talent. They're all on the same page now. Look for PP to have a great season, and look for the C's young stars to open some eyes. It helps that they play in this division.
2. Philadelphia Jim O'Brien is a great coach, and should be able to take this team back to repectability. If AI stays healthy and stops bitching about "Practice," that is.
3. New York Over capped, and not much bang for the buck. This team should be ok to dreadful for the next ten years.
4. Toronto Vinsanity bitches and wants a trade. They finish over NJ only because they have one guy upset, and the Nets have 2.
5. New Jersey J-Kidd is dogging it, and Zo has big time nerve to bitch about leaving. Sorry state in NJ. See you in Brooklyn in 2 years, guys!
CENTRAL
1. Detroit The Defending Champs. Might get more of a run for their money in the Finals this year with San Antonio than the dysfunctional Lakers.
2. Indiana Nice team, but always the second banana with a missing ingredient.
3. Cleveland They've got LeBron, but have done a terrible job assembling talent around him. They'd be in last place without # 23. James is the closest thing to Oscar Robertson since the Big O. And that's very high praise. James should go down as one of the Top 15 players in NBA history when his career is over.
4. Chicago They've got some good young talent here, but are probably a year away. If Eddy Curry could ever get his head on straight, they'd be looking at the possibility of glory years again.
5. Milwaukee Michael Redd might be the most desirable commodity in basketball today. A legit star with the balls to take any shot, signed long term, and for very little money.
SOUTHEAST
1. Miami The sad thing is, they wouldn't even need Shaq to finish first in this awful, AWFUL division. D-Wade is a budding superstar at the point.
2. Washington Bad team, worse division. Can you name more than three (at most) players on this team?
3. Orlando Ditto.
4. Atlanta Did an awful job this summer with a lot of cap space. Antoine Walker might put up 40 shots a game in his contract season. A putrid team with no fan base.
5. Charlotte Might be the worst roster ever assembled. And that's saying something. They won't win their 8th game until (at least) late March. Memo to David Stern: did we really need this expansion team? I mean, the League is watered down enough as it is, isn't it??
WEST
NORTHWEST
1. Minnesota Spree can't feed his family, and Cassell is bitching about his contract (again). Doesn't matter. With Hudson and Szcerbiak now healthy, and KG making his best player in the game argument, they should finish first and be a title contender.
2. Denver Melo has to get his head on straight: he went from a can't miss superstar to a pot-smoking Olympic malcontent in less than 12 months. They made some big moves, and if Melo can show any kind of professionalism, this team can win a round or two.
3. Utah Made a lot of solid offseason moves. Can rotate 8 to 9 guys, they play defense, and they have Jerry Sloan. They could do some playoff damage if the season shakes out.
4. Portland Zach Randolph is a budding superstar, but this team (as always) has issues. The Qyntel Woods-pit bull incident doesn't help things. They should be on the phone with Seattle looking for a Ray Allen-Shareef trade RIGHT NOW!
5. Seattle A couple of nice pieces, but not enough. Their first round pick (Robert Swift out of HS) could be a sleeper all-star in the future. They should look to deal Allen.
PACIFIC
1. Phoenix This team will breakout this year. They overpaid big time for Nash, but he can give this team two very productive seasons. Look for breakout seasons from Amare Stoudmaire and Joe Johnson.
2. Lakers The Lakers won't be hurt as badly as most in the media have been reporting. They aren't, however, a championship contender with the Big Diesel gone and Kobe as the # 1 option.
3. Sacramento They're getting old fast. Losing Vlade and having a washed up C-Webb will sink this ship like a stone. Peja's contract squabbles don't help, either.
4. Golden State Chris Mullin just doled out a ton of bad contracts in the offseason. This team looks to be bad for a long time.
5. Clippers Shipped away a lot of talent in a fruitless attempt to lure Bryant away from the Lakers and got burned, big-time. Doesn't matter anyway. They are the Clippers. They'd finish last with Shaq, Duncan, and KG on the front line.
SOUTHWEST
1. San Antonio they still have arguably the best player in the game and a PG on the rise in Tony Parker
2. Houston the T-Mac/Yao relationship could be headed for stormy waters, but Van Gundy is a great coach, and having these two players should be enough to vault them over Memphis & Dallas
3. Memphis Hubie Brown has a luxury that only one other team in the NBA (Detroit) has: a 10 man rotation
4. Dallas losing Steve Nash will be huge. This team is a poorly crafted puzzle. Talent alone should take them to the playoffs, but losing the Shaq sweepstakes and the scramble to recover drops them to 4th in the best division in basketball. Don't know why the Cube is such a fan of Don Nelson.
5. New Orleans A cheap and classless owner and a hodge-podge of talent will keep this team from competing in this division. With Baron Davis alone, they'd be a playoff team in the East.
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