CheChe23's Pre-Season NBA Power Rankings
1. Los Angeles Lakers -- The Lakers should win the title, and they will probably do it over the Celtics. If Jackson can get the line-up right they Lakers could flirt with 70 wins. Odom, Bynum, Gasol and Kobe make up the most feared fab four any NBA team can floor this season. Questions still remain over whether or not they can use Gasol and Bynum at the same time, or who their primary ball handler will be. And injuries will always be a concern. Kobe has his issues, Bynum hasn't played a real NBA game since January and Gasol played 56 games in '05 and 59 games in '07. Just recently Derek Fisher has had to miss pre-season action from a sore right knee, Farmar has had to sit out because of a sore right foot and Sasha Vujacic has a sprained ankle. After 57 wins a year ago, the Lakers would be disappointed with anything less than 60 and a Western Conference crown.
2. Boston Celtics -- How will the Celtics follow up their picture perfect 66-win, NBA Championship season? Is the Boston Big Three big enough for a repeat? From the looks of it, the Celtics won't have any problem with their Eastern Conference rivals again this year, the division should be theirs for the taking. Even after losing James Posey, the Celtics depth may have improved. Tony Allen, Eddie House, Glen Davis and Leon Powe all return to anchor the bench. New additions Patrick O'Bryant, Darius Miles, J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker will add youth and size while adding speed as well. KG, Pierce, Allen got what they wanted last year, I think the Lakers will get the better of them this year.
3. Houston Rockets -- Yes, the Rockets will get out of the first round of the playoffs this year. Injuries have killed what could be one of the deadliest 1-2 punches in the NBA (McGrady/Ming), but healthy they could easily win the West. Ron Artest may put the Rockets on another level, but then again, injuries and suspensions have prevented Artest from ever playing all 82 games in a season. On paper this team is stacked: McGrady, Yao, Artest, Battier, Brent Berry, Alston, Francis, Hayes, Head, Landry, Scola... Not to mention the youth movement in Von Wafer, D.J. Strawberry, Maarty Leunen, Aaron Brooks and Joey Dorsey. Houston's NBA Championship hope lies heavy on the fact that Rafer Alston is a legit NBA point guard and that they can all stay healthy -- we'll see.
4. Utah Jazz -- Utah would have knocked off the Lakers in the playoffs last year if it hadn't been for the refs being paid to put Boston against LA. It wouldn't surprise anyone to see the Jazz back in the NBA Western Conference Finals. Deron Williams to Carlos Boozer has made a new generation of Jazz fans respect the pick and roll. Talent is aplenty in Utah: Brewer, Kirilenko, Korver, Milsap, Okur... Depth too: Almond, Collins, Harpring, Knight, Koufos, Miles, Price...
5. Portland Trail Blazers -- Move over Dallas, Phoenix and San Antonio... Portland is ready to become the newest team to beat in the Western Conference. Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Martell Webster and Greg Oden make a poor-man's version of the Lakers fab-four. With a little bit of the proper chemistry, I think the Trail Blazers could be playing playoff games in Portland this April.
6. New Orleans Hornets -- How can Chris Paul get any better? Paul had 21.1 ppg, 11.6 apg and 4.0 rpg last year, but finished second in the MVP balloting. Last year the Hornets were able to thrive off of Tyson Chandler and David West and they'll need the same production if they expect the same results (4th best record overall). Adding James Posey will help come playoff time, Rasual Butler, Devin Brown, Peja Stojakovic, Morris Peterson, Bonzi Wells, Mike James and Julian Wright give the Hornets great depth.
7. Detroit Pistons -- Aging veterans (Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, Richard Hamilton) will need talented youngsters (Aaron Afflalo, Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell, Rodney Stuckey) to carry much of the regular season burden. Detroit will emerge as one of the top teams in the East, but it won't come as easily as it has in the past. The Pistons will get the best from Eastern Conference foes: Boston, Orlando, Toronto, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Atlanta.
