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2014 NBA OFFSEASON


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It's amazing to think of that summer when the Lake picked up Nash and Howard. Old guys like jdw were talking about how this was the beginning of the next Lakers dynasty. The rest of the league was put on notice and then.... collapse... glorious collapse. I feel bad for Nash who I like as a player but not for the Lakers. 

 

I actually didn't feel that way.  Don't get me wrong, I was excited, but I constantly brought up that as great as adding those two would be, Nash needed a quality backup and the Lakers didn't have one. The team was similarly built like the year they brought in Payton & Malone. Very unbalanced with a thin roster. Made worse with a horrible fit at coach in Mike Brown that eventually led to the dumb decision of hiring Mike D'Antoni who every big on the roster hated and he clashed with. jdw is a surprisingly overly optimistic Lakers fan which is quite shocking.

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This ended up being a longer post than I wanted to write. Was just going to ask for and post playoff predictions for the season. I like being wrong on the record apparently.

 

Playoff predictions.

 

1. Chicago- Damn this team is deep. If Thibodeau can't manage his starters minutes with this much talent on the bench he shouldn't be a head coach. Looks like the leagues best team top to bottom.

2. Cleveland- Don't trust the bench. Most interested to see if Waiters is able to fill the role the team will need him to play. Strong defense and hit open 3s as he will get the opportunity. Will be a great division race with Chicago.

3. Washington- Made a great leap forward last year and the players that helped made that happen are still pretty young. Still a lot of room for growth.

4. Toronto- Shouldn't have any issues winning the division.

5. Charlotte- Similar to Washington. Really fortunate they were in the position they were in being able to get Vonleh in the draft. Adding Stephenson as well. There is definitely potential to move up the standings with this team. Vonleh or Gilchrist will have to break through though if they want to avoid turning into the Atlanta Hawks from the past few seasons.

6. Miami- Same story as the last few years. Will get beat up against teams with size, if Wade stays healthy etc. I hope they didn't actually draft Napier just because of a LeBron tweet.

7. Brooklyn- Nothing to get excited about .

8. Detroit- I would have considered Orlando for this spot before Oladipo got hurt. Team will be frustrating to watch though if Drummond doesn't get his free throw percentage up. Drag out foul fests at the end. Like a lot of people I was scratching my head at Monroe not getting offers. The story that eventually came out about how they weren't negotiating with other teams because they were afraid Detroit would match makes sense. Meaning they will need to take a step forward this year to convince him to stick around. Can't blame him for not having faith in the organization with how they have burned through all the coaches while he has been on the team.

 

Teams out

Orlando- Decent foundation. They might not even want to be in the playoffs just yet.

Indiana- Couldn't score enough with George. Salvaging Hibbert somehow should be their main motivation this season.

New York- They did okay with the roster considering the salary constraints

Atlanta- Trending downward

Milwaukee- Need their offense and defense to be significantly better. Only one of the two improved though and not enough to be considered significant.

Boston- Their back court reminds me of the kind of back court Isiah Thomas put together with the Knicks. The good news for Celtics fans is they get the Sixers first round pick in the draft if the Sixers make the playoffs.

Sixers- It will be fun when Noel and McDaniels are on the floor together. Shots will be blocked.

 

West

1. LA Clippers- Don't necessarily think they are the best team but like their odds of getting the 1 seed. Definite contender to reach the conference finals.

2. San Antonio- Just have to make it to the finish line healthy.

3. OKC- They needed scoring help last season when Westbrook and Durant were healthy. Now take the away the better scorer of the two and they could find themselves in a bit of a hole to start the season. Still a very young team though considering the success they have had the last few seasons.

4. Golden State- I was hoping for the Sixers to be able to get a run at Klay Thompson during the next offseason. I suspect he will play his way into getting a max deal from Golden State.

5. Dallas- The boards resident Mavs fan is itching for the season to start for a reason.  Don't seem all that hurt by not being able to land one of the big name free agents. Team was very intelligently put together. Title contenders if Chandler is still a high impact defensive center.

6. Portland- Don't really see them as title contenders but I could be overlooking something.

7. New Orleans- Doesn't have the depth to overcome injuries as we saw last year. Asik was a great addition though. Team is only worth picking to reach the playoffs if they stay healthy. Risky pick here considering there are 3 or 4 other teams that could have just as much of a claim to the spot if not more.

8. Memphis- Don't really expect them to be much better or worse than last year.

 

Teams in playoff contention:

Houston- They took the big risk during the off-season and it didn't pay off. No room for that in the Western conference. I am least confident in this of all picks.

Denver- Should be better this season with everyone healthy. Looked like they would be in playoff contention last season for the first 1/4 of the season. 14-9 when it fell apart.

Phoenix- Wouldn't be surprised if they had a game where 10 players scored 10. Might be underrating them if they have Bledsoe healthy all season.

 

Out

Minnesota- This is one of the most interesting rosters in quite sometime. If someone told me they will win 20 games I wouldn't be shocked. If someone told me they will win 45 I wouldn't be shocked. The bench depth is pretty impressive but with a lot of youth so unreliable. Just don't have a go to scorer that can win 1 on 1 match ups. I watched them a few times in the preseason and will have to give Bennett some props for his rebounding. Has a good brain clearly since he gets into position so quickly. Reads the bounce before it hits the backboard or rim.

 

Utah- They have 4 players over the age of 25 and none of them will play significant minutes. Should be bad again. In the next draft they have a great shot of grabbing the talented big they need.

 

Sacramento- Sometimes us Sixers fan could us the reminder that just being bad isn't enough to guarantee a successful rebuild.

 

LA Lakers- I wanted to put them in the contention group out of respect for Kobe. Also because they are going to be the national game so often. I suspect that the complete role reversal in LA with the Clippers and Lakers that isn't momentary. Sticking with Jim Buss being the West coast James Dolan. Carlos Boozer with Kobe has potential to be one of the more entertaining train wrecks of the season.

 

Playoffs

Chicago over Detroit

Cleveland over Brooklyn

Washington over Miami

Charlotte over Toronto

 

LA Clippers over Memphis

New Orleans over San Antoinio (beating against the 3 elder statesman making it through healthy again. They do have more room for error now with Leonard though. I am biased towards wanting to see Holiday succeed as well. I guess I am hedging by even mentioning this.)

OKC over Portland

Dallas over Golden State

 

Chicago over Charlotte

Cleveland over Washington

 

LA Clippers over Dallas

OKC over New Orleans

 

OKC over LA Clippers

Cleveland over Chicago (I keep going back and forth on this. Like Chicago's depth more. I just don't see how they can stop James without sacrificing too much offense. Could change my mind on this mid-season depending on how Mirotic or McDermott looks)

 

Cleveland over OKC- Hope this isn't true just because of how obnoxious the Durant rumors will get next season.

 

League MVP- Kevin Durant. Would love to see Westbrook steal it by coming out strong.

 

Rookie of the Year- 1. Jabari Parker 2. Marcus Smart. 3. Nerlens Noel

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