Atlanta Hawks:
Joe Johnson heads out the door for this season. He was a seriously bad contract for the Hawks as they were paying him superstar money when he wasn't really a superstar. Josh Smith is in a contract year and that usually means big numbers. Al Horford is also a good center when healthy and I like the addition of Kyle Korver. I think this team will still be playoff bound. Johnson hurt this team as much as he tended to help. I also feel they made some good moves to fill the Johnson void. I can see them winning mid 40s gamewise and really surprise some people.
Charlotte Bobcats:
A historically bad team last year. They had a pretty good draft with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Other than that, this is still a pretty bad franchise. Ben Gordon comes to town after a pretty horrible Pistons stay. Ramon Sessions comes to town after looking pretty bad on the Lakers last year. Really, this team reeks of being built from castoffs from other teams. I wouldn't be happy if Sessions, Haywood or Gordon were starting for my team and you've got all three here. This is an under 20 win team. I think 14-17 wins would be reasonable for this squad.
Miami Heat:
The defending champs bring back a pretty similar team. Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis come to town. Both of them have issues as players but they should be mere role players for the Heat. I hate the Heat but I think they'll roll through the East with no problems whatsoever. I think nothing stands between them and the 1 seed for the playoffs. I think the Celtics might be able to knock them out of the playoffs but that's a big if. I think the Heat are the clear favorite to represent the Eastern Conference in the Finals.
Orlando Magic:
The Magic traded Dwight Howard in the offseason. They passed up a pretty good package from the Nets early in the summer and then ultimately had to settle for a far inferior deal in the Lakers deal. A lot of pieces moved around in that deal and the Magic really got the leftovers. Aaron Afflalo comes to town. He's a good pick up but there's no one around him. Past that, this team is a mess. Turkoglu and Nelson are shoot first and ask questions later players. The rest of the team is made up of whatever they could cobble together for this team. I think you're looking at a low 20 win kind of season here.
Washington Wizards:
I don't really understand bringing in Emeka Okafor as he's not a NBA quality starting center. This team has a solid rotation of guys with competent skills. They can play some defense in the front court. I think this team could push into the high 20s on wins.
No comments:
Post a Comment