NBA 2009-2010

[Veryslightlymad]

OK. Right now this is a filler topic, so the next time I'm on, I can look at it and say "Oh, yeah! I'm gonna talk about the draft!" which should be interesting, because the NBA draft is generally the one area where I tend to really suck at making predictions. (And if you kept track of my predictions last year, you'll notice that I could probably make better predictions if I picked at random. This is for the REGULAR SEASON.)

Anyhow. Lakers won the championship. Chris Paul laughably got on the All-Defense team 1 while Chauncey Billups didn't get on either team one or team two, despite vaulting his team up something like 12 places for opponents points per 100 possessions. Criminal.

[Dunefar]

So is Shaq worth much for the coming year? There was buzz of him going over to Cleveland.

[Veryslightlymad]

If Shaq can play at the level he did this past season, he's still got a lot to offer a team that wants him.

However, his contract is 20 million dollars, still. So whoever takes him on has to figure out a way to get him. Other interesting players who might get moved in a trade include T-Mac, Vince Carter, and probably a host of unknowns that we won't even consider up for grabs. Oh, maybe one of the Wizards' big three, more likely Antawn Jamison.

Time for some draft thoughts:

The draft doesn't make any sense. Every year, someone comes out and says "Well, it's not a very deep draft". And I've heard that about this year's draft, but last year, Kevin Love was taken in the top 5, and this year, Tyler Hansborough is looking to be picked anywhere from 11 to the mid-20s. I don't know how you can look at Love's career and Hansborough's and say "Kevin Love is a better all-around basketball player" to the extent that he's a top 5 pick. So I think, yeah, this is a good draft class. The idea that this is the "Worst draft in recent memory" seems laughable, given the 2006 NBA draft where basically three good players were had. (Two by Portland!) This does not seem like a bad draft to me.

So who do I think will be better than advertised?
~Well, it depends on who is doing the advertising. The one player that, I for sure think will do better than anyone predicts is Johnny Flynn, who is still regarded as a lottery pick. The dude has an aggressive, competitive edge and some seriously quick hands. He displays the kind of grit I like to see in my point man, so I'll be watching him this season.

~I've mentioned before that I kinda like Hansborough as a player, although supposedly, he's something of a dick in real life. As low as he'll go, he's bound to be a quality pickup for whoever nabs him... these will be teams on the verge of the playoffs anyhow, or possibly teams that made it already. They're basically looking for a solid bench guy, and Hansborough should be more than capable of that -right now-, which means he's got to have a lot of value for where he'll be taken.

~Sam Young. I've made no effort to hide how much I loooooove taking older, experienced players in the draft, especially ones that work hard and know their goddamn defense. Sam Young fits this bill pretty nicely, and seems like he could be one of those players that fills an everyman Posey/Battier type role. Every team wants one of those two guys, whether they know it or not. If Sam Young can keep working hard, and, more importantly, working SMART, he'll be a big, unexpected bonus to whoever takes him in this draft.

~Jonas Jerebko. A European player who plays defense and has improved his shooting over the years he's been in the league. This guy is my prediction for this year's sleeper pick. He could go as far as the second round, so there's some great value there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's about it for people I feel confident about. Everyone else is either talked about enough already, or is just too unknown for me to evaluate. You can mock me later if these picks all turn out terrible.

[Luther Lansfeld]

I'm really optimistic about next season. I'm hoping that the Harden pick works out well for us, and personally it sounds like, while some lamented on not getting Rubio, but he sounds like a bit of a trainwreck and has some issues even getting to the U.S.

I'm really hoping that the Thunder can make the playoffs. They have the talent, it felt like they had the talent last year too, but it just didn't work out. Here's to the sophomore seasons being amazing!

Also, I swear to god, reading ESPN makes my blood pressure rise. If I see anyone talk about the Zombie Sonics ever again I am going to drain someone's blood and steal their organs and blend their brains.

[Shale]

* Shale writes a letter to Merril Hoge suggesting a topic for his next column.

[Luther Lansfeld]

Not Skip Bayless?

Oh wait, it's Dekar who wants to throw Skip Bayless out of a moving airplane, not you! >_>

[superaielman]

It's everyone who wants to throw Bayless out of a moving airplane.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

I'm really optimistic about next season. I'm hoping that the Harden pick works out well for us, and personally it sounds like, while some lamented on not getting Rubio, but he sounds like a bit of a trainwreck and has some issues even getting to the U.S.

I'm really hoping that the Thunder can make the playoffs. They have the talent, it felt like they had the talent last year too, but it just didn't work out. Here's to the sophomore seasons being amazing!

Also, I swear to god, reading ESPN makes my blood pressure rise. If I see anyone talk about the Zombie Sonics ever again I am going to drain someone's blood and steal their organs and blend their brains.

Well, it's not the players' fault that the Thunder have a gigantic assdouche for an owner, but it's not helping their teams' likeability. They did the fucking thing from Major League, what do you expect?

[Veryslightlymad]

Every ESPN Commentator or writer sucks except for Jeff Van Gundy and Tom Friend. TNT and NBA TV have pretty much the best all-around crew out there.

Let's talk about the Draft! And Trades! And what few signings I know about!

ATLANTA HAWKS:
Drafted Jeff Teague and Sergiy Gladyr. (Your guess is as good as mine.) Picked up Jamal Crawford for Acie Law and Speedy Claxton.
~Pretty good moves. They seem to need a guard like Bibby in their system, so they picked up Teague as a prospective Bibby, and picked up Crawford to add some scoring and ballhandling. Crawford is easily better than Law, and Speedy is basically a nonfactor bum of a player. Atlanta did a pretty reasonable job, here.

BOSTON CELTICS:
Drafted Lester Hudson.
~Who the fuck is Lester Hudson?! Some research tells me that he's short and can't handle the ball particularly well. Flipside is, he can score a bunch of points at the college level and he was taken with the 58th pick. There's not a lot you can expect at 58. Boston hasn't had time yet to do a whole hell of a lot. Let's see how the rest of their offseason goes. Right now, it's kind of dull.

CHARLOTTE BOBCATS:
Drafted Gerald Henderson and Derrick Brown
~If I hear another WHOAMG DRAFTED A COLLEGE RIVAL thing, I'm going to punch the entire ESPN fuckwit staff in the nards. No one cares, and Henderson is STILL from a Carolina College, so it's still homerism, even if it's a "Rival" of much of the staff of the Bobcats. You're all stupid. That said, Charlotte did a really good job. Their main problems are at the wing and with extra size. They couldn't really get great size, so they got a couple of young, promising looking wings (one at each position, no less) to play with. Good work, Charlotte.

CHICAGO BULLS:
Drafted James Johnson and Taj Gibson.
~I hear good things about James Johnson, but Chicago is a playoff team, and they don't seem to need help in the "forwards" department, except for maybe some nice post-up scoring (which they have needed for half a decade or more.) Taj Gibson supposedly can sort-of do that, but he's not really expected to wow anyone in the post, and he's supposedly kind of frail. If I were Chicago, I'd have drafted someone with a good shooting touch instead.

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS:
Drafted Christian Eyenga and Danny Green. Traded Sasha Pavlovic and Ben Wallace for Shaq. I think they traded that other draft pick no one cares about, too.
~Who the fucking FUCK is Christian Eyenga? He's from a league LOWER than the main league in Italy. Cleveland essentially drafted a player out of Italy's D-League. In the first round. I just.... man, that's just weird. Danny Green is another unknown to me. But apparently he's seasoned and is a small forward, so I guess he's the sub of whoever is subbing for LeBron. Probably decent value for a second-round pick. As for Shaq, well, he doesn't have the speed to guard Dwight Howard, but he does have the size. More importantly, he can help give Howard fits on the other end of the court. Ilgauskas can step out and force Howard to guard him for perimeter shots, and Shaq will do just the opposite. This is basically a big push to try to get past Superman, the one person in the East that Cleveland is legitimately afraid of. I think it'll help. It's not like they gave up a lot for Shaq.

DALLAS MAVERICKS:
"Drafted" Rodrigue Beaubois, Nick Calathes, and Ahmad Nivens.
~Welp. Beaubois is talented as heck, but seems like he's kinda dumb. If he's teachable, he should be a hell of a pick. Calathes is a supposed "Combo" guard, which screams "Hey, we need someone to eventually replace Jason Terry". Ahmad Nivens, on the other hand, screams "Oh, shit! We need a replacement right now to Brandon Bass!" Dallas..... I dunno. They made a strongish run at the playoffs last season, but I don't consider them a championship team. Right now they look to be replacing a few cogs that they're missing or will be aging. With Dirk aging and up for contract in 2010, I'm not sure that this is the right strategy. They pay a lot of money to merely be a good team. And they are good. Just not GREAT.

