My 2014-15 NBA Preview

 

 

The 2014-15 NBA season tips off tonight, and I couldn’t be happier. My Angry Old Man, who likes the NBA regular season about as much as he likes passing a kidney stone, has been on my back for months, giving me a hard time about how giddy I’ll be when basketball season starts again. Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you Pops, but the beginning of the NBA season brings me about as much joy as opening Christmas presents does for a six year old. I love this league more than the Cookie Monster loves cookies. I love the history of the game, the athleticism of the players, the science of the sport, and the competitiveness on the court. Plus, it’s like a good friend, something that’s always there for me if I’m ever bored on a cold winter night.

 

Over the last month, I’ve been trying to hold off writing about the league, because while I do love it, I recognized that the middle of the football season was more important. Last week though, I finally gave in and wrote two posts about basketball, one about the career of LeBron James, and the other about Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder. You can find those here and here. But there’s more to the league than that. And since I’ve got so many thoughts about this upcoming season, I thought I’d rank every team, in reverse order, from 30 to 1. But why stop there? Why not, while simultaneously ranking the teams, group them together with those squads around them? And while I’m at it, why not have the group names reflect the feel and identity of the teams for the season?

 

So, without further ado, my NBA team rankings…..

 

 

We are trying to lose, and we don’t care to shamelessly take money from our fans.

 

30. Philadelphia 76ers

 

The Sixers unapologetically tanked last year, and they’ll do it again this season. You knew they weren’t interested in being competitive this year when they drafted a guy with a serious foot injury, Joel Embiid, who will probably play as many NBA minutes this season as I will. And then you look at that roster; Henry Sims starting at center? Really? Henry Sims isn’t a household name in his own house. They’ve only got three guys on their roster that they really care about (Embiid, Michael Carter-Williams, and Nerlens Noel); other than that, it’s a roster full of 12^th men and D-League guys. Is 12-70 a realistic record for these guys? I think so.

 

We aren’t trying to lose, but we don’t really care if we win, so you probably shouldn’t waste your money going to our games this season.

 

29. Utah Jazz

28. Boston Celtics

27. Milwaukee Bucks

26. Orlando Magic

25. Minnesota Timberwolves

 

More bad basketball teams. A few bright spots:

• Rajon Rondo will not be a member of the Celtics at the end of the season. It’s been a nice run for Rondo in Boston, but he’s not part of their long term rebuilding plan, he’s in the last year of his contract, and there’s a greater chance of Andrew Bynum, his afro, and his bad knees having a meaningful NBA moment than Rondo re-signing there. He’s going to get traded, because the Celtics can’t let an asset like that walk for nothing. So where will he be dealt? Sacramento has been mentioned a lot in trade rumors, because the Kings have a new owner who would love more than anything to make a big splash. Honestly though, there’s no way that trade is happening, because Rondo’s not going to sign a long term deal there. It’s Sacramento (not exactly a major market), and can you really see him looking around and deciding that he wants to align himself for the rest of his prime with Boogie Cousins? I love Boogie, but he’s…. unpredictable. And that’s putting it lightly. Charlotte is also a potential trade partner, but I can’t see them wanting to put together a backcourt of Rondo, Kemba Walker, and Lance Stephenson, three guys who can’t shoot. Detroit has also been mentioned, but I can’t see Rondo signing a long term deal there either. Plus, besides Josh Smith, what else can/would the Pistons really offer that would be intriguing for the Celtics? There really isn’t anything there. I think it comes down to one team actually, the Knicks. They may end up needing a third team to complete the deal, but they’ve got some intriguing parts (Andrea Bargnani’s expiring contract, Tim Hardaway Jr.), as well as the Zen Master, Phil Jackson, running their organization. He may brainwash other NBA GM’s into doing what he wants. Or he might be a colossal failure. I have no idea. But I think he pulls off the Rondo trade, and he convinces him to sign a long term contract in New York. Plus, it’s a good deal for the Knicks, because it gives them a second star, as well as a guy that’s willing to pass and encourage movement away from the ball, because the entire Knickerbocker roster is full of guys who love to catch and chuck shots (I’m looking at you Carmelo and J.R. Smith).
• The Greek Freak! Watch this highlight film! He’s probably the most unknown and curious young player in the Association, because I literally have no idea if he’s going to end up being one of the ten best players in the league, or an incredible disappointment. And I don’t think anyone else knows either.
• The only fun thing about this T’Wolves’ season will be counting the Ricky Rubio-to-Andrew Wiggins alley oops. Because there’s going to be a lot of those. But this team still stinks. This is a squad that’s going to be relying on Anthony Bennett to play major minutes, a guy who is on his way to being the worst number 1 pick ever that didn’t have a major injury. But make no mistake, he injured every Cavs fan with his play last season.

