NBA Rankings: Three for thought – 21 through 19
It’s coming. We’re counting down the days till the new season and it’s pre-season time! The preparation for each franchise to be ready for 48 minutes of NBA basketball is underway.
Some teams are staying close to home playing their pre-season games against division rivals while others choose to jet around the world to push their own brand as well as the leagues.
OKC and the 76ers even graced us UK NBA fans with their presence with OKC coming out on top at the Phones 4U Arena 103-99. Coverage of the game was brought to you by the guys here at UKAmericanSportsFans.com!
Anyway…..
Time for another three!
The list is starting to verge on aspiring teams and playoff outsiders. The depth of talent coupled with the rebuilding process league wide this year makes a lot of the selections I make completely un-predicated on the health of the franchise but the ‘here and now’ factor i.e. what they’ll achieve in the 2013/14 season.
30 – Phoenix Suns
29 – Orlando Magic
28 – Charlotte Bobcats
27 – Utah Jazz
26 – Milwaukee Bucks
25 – Toronto Raptors
24 – Boston Celtics
23 – Philadelphia 76ers
22 – Sacramento Kings
21 – Los Angeles Lakers – 2012/13: 45-37 – 2013/14: 30-52
Name five Lakers players in their 20s. That’s as tough a question you’ll be asked this week. Now name five Lakers players who’ll still actually be a Laker in 2014/15…..there isn’t. The Los Angeles Lakers are in the advantageous position of being able to completely strip their team apart in the hope of a high draft pick whilst also knowing that they’re automatic favourites to land whoever is the top free agent come next summer.
That list includes LeBron, D-Wade, Bosh and Melo. The bright lights of Hollywood and the storied tradition of this franchise will appeal to all of these guys but there’s one thing in the way.
Kobe.
Bryant still holds the keys to the franchise, his contract runs out in 2014 but if you’d like to be the GM who turns down Kobe an extension then get ready for riots at the Staples Arena. If Kobe was willing to take a pay-cut (he is set to net a whopping $30m this year) to accommodate the introduction of a new superstar and play the role as number two in LA, then the Lakers will be 21 places higher on this list next year. Sadly, however, the Dwight Howard fiasco that has plagued the PR of the team for the past 12 months doesn’t fill that idea with a lot of hope.
Focussing on the here and now however and the Lakers have their weakest team for over decade. The amnesty clause was used on Metta World Peace to ensure they weren’t hit with huge tax penalties; Pau Gasol was insulted from just about every angle whether it was his team, the media and even his own fans last season so despite his obvious talent the 32-year-old won’t exactly be brimming with confidence to help the purple and gold win some games. The signing of Chris Kaman was strange but just proves their reluctance to win games in the short term, a solid player defensively who can even get you a few points but he isn’t half the player Dwight is.
Mike D’Antoni still has a lot of question marks surrounding his ability to coach a team like this, even with his veteran PG Steve Nash running the type of offence that yielded so much success in Phoenix. In reality this is an off-year for the franchise, tooling up for next year, meanwhile the Clippers will take over LA for the next 12 months which will no doubt be a source of bitterness for Lakernation.
20 – Atlanta Hawks – 2012/13: 44-38 – 2013/14: 31-51
The summer of 2013 was the summer that could’ve been for the Hawks. Atlanta were, at one point favourites, to land Dwight Howard – a native to the region – when it became apparent that he was headed to the tax haven Rockets to hook up with James Harden then Josh Smith decided to jump ship as well.
The Hawks have never managed to keep their top players throughout history, even going back to the days when guys left them to join ABA teams, there’s something unappealing to pro basketball players about Atlanta.
As a result the Hawks opted to keep their short term future solid, in other words they haven’t joined followed other teams in stripping out their chances of actually winning games.
The head office has signed some good players but the team is still weak in some areas of the court.
Even after signing Paul Millsap, Elton Brand and DeMarre Carroll to fortify the frontcourt, re-signing Kyle Korver and matching the offer sheet on Jeff Teague, the Hawks are still under the salary cap. But with all that cap room, they don’t appear to have made themselves much better.
This is why I think they can only manage 31 wins this season. A roster like this built with a lot of average guys who you don’t know whether they’ll manage to gel lose A LOT of road games, their main hope to stay strong at home.
It’ll be interesting to see if Mike Budenholzer opts to play Al Horford at power forward or at centre, the 6′ 10″ two time all-star is most effective at the tall forward position but seems to be getting played mostly at centre by whoever coaches him over the last three seasons.
19 – Portland Trailblazers – 2012/13: 33-49 – 2013/14: 33-49
I don’t believe Portland will budge this year, Lillard may continue to improve and progress to becoming an all-star calibre point guard but he and LeMarcus Aldridge still have a heavy load to carry.
Portland added five more draft picks this year, including first-rounder C.J. McCollum, who is envisioned as a backup at both guard spots. Another is the acrobatic Jeff Withey, who was put into the deal that landed Robin Lopez.
The acquisition of Lopez serves two purposes. Initially, he will compensate for the exit of free agent J.J. Hickson and allow LaMarcus Aldridge to play more minutes at his natural position of power forward, allowing for a more dynamic offence. He joins Aldridge, , our very own Joel Freeland and newly signed Dorell Wright as players whose contracts expire in 2015.
The Trailblazers also pounced on Houston’s desire to dump Thomas Robinson, still an unknown quantity who could blossom with regular playing time, which he likely will get here. They also snagged veteran point guard Mo Williams; assuring Lillard won’t lead the NBA in minutes again.
Over the next two years, they need to determine whether Aldridge can be convinced to stay beyond his current contract or use the summer of 2015 as the next time he can execute an extreme makeover. That is also when Lillard, Robinson and Meyers Leonard will be up for extensions.
The cap room at the club is pretty tied up for the next two seasons so if Portland plan on making any noise in the Western conference then it rests pretty much on Lillard and Aldridge’s shoulders.