2. Los Angeles Clippers- Lob City will finish top 3 in the Western Conference for 3 reasons. 1) They've found the fountain of youth. Aside from Chauncey this team is made up entirely of 80's babies with fresh legs that are ready to run on short rest. 2) The Blake Show. Last years Rookie of the Year averaged 22+ PPG and 12 RPG. Look for both of those numbers to increase in his sophomore effort alongside CP3. And reason 3) The Battle of Los Angeles- After David Stern nixed the original three team Chris Paul trade Lakers fans were left with a very sour taste in their mouth. But just days later when Stern allowed for Paul to be dealt to their arena sharing little brothers (the Clippers), that meant war. Both teams want to outperform the other more than anything else and be the toast of the town. The bad blood is there, and a rivalry has just been formed before our very eyes. This is the year the Clips step out from big brother's shadow, and if you don't believe me, look at the highlights from their two preseason games this past week. Yellow and Purple doesn't even belong on the same court as Red and Blue.
3. Dallas Mavericks- Sure the reigning NBA champs may have lost Tyson Chandler, JJ Barea and Caron Butler from a year ago, but their core offense nucleus of Dirk, Matrix, Jet and Kidd remain in tact. The additions of Delonte "Charlee Redz" West, Vince Carter and The Candy Man Lamar Odom go a long way in ensuring another season with a deep bench. Perhaps it's just because they over achieved so much last season, but for some reason I think these guys are going to pick up right where they left off like they still have something to prove. Maybe Jason Terry will get a matching championship trophy tattoo for additional motivation.
4. Memphis Grizzlies- The Grizz are they NBA's new kids on the block after a surprising and inspiring playoff run last May. They locked up big men Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph for the foreseeable future and going to battle with a healthy Rudy Gay could elevate them to title contenders right off the bat. Josh Selby, the highly talented freshman out of the university of Kansas, fell into their lap with the 49th pick in last June's draft. Look for him to do a nice job of spelling Mike Conley during this jam packed season.
5. San Antonio Spurs- Greg Poppovich must keep a keen eye on Tim Duncan's minutes throughout this season if he wants him to have anything left in the tank come playoff time. After last years early exit to the Grizzlies it will be interesting to see if these Spurs have one last playoff push in them. Blair/Splitter/Bonner will rotate down low to help fight off Old Man Time from the Big Fundamental. Also, their draft day deal with the Pacers for swingman Kawhi Leonard might have been the most overlooked move of the summer. Once Richard Jefferson's
6. Los Angeles Lakers- Let's re-cap these past seven months for the Lakers. First, they got swept in the second round of the playoffs by the Dallas Mavericks, going out with absolutely zero class in a frenzy of flagrant fouls, ejections and strip teases. Then the Zen Master, Phil Jackson, retired, leaving them with former LeBron scapegoat Mike Brown calling the shots. Then Lamar Odom became brothers in law with Kris Humpries. Then they became ex-brothers in law just 72 days later. Then the lockout ended and the team agreed to trade Odom and Gasol for Chris Paul. Then commissioner David
7. Portland Trail Blazers- The Blazers are a perfect example of the type of the team whose players don't really wow you individually (sans Aldridge), but when playing together, can really produce some productive basketball. Camby and Wallace are elite defenders, Aldridge was 2 Man Weave All-NBA last season, and the Jamal Crawford signing (2 yrs/10 mil) goes a long way in lightening the scoring burden placed on Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum. Also, it'll be nice to see Camby/Kurt Thomas playing together again for the first time since their Knicks days back in the early 2000's.
8. Golden State Warriors- The Warriors missed out on this years free agent crop of elite big men talent, swinging and missing on Marc Gasol, Tyson Chandler and Nene, settling for NBA Draft mega-bust Kwame Brown. But a strong draft (sharp shooter Klay Thompson) and pre-season trade (acquiring Brandon Rush from Indiana) should go a long in way in adding to their already lethal long range arsenal. Last years 3 point leader Dorell Wright looks to keep his hot hand going and with Steph Curry and Monta Ellis in the back court, putting up points should not be a problem for the Bay city Blue and Gold. If David Lee can stay healthy, I think this is the year they sneak into the playoffs.
9. Denver Nuggets- The Nuggets really impressed me last year post-Melo trade. However, after three of their starters exiled to China during the lockout, their team is now left with some serious question marks. Problem #1- who wants the ball in their hands with the game on the line? Gallo? Afflalo? Al Harrington? The Knicks-West lack that go-to scorer, and I'm not entirely sure how much sense having Lawson and Andre Miller makes. On the block this team will be able to d-up with the best of them, and look for newcomer Kennith Faried to lead all rookies in rebounds per game. Other Nuggets predictions- The Rooster averages 20+ PPG and Tina-Fey Mosgov gets no fewer than four sets of testicles stamped on his forehead.