 

We are going to pretend that we are actually a legitimate playoff threat, even though everyone knows that isn’t true.

 

24. Los Angeles Lakers

23. Sacramento Kings

22. Detroit Pistons

 

• For all the talk the last few months about Kobe murdering the Lakers’ season with his contract (which isn’t completely ridiculous, considering he’ll be making $23.5 million and $25 million over the next two years, with no guarantee that he’ll be the old Kobe because of Achilles and leg injuries the last two seasons), I think we’ve missed out on the possibility that this might be the most Kobe season ever. This roster is horrible, and I’m sure Kobe will look around, shrug his shoulders, and chuck as many shots as humanly possible. He might average 30 attempts a game this year, assuming he can stay on the court. Why wouldn’t he? He shot a ton when he had a good roster around him; now, with this group of cast-offs, role players, and Swaggy P, he’s going to be tossing them up at an obscenely high rate. Everyone that goes to a Laker game this season will be there only to watch Kobe, and they’d love to see a throwback, prime Black Mamba performance. Kobe will attempt to oblige them. So yeah, he’ll have some explosive scoring nights, but it ultimately won’t amount to anything other than a few exciting and Sportscenter-worthy nights at the Staples Center.
• The most exciting thing about this Pistons season will be when new coach and GM Stan Van Gundy tears out all of his little remaining hair after Josh Smith continues to lay enough bricks from 3 point land to build a three bedroom apartment, followed by Brandon Jennings continuing to hog the rock, take terrible shots, and turn the ball over at the worst possible times. The lone bright spot on this team is Andre Drummond, who has the potential to be the best center in the NBA. He’s got the perfect build for a modern big man, and he already rebounds exceptionally well (13.6 per game last year). The only thing holding him back is his lack of post moves, and his Shaq-like efficiency from the foul line (he “improved” to 41.8% last year, up from his rookie year of 37.1%). But assuming he figures out a few things in the post (which is easier said than done) and becomes at least a decent foul shooter (is 65% too much to ask?), he’ll become a multiple time All Star. Heck, he might do that even if he never grows on the offensive end. That’s how good this guy is going to be.

 

We should probably take a page out of the Sixers book and spend the entire season taking a dump on our fans so we can have a chance of getting a top 5 pick.

 

21. Indiana Pacers

20. Denver Nuggets

 

As shameful, embarrassing, and harmful to the league as the Sixers tanking is, at least it’s the smart thing to do, with the way the league is set up. But what Denver has done, and what Indiana will probably do, doesn’t make any sense. The Nuggets seem content to continue to battle for the 8^th seed, as they added Arron Afflalo in the off-season, who will only make it easier for them to win 36 games and miss out on a potential blue chip guy in this year’s draft. Denver’s biggest problem is that they don’t have a legitimate NBA superstar. Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried are nice players, but they’ll never be the best guy on a championship team. You aren’t going to win a title without a superstar player, and since Denver has about as much of a chance of attracting one in free agency as I would to survive a punch from prime Mike Tyson right in the mouth, their best bet is the draft.

 

Honestly, the Pacers are in much better position to tank. Paul George’s gruesome injury and Lance Stephenson’s departure have already lowered expectations in Indy, and it’s not like that roster is loaded with talent, or guys that the franchise really cares about keeping around for the long haul. Granted, I still think there’s enough pride in that locker room (mainly from David West) that the Pacers could lock in the entire year, play great defense, ugly up every game, and somehow manage to squeak into the playoffs, where they’d lose in the first round to Cleveland or Chicago. Wouldn’t it make more sense to take it easy this year, hold Paul George out for the entire season, trade Roy Hibbert or David West for assets, have a horrible season, land in top 5 of the lottery, and draft a young stud; then come out next year with a retooled roster, a promising rookie, either West or Hibbert, and a healthy Paul George. Doesn’t the second option look a lot more appealing? I think so.