DENVER NUGGETS:
Drafted Ty Lawson. Sort of. (Traded a pick next year to Minnesota)
~Ty Lawson will make an excellent back-up point guard to Chauncey Billups. There's really nothing more to say here.

DETROIT PISTONS:
Drafted Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers, and Jonas Jerebko. Signed Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva.
~Well, Austin Daye seems like a crappier version of Tayshaun Prince. And Tayshaun's been losing some of his luster in recent years anyhow. Summers is a solid pick, as was Budinger, but oh, yeah, they traded him. Jonas Jerebko is one of those guys that I like a surprising amount. All in all, I think Detroit wasted their first pick, and kept two very solid players in the second round. We'll call it a wash, maybe?
Ben Gordon is a really good player in a lot of ways, and has improved his defense considerably, which will let him guard shorties like himself. He's still kind of a douche, and 11 mil a year is overpaying him. Gordon is one of the few players that can be absolutely impossible to guard from time to time, but the flipside is, he's also one of those players that merely THINKS he's impossible to guard, and he can shoot you right out of a game. His going cold for a few stretches during the Boston series almost certainly destroyed all the positives his getting hot during different nights that series built up. Also, I don't understand how he fits with Rip Hamilton. Either trade Rip or GET A TRUE FUCKING POINT GUARD. Dude deserves better than this bullshit.
Charlie V is.... well, I've never really liked him, to be honest. He's still fairly decent for his position, and I guess the Pistons wanted another talented big man to shoot threes instead of play inside like he ought to with Rasheed Wallace possibly on the way out. Anyhow, the Pistons paid him a bit less than I thought a team would wind up paying him, so that means that they might actually get enough value out of him to be happy with the decision. I can't say I really like the direction this franchise is heading in.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Drafted Stephen Curry. Acquired Acie Law and Speedy Claxton for Jamal Crawford.
~If the Curry Pick does nothing other than troll the annoying fanbase of the New York Knicks, then the pick was worth it. In reality, I really, REALLY like Stephen Curry, and I think that he'll be a fine player at the NBA level. I think people that are concerned with him not translating well are batshit insane. Why is it when a point guard plays the two and averages 3.4 assists, everyone thinks he's a great passer, but if a 2 guard plays the point and averages 6.whatever assists, he's incapable of playing the 1?
Curry will be a good fit with Ellis, and more importantly, a GREAT fit with Don Nelson. Neither Curry nor Ellis is a true point guard, both are insane little scorers, but the good thing is, they score the ball in completely different ways. Acie Law will probably back up BOTH players. Speedy Claxton cannot play in a Don Nelson system. For my money, I think Golden State could be really good if they got a nice "point forward" kind of player this summer. We'll see what happens.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm going to bed. I'll post the rest of the teams when I wake up.

[Veryslightlymad]

LET'S RUN THIS SHIT INTO THE GROUND.

HOUSTON ROCKETS:
Bought the Rights to Jermaine Taylor, Sergio Llull (GREAT name), and Chase Budinger.
~This is a hell of a move by a really smart front office. "Hey, there's some real talent out there that no one actively wants to hold for themselves? Let's just buy the damn picks." I love when teams do that, and I hate when OTHER teams let them. It's a double-edged sword. This is a really great move for Houston, but the big news is that T-Mac is a walking bruise, and Yao Ming might not play a game of basketball again let alone this season. Houston is in a lot of trouble. I feel so bad for them, because they're really the best-built team in the league. The front office there is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Maybe they'll get a more durable star some other year. Good luck to you, Rocket fans.

INDIANA PACERS:
Drafted Tyler Hansborough and AJ Price.
~Good thing Granger is locked up long term, eh, Indiana? Actually, I think Hansborough is going to be a solid player in the NBA for years to come. Not really a superstar like he was in college, but I don't see why he'd be a failure. People will blast Indiana for reaching for him at 13, but I'm not sure I agree 100%, since I think Hansborough would be undervalued if he were picked LOWER. I like how the conventional wisdom is that teams need to be built around taking big risks. I'd question the sanity of that. Actually, I'd like to ask "When has that ever worked?" If you answered "Hardly ever!" you'd be absolutely right. Hey, let's take a big gamble on a bone-headed super athlete who will never contribute to the league, but might win a slam dunk contest or something. (I'm sorry Gerald Green. You're actually a pretty cool guy.)

LA CLIPPERS
Drafted Blake Griffin. Kicked Zach Randolf to the curb of Memphis for Quentin Richardson. (Who came from New York, for those keeping score)
~Congratulations! You drafted a freakish super-athlete with a work ethic! That's something I like in my #1 picks. Also, I think Griffen and Kaman would make a pretty formidable duo. Arguably one of the best front-courts in the league, although, hilariously, not the best in LA. More importantly, you got rid of the festering disease of Zach Randolf, who cannot possibly contribute to the positive development of Griffin. Randolf is the epitome of empty stats. Q-Rich is pretty decent, too. Congrats, LA. Maybe if Baron gets all motivated this season you can be a serious threat. You have playoff-level talent, despite your horrendous last season.

LA LAKERS
Drafted Chinemelu Enolu. Traded a bunch of picks for money so they could re-sign Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom.
~Well, Ariza might walk anyhow. I really like Ariza, but odds are he's going to be paid WAY more money than he's worth this year, so if he walks, then I guess that's not the biggest of deals. Odom is the real important piece and Vujacic and Walton should be able to sub for Ariza's minutes assuming EITHER of the two gets out of their little funk. Lakers are not in any trouble without Trevor Ariza. As for Chinemelu Enolu, god DAMN that is a sweet name.

MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
Drafted Hasheem Thabeet, DeMarre Carol, and Sam Young. Traded Darko Milicic to New York for Q-Rich, but then traded him to the Clippers for Zach Randolf.
~This is a really goddamn solid draft for the Grizzlies on paper. I guess Rubio heard from the other Spanish players that Memphis was a hell hole, and he wouldn't play here. (Incidentally, he WILL play for Minnesota. Fuck you, ESPN, he has said nothing about not wanting to play in Minnesota. STOP MAKING SHIT UP.) Anyhow. Thabeet is arguably under-valued, if that makes a lick of goddamn sense. I'm not saying he should be the #1 pick. I'm saying, there's a group of people who point to him as #2 as a sign of how weak this draft is, but really, he's a damn good defensive center. I've seen video of this kid, and when he blocks shots, he comes down with the ball or deflects it to a teammate. That is way the fuck better than blocking the shot out of bounds. And with his huge block total, that is insane. Absolutely insane. This kid will win Defensive Player of the Year a few times before he retires.
Carol and Young are really good picks. You might say they're "VSM picks" because I like taking proven commodities instead of taking huge gambles. And these seem like the kind of versatile defending type players that fill a Shane Battier or James Posey kind of mold. How players like that can still be undervalued in this league is absolutely beyond me.

My problem with the Grizzlies' moves, (aside from the obvious Zach Randolf thing) is their lineup looks something like this now.

MARC GASOL/HASHEEM THABEET/HAMMAD HADADDI/CHRIS MIHM
ZACH RANDOLF/HAKIM WARRICK/DARREL ARTHUR
RUDY GAY/DEMARRE CAROL/SAM YOUNG
OJ MAYO/QUINTIN ROSS/GREG BUCKNER
MIKE CONLEY/MARKO JARIC/MIKE WILKS

See any positions of need there, Memphis?
YOU NEED GUARDS YOU IGNORANT FUCKS. ACTUAL GODDAMN GUARDS. WHY THE HELL DID YOU TAKE TWO SMALL FORWARDS AND TRADE FOR ZACH GODDAMN RANDOLF?! WHY NOT JUST KEEP Q-RICH AFTER YOU GOT HIM, BECAUSE HE AT LEAST MAKES A LICK OF SENSE ON YOUR TEAM. JESUS.
Fuck the Grizzlies.

MIAMI HEAT:
Drafted Patrick Beverly and Robert Dozier.
~Second round picks. Can't expect -too- much with 'em, I guess. I think they'd have done better picking up Budinger with the 42nd pick, but maybe Beverly will turn into something good when he comes over. Miami didn't exactly have a lot of options, but then again, they didn't exactly turn lemons into lemonade, either.

