Good stuff so far, BeeBall!
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Good stuff so far, BeeBall!
24) Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets were the worst team in the league this season? Why such a turnaround? Kevin Durant! Kevin Durant could easily lead the Nuggets to the playoffs as a rookie and is seen as a lock for Rookie of the Year. Sean Williams could also make a big impact off the bench as a rookie backing up Chris Bosh. The nuggets have sneakily added a lot of depth and talent at the 2-5 but the lack of a quality point guard will hold them back. Denver should take a look at what Marcus Moore could bring at that position if they can't bring in a solution.
Randy Foye is all smiles about possibly starting this season
23) Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavs wasted no time to get to wheeling and dealing this offseason with a new, active GM, who spent last season mentoring in Seattle and years of mental and physical preparation such as meditation and ninja training. There were some very good moves, the Tyson Chandler and Bobby Simmons acquisitions but also some questionable ones such as the trading of their first rounder, the Pau-Randolph swap and taking on the contract of Mike Bibby. However, all of the players on the team really fit well together and this team could make the playoffs with a good balance of defense and offense even without a star player. The front court depth is the only real problem spot. Good coaching will be crucial in getting this team to gel and succeed.
All of Lou's friends are gone, he doesn't hang out with old guys Greg Buckner and Roy Rogers
22) Miami Heat
Expect Miami to build on last season's end of the year success with Bynum continuing to become a defensive force this season. A solid defensive starting 5 that will be carried offensively by Allen Iverson with some inefficient contributions from Bynum and TJ Ford. Expect the Heat to grind out games in the paint with a big strong frontcourt and undersized but tough backcourt. A little more backcourt depth and possibly replacing Donyell Marshall with an offensive option at the 3 could go a long way.
Allen Iverson needs to be one of the leagues top scorers this year if the Heat want to be competitive
21) Utah Jazz
The Jazz have a lot of hype in them right now. They are unquestionably an improved team from last season but Grant Hill at this age may not be a big upgrade on Rashard Lewis if an upgrade at all and The Jazz had their share of unsuccessful teams with Walker at the 4. Greg Oden projects as a star player long term but big men take longer to develop and it's doubtful he can be relied on as a difference maker this season. Depth is the real limiting factor for the Jazz though. There isn't much on the bench for Utah after 6th man Ben Gordon.
Is Mo Williams really the answer at point guard
20) Portland TrailBlazers
Truth is nobody likes hipsters, or Darth Vader, or Portland. The Trail Blazers missed on the big fish this offseason and missing on plan B Etan Thomas will also be a huge blow to the teams playoff hopes. Landry and Brown have a lot to prove and can hopefully do an adequate job in the front court. Courtney Alexander's wild ride continues as he's gone from underrated to overrated and now simply overlooked. He will actually be an improvement upon the recently retired Michael Finley. Prince and Francis will have to drag this team to the playoffs.
a lot of pressure will land on landry this season to start as a rookie in portland
Originally Posted by BeeBall Reasons
Awwww yeeeeeaaaaa I'm back *****es!
Time to crush some dreams and belittle some GM's, It's Preseason Power rankings. We are going to start from team 29 and work our way up to number one.
Let's get into it
28) San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs have had pretty poor lottery luck the past few seasons but they could have their best odds this season. The Spurs will have a clean slate after this season with only rookie contracts on the books. Monta Ellis is likely to adopt a large scoring role this season and could very well be a candidate for MIP. Second year guard Rajon Rondo has made significant strides as well and could be one of the league leaders in assists with not a lot of other options that can create. The progression of Paul Millsap is rather disappointing but it's too early to call him a bust. Expect the spurs to shop Keon Clark and Othella Harrington for assets around the deadline.
Rookie Rudy Fernandez might be forced
to play big minutes for the Spurs this season
19) Washington Wizards
This is probably the boldest ranking (as my colleagues on the SLOE podcast picked the Wizards to win the division) in the countdown but the Wizards more than likely took a step back this offseason. Kobe is a top 5 NBA player and while McGrady replaces a lot of that production, there is not a single other efficient scoring option on the team and not a lot of youth either. Combine that with questionable depth and no viable small forward and the Wizards likely miss the playoffs. The team will have to play slow and hope a good defensive frontcourt can keep them in the game if they can't add talent after their top 3 players.
does 37 year old Sam Cassell have enough left in the tank to contribute heavy minutes?
I knew I'll be ranked this low, but hey I love being the underdog.
My team is always on a very slow pace so nothing to worry about the old guys. Leon Powe did very well at the sf spot last year, I expect him to do even better this year.
18) Minnesota Timberwolves
Fresh off of an NBA finals appearance the Timberwolves would be luck to recreate their success from last season. Carlos Boozer is the unquestioned star on the team but who else on the team will score? It would be hard to ask Boozer to do more than he has done already and so Minnesota will have to have Felton, Terry, Richardson, and Kirilenko will have to be asked a lot more of to replace Paul Pierce's production. It's also questionable wether Dalembert is a starting center and who will back him up.
All NBA defender Andrei Kirilenko will have to create offense this season.
17) Indiana Pacers
The Pacers will definitely have three great scorers on the team this season. Baron Davis will have to play well consistently this season and Pierce and Artest will have to help outscore opponents as the Pacers develop a more offensively oriented identity. The Pacers do lack any post scoring option and for all of his defensive abilities Nazr Mohammed is an offensive liability. If Indiana can find the right player to start at power forward they could have a breakout season.
Ron Artest is known for his great shot selection.
