Post by Dan on Jul 22, 2004 17:22:24 GMT -4
#1. San Antonio Spurs- they resigned manu and bruce, and they added the much needed shooter in brent barry. When you can only make your team better without messing up the chemistry; its a great thing.
#2. Sacramento Kings- due to the lakers downfall and the rule that who ever wins the division either gets #1 or #2 seed, the kings get #2. They have a very good team, and now, with brad miller starting in place of vlade the kings will be very good. The only concern is, of course, if they can stay away from injuries, if they can do that, they will get #2 seed.
#3. Minnesota T-Wolves- they kept troy hudson, they still have that nice core around the MVP, if they also can stay healthy and keep those key parts they had to win a championship last season, the wolves will again contend again for a title.
#4. Denver Nuggets- improved VERY MUCH after adding kenyon martin to the mix, and now they have a team full of big men and full of very good players. The Nuggets will be a very good team next year.
#5. Houston Rockets- added Tracy McGrady among others, but who is gonna be their point guard? Tyronn Lue? Thats one of the concerns............and.....as much as everyone would like to say the Rockets are contenders, the jelling of T-Mac into Coach Van Gundy's system, as well as meshing well with Yao, is yet to be seen. If they can get a good point guard and if T-Mac jells well into the system and plays DEFENSE the rockets will be very much improved from last year.
#6. Utah Jazz- what a great offseason! they added Mehmet Okur and Carlos Boozer (controversal or not) and that now solves their big man problems. They also kept that nice duo of Gordon Giricek and Carlos Arroyo. With Jerry Sloan as your coach and a complete all-around good team, the Jazz will be improved from last season.
#7. L.A Lakers- everyone knows the story, we've heard it on ESPN thousands of times...........kobe became the Lakers GM after the embarrising collapse in the Finals to the Detroit Pistons. Shaq went to Miami, they added Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, and Caron Butler, as well as sign Vlade Divac via free agency. The Lakers do have a very good team full of scorers and gutsy players, but with losing the most dominant big man in the league, as well as have a totally different lineup (except for payton and kobe.........and possibly malone)........this season will be a rebuilding one for the lakers.
#8. Memphis Grizzlies- they had a great season last year.......and look to have a team on the rise......but the west has just gotten so much better and the grizzlies have yet to make a single good move (brian cardinal was WAY overpaid). The Grizzlies do have a good team for the future........but they have to make moves in order to make this team better.........especially in the WEST!
Teams that were close to the playoffs for next year:
Dallas- no defense
Phoenix- no center
That's my prediction for the top 8 seeds in the west next year.
#2. Sacramento Kings- due to the lakers downfall and the rule that who ever wins the division either gets #1 or #2 seed, the kings get #2. They have a very good team, and now, with brad miller starting in place of vlade the kings will be very good. The only concern is, of course, if they can stay away from injuries, if they can do that, they will get #2 seed.
#3. Minnesota T-Wolves- they kept troy hudson, they still have that nice core around the MVP, if they also can stay healthy and keep those key parts they had to win a championship last season, the wolves will again contend again for a title.
#4. Denver Nuggets- improved VERY MUCH after adding kenyon martin to the mix, and now they have a team full of big men and full of very good players. The Nuggets will be a very good team next year.
#5. Houston Rockets- added Tracy McGrady among others, but who is gonna be their point guard? Tyronn Lue? Thats one of the concerns............and.....as much as everyone would like to say the Rockets are contenders, the jelling of T-Mac into Coach Van Gundy's system, as well as meshing well with Yao, is yet to be seen. If they can get a good point guard and if T-Mac jells well into the system and plays DEFENSE the rockets will be very much improved from last year.
#6. Utah Jazz- what a great offseason! they added Mehmet Okur and Carlos Boozer (controversal or not) and that now solves their big man problems. They also kept that nice duo of Gordon Giricek and Carlos Arroyo. With Jerry Sloan as your coach and a complete all-around good team, the Jazz will be improved from last season.
#7. L.A Lakers- everyone knows the story, we've heard it on ESPN thousands of times...........kobe became the Lakers GM after the embarrising collapse in the Finals to the Detroit Pistons. Shaq went to Miami, they added Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, and Caron Butler, as well as sign Vlade Divac via free agency. The Lakers do have a very good team full of scorers and gutsy players, but with losing the most dominant big man in the league, as well as have a totally different lineup (except for payton and kobe.........and possibly malone)........this season will be a rebuilding one for the lakers.
#8. Memphis Grizzlies- they had a great season last year.......and look to have a team on the rise......but the west has just gotten so much better and the grizzlies have yet to make a single good move (brian cardinal was WAY overpaid). The Grizzlies do have a good team for the future........but they have to make moves in order to make this team better.........especially in the WEST!
Teams that were close to the playoffs for next year:
Dallas- no defense
Phoenix- no center
That's my prediction for the top 8 seeds in the west next year.