10. Utah Jazz- The Jazz boast one of the strongest front courts in the West with Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson and Derrick Favors. Which is why I was so surprised when they took Kentucky Center Enes Kanter with the third overall pick, since center was seemingly the only position they didn't need help with. Regardless, they must have really liked what they saw. For this team to be competitive this year they're going to need Devin Harris to revert back to 2009 form, where he averaged 21 PPG and 7 APG for the Nets. Easier said than done, but I'm not ready to write his career off just yet. Gordon Hayward, Alec Burks and Raja Bell should make for a nice 3-headed monster at the 2, and it will be very interesting to see whether or not journey man and ganja enthusiast, Josh Howard, has anything left in the tank. If so, this team could make a solid run at the 8 seed, especially in a shortened season.
11. Houston Rockets- The Rockets grand plan of stock piling assets in hopes to make a splash in the summer of 2011 failed miserably once Stern nixed the Gasol/Paul deal. GM Daryl Morey has had a hard on for a center ever since Yao retired and he was unable to fulfill his own wishes this off season. I just spent the past 10 minute blankly starring in awe at this hodgepodge that has been assembled. There's simply not enough back court minutes to go around for Courtney Lee, Johnny Flynn, Gordon Dragic, Kevin Martin, master tweeter Johnny Flynn and Kyle Lowry. And their front court is equally as jammed with Pat Paterson, Louis Scola, Marcus Morris, Chandler Parsons, Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger and Terence Williams, with the only center on their roster being the unproven Hasheem Thabeet. Unless they can package up some of these guys for something of value, this season could get ugly fast for the red Rockets.
12. New Orleans Hornets- The Hornets are in an awkward situation right now. They don't have an owner, so all basketball related decisions go through the commissioners office. Which is why the Chris Paul trade from earlier in the months presented such conflicting interests for all parties involved. Regardless of how wrong/corrupt etc. it was to veto that trade, you can't argue that this team isn't better suited now for the long run. There was a better chance of Tim Tebow getting herpes than there was of Paul re-signing, so locking up Eric Gordon (top 5 SG), Minny's pick (more than likely top 5), Chris Kamen (former All-Star) and Al-Farouq Aminu (8th overall pick in 2010) is like highway robbery compared to the fates Cleveland and Toronto faced when their stars walked in 2010. They also have stud defenders in Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafore and traded Quincy Pondexter for Greivis Vazquez, a young PG out of Maryland who showed huge chops in last years playoffs. So no, this team cannot contend in the immediate future, but barring contraction have some nice building blocks to work with. Even if the way they obtained them may not have been moral, fair or even legal.
13. Minnesota Timberwolves- The Wolves have been able to assemble some of the best young talent in the league these past few seasons. Twelve of their fifteen players are under the age of 27, including All-Star Kevin Love, Derrick Williams (#2 in '11), Wes Johnson (#3 in '10), Anthony Randolph, Ricky Rubio (#5 in '09), Darko (#2 in '03), Wayne Ellington and Michael "Super Cool Beas" Beasley (#2 in '09, averaged 19+ PPG last year). They finally have a competent head coach in Rick Adelman, even though the same can't be said about their GM David Kaaahhhhhhhhnnnnnn!!!!! This team has the highest ceiling out of all the other bottom feeders out west, and are a year away from becoming a team that must be taken seriously. I think Kevin Love will win the rebounding title this year, but also expect rookie Ricky Rubio to go through his fair share of growing pains while adjusting to a new league and country. Expecting anything more than 8/4 per game out of the Spaniard is unrealistic.
14. Phoenix Suns- The Suns overachieved and finished just under .500 last season. Don't count on their winning percentage to sniff that number again this year. As of now Josh Childress is the only "true" shooting guard on the team, and he's 6'8 with a career 5 PPG and 34% from 3. Not exactly the type of player Nash strives with. They overpaid Grant Hill to stay (one year/6 million) to go along with other grossly overpaid forwards on the team, Hakim Warrick and Channing Frye. Steve is wasting the last few productive years of his career playing with trash and needs to put his loyalty aside and bolt at the end of this season when his contract runs out. As for the Suns in general, you can't blow something up that's already in shambles.
15. Sacramento Kings- The Kings are like that AAU team that comes into gym and immediately intimidates the other team with their superior athleticism. Just hammering down dunks like it ain't no thing in warm-ups, oozing swag in their black ripaways and shooting tee's. But then you get on the court and realize that they are incredibly undisciplined, the coach has no control over them and the players would much rather go one-on-one than set an off ball screen. The next thing you know your down 20, the players are sulking and their heads are out of the game. That's basically what I think of when I try to evaluate this team. Jimmer and Tyreke are undoubtedly going to struggle to maintain a happy medium between the two in terms of ball control and shots, and I'd set the over under at game 25 before it blows up in their face completely. I'm also counting down the days until Demarcus Cousin's inevitably self combusts and assaults another teammate. Vegas actually just released the odds on "Which Teammate Cousins Is Going To Punch In The Face This Season" yesterday and the lines are as follows- JJ Hickson +225, Jason Thompson +300, Tyler Honeycutt +355 and Jimmer Fredette +1,000. Tyreke Evans may have the best handle in the league, but don't expect it to translate over to W's quite yet.
-fresh (@danye33)
Dan is the co-founder and editor in chief at the 2 man weave
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