The NBA season starts tomorrow! Very excited! Well here's my take of the upcoming season. The position I place teams is, where I believe they will finish at the end of the season. Western preview coming soon.
1. Boston Celtics- The Celtics signed Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels. Those signings will help tremendously. But I think Daniels will have more of an effect then Sheed. But either way, Boston is stacked. Rondo is a stud, but an arrogant one. Rondo must mature. Lastly, the Celtics will go, as far as KG's knees take them. KG will be ready.
2. Orlando Magic- I like this team come playoff time. The Magic present some many mismatches, start with Dwight Howard, next Rashard Lewis, and at times Vince Carter. They have one of the deepest benches in the league. Howard must improve his offense and his free throws. Nelson will be ready to repeat his All- Star season. The Magic will be magically in the playoffs.
3. Cleveland Cavaliers- The Big Witness Protection (Shaq) is in town. His goal " win a ring for the king" , easier said then done. Shaq, gives the Cavs a post presence. But will that clog up the lane for King James? LeBron will have a MVP season. Mo Williams will move to third fiddle, which suits him well. The Cavs also picked up Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, and Leon Lowe. The Cavs must be success to convince James to stay. Success to James is getting a ring, its going to be hard.
4. Atlanta Hawks- The Hawks traded for Jamal Crawford and signed Joe Smith. The Hawks have a lot of talent. This group has been playing with each other for awhile. There needs to be signs of improvement. Joe Johnson is quietly lethal. Josh Smith, when his head is on, is very productive. Al Horford, great young player. Its time to step up and play at a high level.
5. Washington Wizards- Gilbert Arenas is back, but is he ready for the 82 game grind? Caron Bulter will be the stable force. Antawn Jamison will put up numbers. New acquisitions Randy Foye and Mike Miller give the Wiz good quality depth. Also the Wiz have a nice project in center Javale McGee. With all that said, the Wiz at best are a second round team.
6.Chicago Bulls- Ben Gordon will be missed. Is Loul Deng really healthy? Derrick Rose will be asked to score more. The Bulls have some nice rookies in Taj Gibson (USC) and James Jones (Wake Forest). The Bulls have depth and will benefit from the thrilling series against the Celtics. The Bulls have the ability to make a lot of noise.
7. Toronto Raptors- The signing of Hedo Turkoglu helps the Raps offense, but does nothing for their defense. Chris Bosh will be is regular double double. Rookie DeMar DeRozan (USC) should make an impact. Andrea Bargnani should have a big season. Bottom line Raps have a lot of offense, but no D. The Raps will make the playoffs. But is that enough for Bosh to stay?
8. Miami Heat- Dwyane Wade is a stud on many levels. The Heat are going to need him to play crazy good every night. Wade will undoubtedly, need help. But who? Jermaine O'neal is old and done, and might have some decent games. Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers need to step up. Wade will be great. But who else. I'm guessing some will smell the coffee and respond. I just don't know who.
9. Philadelphia 76ers- The Sixers were foolish in letting Andre Miller go. The Sixers have no pass first point guards. Lou Williams will be running the offense, along with rookie Jrue Holiday (UCLA) a very scary thought. Regardless, the Sixers have talent with Elton Brand, Andre Iguodala, and Thaddeus Young. But this team is only good enough to be a bubble team.
10. Detroit Pistons- Detroit gains offense with Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, but they not defense. Point guard Rodney Stuckey needs to learn to pass. Ben Wallace is back in Motown, but no one cares. Detroit is in the process of rebuilding it will take time. Rookies Austin Daye (Gonzaga) and DaJuan Summers (Pittsburgh) look promising. But like the Philly, Detroit is a bubble team at best.
11. Indiana Pacers- Outside of basketball junkies no one knows who Danny Granger is. Expect that to change this season. Roy Hibbert has shown great improvement. Brandon Rush has and will improve. Can Troy Murphy still maintain is hot shooting from the 3? Can rookie Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina) make an impact? Will Mike Dunleavy ever get healthy? A lot of questions. This team is one impact player away from being a lower seed playoff team.
12. Charlotte Bobcats- Larry Brown has done wonders, with the Bobcats. Expect him to do, more wonders, with less talent. Tyson Chandler will swat shots left and right. Gerald Wallace is a talented player on a bad team. Rookie Gerald Henderson (Duke) will not be see a lot of game time. Larry Brown will push more trades and push his team to do things its, not capable of.
13. New York Knicks- The Knicks should be fun to watch. Wilson Chandler has been a bright spot in the lights of Madison Square Garden. Rookie Jordan Hill (Arizona) will be bullied in the paint. Chris Duhon is a back up point and not a starter. GM Donnie Walsh will try to dump salaries. This season is, in many ways a long training camp, until the summer of LeBron.
14. New Jersey Nets- With Vince Carter gone, Devin Harris and Brook Lopez will be asked to score every night. Both are very talented players. In the Carter trade, the Nets got Courtney Lee who will help on the defensive side. In the draft the Nets got Terrence Williams (Louisville). Williams is very versatile and should help with scoring. The Nets also got a new owner. With the summer 2010 coming, if the Nets sign a big time free agent. This team with all the young talent will have a lot of upside.
15. Milwaukee Bucks- Not much to celebrate in Milwaukee. The Bucks let Ramon Sessions and Charlie Villanueva go. They also traded Richard Jefferson to the Spurs. Micheal Redd is coming back from injury. Rookie Brandon Jennings (Oak Hill Academy played in Europe for a year) is still unproven. Andrew Bogut is average at best. The Bucks have talent, but everything must go right. Unfortunately, that won't happen.
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