 

 

We are in New York, so people care about us, but we’ll probably make about as much noise in the postseason as Charlie Chaplin did during his movie career.

 

19. Brooklyn Nets

18. New York Knicks

 

The only thing I liked about Brooklyn’s off-season was when Jason Kidd left to coach the Bucks, and they hired Lionel Hollins to replace him. That’s like going from dating Rosie O’Donnell to dating Jessica Alba. Hollins is a great coach, but unfortunately he’ll be saddled with Joe Johnson and his terrible contract, Deron Williams and his poor attitude (and his underachieving and disappointing play), Brook Lopez and his bad feet, and Kevin Garnett in his 20^th year. Plus, they lost Paul Pierce, one of their emotional and spiritual leaders from last year’s team (along with KG), who, at age 36, happened to have a sneaky good season (13.5 points per game, 45% shooting). That’s an old, bad team, one that’s destined for 37 wins in the inferior Eastern Conference.

 

Also, I have no clue what the Knicks are doing. They hired Derek Fisher, a guy who doesn’t have any coaching experience on any level (as well as someone who was in the league last year!), to be their head coach. They also got rid of their only rim protector in Tyson Chandler, though, to be fair, he may not be able to stay healthy for an extended period of time ever again (he turned 32 this month, and has missed a combined 43 games the past two seasons with various ailments). I guess they’re fine with having Amar’e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani being their two best big men. The only reason I have them ranked this high is because I think they’re going to land Rondo, which makes them a playoff contender. But if they don’t pull off that trade, this is going to be the worst attempt ever by an NBA team to run the triangle. They’ve got way too many guys like Carmelo and J.R. Smith that love to bomb tough shots, go one on one, stand around on offense, and rather get a prostate exam than pass to their teammates. And then you look at them on the defensive end. Iman Shumpert is their only above average defender. Everyone else ranges somewhere from “middle of the road” to “We don’t care” (Carmelo). It could be a long year in the Big Apple.

 

We have the Brow.

 

17. New Orleans Pelicans

 

No player took a bigger leap last season than Anthony Davis (20.8 points, 10 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game on 51.9% shooting). He stopped getting bullied down low like he did his rookie season, and he started to show a lot of promise on the offensive end. A semblance of a post game began to emerge, and he consistently hit that 15-to-18 foot jump shot. Plus, he’s the best shot blocker in the league. He’s the league’s next great player, someone who will be an MVP candidate in 2-3 years. His only problem was that his team had such bad luck with injuries last season. Ryan Anderson missed 60 games, Jrue Holiday broke his leg and missed 48 games, and Eric Gordon is a walking ailment. That’s only 3 of their 5 best players. If they stay relatively healthy, and some of the other Western teams have some bad luck, the Pellies could potentially sneak into the playoffs. Plus, on a side note, I really like the trade they made for Omer Asik. He and Dwight Howard never really figured out how to play together last season, but Asik was a solid contributing center in both Chicago and Houston. He gives them second legitimate big man, something that they were sorely lacking last season.

 

We like our team, so please, just for us, ignore our fatal flaws.

 

16. Miami Heat

15. Atlanta Hawks

14. Phoenix Suns

13. Charlotte Hornets

 

The Heat’s biggest problem (besides losing LeBron for nothing this off-season) is that they now have to rely on Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade’s bad knees to be their two best players. Sure, they added Josh McRoberts and Luol Deng, but are either of those guys capable of being go-to guys in an NBA offense? No, of course not. So it falls to Bosh, who I’m not even sure is that good, and Wade, who missed 28 games last year, to carry the scoring and creating burden for this team. Wade had a decent regular season (19 points per game on 54.5% shooting), but he only played 54 games last year (and no back-to-backs). What if you asked him to play 70 games, and some back-to-backs this season? Could he do it and still be as effective? I have my doubts. He looked done in the Finals last year, and it was alarming how slow he was. He couldn’t get separation from Boris Diaw and his man boobs during certain points of that series. And what has the Boshtrich done the last few years to make you think he’s capable of duplicating the production he had in Toronto? I think they’ll make the playoffs because they’re in the Eastern Conference, and because they’ll be alright defensively, but they won’t win a playoff series.

