Hey guys, I know I have been pretty dormant the last week. Been a busy week with work and other house projects going on. NBA season is under way and I would like to give you my week one power rankings and my thoughts on some of the teams potential outcomes this season. Let me know what you think of your teams ranking. I will tell you why they where they are. Sorry about the setup, facebook is not very forgiving with tables and such.. NBA Power Rankings: Week 1 1. San Antonio The Spurs are the defending world champs and the roster really hasn’t changed. They return the “Big 3 West” as well as their deep bench; Marco Belinello, Boris Diaw, Danny Green, Cory Joseph, Kawhi Leonard, Patty Mills, and Tiago Splitter. Knowing that, they are number one until we see different. W-L prediction: 62-20 2. Cleveland This jump is probably the largest in NBA history. When you sign LeBron James you basically become a contender right away. They went ahead and also added Kevin Love, James Jones, Shawn Marion, and Mike Miller to support the King, and the Cavs have a real chance at Cleveland’s first national sports championship since 1960. W-L prediction: 61-21 3. Chicago I know there are a lot of doubters out there of Derrick Rose and the Bulls. I don’t know where that comes from. Have you seen Derrick Rose play lately? He looks better than ever and Chicago has a huge gap on the Eastern Conference’s number three, Toronto. Should be a Cavaliers/Bulls Eastern final, hands down. W-L prediction: 59-23 4. LA Clippers I watched the Clippers play a preseason game the other night. It was one of the only games where Blake Griffin and Chris Paul played more than 25 minutes in a game. Griffin went off for 35 points and Chris Paul, 34. Don’t forget they also have a third member of LOB city, DeAndre Jordan. If the Spurs eventually start to show their age, the Clips and their deep bench are the favorite for the Finals. W-L prediction: 56-26 5. Golden State Steve Kerr passed on New York to stay out West and take over the Warriors. We will see what he can make out of this elite offensive group with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson being the best shooting backcourt in the league. Having David Lee and Andrew Bogut at the 4-5 won’t hurt when they have to compete with the big men in the West like Duncan, Howard, and Griffin down the road. W-L prediction: 54-28 6. Portland Portland has been one of those teams in the last few years that have the talent to compete, but never seem to have the depth to compete with the best in the West. Adding Steve Blake and Chris Kaman should give them the depth on both sides of the court to lead them to a deep playoff run. W-L prediction: 52-30 7. Memphis Memphis will be a surprise team I think to most people. I just believe this starting lineup; Mike Conley, Tony Allen, Tayshaun Prince, Zach Randolph, and Marc Gasol, is the best mix of young upcoming talent and experienced leadership. Plus, bench players Nick Calathes, Kosta Koufos, Courtney Lee, Quincy Pondexter, Jon Leuer, Beno Udrih, and the addition of Vince Carter is one of the deepest benches this year. W-L prediction: 51-31 8. Toronto Toronto won’t be so much of a surprise. They were in this spot the same time when the season ended last year and not a whole lot changed in the Atlantic division other than the Nets getting weaker, putting the Raptors as the clear favorite. DeMar DeRozan is a stud and Toronto has a very young team, but I see them actually finishing with a better record than last season. W-L prediction: 50-32 9. Houston This is going to be a little high for most of you, but I have a feeling about this Rocket team. They completely bomb shelled in free agency this offseason losing Asik, Casspi, Lin, and Parsons. They did go get Trevor Ariza who is a solid defender and I think the trio mix of him, Harden, and D-Howard will be good even in the league’s best division from top to bottom. W-L prediction: 50-32 10. Oklahoma City I know this ranking will get a lot of backlash, but it’s well deserved. Durant is out for at least the first month if not longer and they lost a bunch of key players from their bench last season without replacing them with any comparable talent. I think the Thunder will see their first struggling season since Durant, but it is the West so as long as they make the playoffs anything can happen from there. W-L prediction: 50-32 11. Washington I really wanted to put this team higher, but I am not all-in for this squad yet. John Wall and Bradley Beal put together the best backcourt in the NBA and the addition of Paul Pierce, DeJuan Blair, and Kris Humphries is going to make their