MILWAUKEE BUCKS:
Drafted Brandon Jennings and Jodie Meeks. Extended an offer to Ramon Sessions and let Charlie V walk.
~Sessions is the better player. YEAH, I SAID IT. So they made the right choice there. I can't wrap my head over why they'd pick Jennings, though. Ridnour/Sessions is a pretty solid PG rotation, if a bit underwhelming, but more importantly, I can't picture a universe where Scott Skiles actually puts up with Brandon Jennings. He is just not a good fit for the coach, so I guess they're hoping that he turns into a really good NBA player or something, because Skiles isn't usually a permanent resident. I hope they don't feel too stupid for drafting the next Sebastian Telfair. Meeks, on the other hand, I think is quite a solid pick-up.
Milwaukee lacks size now that they let Villanueva walk. And given what he signed for with the Pistons, I think they could have kept him if they'd just gave him an offer. Bad move letting him get away.

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES:
Drafted Ricky Rubio, Jonny Flynn, Wayne Ellington, and Hank Norel. Traded Mike Miller and Randy Foye to Washington for [Rubio], Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila, and Oleksey Pecherov.
~I love their new GM. Hands down winners of the draft, Minnesota proves they are not stupid by taking the best players available, and saying "Fuck it!" to positions of need. They don't have the assets right now to draft for need. They need to collect goodies. And collect they did. Rubio probably stands the best chance of being a superstar of anyone in the draft, including Griffin. Despite what jerk-offs at ESPN would have you believe, he's actually fairly happy to play for Minnesota. If they can work something out to get him out of his Joventut contract, he will play, and he will start. More importantly than getting Ricky Rubio from Washington. (Hahaha. Washington.) They managed to get two very solid players in Etan Thomas (when he's healthy) and Darius Songaila. So they easily won their trade with Washington, even though Washington got enough to make a lot of noise next season. Trades are funny like that.
My big issue with the Wolves right now is their shooting. They need some wings something fierce. This is why Wayne Ellington was a hell of a pick for them. Given what he has to compete with, he ought to get some big minutes right away, which is always a good way to boost your confidence and career. Still given their methodical new approach to team-building, I can seriously see them collecting these assets in the future. Minnesota has become the new Portland.

NEW JERSEY NETS:
Drafted Terrence Williams. Traded Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson to Orlando for Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston, and Tonie Battie.
~No real complaints here. Jersey decided to go with youth, and now is solid everywhere except for up front. Hopefully they'll be able to get somewhere in the future.

NEW ORLEANS HORNETS:
Drafted Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton, sort of.
~True Story. I have heard numerous people saying that they shouldn't have picked Collison because he's too much like Chris Paul. And yet, the #1 knock on the Hornets is that they have NO decent backup to Chris Paul. So... how is this a bad pick? It's just further proof that analysts have no idea what they're doing. The Hornets need a bench. They got some major help there. Good job, New Orleans.

NEW YORK KNICKS:
Drafted Jordan Hill and Toney Douglas. Sort of. Traded Q-Rich for Darko Milicic.
~The best part was seeing the annoying Knicks fans at the draft reacting to missing out on Curry and trading for Darko. "WHY WOULD YOU DOOOOO THAT?!" Classic.
What's there to say about the Knicks that hasn't already been said? Yes, they're sort of moving in the right direction. Jordan Hill was a good pick once Curry was off the board. HAHAHA you missed out on Curry. I dunno how to quantify New York anymore.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More to come.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

I wonder how much cash Toronto threw at Turkoglu so that he would skip out on going to a potential championship team and instead play in the cellar of the Eastern Conference.

[Veryslightlymad]

Since I have an annoying habit of missing the latter half of teams, I'm going to post my season predictions BACKWARD. I guess.

WASHINGTON WIZARDS:
Most people's pick for "Most improved team in the NBA", and why the hell not? Last season they were riddled with injuries, and this season it sounds like they have a healthy group together. While I'm not sure that they needed to replace their coach, Flip Saunders is pretty darn good, and, in hindsight, I kind of miss having him here in Detroit. He likes his Zone defense, which is good, because I can't see the Wizards ever playing a man-to-man system. Mike Miller and Randy Foye, while not stellar players by any means (Miller is at least OK), are decent pickups. Probably not worth the loss of the Rubio pick, but the Wizards are in the very odd position of wanting to win RIGHT NOW, despite having won so few games last season. I also like having Fabricio Oberto, who is a tough competitor who knows his spots. Washington needs a consistent player like him. If Arenas is even a shell of his former self, they should still be in pretty good shape. Jamison is still really good, and Caron Butler, when healthy, is easily the second-best small forward in the league. Did you hear that, Paul Pierce? I'm saying "Go fuck yourself" but being subtle about it.

UTAH JAZZ:
What do people see in this team? They come back with the same solid roster they've been trotting out for seasons now, but it's more than a little apparent that this crew is never going to win anything. Beyond THAT, Boozer seems to want out. Kirilenko has emotional problems. You can still get some good value for these guys, so I don't understand why the Jazz don't make a few trades and blow up really fast. With Williams, they should have enough talent to draw valuable free agents and not fall into a big rut, but they seem hell-bent on being merely a "good" team. Well, that's fine. Expect to see the Jazz in the playoffs, but you're crazy if you think they'll do anything special.

TORONTO RAPTORS:
Well, they made a big splash by picking up, of all people Hedo Turkoglu. I'm not sure how Turk fits in with the general scheme of the Raptors, but it seems like they could use a legit big man with some MUSCLE more than him. Still, he'll be starting for sure and despite a bit of hype last season, Turk is still a pretty darn good player. He likes to handle the ball a bunch, and I dunno how that is going to work with Jose Calderon on the same team.
This is a good season to watch if you're a fan of Italian players, as both Bargnani and Bellinelli will be starting for Toronto, and Il Mago has proven that he's a considerably better player when he's in the opening lineup. I think he'll get out of the sophomore slump that he had been in and finally start showing some flashes of the good player I still think he can be. Bellinelli has been showing some signs of putting it together, and Toronto, unlike Golden State, seems to want to give him time to shine, which I think will work out very well. You'll recall that I was very big on Bellinelli a few years ago, and I still think that he could make a splash sometime soon.
Toronto is a very interesting team. The big question is if Turk can take them to the playoffs, and I'm inclined to think "Well, yeah. Maybe." They have a better roster than Detroit does, now, but I don't see them pulling in more than a seventh or eighth seed. It will be a dogfight with Charlotte.

SAN ANTONIO SPURS:
They finally got rid of Slappy, and I really, really feel good about that. I no longer feel like a horrible person for professing my love of the Spurs, who have been the most consistently well-oiled team in the league for the past decade. With luck, Parker, Ginobili, and Duncan can stay healthy, and then there's the new edition of Richard Jefferson, which I think has been overhyped, but combining his vast superiority to Bruce Bowen (especially the Bowen of the past few years) with the expected health of the big three, and I think the Spurs have a legit chance of taking the title this year, although I don't think I have it in myself to bet against the ridiculously stacked Laker team. Another pickup that people don't mention too much, but I think will help a team like the Spurs quite a bit is the signing of Keith Bogans. Eventually this team is going to get really old, really fast, but I don't think this is the year for it. Still, when it does happen, it will be a sad day in the world of sports. The Spurs are one of the great teams of our generation, and are fairly emblematic of the 200X years of basketball.

SACRAMENTO KINGS:
This will be my team in NBA 2K10 in about four days. Why? Because they are the worst team in the league, and beyond that, they seem like they have the least amount of options to improve themselves, going forward.
That said, they actually do have a bizarre commodity that I think a lot of teams would like. Their two main big men, Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes, are both pretty solid and seem like the kind of guys who actually could get better as they stay in the league. They also have Kevin Martin, who is ridiculously efficient, and will probably be the "Most underrated player in the league" for a long time, because really, who pays attention to the Kings? Anyhow, Tyreke Evans seems like he'll be somewhat decent, but I absolutely HATE them picking him. There were a bunch of good point guards on the board, and I think that the Kings needed one above anything else. They had zero chance of working out the Rubio contract, because they're horribly broke. But given the way Johnny Flynn has been looking in Minnesota so far, I think they missed a huge pickup. Their bench also leaves a lot to be desired.

PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS:
Well, they haven't exactly wowed me with any of their offseason moves, but then again, they really didn't need to, as the Blazers have one of the more solid rosters in the league, and as one of the younger rosters (with one of the better coaches) they really don't have anywhere to go but up. As a team that won 54 games last season, that's still saying quite a bit. Greg Oden has, at least in the preseason, looked really good, which could be the biggest bonus for this team. It's true that, up until now, Pryzbilla has been the better player for them, and they've done much better with him on the floor, but last year was essentially Oden's rookie Season, and I think that he will have a pretty darned impressive year this season, too. While not an eye-popping move, getting Andre Miller was a strong move that I think will help them, but at this point, there's really not a lot they need help with. Thanks to Kevin Pritchard's inspired team-building, this should be a playoff contender for years to come.

PHOENIX SUNS:
Their decline will continue, but lucky them, there's really no teams that have a reasonable chance of picking up the slack. With Houston's broken roster, there's even a reasonable chance that they'll get into the playoffs again. The downside is they have lost a lot of what made them a good team. Their originality and "spark" have basically been extinguished, and Nash continues to break down as the years go by. (Although he's still a ridiculous passer and shooter when he's actually on the floor. I actually feel bad for Nash in a way. For a long time I thought the press was basically fellating him, but he deserved the chance to play and lose with a good team. The management at Phoenix has basically destroyed the chance he'll ever get another even matchup with the elite teams in the West again. Their loss to San Antonio a couple of years ago was probably the last real hurrah of the Phoenix Suns.
Robin Lopez broke his foot, so expect Amar(')e Stoudamire to stink up the center for a while (compared to how much better he'd be if he were starting at his native PF, I mean.) Actually, they might start Channing Frye there. I'm actually a little interested to see what Frye can do with playing time and with a point guard like Nash. If he can't shine in Phoenix, then there's something wrong with this boy.

PHILADELPHIA 76ers:
Elton Brand is healthy, but if you've been watching the preseason, you'd know that he's doing a whole lot of nothing for the roster. Which is a shame, because Elton Brand was really talented and strikes me as a standout sort of guy.
This team seems like it's going to fall off. I've heard a lot of talk about this being Lou Williams' year to break out, but I don't think I've ever seen a sign during Williams' tenure as an NBA player that he will ever have a breakout year. I'd be sinking my resources into trying to develop Jrue Holiday, but even he's been having his troubles in the Preseason. Iggy has been doing the main ball-handling, but he's sort of like a poor man's LeBron James when it comes to this sort of thing. This team is going to miss Andre Miller. Of the playoff teams from last year, Philadelphia is another one that I see falling off the map. They're right in the mix for "bottom of the top" of the East with Toronto, Detroit, and Charlotte.

ORLANDO MAGIC:
They will be interesting to watch. Turk for Carter is, as far as I'm concerned, pretty much a wash, but there have been other positives that I hear from Orlando. For one, I LOVE Brandon Bass, and I think that taking him in at PF or possibly even an undersized Sub for Dwight will give teams an absolute headache on the inside. They are going to need to foul a lot, and with further bench depth like the Warlock and Foyle, there's really going to be an issue with teams trying to stay big against the Magic.
JJ Redick looks like he's ready to finally get some big boy minutes, and I think he'll be just fine with them, but he's still a defensive liability. Jason Williams, if he has anything left in the tank, is a good pickup for Orlando, because he can still get hot from time to time.
The biggest News is Dwight Howard's claim on his free throw shooting. He claims he's 70% now, which, if that actually manages to hold true, would put him into serious consideration for MVP. Or maybe he can just start hitting the little midrange shot that we all know he has, but never remembers exists. In his one preseason game, he only shot 50% from the line, but he had 17 total attempts, so that's a fairly large sample. He MIGHT have improved his percentage a little, but 70%? A Magic fan can dream.

OKLAHOMA CITY:
I don't get the folks who seem to think that this team is going to make the playoffs anytime soon. For one thing, they still could use a bench. And Kevin Durant needs to eat something. I think they should have picked a point guard in the draft, because I don't think Russel Westbrook is a true point man (which I think would fit OKC much better). On the other hand, last night he had 10 assists. Assuming Westbrook did INDEED improve his point guard skills a lot, then this team actually has gotten quite better. They've had a lot of problems at center, and I think that will be somewhat ameliorated this year with Etan Thomas and Nenad Krstic bringing up the middle. Mostly, I'm happy to see Krstic back in the league, because I missed the guy and his incomprehensible last name. I also like Sefolosha for reasons I can't entirely explain.
Still, this team is at least a year off the playoffs, probably two. But with a bright young player like Kevin Durant, they could have a positive future.

NEW YORK KNICKS:
If they weren't loud, obnoxious, and inexplicably arrogant regarding their dismal little franchise, I'd probably feel sorry for the fans of the New York Knicks. As it stands, I'm just going to sit back and laugh at them for being stupid enough to think that they have a legit shot at LeBron James or D-Wade.
There's this TERRIBLE misunderstanding that many people have, where they assume people want to play for the Knicks. This is really not the case. At all. Pretty much no one wants to play in New York. The city isn't a huge basketball town, and really, it never was. The team is historically below average, and I think that, most of all, players want to go to a team where they feel like they can win. I don't see LeBron leaving Cleveland, because Cleveland has done pretty much EVERYTHING to keep him there, and always try to bring in players to help get something going. They've been one of the best teams in the league for years now, and not all of that is because of James' amazing talent. Plus Cleveland has some new, partial Chinese ownership, which I know LeBron is savvy enough to realize is potentially very lucrative for him. China has an enormous growing basketball fanbase.
But why am I talking about Cleveland instead of New York? Oh, that's right. Because New York is planning for the big star they'll pick up next year, but I really doubt they'll actually get anyone special. I think Danilo Gallinari will have a solid "first" season, but other than that, there's not a lot to look forward to with this franchise. There's just... too many teams in the East that are better, and I can't see them making the playoffs this year, or having enough REALLY good players on the floor to want to move to. Do you think anyone looks at Chris Duhon and says "That's the Point Man I was born to run with"? Exactly.

MORE TO COME.

[Dunefar]

If the Knicks somehow manage to bribe LeBron into coming to NY, how does he fit in there? I mean, isn't the rest of the team still shit as a hangover from the Isaiah Thomas years?

[Veryslightlymad]

Pretty much. The only guy they have that's worth anything is David Lee, but for whatever reason, they seem hell bent on selling high on him while they still can.

Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari might each turn out into something good, but here's the thing: They're both Small Forwards. If LeBron comes over, they're completely superfluous. This is why I laugh at New York's ability to draw stars. They don't have any short of a lot of cash. And yeah, that can go a long way in a tortured economy, but the big names are going to want to win.

[Dunefar]

Pretty much. The only guy they have that's worth anything is David Lee, but for whatever reason, they seem hell bent on selling high on him while they still can.

Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari might each turn out into something good, but here's the thing: They're both Small Forwards. If LeBron comes over, they're completely superfluous. This is why I laugh at New York's ability to draw stars. They don't have any short of a lot of cash. And yeah, that can go a long way in a tortured economy, but the big names are going to want to win.

Well, if they trade Lee high and Chandler/Gallinari turn into decent prospects, maybe they're hoping to grab LeBron and buy their way into the elite? It's the only thing I can think of.

[Scar]

I see Miami's willingness to not go out and get Wade some help is going to provide one of two scenarios.

1. Wade doesn't renew and gets whooshed aweay to another team.

2. The Heat are attempting to throw James a LOT of money and try and bribe him into a Miami jersey.

~

eh, who knows!

[hinode]

I'd say they're saving up cap space not for LeBron, but rather someone like Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudomire, or Joe Johnson. Those are much more realistic options, and Miami's generally considered a pretty desirable location for players to go so it's a sound strategy.

[Veryslightlymad]

Bosh is one of the few players I could see moving. Maybe Stoudamire, but I wouldn't make that risk as a GM. JJ is a mercenary who'll go where he can get the dough.

If Wade does move, I think it'd be to Chicago, but I, for some reason, thought that Chi-town wasn't clearing cap space like crazy like so many other teams do.

EDIT
By "make that risk" for Stoudamire--- Amar"'"e has basically the same diagnosis for his eyes that Rip Hamilton does, but isn't anywhere near as committed to wearing the gear.

