Next Year's Suprise Team

[zmac]

Definitely Orlando, they finished off the season strong and should get an OK pick, and hopefull develop Darko as they did Dwight.
Also, considering they dont get injuries like this season, Golden State, especially if they make a move for a valuable big man.

[Ty-Land]

Milwaukee beacause I think next season Bogut, Ford and Redd are gonna do much better

Milwaukee should be banking alot on this offseason. They have quite a bit to use for trading

Magloire and bell/williams at least

Charlie Bell won't be going anywhere I can assure you that. He's a fan favourite and the best defensive player on the team. Many Buck fan's are touting him as the PG of the future, ahead of TJ!

I think Magloire will definately be shifted. Memphis looks like a real possibility. I think Mo might be out the door as well. If the Bucks can get a solid PF and an athletic swingman off the bench I think they will have a solid season next year, especially with the continued development of TJ, Bogut and Redd.

[Mayerhendrix]

Golden State is plagued by Baron Davis, officially a teamkiller.

He ruins their offense, ball-sharing, and overall attitude.

[Donatello]

Blazers. Believe it.
meh probably not but if so, at least i have proof i called it here

[Air Jordon]

Milwaukee shouldnt trade mo or bell. They should think about moving Magloire, TJ ford, and Simmons.

Magloire is good, dont know if he fits with this team though.
Ford, he is one of the reasons the bucks failed in the playoffs. he tries to create plays by driving in the paint only to cause turnovers, and i think he does more harm to the offensive system then good. I wish they started bell over ford in the last game.
Simmons is okay, shows up here and there. would much rather have a 2nd scorer along with redd. Redd cant do it by himself, bucks need a 2nd star to help redd out when he isnt on fire.

[Mayerhendrix]

Blazers. Believe it.
meh probably not but if so, at least i have proof i called it here

Hopefully, you're being sarcastic.
The Blazers are sunk, Nate's a loser, and their players want to leave so they're going to be traded away quickly without time to find an equal deal. The ship's sinking and everyone's fighting to get to the lifeboats.

[Its_asdf]

Everybody is saying Orlando but I have to disagree. What three point threat do they really have? I know that they got a lot of young talent but I don't see them as a real surprise team.

Sonics have good young talent and I see them winning a lot more games then expected.

Just because you don't have a huge three point threat on the team doesn't mean that they won't be successful.

Carlos Arroyo, Jameer Nelson, Hedo Turkey-Glue, Pat Garrity and even DeShawn Stevenson aren't necessarily three point threats (minus Garrity and Turkey-Glue), but they're all legitimate scorers from that range.


What's not to like about Orlando? They've got some impressive big men, very solid complimentary players and none of their young players (which have fabulous potential by the way,) really come off as the stereotypical "bad apple" of the team. With Grant Hill potentially retiring, they'll have plenty of cap space to re-sign their players too.

They're going to be a very well-rounded team in the near future.

[BigKaboom2]

I'm not so sure about Orlando - I don't feel that they have a go-to player which is really a must. I think Howard is a year or two away from being dependable every single night like Brand and Garnett.

I think the Knicks will pull something crazy once pressure from fans and ownership gets to be too much. I will laugh heartily if they sign Kenyon Martin - could it be any more clear that Isiah is trying to relive the Bad Boy years? Anyway, if they can get a good free agent pickup (and perhaps a more suitable "Bad Boy" coach [Chuck Daly??? ]) they might be able to do something.

I also have to put in a vote for the Celtics, who lost so many crushing, brutal, exasperating 1 and 2 point games this season that they're long overdue for some good luck in the eyes of the superstitious.

[Silas]

Besides, we all know DeShawn Stevenson will be an allstar in like 2 years.... lol. I almost like Stevenson as much as korver.

[Donatello]

Blazers. Believe it.
meh probably not but if so, at least i have proof i called it here

Hopefully, you're being sarcastic.
The Blazers are sunk, Nate's a loser, and their players want to leave so they're going to be traded away quickly without time to find an equal deal. The ship's sinking and everyone's fighting to get to the lifeboats.