8. Dallas Mavericks -- A full season with Jason Kidd could equal great success in Dallas. Depth was the deciding factor on why I ranked Dallas at the lower half of the top 10. I'm not too confident with anyone else they have running the point besides Jason Kidd (unless I want to believe that JaJuan Smith is a point guard). And despite Jason Kidd's 14 years of experience, the Mavs are young. Looking at the Mavericks active roster on Yahoo as of today, I see 11 players with three years experience or less.
9. Philadelphia 76ers -- Philly was one of the most surprising teams last season, finishing with the 7th spot in the playoff picture. And this past off-season they added an MVP caliber power forward in Elton Brand to put the together the final piece in what could be a championship contending puzzle. Andre Iguodala must emerge as a legit NBA superstar to compliment Brand. The rest of the bunch, Sam Dalembert, Willie Green, Andre Miller, Louis Williams and Thaddeus Young, must continue to progress from last year, otherwise Orlando, Toronto, Cleveland and Atlanta will surpass them.
10. Phoenix Suns -- Phoenix is hoping to get "there" with the help of "motivating factors". We all know that Shaq thinks he deserves at least one more, Steve Nash definitely would rather have a finals trophy than his two MVP's and Grant Hill wants to know what it's like to cut down the nets in the NBA. Combined all that together and couple it with Amare Stoudemire's talent and the Suns are without question a contender -- they just might need to win a few games on the road come playoff time. But any injury could derail this team to the brink of being last year's Bulls (pre-season contender to next year's No. 1 overall pick).
11. Orlando Magic -- I decided that Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis make a better 1-2 punch than Toronto's Bosh and O'Neal, which is why the Magic are ranked just higher than the Raptors.
12. Toronto Raptors -- Chris Bosh and Jermaine O'Neal together looks great on paper, but how will it look on the floor? Questions remain over a few members of the Raptors roster: Andrea Bargnani, Jason Kapono, Jamario Moon and Anthony Parker.
13. San Antonio Spurs -- With Manu out until mid-December, the Spurs are going to have to rely on Michael Finley, Bruce Bowen, Roger Mason, Salim Stoudamire and Ime Udoka. This could be a typical Spurs season: start slow, finish strong, contend for the title.
14. Cleveland Cavaliers -- Yes, LeBron could probably carry this team to the NBA final four on his own. Having Mo Williams, Z, Delonte West, Booby, Wally and Big Ben will help -- but these guys aren't the supporting cast that is going to help Bron Bron get his first ring.
15. Atlanta Hawks -- Atlanta was the feel good story last year: Making the post-season for the first time ever (not really), taking the Celtics to seven games, etc. Mike Bibby, Al Horford, Joe Johnson, Josh Smith and Marvin Williams together make five great athletes, but I feel like they are one player away from making a serious run.
16. Los Angeles Clippers -- There is a lot to look forward to for the Clippers. Finally they have star power in Baron Davis, defensive prowess with Camby and Kaman, rookie hype with Eric Gordon and DeAndre Jordan and rising talent with Al Thornton. It might not be all that bad without Elton Brand.
17. Denver Nuggets -- Denver can't play defense and just got rid of Marcus Camby, it could be a long season. But they still have Melo and AI right?
18. Indiana Pacers -- No more O'Neal means life will be good for Granger and Murphy. Danny Granger is about to let you know he's one of the best in the league.
19. Miami Heat -- Wade, Marion and Beasley make a solid sounding big three... but that still doesn't mean much when Chris Quinn and Marcus Banks are your point men.
20. Chicago Bulls -- The draft winners will have to employ Joakim Noah and Aaron Gray at center, that could be the only thing holding the Bulls back. Will this team look the same at season's end?
21. Washington Wizards -- Even without Gilbert for however long, the Wizards might be just fine with Dee Brown, Antonio Daniels and DeShawn Stevenson.
22. Sacramento Kings -- There is a serious lack of quality at the point guard position in the NBA, the Kings suffer that problem.
23. Milwaukee Bucks -- Richard Jefferson, Charlie Villanueva, Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut all sound like they are legit NBA players. As for the rest of the Bucks roster... not so much.