[Veryslightlymad]

NEW ORLEANS HORNETS:
Well, last night they got a serious drubbing by the Spurs, but that's not that big of a surprise because if you didn't think the Spurs were going to be really good this season, you're some kind of crazy person. After watching their game tonight, I finally got to get a good look at Emeka Okafor and how he plays inside, and I have to say that I'm pretty impressed. Okafor was having a pretty easy time scoring in there, so I'm thinking he'll be somewhat of an upgrade over Tyson Chandler. As for if he'll be enough to boost the standings of the Hornets, well, that's probably stretching it. Some of their key players just played pretty terribly, notably James Posey and Peja. (Who, according to some floozy's twitter that the team made her delete, has a "
"great cock".)
What's more important to understand here is outside of Chris Paul, David West, and Okafor, there's not a lot here to really get excited about. Their bench is really thin, and the other two fifths of their starting five aren't super impressive, either. Look for this team to be one of a small handful fighting for a bottom playoff spot.

NEW JERSEY NETS:
First off, I love me some Devin Harris, and I also really like Brooke Lopez. But this team probably isn't going to improve its record on a year after dumping Vince Carter.
This is a pretty interesting team, because you have Harris and you have Courtney Lee in your starting back court. Defensively, that's a pretty fun back court. Maybe they struggle some against bigger tougher offensive guards, but both of these kids play pretty nice defense, which, from Carter is about the only place outside of "age" where you could say Lee is an upgrade. With Carter gone, Harris is going to be a bigger focal point for opposing team defenses, and I'm not really sure that he's quite good enough to take this kind of punishment night in and night out. One on one, he may as well be unguardable, because he's just so fast and can get anywhere on the floor he pleases.
The good news for the Nets is that Yi Jianlian just had a fantastic game. If the light turns on for him at all, he could be really dangerous. The decision to dump Carter and "go young" was probably a really good one for this team. I think they're on the rise, although they might fall this year, first.

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES:
I love the direction of this franchise. Their talent doesn't all fit well together, but they have a great selection of young players.  They have so many guys that I look at as commodities, that they can sit around and wait for a really good deal.  I think when this team finally trades one of their young pieces, they'll probably be fleecing their trading partner.
Jonny Flynn is really good, maybe better than I've given him credit for, and is my PRE SEASON prediction to win "Rookie of the Year".  This is true even with a capable backup like Ramon Sessions, who could be starting for a handful of teams. There's really no chance of them making the playoffs this year, but the organization feels like it's being run competently, which is way more than can be said when it was being ran by Kevin McHale.
I read a scouting report on ESPN where the scout mentioned he was damn sure that one of Jefferson's go-to moves had to have been taught to him by McHale, and that wouldn't surprise me at all. I think McHale would make a much better coach, and specifically a big-man coach, than he would a GM. He was one of the best forwards of all time, and a lot of this was technique and smarts. I'd love to see some more McHale moves be spread to the younger players throughout the league. If he can add some of his style of play to different big men out there, that'd be a great way to add to his legacy.

MILWAUKEE BUCKS:
Many people's pick for worst team in the league, although for my money, that'd be the Kings. Milwaukee is one of those teams that just doesn't have the pieces together to do anything really dramatic for some time to come. They need to get lucky again with a draft (which is sad, because Bogut himself was a #1 pick) if they want a chance to get ahead in the league.
Outside of Bogut, who I think is incredibly underrated, partly because as a #1 pick, he'll draw inevitable comparisons to Chris Paul and Deron Williams, who both became big stars in this league, but as a basketball player, the Aussie does a lot of things on the court that I like. His inside game is actually pretty darn good, and he's a terrific passer. He's got size and he rebounds, but he's not a guy who'll carry a team, and unfortunately for the Bucks, neither is Michael Redd.
Another player I'm a big fan of is Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who has hands down the best name in the NBA. He's a great roleplayer, but I think that says something about your team when your most notable players are a tier 3 star, Andrew Bogut, and a great roleplayer.

MIAMI HEAT:
Word is that Beasley has earned the starting job, which is pretty weird to me, because I don't see what Beasley did during his tenure to actually earn it. He has some scoring ability, I guess, but I'd rather see some rebounding and defense from my starting power forward. Haslem has a toughness that I don't think Beasley will ever develop during his tenure in the NBA, but that's a strong claim to make about a 2nd year player. (Really, it's more of a compliment to Udonis Haslem).
Hopefully they'll show enough improvement from the young guys this year to make Dwyane Wade want to stick around. Really, I don't see why he'd be one of those players with a pressing need to win NOW, because he already has and he's also incredibly young. I'd think he'd want to stay in a place like Miami where he indisputably gets to lead a team, and the fans adore him, and he can carve out a real legacy. Plus, although they're not really making many moves, I think that the franchise does want to improve.
They wound up being left with Quentin Richardson, who can help Wade a little on the scoring front, and Daquan Cook looks like he's improved a bunch, so this team might actually be pretty respectable come playoff time. They won't win, and they'll have a 5th or 6th seed like they did last year, but I think it has to feel better to constantly be in that second tier of teams than those playoff bottom-feeders. One or two moves, and this team could build itself back up to glory. Wade gives them that kind of luxury. All they really need is a good point guard, and the league is getting more and more of them.

MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES:
I need a new team to be the target of my old "LOL KNICKS" jokes, and that's the Memphis Grizzlies. So without further ado:
LOL GRIZZLIES
POP QUIZ, HOTSHOT: What do LeBron James, Jose Calderon, Rajon Rondo, Russel Westbrook (I seriously underrated him. Good pick up, OKC.), Deron Williams, Aaron Brooks, and Baron Davis all have in common?
If you guessed "They each got more assists last night than the entire Grizzlies TEAM", then you're RIGHT.

LA LAKERS:
Well, let's see. What happens when you take what was easily the best team in the league last year, who ran away with the Championship, and then add a significant upgrade defensively, which is the one area where they could be said to still need improvement?
I say you Repeat for a title. Granted, the season has 82 games, and a whole lot can happen, but really, there's no reason at all for the Lakers to do worse, and anyone who tells you that Ron Artest is going to cost you a few games is crazier than Ron-Ron is. Artest is a lot of things, but when it comes to basketball games, he's goddamn tough. And although he has a (rightful, in my view) strong opinion about his skills, he doesn't have any problem with being one of the later options on a team. When he came over to Sacramento, he was a huge part of their success that year, and they fought the Spurs as hard as anyone did.
Anything else I say about the Lakers will just be me gushing. The only big story is Artest. This is a great basketball club that is at the top of the league until someone takes them down a peg.

LA CLIPPERS:
Baron Davis doesn't look fat! One thing that's definitely worth noting is that I think he's motivated this year. Be it because he gets to play with someone who can help right away like Blake Griffin, or be it because last year was something to be ashamed of, I think he's come to play. And that can be a lot of trouble for a lot of teams, particularly when Griffin gets back.
Eric Gordon looks like he did last year, but that's OK because he looked pretty damn good last year. I imagine he won't turn out too differently than the other Gordon, Ben, but really, who cares. He's in a great situation where he can play beside Davis, who is just so damn big, they can switch which positions they have to cover.
Some of what they got from the Wolves is pretty underrated. Craig Smith is a guy who can help you win a few games, but asking him to do much more than that is probably not a good idea. Sebastian Telfair has struggled a bit so far, but I think he's pretty damn good as far as a backup point guard goes. Given how thin the Clippers have been at this position for a few years, I have to think that a motivated Davis + Telfair has got to feel good for their fanbase (Consisting entirely of Billy Crystal.)

INDIANA PACERS:
I overrated this team last year, but I'm not going to do it again. This team won't make the playoffs.
Not that I want to bad-talk them, because they've had a bad turn or two in their day, and they have a few things to look forward to. They locked up Granger which is really good for them, because he just had an all-star type season and the kid just seems to get better and better. That's the real important part for them.
No, what bothers me about the Pacers is I don't really like their young players, and mark it right now: This is the year I gave up on Mike Dunleavy Jr. The young guys, though.... Branden Rush was a kid who I really thought was going to be better than he turned out. Roy Hibbert just doesn't look good, although he played well against the Hawks.
Still, Granger is a great starting block, and I still like Troy Murphy and TJ Ford, so there's that. They just... are going to need a few more pieces if they want to compete in a completely revitalized Eastern Conference.