Note the fine print, my friend.

[Its_asdf]

I'm not so sure about Orlando - I don't feel that they have a go-to player which is really a must. I think Howard is a year or two away from being dependable every single night like Brand and Garnett.

Dwight IS their go-to player, he just hasn't been getting any freaking posessions because Steve Francis was on the team for half the season. Scoring isn't an issue, because after the Francis trade Hedo has been playing very efficient offensive basketball.

I don't think that a go-to player necessarily translates into a successful team anyway. Look at the Chicago Bulls, for example. Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Noicioni and Deng are all solid scorers, but none of them seem to be their "go-to" guy. In fact, I think it makes a team even more dangerous when they have different players that have a balanced scoring and can go off on any night

[BigKaboom2]

I think most would agree that Gordon is the Bulls' go-to guy...

[SFSports]

Atlanta could win some games. They had some decent stretches.

[Its_asdf]

Is he? Even if he is, he isn't really the guy that scores a lot more points than most of his other teamates, nor does he lead the Bulls in many categories. He's only led the Bulls like 28-29 times in scoring this season. The Bulls rely on a balanced attack from their other young players like Deng, Hinrich and Noicioni.

Besides, that wasn't my point. I was just using Chicago as an example of how having someone who can have a lot of success by themselves doesn't mean that they'll automatically become a great team.

[Mayerhendrix]

Is he? Even if he is, he isn't really the guy that scores a lot more points than most of his other teamates, nor does he lead the Bulls in many categories. He's only led the Bulls like 28-29 times in scoring this season. The Bulls rely on a balanced attack from their other young players like Deng, Hinrich and Noicioni.

Besides, that wasn't my point. I was just using Chicago as an example of how having someone who can have a lot of success by themselves doesn't mean that they'll automatically become a great team.

The story of Kobe's life....takeover player.

[BigKaboom2]

I'm a biased New Englander, and half of all Celtics games nowadays come down to a last-second shot by Pierce, and he makes quite a few of them. I'm not sure about the number of close games the Bulls had this season, but the Celtics definitely needed Pierce's clutch ability to even get to the abysmal number of wins they mustered this year.

[scrub]

No-one has yet mentioned Trevor Ariza of the Magic. Can anything good become of this guy?

Also I agree that they definetly need a go-to guy - preferably someone with a little experience who carry help carry them down the stretch. Somebpdy like Ray Allen or Adam Morrison(?) would be good pickups because they are leaders and are are legit scorers. I don't think they have a guy who will definetly put up 20 a night.

[Its_asdf]

No-one has yet mentioned Trevor Ariza of the Magic. Can anything good become of this guy?

Oh my god. Thank you for pointing that out. I almost completely forgot about Ariza when he is one of my favourite players in the league.

I hope that Brain Hill will actually use him next season. A developing defender that can rebound and play above the rim.

[jerry]

Raptors or Knicks...Knicks are like an unorganized all star team in a way..

[Mayerhendrix]

But in the end the fact remains that the Knicks are disorganized. It'll take at least 4-5 years at minimum to get them back to being semi-reasonable and to salvage their payroll/roster.

Raptors getting better I like, I find that highly probable with Charlie V. looking great and Chris Bosh being great as always.

[j.23]

as much as i hate to say this, babcock needs to get a pat on the back for drafting villanueva. i was pissed that he didn't draft gerald green, but i'm glad he didn't.

[Moop_Moop]

The Knicks.

[unorthadux]

who cares about next year??? it's 2 years from now when the best team in the Eastern conference will not be a U.S. Team..that's right i'm calling it....the 2007 season will see Toronto at the top of the conference!!!! BELIEVE IT!

[Indy]

I'm taking Boston to be a surprise team. Orlando is this years Golden State.

I think Al Jefferson and Gerald Green will both emerge into good quality players to put next to Psquared. Delonte West is an excellent point guard, Perkins and Tony Allen are only going to get better, and Wally is always good for some scoring. Add on another lottery pick, these guys are only going up.

[twolvesguy]

I'll say Toronto because they have alot of young talent. They need Mike James to stay though