 

Atlanta should get a huge boost from the return of Al Horford from injury, and they’re one of the most fun teams in league to watch. Anytime a team’s policy on the three point line is “Bombs Away”, it’s going to be exciting. It will be interesting to see how the Hawks incorporate Horford, who is not a three point threat, back into the offense. Last year, they started Pero Antic in his place, giving them 5 guys on the court at the same time that could knock it down consistently from downtown. Unfortunately, being a fun team doesn’t always translate to playoff success. I’m not sure these guys are going to be able to get enough stops defensively. Plus, they don’t have a guy that’s capable of being the best player on a championship team, which is kind of essential. Still, they’ll be a fun team, and they’ll make the playoffs again.

 

The Suns were the biggest surprise in the league last year, but I was confused about the Isaiah Thomas signing. Why bring another good point guard to a team that already has two good point guards? I’m pretty sure Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe would be able to hold down that position this year; they did an excellent job in 2014. They aren’t going to have enough minutes for all three guys, and there’s no way they’d be able to play them together on the court at the same time. Plus, Phoenix got the best possible basketball from both Morris twins, P.J. Tucker, one of the Plumlee brothers, and Gerald Green. Is it really realistic to expect all those guys to play far above the career averages for another season? And what if Dragic slips a little bit this year? He was so instrumental and important in everything they did, and he had to be great for them to have the type of season that they did. But even if all these guys play at the same level as they did last year, this roster isn’t good enough to be a title contender, and it might even miss the playoffs in the brutal Western Conference.

 

Before I say anything about the Hornets, I just want to take this opportunity to bid farewell to the Bobcat name. It’s given us so many good memories over the years, like two playoff appearances, zero playoff victories, Adam Morrison, and a 9-57 season…. Wait a second, there actually wasn’t anything good about the name "Bobcats". I’m glad it’s gone. Charlotte Hornets just sounds right. Plus, I actually really like this team, mostly because they’re one of the few squads that have an actual center (I love post play) in Al Jefferson. Big Al was really good last year (21.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game), and it appears that Kemba Walker might be capable of consistently running an NBA offense. Plus, they added Lance Stephenson in the off-season, which is either going to work out perfectly or blow up in their face. He’s going to give them an edge and intensity that no one else brings to that roster, or he’s going to spend the entire year doing Lance things, screwing up the team’s chemistry, and acting like a clown off the court. It’s one or the other. Honestly, as much as I like Lance’s game, I would hate to have to rely on him. I just don’t know what I’m going to get from that guy every night. Plus, with Walker, Lance, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, the Hornets will start three guys who don’t have consistent NBA 3 point range. You can’t win a title in today’s Association if all your perimeter guys are mediocre to awful from downtown.

 

 

 

We are sitting around wondering, “Where is the love?”

 

12. Memphis Grizzlies

11. Toronto Raptors

 

Nobody is really talking about these teams that much heading into the year, probably because one plays in a relatively small market in a NBA neutral state, and the other plays in Canada, but I actually think both these teams are really good. I love the three headed monster that is Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, and Mike Conley, and the Vince Carter addition in the off-season was really underrated. The Grizzlies, despite their offensive limitations (they can’t shoot, and they still don’t really have anyone on their roster that is great from the arc), always seem to be able to hang around. Remember the Oklahoma City series last year? They physically overpowered the Thunder in almost every game, and Tony Allen did the best job I’ve ever seen someone do on Kevin Durant. It’s a shame they’re in the loaded West, where it’s almost impossible to win a series. Then again, I wouldn’t be shocked if they beat up someone in the first round and pulled an upset.

