The start of the NBA season is approximately 20 days 55 hours and 55 minutes away. Im' getting shivers down my spine. So for the next few days I will be previewing the NBA by division. I will be starting out with the Atlantic Division.
The Atlantic this year will be interesting, with the champion Celtics, the Sixers new addition in Brand, and Jermaine O'neal play alongside Chris Bosh. You can't forget the Knicks who have a new coach in Mike D' Antoni and Nets who hope their roster of young talent can show some signs.
Boston Celtics(NBA World Champions)- The Big Three came up big, by delivering a championship to bean town. For every champion the same question arises, can they repeat? For starters the Celtics kept the starting lineup the same. They add Darius Miles in a low risk move, Partick O'Bryant should get a lot more burn then he did in the Bay Area, and they added solid rookies in Bill Walker out of (Kansas State) and J.R. Giddens of(New Mexico). But they lost James Posey to New Orleans. This lost will hurt the Celtics, Posey's ability to guard multiple positions, and 3pt shooting will be missed. This means Tony Allen will get Posey's minutes. Overall the Celitcs are fine, and have a legit shot to repeat. We will see if The Big Three can stay healthy. Their not getting any younger.
Philadephia 76ers- The Sixers made the biggest splash of the summer. By landing Elton Brand from the LA Clippers. Brand gives them the post presence. That they have been lacking for I don't know how long. Brand will take the scoring load off Andre Iguodala. Iguodala should flourish with Brand in the post. Andre Miller is a underrated point guard. Don't forget Samuel Dalembert as center and promising forward Thaddeus Young. The Sixers bench has 6th man potential in Louis Willams, they signed Theo Ratliff(for D), Donyell Marshall and Kareem Rush(3pt shooting). They drafted Marresse Speights(Florida) has shown promise and may get some time behind Brand. Overall, the Sixers look good on paper. However, youth and lack of 3pt shooting may be their Achilles heel. The Sixers will be a team you won't want to see in April.
Toronto Raptors- Up in Canada the Raptors are ready to embark on a new journey. Can they get past the 1st round? Can they exceed last years record of(41-41)? A lot of questions, and the Raptors should answer by the All- Star break. The Jermaine O'neal trade is a 50-50. If he stays healthy they can make some big time noise. If he gets hurt like usual, then the Raptors could be staring at the lottery. Jamario Moon is a stud at the 3, Andrea Bargnani play will make or break his future in Toronto, and Anthony Parker will be overlooked as usual. Jose Calderon is better than T.J. Ford. But if Calderon is hurt for a extended period of time. The Raptors could see the lottery. This team has talent but, if key players go down. The shallow bench will have to step up. If that's the case well you know..............
New York Knicks- The only reason the Knicks are relevant is the fact they reside in the Big Apple. Can Mike D'Antoni make them relevant? Can Marbury shut up and behave? The Knicks have plenty of issues to settle. As for their summer it was almost silent. They signed Chris Duhon from Chicago Bulls, drafted Italian rookie Danilo Gallinari, and for most part kept the same roster. Will D'Antoni help the Knicks play as a team? I can come with a thousand questions for this team. D'Antoni will be bring his run and gun offense to NYC. Marbury is one dumb accident away from being traded, or getting a buyout. The Knicks will be lucky to hit .500. Two things are certain Spike Lee seating courtside and plenty of juicy stories.
New Jersey Nets- I really don't how to approach this team. They will be a lottery team. They are try to get cap space for King James. Jay-Z has some ownership in the Nets. The Nets drafted Brook Lopez(Stanford), Devin Harris is a upcoming point guard, Yi has plenty of time to improve. Then there's Vince Carter who will have to shoulder almost the whole scoring load. Outside of Carter, Harris, and Yi no one can score on a regular basis. Other than that, it should be interesting to see how they score. Don't be surprised to see Carter get traded by the trade deadline. Other than that the Nets don't have much going on. 2010 is when they will be busy, but if they don't land LeBron. Then they be in the role of being a witness, once again.
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