The first thing I'd like to do is give you my pre-season rankings. These are basically saying where I believe these teams are ranked coming into the season, not where they are going to end up.
1) LA LAKERS
The Lakers are the defending champs, brought back all their key players, brought back their hall of fame coach, and added to their team with solid veteran players. There is really no reason the Lake Show should not come back into the season with the title of "Best in the NBA."
2) MIAMI HEAT
They're so good. It's ridiculous. It kind of hurts. Knowing that they have two potential MVP candidates (Chris Bosh was never a legit MVP candidate. Check the voting. I don't care) and somehow amassed a good collection of role players. They just need a point guard that can somewhat play defense and dribble at least 10 ft., already have Mike Miller to hit jump shots and threes and a slew of serviceable big men to clog the middle. LeBron and Wade are great on their own, but with another very good player like Bosh, this is just stupid.
3) BOSTON CELTICS
It was actually difficult to pick this spot. The Celtics are still good somehow. I think they're falling off and shouldn't win games. I mean, Paul Pierce just keeps getting fatter and slower; Garnett can't move that well anymore and Ray Allen has just fallen apart. They need to make some trades. SOMEHOW they still win and they will continually win until retirement. They need JO and Shaq to play decently until Perkins is at full strength. Mark my words, they will NOT be as good defensively due to the lack of Tom Thibodeau on the sidelines. His jump to the Chi is going to hurt the C's.
4) CHICAGO BULLS
5) DALLAS MAVERICKS
The Mavs are always good! I rank them this high because of their consistency and because they will now have a full offseason together (with the additions of Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood mid-season) to get acquainted. Dirk is going to be great, there should not be any doubt about that. I think Roddy Beaubois is going to see some more PT as well with Jason Kidd steadily aging. The Mavs are due for one more big year and I think this is going to be the season when they are undoubtedly the best team in Texas.
6) ORLANDO MAGIC
I was one of many that were wholly underwhelmed by the Magic's seemingly early exit from the playoffs last year. Well, as it turns out, they are still a good team, but I feel they are the most overrated team in the NBA. Dwight Howard is a really good player, I knocked him last year because of his lack of post moves and mobility. Then I had to realize, he was putting up MVP numbers without a solid post game?! So this summer, he supposedly worked with Hakeem Olajuwon, the best offensive center ever in my opinion, to step his game up. We all know last year Kobe and the Dream worked together and KB24s game added a whole dimension with those new low-post skills. Now Howard is no Kobe Bryant, but if he is FINALLY putting in the effort to be the unstoppable force everybody knows he could be, that's a good sign for South Beach's next door rival.
Still, despite D.How being a great franchise player (maybe), this team really isn't that good. Vince Carter is terrible. Just a bad, bad idea. His entire career was built on him driving to the hole, finishing strong and initiating contact. Defenders would back off to stop the drive and that is when the man formerly known as Air Canada would rise up with a decent J and score without taking a damn dribble. Now, his already poor defense is exposed even more as injuries and age have caught up with him, he has turned into a jump shooter with little penetration ability and he pouts more than ever. His time should be split with JJ Reddick who showed he was more than a capable starter during the playoffs. Jameer Nelson is the only other "piece" of the Magic puzzle I like. Otherwise, there are just a bunch of shooters standing around the perimeter not looking at Dwight Howard.
7) OKLAHOMA CITY SONIC STEALERS
8) UTAH JAZZ
The Jazz may have come away with the biggest steal of the offseason. It's not quite on the Pau Gasol level of steal, but it could be close. They lost Carlos Boozer. Great inside scorer, not a very good leader, injury prone, defensive liability. So what do they do? They get a bigger, younger and potentially better big man in Al Jefferson. He may be a weird fit for Jerry Sloan's fast motion, passing offense, but when you have a towering, strong scorer inside and arguably the best point guard in the NBA distributing the ball, I don't think it's going to be a problem.
9) SAN ANTONIO SPURS
Aging, slow, boring. Still better than 3/4 of the teams in the NBA. If last year is any indication, we should know by now that discounting a team with championship experience, a great coach and good chemistry is just a stupid idea. Because once the playoffs roll around, those teams are the most likely to pull off an upset. Case in point, Boston and San Antonio. The Spurs should not have beaten the Mavericks last year. When I first saw that match up, I wondered, "How the hell did this happen?!" The Mavericks can finish with the second best record in the West and somehow wind up playing the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs? That may have been the worst first round draw ever and a huge case for a revamped playoff system. I mean, the Bulls sneak in at 41-41, with all due respect, the Bulls are a good team, but the Grizzlies could have given them a great series last year and they didn't even make it to the playoffs!
Rant aside, the Spurs look really good this year and I think Tiago Splitter is going to be awesome. Duncan is going to do his thing down low, and Splitter, the best big man not in the NBA, will be able to stretch the floor and add a great element to a well disciplined Spurs offense. San Antonio is going to be VERY good this year. From what I've read, Duncan is in amazing shape and has been working all summer. Ginobli is back to his old self and actually, when using metric stats, his efficiency and +/- has been better than Kobe Bryant's for the past 5 years. Tony Parker seems to be the only question mark, but I think being healthy and really showing the Spurs that he want so to be in SA is going to drive him back to being the great distributor and playmaker he really is.
10) DENVER NUGGETS
I know, I know, tenth is pretty high for a team like the Nuggets, but I'm basing these ratings off of what I see currently and last year. As of right now, I see a team that finished 53-29, was tied for second in the league with a home record of 34-7 and added Al Harrington who average 17-20 points in the last two seasons.
We all know the situation with Carmelo Anthony. As of right now he is a Denver Nugget, and since he is a part of that organization, they must be rated a top ten team. When you combine the above elements, Anthony, Chauncey Billups and a serviceable bench, you get a top 10 team.
MORE RANKINGS COMING SOON!