 

Toronto might have the best back court in the league. Kyle Lowry was a beast last year, and Demar Derozan made his first All Star team. They’ll get home court advantage in their first round series, because the Atlantic Division is the worst in the NBA; Boston and Philly aren’t trying, and both the New York teams have major issues. The Raps could win 50 games this year. My only concern with this team is Lowry, because by all accounts, he’s kind of a hard guy to deal with both on and off the court. He’s been underappreciated by almost every team that he's played on, and he’s been waiting for a big pay day for a long time. The Raptors finally came through for him this off-season (4 years, $48 million), and it will be interesting to see how he reacts to finally getting that money. They'll need him to be great once again for them to make a run in playoffs and potentially challenge the Bulls and Cavs (though that’s probably unrealistic).

 

We are going in opposite directions, and honestly, I’m not even sure why we’re grouped together.

 

10. Houston Rockets

9. Washington Wizards

 

The Rockets have blasted in the wrong direction. I’m not sure there’s a “contender” I’m less fond of heading into the season. They lost Chandler Parsons to Dallas, a division rival, and they made up for that by signing Trevor Ariza. When motivated, I’m a fan of Ariza’s game (defense and 3’s), but he’s the classic contract year guy. His two best seasons in the last six both came in contract years (2009 and 2014), and he was somewhere between “non-existent” and “extremely disappointing” when Houston signed him after his big ’09 campaign. I see a similar outcome this time around. Plus, they’ve only got one super competitive guy on the entire roster (Patrick Beverley), and their two “leaders” and best players, James Harden and Dwight Howard, have their own issues. Harden literally doesn’t care about playing defense. He’s out there Carmeloing every night. I’m not saying your best player has to be Dennis Rodman on the defensive end (Dirk wasn’t a great defender when Dallas won the title in 2011), but you can’t have a “I couldn’t care less” attitude towards it either. And then there’s Dwight. I hate to say this, because it sounds like such a lazy criticism, one that Skip Baseless would perpetuate, but he smiles too much. He just does. It just doesn’t appear like winning matters to him that much. I’m not saying every player has to have Michael Jordan’s level of competitive fire, but it’d be nice to see Dwight take things a little more seriously. He’s a terrific player, and if he’d channel his energy into dominating every night, he’d be one of the most unstoppable forces in the league. Everybody remembers Damian Lillard’s shot in Game 6 to beat them last year, but everyone forgets how dominant Dwight was in that fourth quarter. He looked angry, and Portland couldn’t do anything to stop him. He posted up everyone and powered through them. I wish we’d see that version of Howard more often.

 

Washington, on the other hand, is going in the exact opposite direction. They’ve got the best young backcourt in the league, and John Wall played better than any point guard in the East last year. If only Bradley Beal could make it through a season healthy (he’s out for at least the first month with a wrist injury). They overpaid Marcin Gortat this summer, and I still think they’re a few years away from really contending for a title, but they’ll win the Southeast Division.

 

Also, one more Washington-related story to keep an eye on: Could Kevin Durant really pull a LeBron, return “home” (he grew up somewhat close to D.C.), and sign with the Wiz in 2016? It’s an intriguing possibility, and one that’s definitely realistic, when you consider that both Wall and Beal will be entering/already in their prime by the time that happens. You’d then have at least 5 years of prime Durant, Wall, Beal, and whoever you want to throw around them, growing and playing together. Not a bad window of opportunity.

 

We wish this was our year, but unless every team above us has more injuries and bad luck than Bad Luck Brian himself, we’ll probably end up short of our goal.

 

8. Dallas Mavericks

7. Portland Trailblazers

6. Golden State Warriors

 

Ok, that’s probably a slight exaggeration, because if anyone was that unlucky, we’d call them the Cubs. And we all know that the Lovable Losers weren’t ever really contenders. The Mavericks’ season hinges on two questions: Can Dirk have another throwback year like he did last season (21.7 points per game on 49.7% shooting), and how much of an impact will Chandler Parsons have? I like Parsons, but I’m not sure he’s ever going to be good enough to be the 3^rd best guy on a title team, which is kind of what Dallas will be asking of him. I thought he fit in perfectly in Houston; he hit threes, played some nice defense, and helped keep the ball moving. If I have title aspirations, I’m not sure I’d want him doing anything more than that. And as far as Dirk is concerned, I have no idea. I thought he was done after his back-to-back disappointing years in 2012 and 2013. After last season? It's completely up in the air. He could go on doing Dirk things at a high level for three or four more years. Or he could break down. Regardless, Dallas is no better than the 6^th best team in the West.