HOUSTON ROCKETS:
I expect a big year out of Louis Scola, but that's about the entire thing I can say on this team. They're just too riddled with injuries to really compete, which is all kinds of sad, because they have the kind of roleplayers and bench that would put a team over the edge into championship territory. I feel so damn bad for Yao Ming, because he's truly special and a joy to watch, but his giant body and the Chinese National Team have probably cut his career tragically short.
There's not a lot to be said other than that. The McGrady/Yao combo should have, by all rights, worked better than it did. Especially with the roleplayers of this team. Houston fans have to feel a lot of heartbreak, because their front office does a lot of things absolutely right. They might have one of the best front offices in the league.
Chase Budinger was a really good pick, at least.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS:
Well... uh.... Stephen Curry is good. We know that much. He's a better passer than I think he ever got credit for, and I don't think pairing him up with Ellis is hopeless except for defensively (and when has Golden State ever gave a shit about that?), since Curry passes and scores on the outside, and Ellis looks for his own shot on the drive. Corey Maggette is going to lose them a few games, and if Jackson really wants to keep up with his "Trade me to a contender" bullshit, then he might, too.
That actually really angers me about Jackson. Ok, I hate when guys are like "Wah. Trade me to a contender." Especially when they're third tier guys like Jackson is, and especially when they ALREADY HAVE WON the fucking championship. Grow up. You want to cement your goddamn legacy? After you win a bloody championship, pull a bottom feeder like the Warriors into the limelight again. You're the damn man on this team.
I love the young players on the Warriors, although Monte Ellis is apparently a huge bonehead. Once they get rid of the chaff (Maggette), they'll possibly be exciting in a few years, but then again, I expect them to keep up their rich tradition of grooming great players for other teams.

DETROIT PISTONS:
Well, Ben Gordon is, for now, working well with Rip Hamilton, which is great news for the Pistons, because a happy Ben Gordon is a serious upgrade over a disgruntled Allen Iverson. Another good sign for the Pistons is the improved play of Will Bynum, who as a pass-first point guard, will probably see a lot more playing time this season. So the Pistons might not have fallen off as far as I thought they would.
The really bad news for the Pistons is on the side of their bigs. They just lost so much depth up front. It's nice to see Ben Wallace looking somewhat revitalized, and with the backcourt this team has, he doesn't need to score, which is great news. But they're missing an awful lot of talent up front. I sort of like Chris Wilcox, but I've never been a big fan of Villanueva, who I think is basically all of Rasheed Wallace's worst traits (save attitude), and almost none of his better ones. If any signing bothers them in the years to come, it's going to be this one.
Nevertheless, the team isn't really BAD, I guess. The real question is if it can handle a stronger Eastern Conference?

DENVER NUGGETS:
There was a time when I never thought I'd say this, but I really like the Denver Nuggets. Maybe it's Chauncy Billups. Maybe its Birdman. Maybe it's seeing the "team first" light go off in Carmelo Anthony's head, or the sudden healthiness of Nene or the Magnificent pickup of Ty Lawson on draft day. But whatever it is, this is a really good, really exciting team.
They are a top three team in the West. They gave the Lakers their best battle last year, and this year, they'll be right there again. Most seasons, I want to say there are about four teams that could reasonably win the championship, but this year, at least in the early stages, I want to say there are at least six. Denver is one of them.
For whatever reason they're going to be a shock to a lot of teams this coming season, but they won't be a surprise to me. This unit has grown into one of the NBA's elite teams, and seeing it turn around, particularly Carmelo Anthony, has been one of the nicest things to watch in the past few years of the league.

STILL SIX MORE TEAMS AND AWARD PREDICTIONS TO COME.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

I'm compelled to smash a TV, then go out and buy a TV and smash that.

[Veryslightlymad]

DALLAS MAVERICKS:
Look like they'll actually be pretty good this year. Somehow, people have been so afraid of overrating the pickup of Shawn Marion, it looped back around to where they are underrating it. More important to the team, I think, is the revitalization of Eric Dampier, who suddenly seemed to remember he could play basketball, and NOT be part of a 2-headed monster center, and instead just be.... a really damn good center. If he can keep that up for a whole season (which is asking probably too much. He's had some absurd games early on), the Mavs actually look pretty darn dangerous again. Despite the presence of Jason Kidd, I actually found myself rooting for the Mavs last time I watched them, which is impressive because they were against my beloved Lakers.

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS:
You're crazy if you think their weak start is at all indicative of how they'll play the rest of the season. They have to adjust a major new piece into their team, they're without Delonte West (Either a starter for them or their sixth man), and TWO FUCKING GAMES isn't enough to get a sense of anything.
That said, Mike Brown is really exposing how much of an idiot he is. On offense, you actually CAN sort of run Big Z and Shaq together, since Ilgauskas is an outside shooter (who smartly added a three-point shot to his arsenal---proving he can do things Shaq can't in his fight for minutes) And Shaq will pound the ball inside. On defense, this is ridiculously stupid, though. The two just... cannot exist together defensively. They're just too big, too old, and too slow. I mean, assuming they actually got down to the other end of the court, I sure as shit wouldn't drive the ball inside, but really, there's no excuse for these two to be on the floor at the same time, ever.
Mike Brown should be buying the FINEST HOOKERS to suck Mo Williams' dick, because any credit Brown got as a coach last year is attributable almost entirely to having a scoring option that's not LeBron.

CHICAGO BULLS:
I think they'll be OK, despite the loss of Gordon. They're basically a talented young team (again!) with young players that will improve (some more!) and somehow manage to be this team every single year, which baffles me.
It's bigger than you'd think that Brad Miller and John Salmons get to spend the entire year with the team, because both of these guys are good players and you'd be amazed at what a little training camp or two will do to gel folks together. Janerro Pargo was a terrific pickup in the offseason.

CHARLOTTE BOBCATS:
God DAMN this is an ugly team to watch. They don't score the ball, but they defend, and I guess that's how Larry Brown likes it. Gerald Wallace has been putting up some insane numbers, and this is probably a fringe playoff team if he can stay healthy. That's a pretty big if, because concussions are the sort of thing where if you get one, you're much more likely to get another, and pretty soon they can add up and really destroy a career. (In my very, VERY brief stint as a hockey fan, I was big on Eric Lindros. I feel robbed.)
Actually, Charlotte reminds me a lot of a poor man's 2004 Detroit Pistons, if that makes any sense. Same coach, same team without any top tier stars (Although hindsight will show that Chauncey Billups is fantastic) but a lot of players who can do lots of things well.... hmm... I like the Bobcats, and I love their new Away uniforms. I'm interested to see what they do in the offseason, because this is a team I feel is built intelligently, but it definitely lacks star-power.

BOSTON CELTICS:
I hate the fucking Celtics.
That said, they're incredibly dangerous looking, and while I picked the Lakers to win a Championship, the Celtics are pretty much right there, and are one of six or seven teams I think has a legit chance at taking home the trophy this year. (For my money, probably the second best of them all, too.) Rondo has continued his absolute excellent play, and I owe a big chunk of my assorted Fantasy success to his numbers. Sheed is fitting in shockingly well, and picking up Rasheed Wallace in the offseason is a proven way to win a championship. At least for now, Garnett's not what he used to be, but WHO THE FUCK IS? He's still really good on defense, and he'll get his offense done, just maybe in a different way. Their bench impresses the hell out of me, and their big man rotation is absurd when you realize that Glen Davis and Kendrick Perkins are ALSO both pretty darned good. The only likable member of the whole squad is Ray Allen, and even he's not enough to make me want to do anything but spit on this franchise and take a good, long whizz into Boston Harbor, because seriously Boston Sports Fans are unlikable troglodytes. BUT. All that said, this is a really, really good basketball team, and that should surprise no one.

ATLANTA HAWKS:
According to my file of NBA2K10, the Atlanta Hawks are this year's NBA Champions, so you could say I saved the best for last.
Really, though, they're going to be a playoff team, but they don't have that magic final piece which will elevate them into a title-contender. Still, I'm really impressed with a lot of the young guys on this team, and I like the way they're put together.
Worth noting is that, as far as I know, Josh Smith has taken zero three-point shots this year, which if he sticks to that, is huge for his game, because everyone knows he's not a credible threat from deep, and they're going to give him that shot any time he wants it. When Smith plays to his strengths, however, he's really potent on offense and especially on defense, and can be a huge benefit for his team. If the light has really turned on for him like it looks like, then this team has some serious growth potential. Not "Championship contenting" growth, but they're probably the fourth best team in the East, which means a whole lot more now than it did the last few years.

LET'S PREDICT US SOME TROPHIES!

