1. New Jersey Nets: Last season's record: (12 - 70), Predicted record: (43 - 39)
How is it possible for the Nets to go from the worst team in the league to a potential playoff team you ask? It starts with Avery Johnson. Avery Johnson is a very, very good coach, and certainly knows how to win. He led the Mavericks from 05 - 08. This coaching job includes: 2006 Coach of the Year, 2006 NBA Finals Appearance, and became the fastest coach to reach 100 and 150 wins, respectively. You might notice that he's crazy at times, but he's, nonetheless, a great coach. Now, you're probably wondering how a team can jump up 31 wins with just a great coach. While they failed to get a superstar (Carmelo Anthony), the New Jersey Nets managed to improve a lot this off-season, making a bunch of moves to acquire solid players (Anthony Morrow, Travis Outlaw, Troy Murphy, Jordan Farmar, Derrick Favors, etc.) They certainly have the talent to win some games, but can they put it all together to forget last season's execrable breakdown?
Keys to the season: An upcoming center in the league, Brook Lopez, will need to stay consistent all season long and prove to the rest of the league what he's capable of. Devin Harris will need to stay healthy and prove that he's capable of performing at an All-Star level.
Wild prediction: The Nets will make the playoffs at the 7th, or 8th seed and push the series to 7 games.
(All the people in the background are Asian. Yay for Asians!)
2. Minnesota Timberwolves: Last season's record: (15 - 67), Predicted record: (24 - 58)
Why do the Timberwolves only improve 9 wins? Losing an All-Star talent certainly hurts a team. But that doesn't mean that the Timberwolves didn't improve just a little. Big Al Jeffs simply was not himself last season, so that shouldn't hurt the team's record by that much. Even if that doesn't have much of an effect on the team, Jonny Flynn is out for the first few weeks of the season. Kevin Love, fresh off of the Team U.S.A. gold medal this summer, should be stepping it up and doing work. Always gotta have love for the Kevin Love, right? On a side note, the big reason why the T'Wolves got rid of Big Al, was to give Darko Milicic - NBA Superstar more playing time. Speaking of trading and acquisitions, the Wolves revamped pretty much everyone on the roster (excluding Darko, Love, Flynn, Brewer, Telfair, and Ellington). They picked up Martell Webster, Luke Ridnour, Wesley Johnson, etc. On another side note, Michael Beasley is in town now, and though he's very capable of putting up numbers and tearing up arenas, he's had a few mental lapses over the past two years. If you're the 2nd pick of any professional sports league, why in the world would you want to kill yourself? Hopefully, this is the year he puts it all together. B-Easy
Keys to the season: Michael Beasley really shouldn't have that many distractions in Minnesota, but we'll just have to wait and see. Kevin Love is going to have to be the double-double machine that he was last season and more, if the T'Wolves hope to even be in the top 10 of the conference.
Wild prediction: Darko is going to average at least 13 PPG.
Free Darko anyone?
3. Sacramento Kings: Last season's record: (25 - 57) , Predicted record: (33 - 49)
The Kings are certainly a talented team. Young studs everywhere. Tyreke Evans + DeMarcus Cousins + that hair Israeli with a well groomed beard that gets wet = 33 wins?! Whaaat?! Yeah. Even though this team is talented, they really don't have any experience at all. They have a superstar in the making, Tyreke Evans, but no experience. The team only has 5 players with 5+ years of experience. So, even though they're talented, they're not experienced enough to reach playoff waters. The Kings will definitely be a team to watch for in about 3 years or so. But just not yet. If people were having questions about DeMarcus, well... yeah. The Kings should be a fun team to watch, but they won't make the playoffs. The Kings also don't have a reliable shooting guard if Tyreke is going to be running the show from the point position.
Keys to the season: The studs are going to have to prove that talent is better than experience. DeMarcus Cousins is going to have to overcome any doubts that anyone has.
Wild prediction: The Kings go 11 - 5 within the first month of the season, but start to die out.
"Reke-ing havoc"
4. Washington Wizards: Last season's record: (26 - 56), Predicted record: (37 - 45)
John Wall. John Wall? Is the Wizards' season based solely on John Wall? Yes and no. Gilbert Arenas anyone? If this John Wall- Gilbert Arenas tangent works out, the Wizards could be dangerous. The Wizards have a solid, talented team all-around, but I don't really see anyone that can quite take them over the top yet. John Wall is a rookie and is projected to win Rookie of the Year at the end of the year. But can he take them to the playoffs? On paper, they're looking pretty good if not very good. JaVale McGee, another Team U.S.A. gold medalist, can possibly be on the verge of a breakout season. The sky's the limit for McGee, but he'll need to start putting things together to max out all that potential. If he doesn't do this sooner than later, he just might be getting that bust label. John Wall should be able to carry the team somewhat, but he's gonna need a lot of help to push this team into the playoffs. Captain Kirk, the man that does no wrong, should be able to do just that, all while helping Gilbert teach Wall about being in the league.
Keys to the season: The triple-double whore, Andray Blatche, will have to step things up and help carry some of the load for John Wall.
Wild prediction: Andray Blatche gets a triple double, and the JW-GA tangent works out fine.
Fear the beard.
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