 

Portland is really talented, and I love Damian Lillard’s competitive fire and his stones in big games. Plus, LaMarcus Aldridge is one of the most underrated players in the game, and he was unguardable in the first two games of last year’s Rockets series (and he’s largely the reason why they were able to leave Houston with two wins). However, they didn’t do anything in the off-season to address the fact that this is still an abysmal defensive team. Wesley Matthews is the only guy on the roster that can be described as good on that end. I’m sorry Portland, but you aren’t winning a title if you can’t get stops.

 

Golden State is the most interesting team in this group, as they have the potential to get incredibly hot for two rounds, hit an obscene amount of threes, and make the conference finals. Stephen Curry had a great year last season (24 points and 8.5 assists per game on 47.1% shooting, and 42.4% from 3 point land); if he could only take better care of the basketball (3.8 turnovers per game). They had extremely lofty expectations last year, but I think there was a lot going on behind the scenes last season in that locker room. Mark Jackson and the front office didn’t get along, and they had 6 guys that thought they should be starting and finishing every game (and Harrison Barnes had a disappointing sophomore season because of that). Jackson isn’t there anymore, and I’m honestly not sure that’s a bad thing. I don’t think he was a great X’s and O’s guy, and G-State looked a little lost a times on the offensive end. It seemed like a lot of possessions would end with Curry dribbling around and forcing up a three. That’s obviously not a terrible shot for them, but you’d rather there be more consistent movement and continuity on that end. I think new coach Steve Kerr will instill something more solid this season. Ultimately though, I think they’ll come up short. They still need another really good player, and I can’t believe they didn’t pull the trigger on the Kevin Love for David Lee and Klay Thompson trade. I don’t understand the love for Thompson. Yeah, he’s a great shooter, and he’s a pretty good defender, but I don’t know why Golden State’s front office is so intent on hanging onto his 18 points and 3 rebounds per game. Anytime you have the chance to get a guy like Kevin Love, you have to do it.

 

 

We are title contenders, but injuries could blow up our season quicker than when the Death Star leveled Alderaan.

 

5. Oklahoma City Thunder

4. Chicago Bulls

 

I wrote at length about the Thunder last week, but I feel that it’s important to note that this Kevin Durant injury is a bigger deal than people probably think it is. Imagine if he misses the first two months of the season, which is completely realistic. What kind of record are the Thunder going to have when he gets back? And how long will it take Durant to get in shape and return to being the monster that he is? What if they’re in 7^th place in West when he suits up again? Are they going to be able to climb over 5 teams to get the 2 seed, which will give them home court in a second round series? That's a lot of teams to jump over, and I can't see them doing that, which means they’ll be on the road for most of the playoffs. That’s never a good thing. This Durant injury is a killer, but it sucks for us as fans as well, because it robs us of two months of prime KD. In fact, the only good thing about the Durant injury is that we get to see what a team looks like that is completely run by Russell Westbrook. How many shots will he take a game? And how badly will he hog the ball in crunch time?  This will be the first time we get to see Westbrook completely unleashed as the number 1 option. Regardless of what their record ends up being, I know I’ll be glued to the T.V.

 

If I had a guarantee that Derrick Rose would be healthy for the entire year, I’d pick the Bulls to win the East. There’s no doubt in my mind. They’re the best defensive team in the NBA, and addition of Pau Gasol is huge for them, because he’s a guy who can help Rose with the offensive load, which is something Chicago hasn't had since they had the best record in the NBA in 2011. Unfortunately, I don’t know what’s going to happen with Rose. I really feel like it’s 50-50 at this point. And even if he doesn’t get re-injured, there’s no guarantee he’ll return to being the old Derrick Rose. Remember the ten games he played last year, when he averaged about 13 points and 4 assists a game? What if he’s that guy this season, and for the rest of his career? Those questions alone are enough for me to look elsewhere in the East.

