Eastern Conference Standings
(1) Miami Heat
(2) Boston Celtics
(3) Philadephia Sixers
(4) Chicago Bulls
(5) New York Knicks
(6) Brooklyn Nets
(7) Indiana Pacers
(8) Atlanta Hawks
Miami is the obvious first choice. You could also argue Boston but there’s going to be one of those times they collapse for no reason. As you may have noticed, I feel like the Atlantic division is very, very crowded this year. Whatever happens in that whirlpool of craziness will certainly influence the rankings of the New York, Brooklyn, Boston, and Philadelphia. My money’s on Boston winning it, though. New York and Philadephia have a slight shot and there’s no way a frontline that contains Kris Humphries and Brook Lopez in a starting line-up does anything. Their size just isn’t enough; you ask Kim Kardashian about that one.
Philadephia just might be my dark horse. Only reason I didn’t put them higher is because of Bynum’s fragility. I’m actually tempted to take them down a level or two, but their ranking really depends on Bynum’s health. Bynum with athletic three-point shooters is a good recipe of success.
You also might be wondering why I have any amount of confidence in New York despite the past two seasons, and it’s really more about the two new guards they have: Felton and Kidd. New York has missed some stability and ball-handling at that position. Kidd is old, but his chemistry with Chandler and setting up guys in the right spots is all New York really needs to succeed. Plus, Stoudemire is injured, so he won’t be on the court at the same time as Carmelo. They’ll do better with him off the court at first. Trust me.
Chicago, Atlanta, and Indiana will be without their original stars for a long amount of time (and in Atlanta’s case, forever). I feel it will take them some time to adjust to the regular season even if Rose and Granger return on time. Thibs should still have the great defensive system, but Carlos Boozer will make sure they don’t get a high seed sans Rose coming back 100% early on. Their offense is too terrible for me to put them too high. Indiana could be higher I suppose, but I’m going to bank on last year being somewhat of a fluke. I feel the competition this year is much more tough; I don’t see them any higher than a five seed regardless.
Other than that, the only two teams missing that could possibly sneak in are Toronto and Milwaukee (more likely Milwaukee). The Jennings/Ellis experiment in a contract year could prove useful. I don’t really have much of an argument for Toronto other than the fact that they looked pretty good in the preseason. I’d give both of these teams a moderate shot at an eight seed.
Western Conference Standings
(1) San Antonio Spurs
(2) Los Angeles Lakers
(3) Oklahoma City Thunder
(4) Los Angeles Clippers
(5) Denver Nuggets
(6) Memphis Grizzlies
(7) Dallas Mavericks
(8) Utah Jazz
My top four are pretty much standard. Re-arrange the top three however one sees fit. San Antonio will go on another regular season run. Pops just knows how to manage his players better than anyone in the conference. I could have Los Angeles Lakers a tad bit lower because of their age, point guard defense, and the bench is horrible. It may take some time to find that winning formula. Oklahoma City on the otherhand lost a major piece in their three-way offensive punch. Los Angeles Clippers got a lot of depth over the Summer, but you know what? Griffin is still too raw. They’re getting there, and I could see a potential three seed but other wise, they’re still an uppermid-tier team. Memphis will be healthier this year, but their three-point shooting needs to get better if they want to move up at all. Giving up Mayo surely doesn’t help that fact. Denver won’t change much, lolmavs will always make sure to give NBA fans around the country laughs (btw Dallas, who the **** starts Eddy Curry on opening night?), and the eighth seed is pretty much a free-for-all between Utah, Golden State, and … possibly Houston? No, why did I even say that? Jeremy Lin will be exposed… but there is that 1% chance we get Linsanity revival.
I’m tempted to put Golden State here, but will Curry and Bogut be healthy enough throughout the season? The Jazz simply have no guard to speak of— oh wait, there’s that Mo Williams guy again. I heard some Phoenix talk, and I really like Dragic but I’m not sure about Dragic/Beasley carrying them through that conference.
I honestly don’t know. Flip a coin between Golden State and Utah, and if it rolls on its side, pick Houston. I’ll stick with Utah simply because their division is the weakest out of all three, so they’d only really have to deal with Oklahoma City four times versus the other teams who have to deal with San Antontio and two great Los Angeles teams.