defensive game stronger and their rebounding. All in all, if this team can stay healthy they may end up closer to Cleveland and Chicago by the end of the year. W-L prediction: 49-33 12. Dallas What a surprise, the twelfth ranked team in the NBA will be the eight seed in the West if all goes correctly. If it wasn’t for adding Tyson Chandler I would have had this team out of the playoffs. Chandler is the best defensive Center in the NBA and that is exactly what Dallas lacked last season allowing the most points by a playoff team. They won’t last long though if they have to play the Spurs. W-L prediction: 48-34 13. Miami I honestly do not see Miami falling off the wagon as much as Cleveland did 4 years ago when LeBron left. They still have Wade and Bosh to lead the Heat to another playoff run. They also added Luol Deng and Danny Granger to try and pick up some of the slack that is left without LBJ. Rookies Shabazz Napier and Andre Dawkins will also help their backcourt; they both know how to win games. W-L prediction: 45-37 14. Indiana I think everybody saw them dropping quite a bit when months ago when they knew they wouldn’t have Paul George playing. George is their key to winning competitive games down the stretch and without him; they aren’t winning more than 50 games, if that. If he returns for the playoffs though, watch out for the upsets. W-L prediction: 43-39 15. Charlotte MJ has done a quality job building a solid team from the bottom of the dump to mediocrity without blowing the salary cap. The addition of Lance Stephenson should really help the Hornets to squeeze into the playoffs. Still worried about the fan base though. I just don’t see Charlotte making it past the first round of the playoffs. W-L prediction: 41-41 16. Phoenix This Suns team has a ton of young, upcoming talent, but they just aren’t ready for the big time yet. If they can keep this crew of players, they will be in the top ten in two years that’s for sure. Jeff Hornacek will be around to see these years out, but if they start to slip into the bottom 5 of the West, you will see Phoenix’ 5th head coach in 10 years told “sorry, we are going to go with someone else.” W-L prediction: 40-42 17. Brooklyn Brooklyn looked very prominent two years back when they moved from Jersey. The truth is they were increasingly getting better both years. They made a mistake though. They let one of their key players leave the team and they traded away Jason Kidd, who is really showing potential to be the next big coaching power in the league. They might still have Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and the front court duo of KG and Lopez, but I don’t believe in the mixture of this group. I think they clash and struggle right off the bat and won’t have time to catch up late in the year. Sorry Brooklyn. W-L prediction: 39-43 18. New York The Knicks never seem to finish where predicted in the preseason. You say they will struggle; they will finish in the top 5. You say they will be great; they are going to miss the playoffs. I am going to say they are going to split those predictions right down the middle. They won’t be top 5, but they will sneak into the playoffs. Being the seventh ranked team in the East is not something to be excited about though. In the past three seasons the seventh ranked team in the East would be an average of tenth in the West. W-L prediction: 39-43 19. Denver The Nuggets just simply lost too many key players from last year. They have way too many small forwards on their roster and not enough balance on the point game or down low. You can’t be successful when you have Darrell Arthur, Wilson Chandler, Kenneth Faried, Danilo Gallinari, Arron Afflalo, and Alonzo Gee on the same team and they are all fighting for playing time. They need to trade some of these guys for depth in the 2 and 4 positions and they may be a little better. W-L prediction: 36-46 20. Atlanta After all the Danny Ferry hoopla from the offseason, Atlanta hasn’t really changed much. They had a window of opportunity the last 5 years to be great and they let it slip away. No more Josh Smith as of last season and now no more Louis Williams, one of the best shooters on that team. Next year it will most likely be Al Horford. I think you’ll see the Hawks slump more and more for the next few years unless they seriously consider change in the front office. W-L prediction: 35-47 21. Detroit I almost hate putting Detroit this low because GM Jeff Bower has done a fabulous job putting together a dominant team, on paper. Between Andre Drummond, Josh Smith, and Greg Monroe, I have no idea how anybody is going to get a rebound against