24. Charlotte Bobcats -- This team has a lot of players. Can they put it all together?
25. Minnesota Timberwolves -- Randy Foye needs to play like Dwyane Wade. Mike Miller needs to be Reggie Miller. Corey Brewer needs to learn a role and play it. Kevin Love needs to be better than O.K. Mayo. Al Jefferson needs to be an all-star. The bench: Telfair, McCants, Carney, Craig Smith and Calvin Booth... need to play like starters. The Wolves need another three years.
26. Golden State Warriors -- What happened? This team was sick two years ago. Now they look like a team that might shoot 50 three's a game and give up 120.
27. New York Knicks -- Just another mess of a season waits.
28. New Jersey Nets -- New Jersey will play for the paychecks this year, no expectations will equal no accomplishments.
29. Memphis Grizzlies -- Rudy Gay might have a great year... because he has to. Mayo would be a bust for the Wolves, probably wins ROY with Memphis.
30. Oklahoma City Thunder -- What a terrible economic time to move an unpopular and somewhat untalented sports franchise to Oklahoma City.
Playoff Picture:
Western Conference:
Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz, Portland Trailblazers, New Orleans Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs
Eastern Conference:
Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic, Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers
Western Conference Finals: Los Angeles Lakers over Houston Rockets, 4-1.
Eastern Conference Finals: Boston Celtics over Detroit Pistons, 4-2.
NBA Finals: Los Angeles Lakers over Boston Celtics, 4-1.
Players to Watch:
Mo Williams -- Williams teams up with LBJ after two straight seasons scoring more than 17 and dishing more than 6. If all goes well for Williams (meaning he doesn't miss his annual 15-20 games), he should have a career year.
Martell Webster -- If Webster can bounce back from surgery that is expected to sideline him for 10 weeks, the Blazers may have yet another emerging All-Star. Webster has improved each season since coming into the NBA straight out of high school. He averaged 10.7 ppg and 4.0 rpg, playing nearly 30 minutes a night last season.
Jose Calderon -- After just his third season in the NBA, Calderon scored 11.2 ppg and had 8.3 apg. With Ford exiting for Toronto and O'Neal on board, Calderon should flirt with 10 assists per game this season.
Al Thornton -- With Davis on board, the Clippers offense should thrive and Thronton will be the beneficiary. After playing 27 minutes a game and averaging 12.7 ppg and 4.5 rpg as a rookie, I expect to see a solid sophomore campaign from the former Florida State forward.
DeShawn Stevenson -- Another no-college talent has used his first three seasons in the NBA as "education". Stevenson may be called upon heavily to score buckets during the first part of the season with Arenas out. Stevenson has always been productive in all categories (at least 11 points per game each of his first three seasons), the Wizards will need him to be just a little more productive.
Gerald Wallace -- If Wallace can stay on the court for all 82 games, he could be the NBA's next consistent All-Star. Wallace has improved his numbers every year since entering the league as the 25th overall pick in 2001.
Louis Williams -- This 22 year old kid broke out last year with an 11.5 ppg average and dishing out 2.1 apg. After finding confidence last year, I imagine we'll see big numbers for Williams this season.
Danny Granger -- Granger is a stat racking beast. His 6-9 frame allows him to gather rebounds (6.1) while scoring in a variety of ways (19.6 ppg, 40% from 3) and his long arms allow him to get dirty on defense (1.1 bpg, 1.2 spg). Granger should be an All-Star and will be a house-hold name in no time.
NBA Awards:
Most Valuable Player: Yao Ming, Chris Paul, Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard
Rookie of the Year: Greg Oden, O.J. Mayo, Joe Alexander
Defensive Player of the Year: Dwight Howard, Josh Smith, Chris Paul
6th Man of the Year: Rodney Stuckey, Shane Battier, Tony Allen
Most Improved Player: Devin Harris, Randy Foye, Darko Milicic
Coach of the Year: Rick Adelman (Rockets)
Executive of the Year: Kevin Pritchard (Trail Blazers)
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