NBA Rankings: Three for Thought – 27 through 25
Last week I posted my prediction for the three worst NBA teams (record-wise) in the coming season. JUST IN-CASE you missed it here’s the three I called:
30 – Phoenix Suns
29 – Orlando Magic
28 – Charlotte Bobcats
They were three easy choices to make on the balance of the league, roster and prospects for the coming season but 27-25 is a lot harder to determine because of the unique nature of how some teams are choosing to assemble themselves this season.
So here are my next three – In at 27…
27 – Utah Jazz: 2012/13: 43-39 – 2013/14: 24-58
This time five years ago the Utah Jazz had capture the Division Title and rolled into the 08/09 season with mass optimism. In a four year span they had three 50 win seasons! For a franchise of their size and value those are some seriously good figures (Considering Andre Miller laughed at the Nuggets prospects of a consecutive 50 win season just shows how good a feat this is.)
Last season wasn’t a disaster either! In fact they managed a winning record finishing 3rd in the Northwest division. All of this sounds very positive until you look at the personnel they’ve managed to lose in this time-frame. Star man D-Will left two seasons ago to hook up with Brooklyn and over the summer their two best players, Al Jefferson and Paul Milsap, have moved to Charlotte Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks respectively.
Randy Foye has taken his solid guard play to Rockie Mountain rivals the Denver Nuggets and the franchise in turn used their 9th pick of the 2013 NBA Draft to bring in Trey Burke, the Michigan Point Guard had a great season in the NCAA last year so why he was picked so low is a bit of a mystery (point guards were approached with caution in the recent draft, something that may benefit the teams taking a risk in the future.) He was clearly the standout player for a team expected to challenge for the final four. He improved his vertical jump going into his sophomore season, smashed the single season assist record AND surpassed Fab Four favourite Chris Webber in points scored for the Wolverines, not bad for a 9th pick.
This is only a speck on sunlight creeping out through the dust in what will otherwise be a terrible losing season for Utah, luckily for them they have their great home form to lean back on but head office will presumably want as bad a record as possible (without admitting it) in preparation for next summer. The team will have masses of cap space after dumping their big contracts and will have a high draft pick (they hope) to make some moves that attempts to patch up the holes in the ship and push ahead in the search for another 50 win season however distant that now seems.
26 – Milwaukee Buck: 2012/13: 38-44 – 2013/14: 25-57
The Milwaukee Bucks as a franchise are who without something good on court soon, they’re done for.
The franchise has no brand appeal across the States, their crowds unless Kobe, Lebron and the rest of the circus is rolling up is minimal and to top it off they’ve only been given one nationally televised game for the 2013/14, 32x less than Lakernation.
So surely the head office would combat this with some signings to get the people happy about whilst also retaining star guards Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings…No.
If Seattle get an approved franchise this year then it will likely be the Bucks who concede the geographical ground.
The main signings of the summer which is what still makes them better than four other teams in my opinion are Gary Neal, a man who came up big time just two months ago in the NBA Finals, and Carlos Delfino, not exactly and inspiring NBA player but he gives you double digits a game whilst also helping shift and defend the ball, a very useful utility player to have.
OJ Mayo has been a big acquisition from the Mavericks, a player they got in the Monta Ellis trade, if he shakes of his TERRIBLE season in Dallas on court and get on with the Bucks coaching staff this team might actually be watchable, however unlikely that still is.
On the front court end the team still have Larry Sanders coming off a good defensive year whilst also signing the experience Caron Butler who’ll bring some much needed NBA know-how to the court even if his game has declined in recent years.
Brandon Knight will be interesting to watch. When he isn’t making the highlight reel for all the wrong reasons he averages 13.4ppg over 30 minutes just in his rookie season, not bad numbers and has shown he’ll help out on the defensive end however hopeless the situation.
All in all Milwaukee have made some interesting trades but nothing to be commended, Jennings and Ellis took a lot of stick but they produced some good numbers, something more than just two players will have to do on this roster if there is any chance of exceeding my prediction.
25 – Toronto Raptors: 2012/13: 34-48 – 2013/14: 28-56
Like quite a few other teams in the Eastern Conference, the Raptors are a team in transition. Two of the franchise’s mainstays over the past seven years—Bryan Colengelo and Andrea Bargnani—are both gone. Newly installed general manager Masai Ujiri will continue to put his fingerprints on the Raptors and head coach Dwane Casey need be weary. Overall, the Raptors are probably a much more talented bunch than their 2012-13 record of 34-48 would suggest.
With Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Rudy Gay and Jonas Valanciunas, the team has some talented pieces that should enable it to remain competitive for the playoffs. The major question marks are Gay and DeRozan, at 27 and 24 years old, respectively, the clock is ticking. Each has loads of talent, but at this point in their respective careers, still mostly represent untapped potential. In Gay’s case, he was widely considered overpaid when he signed a five-year, $80 million max. contract in July 2010. With a strong season and a playoff push, Gay can shake that label and DeRozen can elevate his status among the league’s better shooting guards. They may also save Coach Casey’s job in the process.
I personally however think the pieces won’t fit, one of the two aforementioned star talents is likely to stutter in the presence of the other in turn making it a tough, still with such a bright future ahead of them though things are looking up over the border for the Canadian franchise.