Division Rankings
1. Southwest: I think this is still easily the best division in the NBA. Dallas took a step back last year and got older with Kidd but they’re still solid. The Spurs are older but they are still the Spurs. The Hornets are the newest force in the NBA. The Rockets were great last year with their stars injured and they’ll be even better this year with Ron Artest joining Yao and T-Mac. The only weak spot is a real weak spot, as Memphis is the worst team in basketball, but they don’t drag the division down enough to take the Southwest out of the top spot.
2. Pacific: After the Southwest things are pretty close. I think the Pacific is the best of the rest because it contains the best team in the West in the Lakers; a still very talented Suns team; and only one bad team in the Kings. The Warriors and Clippers aren’t playoff teams but they might be if they played in the East.
3. Atlantic: Last season the 3 Western divisions would have been in the top 3 spots but I think the best Eastern Conference division is now better than the worst Western Conference division. The Celtics are the top team in the NBA; the 76ers are primed for a breakthrough year following the signing of Elton Brand; and the Raptors were a playoff team last year and they’ve added Jermaine O’Neal. The Knicks and the Nets certainly drag the conference down but not enough to take it out of the top 3.
4. Northwest: My reason for placing the Northwest here rather than 4th is that I don’t think it contains a team capable of reaching the finals and it does contain two of the worst teams in the entire NBA.
5. Southeast: There’s no great team in the Southeast but there are no really bad teams either.
6. Central: The Central used to be the best division in the Eastern Conference but it is now the worst in the NBA. The Pistons are great but the Cavs are just an above average team and I don’t see any other team in the division winning 40 games.
Team Reports and Rankings
(1) Boston Celtics: They should be the best team in the East again and maybe the best team in the Association. They lost James Posey but I don’t think that will hurt them until the postseason. My biggest questions are about hunger and age. Kevin Garnett has his championship; Paul Pierce is a superstar; Ray Allen is another year older. These things have me thinking they won’t win 66 games again because it takes a lot of drive to do that. But there is more than just the Big Three on this team, as we learned in the playoffs, and once they get to the postseason I think they’ll be as motivated as before.
(2) Los Angeles Lakers: The Lakers are the team that we know is still hungry. Having Pau Gasol for a full season as well as a healthy Andrew Bynum will be huge. By the time the postseason starts the Lakers should have it all together.
(3) New Orleans Hornets: I see the Hornets building on their breakthrough season and challenging for an NBA Title. I’m predicting Chris Paul to win the MVP Award this year. The acquisition of James Posey should pay dividends in the playoffs.
(4) Houston Rockets: I love the paring of Ron Artest with Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. Shane Battier will now be coming off the bench with Dikembe Mutombo and Brent Barry. This will be one of the best defensive teams in the game this year. I think this is the year that they stay healthy enough to get past the first round.
(5) Detroit Pistons: They’re another year older but perhaps a new coach will reinvigorate them. They still have an excellent starting lineup and a solid supporting cast on the bench.
(6) Utah Jazz: Deron Williams is banged up but he should be back before too long. They should continue to get better. I’m a little concerned about Carlos Boozer. He faded hard down the stretch last season and was an absolute non-factor in the Olympics. But I think he’ll bounce back and this is a well built team with a tremendous home court advantage and a great coach.
(7) San Antonio Spurs: It’s looking like the same story as last year: one year older. They are always dealing with injury and they will start this season with a hobbled Manu Ginobilli. Eventually, however, this great team of champions will get rolling and win 50 games like always.
(8) Dallas Mavericks: I know Jason Kidd has lost a lot off his game but with him in Dallas a full year the Mavs should be a better team. More importantly, they needed to get rid of Avery Johnson and put the choke in the 2007 playoffs behind them and they have. I believe Rich Carlisle is one of the best coaches in the game and I think the Mavs will have another great regular season.
(9) Phoenix Suns: Similar to the Mavs’ situation, while Shaq has lost a lot off his game, I think the Suns will benefit from his being with the team a full year. Steve Nash is getting older too but Amare Stoudemire is a beast and things might work better for the Suns with Shaq in a system other than Mike D'Antoni’s fast pace offense.
(10) Portland Trailblazers: Everyone’s jumping on the Blazers’ bandwagon nowadays but I first got on board in the second half of the 2006-2007 season when they consistently beat the spread as underdogs. A lot of their talent is still young but I am calling for them to take a fairly large step forward this year.
(11) Orlando Magic: Dwight Howard should continue to get even better and he’s already one of the best players in the game. Stan Van Gundy is one of the underrated coaches in the game. They lost Carlos Arroyo and Keyon Dooling from the bench, however, and that has me predicting a drop off.
(12) Philadelphia 76ers: The signing of Elton Brand made the 76ers one of the better teams in the East automatically. But I don’t think it makes them a great team. I see a bit of karma holding Elton Brand back this season after he screwed the Clippers fans over this off-season.
(13) Cleveland Cavaliers: This team still hasn’t gotten LeBron James any help. James by himself makes the team above average but they aren’t any better than that.
(14) Toronto Raptors: The addition of Jermaine O’Neal looks good on paper but we don’t know what he is capable of anymore. And he’s a punk bitch. The Raptors also lost Carlos Delfino and TJ Ford. I don’t see any major improvement.
(15) Atlanta Hawks: The Hawks will miss Josh Childress and they will continue to be held back by ownership and their head coach. How motivated will Josh Smith be now that he’s paid and still playing for Woodson?
(16) Washington Wizards: Same story here: injury concerns and stat sheet stars without enough guys that help the team win.
(17) Denver Nuggets: It’s the same team except now they don’t have a dominant defensive center with the departure of Marcus Camby. And making matters worse, Camby was the only guy on the team that played any defense at all. But they still have A.I. and Carmelo so they’ll win some games.
(18) Miami Heat: Beasley should help out but a healthy Dwayne Wade will make the biggest difference. His presence alone is worth 15 or 20 wins.
(19) Los Angeles Clippers: I know that Brand left but I think Marcus Camby and Baron Davis offset that loss and they didn’t have Brand last year anyway. I think they’ll be decent.
(20) Golden State Warriors: I see a big step back here. Baron Davis is gone, their budding star Monta Ellis got hurt and lied about it, and they still have a bunch of 3-point heaving thugs on the team.
(21) Chicago Bulls: They were the most disappointing team in the NBA last year but with Scott Skiles gone and Derrick Rose there they should improve and get back to near decency. But why Vinny Del Negro?
(22) Milwaukee Bucks: Getting rid of Yi is addition by subtraction and now Michael Redd has help with fellow top 10 scorer Richard Jefferson on board. And Scott Skiles in his first year with a team is actually a positive.
(23) Charlotte Bobcats: This team showed signs of life at times last year. Larry Brown will make bring improvement in his first year in town as usual.
(24) New York Knicks: The fresh start with D'Antoni should help, along with the acquisition of Chris Duhon.
(25) Indiana Pacers: These guys don’t play any defense at all but at least they have less malcontents and thugs on their team now.
(26) New Jersey Nets: No Kidd or Jefferson. This team’s going nowhere soon.
(27) Minnesota Timberwolves: I think they’ll be a bit better.
(28) Sacramento Kings: How in the world did this team win 38 games last year? They’ve got a great home court advantage but now Artest is gone and they should be downright awful.
(29) Oklahoma City Thunder: The people responsible for bringing the team to Oklahoma will be paid back for screwing over Sonics fans this year by having to watch this team.
(30) Memphis Grizzlies: This team was among the worst in the NBA before trading Pau Gasol away for nothing. I’ll be shocked if they win 20.
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