them, offensively or defensively. They are just another one of those teams that don’t bode well together. If they Monroe and Drummond can finally completely mature physically and work together, Detroit can have a twin tower duo of their own for years to come. Don’t forget they have Brandon Jennings too. Don’t be surprised if they end up moving up the chart as the season moves along, but until I see proof, this is where they stay. W-L prediction: 33-49 22. New Orleans New Orleans is in a similar position that the Pistons are in. They just haven’t had the tenure to prove their dominance, but if Anthony Davis can be the potential MVP candidate that everybody thinks he can be, watch out for the Pelicans. I can see them anywhere between last and third in their division by the end of the season It all depends on how quickly this young squad develops as a team whether they make or miss the playoff mark. W-L prediction: 31-51 23. Boston This is the first team in the rankings that I can pretty much guarantee aren’t going to put themselves in a playoff clinching situations. Brad Stevens is still too new to compete with the likes of great coaches in the East and the Celtics have a similar problem that the Denver Nuggets do. They have way too many players that play the same position and I am too afraid that the personalities of Rondo, Marcus Smart, and Evan Turner is just going to collide and end up putting the Celtics in the lottery. W-L prediction: 30-52 24. Minnesota You can’t blame the T’wolves for trading away Kevin Love. He didn’t want to be there and it was better for them to trade him now and get some quality young players for him instead of losing him straight up in next years’ free agency market. I think you will see Minnesota utilize Anthony Bennett better than the Cavs facilitated him. Put that on top of Andrew Wiggins and some of these other young guns, you will see them flash some shades of hope, but ultimately they just aren’t strong enough to beat the best of the West for 82 games. W-L prediction: 28-54 25. Sacramento All is good in Shaqremento? Not so much. Although Boobie Cousins will be mentored by one of the best Centers to play the game, the Kings are a couple years away from having a contending squad. They keep Cousins through free agency next offseason though and watch out 2015-16. They will compete. W-L prediction: 26-56 26. Orlando The Magic simply just made too many mediocre moves this offseason aside from drafting forward stud Aaron Gordon. They signed 7 other players, that together, only accounted for 30 PPG with their teams last season and they lost 6 players that accounted for 35 PPG. Doesn’t look good for the organization when you lose more than you gain from the previous season. W-L prediction: 25-57 27. Milwaukee The only reason Milwaukee is not at the 30 spot is the fact that they have the potential rookie of the year, Jabari Parker, and head coach, Jason Kidd. They do not have another single promising player in their lineup in my opinion. All these young players on their roster are guys who were projected to be great and they fell off the map and now here they are, in Milwaukee. They will be lucky to win 25 games this year. W-L prediction: 24-58 28. LA Lakers You thought Kobe was mad when ESPN ranked him 40th on the top 100 players list in the NBA season this year? Wait till he finds out nobody thinks the Lakers are going to win much more than 20 games this season. This team is all Kobe and I am sorry, but even if he averages his normal 25 PPG, that isn’t going to affect any team when the rest of the guys around him have a hard time putting up points even in the double digits. W-L prediction: 21-61 29. Utah I went back and forth between Utah and Philly beings the bottom feeders of the NBA this season. But, ultimately the Jazz added much more experience and talent in the offseason. I only see them win about 18 or 19 games, so the lottery will decide which one of these teams will get Jahlil Okafor, currently projected number one for the NBA draft next season. W-L prediction: 19-63 30. Philadelphia Finally, we have the 76ers. It was only ten years ago that this team was a perennial threat in the East with A.I and Larry Brown. They have to have seen this coming though. They haven’t made a legitimate attempt to sign a franchise player since they drafted “The Answer” back in 1996. I sense about 15 wins from these guys and anything above 25 would be a miracle to me. It’s time to change some front office personnel because this team has just been awful for a lot of years now. W-L prediction: 15-67
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 23:25:55 +0000