Spot on.20) Portland TrailBlazers
Truth is nobody likes hipsters, or Darth Vader, or Portland. The Trail Blazers missed on the big fish this offseason and missing on plan B Etan Thomas will also be a huge blow to the teams playoff hopes. Landry and Brown have a lot to prove and can hopefully do an adequate job in the front court. Courtney Alexander's wild ride continues as he's gone from underrated to overrated and now simply overlooked. He will actually be an improvement upon the recently retired Michael Finley. Prince and Francis will have to drag this team to the playoffs.
a lot of pressure will land on landry this season to start as a rookie in portland
Great writeup. I agree with everything you said.22) Miami Heat
Expect Miami to build on last season's end of the year success with Bynum continuing to become a defensive force this season. A solid defensive starting 5 that will be carried offensively by Allen Iverson with some inefficient contributions from Bynum and TJ Ford. Expect the Heat to grind out games in the paint with a big strong frontcourt and undersized but tough backcourt. A little more backcourt depth and possibly replacing Donyell Marshall with an offensive option at the 3 could go a long way.
Allen Iverson needs to be one of the leagues top scorers this year if the Heat want to be competitive
16) Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks will be a great inside scoring team and add a true #1 option to last year's almost playoff team. Rookie center Aaron Gray and Jerome Moiso will have to play big roles in the front court for the team to succeed. Expect Jay Williams to be forced to continue having to spread the floor on his own this season. The Hawks should add more shooters on the roster. Atlanta has a solid group of players but a lack of depth could leave them on the outside looking in again.
Can Josh Smith pick up the scoring load this season
15) Los Angeles Clippers
This is another one of those teams with really only one scorer but Dwayne Wade is more than capable. The Clippers obviously are a defensively built team that makes up for that. The loss of Etan Thomas will be a bigger deal than many Clippers fans would like to believe, but Nick Collison is a solid starter and Lamar Odom will probably play more combo forward and maybe a little center off of the bench this season. Figuring out who to draw plays for other than Wade will be important down the road. Expect a lot of tinkering with lineups.
How will Lamar Odom be used this season?
Etan was a big loss. They were very good with him and they basically let him go for peanut.
Emeka Okafor - Joe Smith - Carmelo Anthony - Manu Ginobili - Jason Williams
Al Jefferson - James Posey - Aaron McKie - Shaun Livingston
14) New Jersey Nets
The Nets really had a great offseason. The addition of Josh Howard brings an efficient scorer to the second worst offensive team in the league last season and Mike Conley should bring great defense and distributing to the starting point guard spot his rookie year. The Nets were the worst free throw shooting team in the league last season and should look to take the ball out of the post tandem of Dwight Howard and Nene and into the hands Jason Richardson and Josh Howard. New Jersey will also struggle to put a bench together but it is a talented group.
Dwight Howard lost his scoring touch in his third year, look for more this campaign.
good job on my team BeeBall. very good insight and i agree with what was said
13) Detroit Pistons
The core of this team is unchanged but the Pistons largely expect improvement from within. Yao likely will never live up to his first overall selection but he does round out a balanced group for the Pistons. Detroit will likely look for Kevin Martin to be the team's leading scorer in a contract year and Luke Ridnour continuing to get everyone involved. Gerald Wallace and Ersan Ilyasova should bring much needed defense and rebounding. Look for the Pistons to say things like "If we were in the West" and "If we found the right gameplan" all season long.
Chris Wilcox was looking to start this season, instead he will be the first big off the bench
I finished with a top 10 record last year (maybe better), so I respectfully disagree with being this low, but I am curious to see the other teams that you moved above me.13) Detroit Pistons
The core of this team is unchanged but the Pistons largely expect improvement from within. Yao likely will never live up to his first overall selection but he does round out a balanced group for the Pistons. Detroit will likely look for Kevin Martin to be the team's leading scorer in a contract year and Luke Ridnour continuing to get everyone involved. Gerald Wallace and Ersan Ilyasova should bring much needed defense and rebounding. Look for the Pistons to say things like "If we were in the West" and "If we found the right gameplan" all season long.
Chris Wilcox was looking to start this season, instead he will be the first big off the bench
UPDATE: Mavericks, Rockets, Grizzlies, Lakers, Sonics, Suns, Hornets, Bulls, Raptors, Bucks, Knicks, 76ers
Last edited by TrayWithAnA; 08-21-2013 at 03:59 PM.
I was really surprised to see the Pistons this low. Obviously they play in a very tough decision and the Hornets and 76ers are higher in the East, but the Knicks are getting some love right now. And some of the 2nd tier in the west as well. But I could see where the Pistons have a chance to easily be a top ten team. I don't love their bench, but there are higher teams on this list who have a worse bench. If the Pistons are the 13th best team by the end of the regular season, Tray has some gameplanning issues.
The Knicks have 11 A's on their roster how they aren't getting MORE love is beyond me. The Lakers have 12 A's and Hornets have 11. I'm a huge beleiver in the Knicks this year.
Gameplan mastered over the last two seasons. No worries there.
12) New York Knicks
The Knicks are shelling out a ton of money as always and could really have a breakthrough year with Chris Webber on the team. Webber brings the efficient scoring that the team was lacking and allows Stoudamire to focus more on the defensive end. Tony Parker
is ready to take a big step this season and Horford could win sixthman of the year as a rookie. The glaring hole on the roster is the two guard spot where the Knicks have very little options and may be forced to play Richard Jefferson and others out of position.
The New York spotlight will be on Amare this season
Didn't realize how good the Knicks really were.
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