NBA MVP:
I'm gonna say Dwight Howard this year, because media attention has been focused on him an awful lot, and Steve Nash will tell you that that can be all the difference you need to win a major award in the NBA.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:
I've been saying "Jonny Flynn" for weeks, but now that it's prediction time, I'm going to change to Stephen Curry. He's a much better passer than advertised, even though he was moved over to PG in his last year in college. More importantly, and yeah, I know, it's only been three games, but he's shooting an ungodly 57% from the field as a guard. He's got a great sense of knowing when it's HIS time to score, and when it's a TEAMMATE'S time to score, and that's huge for a player this young. Curry GETS basketball.

COACH OF THE YEAR:
God help me, this award is going to go to George Karl and there is nothing I can possibly do to stop it. The Nuggets are going to be huge this year, and someone has to get the credit, and it won't be "JR Smith being the starting 2" and it won't be "Carmelo looking like a legit MVP" and it CERTAINLY won't be "Chauncy Billups is the most underrated player of our generation." Oh no. The credit is going to go to George "I didn't have an under the rim inbounds play until Chauncy made me" Karl.

EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR:
Too early to say, because really, you can get an awful lot of good in trades as the season goes on, but right now I'm gonna go with ERNIE GRUNFIELD out of Washington, because you gave up a #5 pick that stayed overseas anyhow, and got a starter and a sixth man and a lot of hype about being a potential contender that's not entirely blowing smoke.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Kevin Garnett is a good bet if the Celtics keep up what they've been doing.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER:
A lot of players are looking like they're going to have breakout years, but for my money this award is going to go to Il Mago. With the attention of being a #1 pick many thought was a bust, when Andrea Bargnani starts showing that, yes, he's really good at basketball, people are going to take notice.

SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR:
Ben Gordon looks like he'll be huge for the Pistons.

BEST NAME IN THE NBA:
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute

BEST COCK:
Peja Stojakovic

[Scar]

Let's go Heat and Magic!

[Shale]

Well, Philly's season is now officially a publicity stunt.

[Veryslightlymad]

I'll get to that concept when I deal with their crappy team.

Well, folks, we've had another month for the teams to really establish themselves and show some of what they got, and that means it's time for the...
END OF NOVEMBER RUN DOWN

ATLANTA HAWKS: For a brief while, the Hawks were at the top of the league, which seems to lead a disturbing amount of credibility to my file of NBA 2K10. Luckily, I believe in coincidence.  At any rate, the Hawks are showing other teams time and again that they're for real.  I'm not sure I'm quite yet prepared to call them an elite team, but they're making it harder and harder to argue against them.  Between the much improved play of several of their core players, and the underrated acquisition of Jamaal Crawford, the Hawks are really improved from last year, and that was a year where they looked pretty good.

BOSTON CELTICS: What's there to really say about the Celts that hasn't been hashed and re-hashed? They had a good team. They picked up Rasheed Wallace, who is playing pretty well for them. Garnett isn't horrendously injured and the wheels haven't fallen off of Pierce or Allen, and Rajon Rondo has made some huge strides in the past two years. They might not be my pick for eventual champions, but no one would -really- be surprised if they took home another trophy.

CHARLOTTE BOBCATS: They have an anemic looking offense, but hopefully Jax can help bring that back up.  Since he's the de-facto scorer on the team now, maybe he'll quit his bitching and pull this young team into the playoffs for the first time ever. I'd actually like that. This was an interesting trade for the Bobcats, because they gave up two very solid pieces to get Jackson, and at first glance, it looks like they got the ass-end of the deal, but if anything, they got a steal. I'm prepared to say that Acie Law is probably worthless.

CHICAGO BULLS: This is not looking like the team that took the Celtics to 7 games in the best playoff series of last year.  On the OTHER HAND, they are 7-9, and early on is when the Bulls traditionally struggle to find their rhythm because that's when they have an extended road trip for the circus.  So I'm inclined to say that the Bulls are one of the teams that is better than their record indicates.  Joakim Noah has been playing fantastically, and I will be more than a little upset with the coaches if he's not selected as an all-star this year. The kid has earned it, PPG can get fucked.

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: I sure hope people are worried less about the whole "Shaq" thing, now that Cleveland is rolling again. Really. Last season was almost a fluke given how insanely well they played at home. Expecting the same results is a little far-fetched. Anyhow, as long as they have Lebron and legit help for him, which Shaq, Williams, Gibson, West and Ilgauskas can claim, they can be considered an elite team. LeBron is, once again somehow having a better year than last year, which is absurd. I was figuring that the MVP would go to someone else because I have a thing against repeats, but James is having a career year in FG% and in Assists. Flipside, these are two stats you can almost certainly attribute in part to Shaq. Having him around will give you easy looks and he's still going to score when he gets the ball from a passer like LeBron.

DALLAS MAVERICKS: I find myself rooting for the Mavs sometimes again this year, despite the continued presence of Jason Kidd.  This makes me really happy, because there are still some players on this team that I love to watch. Rodrigue Beaubois has a great name and has been playing OK, letting Terry do his thing. Tim Thomas has his stroke back and is lights out. His scoring isn't high, but it's very, very efficient. Also notable is Erick "Contract Year" Dampier playing with fury, although he's cooled off from his ridiculous start to the season.

DENVER NUGGETS: One of those teams that I consider elite even though maybe I'm not agreed with by other people. There's not much change in Denver from my last post in this topic. They might not have the -best- record, but they have a damn impressive record, and they continue to look like they're clicking. I'm still very impressed with the Ty Lawson pick.

DETROIT PISTONS: Well, I'm not entirely sold on the idea of them missing the playoffs just yet, because a lot of their early losses were games where Prince or Rip Hamilton. So instead of dealing with that, I'm gonna take this opportunity to gloat about my prediction that Jonas Jerebko would be a decent NBA Player. There's been some value in this draft with some lower level picks, so I kind of scoff at all the folks who said this was a weak draft. Maybe on the "all-star players" front, but for "Solid rotation players who will have long careers" I think the class of 2009 was pretty damn solid.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS: Kind of sucks that they had to trade Stephen Jackson, but they got two good pieces for him that, were this a decent team, I'd say they had the better end of the deal. Unfortunately, that's not how the world works sometimes. Raja Bell is a solid, smart player. He's the kind of guy that you could stick on a team that was on the cusp and maybe he'd turn you into a contender. Golden State is not this type of team.  Worse, they picked up Vladdy-rad, who is another solid player, but the problem is, they have a really talented power forward sitting on their bench, and with the addition of a three-point shooting power forward that fits Nelson's system, the Warriors now have even more incentive to retard the development of their young pieces. Dumb, dumb, DUMB.

HOUSTON ROCKETS: Even taking into account their largely underrated pieces, you have to say that these guys have exceeded expectations. I guess I was wrong about the impact that Trevor Ariza would have, but really, this is a team that isn't going to be any more than a cusper without the addition of some real elite-level talent. It looks like Tracy McGrady might have to go, and if he's got anything left in his legs, he might be able to help a team immensely, as well as fetch a valuable mix of goods for the Rockets, who just fucking DESERVE something good to happen to them.

INDIANA PACERS: Well, in theory they could vault up a spot into the playoffs, but they really probably wont. The plus side for Indiana is that Roy Hibbert has been trying to prove me wrong by being a.... ....maybe not good. But a decent basketball player. Luckily for my accuracy, Brandon Rush is still absolutely terrible and they should really put him on the fucking bench, because his percentages are abysmal and they get WORSE when he gets more minutes. I just don't like this franchise right now. We'll see if they do anything smart next year.

L.A. CLIPPERS: Well, Griffin is still out, but the good news is that the Clippers are an impressive only a slightly below average 8-11. So maybe the team will play better next year? I'm not going to bother to analyze them further, because so much of their future is invested in Blake Griffin.

L.A. LAKERS: The Lakers didn't have Pau Gasol for most of this season, but they're still the #1 team in the NBA. I'll let that sink in. There is no reason for me to think this is anything but a repeat champion at this time, but I'll say there are a few teams that have a real shot. Luckily for those people who were hating on the Lakers' bench, Shannon Brown showed up to say "Hey, I can give you a highlight play a night and be a huge sparkplug when the team needs one." Still the greatest show on Earth.

MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES: Iverson lasted two days. LOL GRIZZLIES

MIAMI HEAT: Jermaine O'neal is playing like he isn't DEAD, and Dwyane Wade is playing like the grim reaper. I harbored a lot of resentment for Wade and his reckless (frankly dangerous) style of play after he killed my Mavs a few years back, but it's hard to watch the kid play and not be astonished over just how good he is. Mario Chalmers is developing, and that's another feather in Miami's cap. Realistically, this isn't a team that's really going to do any damage in the playoffs, but they'll get there for as long as Wade is on the team, and if the team can get any help for Wade (shouldn't be a stretch), then they can be right back in the thick of it.

MILWAUKEE BUCKS: Holy shit, they're on pace to make the playoffs. There's a lot of praise being thrown on Brandon Jennings, and at this point, he deserves every bit of it.  I'm more impressed with how a control freak like Scott Skiles is so willing to pass him the reigns. I think that speaks volumes for both the kid and his coach.  However, I want to make sure that someone else doesn't go without notice. Andrew Bogut is quietly having the best year of his career, and this is a big reason why Milwaukee is in the playoff hunt again. (Bogut is the only center in the East I would support taking the back-up C All-star spot.)

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES: They suck and are at the bottom of the league, but we pretty much all saw that coming and I think that with a team this raw, they deserve a little time to develop. The glory of this year is that the two real bottom-feeders have the legit excuse of being young and developing, and they'll use their high draft picks to get yet more talent. So I'm not going to complain about them or New Jersey (who I'll get to in a second.) The real idiots are over in New York and Philadelphia.

NEW JERSEY NETS: Well, they're 0-18, but I hope they don't do something crazy like fire Lawrence Frank, who is a damn good coach. They have two of the best reasons for being so abominably bad. They are a young team that has to take time to develop, and they've been absolutely riddled with injuries. It's hard to say that Jersey's record is their fault when they played at least one game without four of their five starters, and without their sixth man. The entire core of this team has been injured or sick for the entire season, so there's not a lot you can say about the Nets just now. I hope that the injury doesn't revert Yi to his play from the past few years, because he was looking damn solid before he went down.

NEW ORLEANS HORNETS: They kind of suck! There's not really a lot I have to say here. The management has tried to surround Chris Paul with talent, but they've been rolling snake eyes time and again. This team just seems to have lost what magic that it had from a few years ago. Which ties right in with today's discussion of

NEW YORK KNICKS: Who are terrible aside from David Lee and Danilo Gallinari. And they're also batshit if they think they'll pick up Wade or LeBron in the offseason. However, they might be able to lure away someone like Chris Bosh.  The BIG target that New York should be going for right now is Chris Paul. I'm pretty sure they won't be able to make a play for him until the season after next, but with a lot of cap space, a REALLY good Marksman, a hustling player like Lee, and the coach who got a point guard to back-to-back MVPs and is credited with changing how modern NBA teams play offense, New York has got to look like a tempting place to go if you're CP3. If you're on a playoff team, though? Not so much.

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER: I touched last time on how I underrated Russel Westbrook, but I want to be considerably more clear this time. I was completely wrong on Westbrook, and he is a damn good Point Guard and a huge reason why OKC is in the hunt for a playoff spot. Now, I'm not going to come out and say he's fantastic, because his turnover number is way too high for a Point Guard and his field goal percentage could stand to improve a lot. But these are things that I'm vaguely confident that he can get over. OKC continues to develop young talent alongside each other, and I see good things in their future.

ORLANDO MAGIC: On top of the East, and that really shouldn't come as a surprise to you. They got Carter, they got Jason Williams (without me noticing!) and JJ Reddick has improved his game a LOT from his first few years. Add that to the squad that went all the way to the finals last year, and you have a pretty textbook description of an Elite Team.

PHILADELPHIA 76ers: See what Shale just said if you want my take on the AI thing. They're not going to win their way back to the playoffs, but they might be able to get a few fans to start coming back to games. I really hope he and AI2 can play together this time around, because Iggy was starting to show some great chops out there, and should really be the #1 guy on this team. I'd be depressed to see a talent like that wilt in the presence of Allen Iverson.

PHOENIX SUNS: Are cooling off from a torrid start, but they're still playing fantastic, and without kidding you, Steve Nash would be my selection for MVP if LeBron James wasn't somehow having a career year in two major statistical categories. I feel really weird saying the Suns are good and saying that I think it's legit this time, but it's starting to feel that way. Frye plays really well with Stoudamire, because he can let Amar"'"e stay inside where he damn well belongs, and he's developed himself as a threatening outside player. I give a lot of credit to Frye. He was on the verge of being out of a career, and somehow found a niche as a starter on an elite team.

PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS: Greg Oden has started to show why he was the number 1 pick, and more impressively, he's been playing well alongside LaMarcus Aldridge, and not been slowing down Joel Pryzbilla. When you think of Portland, you don't instantly think "Bigs!" because they have such a great set of wings in Fernandez and Roy and Outlaw. Blake and Miller give them two very solid point guards who have different things to offer. This team just oozes talent from so many different sides, and while they're not quite what I'd call an elite team, it should be clear to everyone that they're the tiniest of steps away and they are not losing ground. I absolutely love the management of this franchise.

SACRAMENTO KINGS: Tyreke Evans has played fantastic, and this team is, almost magically, 9 and 8 to start the season. Omri Casspi has also been playing very well. Perhaps the biggest positive sign for the Kings is that they've been doing this without Kevin Martin, and there's really no reason for him to be unable to coexist with Evans when he comes back. Tyreke is the kind of player who has to control the ball to play his best, and Kevin Martin likes to get himself open by coming off of screens and such. I just wish Evans was this useful in NBA 2k10. Instead, he's my eighth man.

SAN ANTONIO SPURS: Well, count me among the people that thought that the Spurs were going to turn around with the Jefferson trade (to be fair, I also thought that DeJuan Blair was going to be a huge shot in the arm, after seeing his ridiculous Preseason play. He has been playing quite well. Just not AS well.) It's looking more and more like the team is simply too old, though. Which is a shame, because individually, I think any of their three guys has a lot left to offer, but collectively, they just aren't getting it done.

TORONTO RAPTORS: They have forged an identity as a shoot-out team, and it's not working for them. I love how much Bargnani has improved offensively, but this team is absolutely hopeless if they can't turn around their defense somehow. And unfortunately for them, I just can't see that happening with their personnel.

UTAH JAZZ: Utah is the same boring goddamn middle-of-the-pack playoff team they've been for the past three or four years. I really don't have anything to say about them right now that wouldn't be rehashing of what I have said before.

WASHINGTON WIZARDS: Yep. They're not quite off to a great start, but I think they'll turn around. They might not be as good as some of the analysts (myself included) were saying they'd be, but I think that they will show the pessimists up. It's more likely to me that this team makes the playoffs than say, Milwaukee or Charlotte, but you never know.
~~~~~~~~~~~
TROPHY PREDICTIONS!

NBA MVP: LeBron James. Howard has not done as well as I'd hoped, despite his team's stellar record. LeBron James is, in some respects, having a career year. Which is like, the scariest basketball related sentence I can think of, outside of "Delonte has gone off his meds"

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: It's really hard for me to pick between Evans and Brandon Jennings at this point, but I'll go with BRANDON JENNINGS because he's really been special, and I have an easier time seeing Milwaukee hold on than I do Sacramento pulling ahead.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Scott Skiles really deserves this if Milwaukee makes the playoffs at all, because he has grown considerably to give Jennings the kind of freedom that he needs to flourish, while still being the tough, defense-first coach he's always been. Between the old D and the new "being less of a dick", Skiles has really had the most impressive coaching season so far. Certainly, he's had the most tangible effect of any given coach on his team, except for maybe Alvin Gentry.

EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR: Making up for an abysmal showing in his first year, this year's Exec of the Year is STEVE KERR for admitting his past mistakes, and somehow fixing the Suns. Alvin Gentry is a Coach of the Year candidate, and Channing Frye has been an absolutely HUGE pickup for a paltry 1.9 million per year. I give Kerr a lot of credit. He could have let himself continue to be a laughing stock, but he's turned it around.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: Good news, New Jersey! The most improved player of the year is CHRIS DOUGLAS-ROBERTS.

SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR: Well, Ben Gordon still might win if he goes back to the bench, but right now, the year's best Sixth man is JASON TERRY, which means that I have changed my prediction on every single award, now that some games have finally been played.

No joke awards this month, folks. I'm beat.

[NotMiki]

C'mon, Nets!  Where's the consistency?