NBA Blog

In consideration of my crazy, going out on a limb, prediction from last season, let us try to forget that one, I am going to have to go with the smart and safe pick.  But not yet.  Let’s take a look at how each division will play out, starting in the East.  The teams will be broken down by their finish in their division, and the numbers in parenthesis will represent the playoff seeding.

EASTERN CONFERENCE:

Atlantic Division
1.  Boston Celtics - (2) Their big three is better than most starting fives in the NBA.  Don’t worry too much about their lack of depth either.  I have a feeling Juwan Howard or some other savvy veterans will end up in green before too long.
2.  Toronto Raptors - (6) The Raptors should be playoff bound once again after they get healthy, glue guy, Jorge Garbajosa back.  He is a solid all-around player that will help CB-4, T.J. Ford and Andrea Bargnani develop into a very good team.  I give them one more year before this team really turns some heads.
3.  New Jersey - With Kidd’s body starting to break down, and the always brittle Richard Jefferson ailing, I can’t back a team with a center that is coming off of major knee surgery and Vince Carter with a new, fat contract.  I can’t wait to see Jay-Z’s face when he watched Vinsanity jack up 25-footers on a consistent basis. 
4.  New York - Between Quentin Richardson’s bad back, Jamaal Crawford’s 28% shooting, the uber-crazy Starbury, the buffet-friendly Eddy Curry, the lady-loving, overdealing Isiah, the criminally insane Randolph, the hihgly unmotivated Randolph Morris, the release of Demetris Nichols, the $200 million payroll, and the incoherent owner of this mess Jimmy Dolan, what’s not to love?
5.  Philadelphia - It will be a good year for Andre Iggy fans, too bad the team will suck.

Central Division
1.  Chicago - (1) With or without the Kobe deal going through, I think the Bulls win the Eastern Conference regular season.  They just have that type of roster that will win every game that they are supposed to, especially with Skiles at the healm.
2.  Detroit - (4) This is the year that you start to see a real decline in the Pistons.  Rasheed’s playoff meltdown will carryover into this season, and he could be a major liability.  Also, Rip and Chauncey (not Mr. Big Shot) cannot continue to handle the load like they did the past few seasons, especially with the lack of depth in the Pistons backcourt.
3.  Cleveland - (5) Eventually, the Cavs will get one or both of Pavlovic and Varejao back.  However, Larry Hughes might spend 70 games on the injured list at this point, and Big Z’s feet ain’t holding up forever.  Daniel Gibson could be in the running for some major minutes this season, which could be fun because his shooting is such a great complement to LeBron.
4.  Milwaukee - I want to like this team, I really do.  However, Charlie Villenueva, Andrew Bogut, Mo Williams, Earl Boykins, and Charlie Bell are all injury prone players.  That leaves Michael Redd to do the majority of the lifting, and just like Ray Allen, that can’t be done by a one-trick pony.  And for ‘Chair’man Yi, it could take a while.
5.  Indianapolis -They would be the worst team in the Eastern Conference were it not for Jermaine O’Neal’s professionalism.  Still, they won’t be very good.

Southeastern Division
1.  Wasington - (1) The aforementioned healthy Agent Zero in a contract year is more than enough for this team.  However, they have the added bonus of having two other excellent scorers that also do little things well in Antawn Jamison (highly efficient scorer-rebounder) and Caron Butler (tremendous all-around and mid-range game).  They also have quality veteran guards in Antonio Daniels and Deshawn Stephenson that can score when needed, but they also defend very well.  If they can get anything from Brendan Haywood, then the Wizards should have a very strong regular season.
2.  Miami - (7) They will have the super-duo of Shaq and Dwyane Wade together for just enough games to land the number 7 seed, because Wade may miss over two months of the regular season.  However, if they get healthy at the end, they could be a monster in the postseason.
3.  Orlando - (8)  This is what spending $20 mil a year on Rashard Lewis gets you, an eighth seed in the East.  Note to GM’s everywhere, “STOP OVERPAYING!”
4.  Atlanta - Seriously, they are one year away from possibly sitting atop the Southeastern Division.  Too bad nobody in Atlanta will ever notice.  And no, I will not change the font color for the Hawks.  They will continue to be orange in my heart.
5.  Charlotte - Also knocking on the door for recognition.  The Bobcats will be much better, and I really like what a lineup of Raymond Felton, Jason Richardson, Gerald Wallace, Emeka Okafor, and Primoz Brezec can do.  Add Walter Hermann and Matt Carroll to the lineup and that is a quality team.  However, Felton, Richardson, Wallace, Okafor and Brezec will all miss a handful of games this year, which doesn’t help considering the team has already lost Morrison and May for a lenghty amount(if not all) of the season.

Stay tuned for who I think the Wizards will meet up with in the 2008 NBA Finals.  I will have that information for you this afternoon.