 

We are the prohibitive favorites to meet in the Finals by most “experts”, but the season isn’t played on paper.

 

3. San Antonio Spurs

2. Cleveland Cavaliers

 

I hate picking against San Antonio, because going against Pop and Duncan is about as smart as wandering out into rush hour traffic, but I just have a feeling that this is the first potential Spurs step back year. How long will Duncan, who turns thirty-nine in April, continue to be an effective NBA player? And are the Spurs going to be able to keep up the same level of consistency and effort this season? They won’t have the haunting loss against the Heat in the 2013 Finals pushing them this year; their whole season was based on that loss, and getting back to the Finals to redeem themselves. And they accomplished that goal, and exorcised all their demons. What’s pushing them this year? They don’t have anger, pain, or redemption anymore. They're going to have a good year, because Pop won't allow them to crumble. But they won't repeat. The motivation isn't there this year.

 

The Cavs are the default champs in the East, because everyone else is awful, isn’t quite ready yet, or is depending on Derrick Rose’s knees. Plus, they’re going to be really fun to watch on the offensive end, and this trio (LeBron, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving) is a much better fit than the one in Miami. Despite all the positives, I’ve got two concerns with Cleveland:

 

1. Defense is going to be a struggle most nights for this team. Of the five starters, only one is an above average defender (LeBron). Kyrie Irving Carmelos most nights on defense, and Love would rather rebound every shot than contest anything, which oftentimes leads to easy lay ups for the opposition. They don’t have any real rim protectors either, or at least any that scare people. How are they going to defend the pick and roll? And how will they defend teams that have good big men? I have no idea.
2. Of the Big 3, two of them have never played any playoff minutes. In fact, if you just look at the roster, most of the important players (besides LeBron, Shawn Marion, and Anderson Varejo) have never been in the playoffs. Am I really supposed to expect that a team full of guys who are entirely new to the daily grind of the playoffs are just suddenly going to figure it out in year one and win the title? That’s crazy. I can’t think of any time where that’s ever happened in the history of the NBA.

 

The Cavaliers have a really good team, and I think they’ll win at 65 games this year, but there are big enough questions about the make up of this team to make me look elsewhere. This season, unfortunately, will end in disappointment.   

 

 

We never thought we’d get here, and our fans certainly didn’t, because normally everyone that gets drafted by our team blows their knee out in 500 different places (Danny Manning, Shaun Livingston) or can’t play (Michael Olowokandi, Darius Miles, etc.) or gets traded and ends up being really good somewhere else (Antonio McDyess, Tyson Chandler). Nevertheless, we’re just glad to be here now.

 

1. Los Angeles Clippers

 

We’ve finally made it! Aren’t you happy? And this probably isn’t the prediction you expected. In fact, when I was sitting around the other night thinking about this stuff, I almost had a brain hemorrhage the moment I talked myself into believing in the Clippers. I mean really, it’s the Clippers, who have been the most inept franchise in pro sports since they got to L.A. Are they really going to win a championship? I think they will. They’ve got one of the best coaches in the NBA, in his second year. Everything he wants to do with this team has been implemented, and he’s in total control. They have the best point guard in the league in CP3, the most exciting athlete on a night-to-night basis in Blake Griffin, one of the best rim protectors in the NBA in DeAndre Jordan, and the best heat check/instant offense guy in Jamal Crawford. Plus, I think people forget just how close they were last year; if they don’t blow that huge lead in Game 5 of the Oklahoma City series, they're going back home to Los Angeles with a 3 games to 2 lead. But they couldn’t hold it (which is one of the most inexcusable NBA choke jobs of the last 10 years), and once they lost that game, the whole feel of that series changed, and it was basically over. There was no way they were winning a Game 7 on the road. Plus, all that Donald Sterling stuff had to mess with the team at least a little bit right?

 

But they won’t have to deal with that distraction this year. Sterling is gone, and they have a new owner, Steve Ballmer, a crazy guy who’s willing to throw money around and act like a immature Mark Cuban at games. That guy is ready to win, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes. This will be the Clips year, and amazingly enough, that might be the first time anyone has ever typed that.