Top Teams biggest improvements so far

[sillent]

Bucks lost PJ Tucker to Miami (critical piece in slowing down KD and others last year). They kept Bobby Portis. Giannis will more than likely get even better (shooting) and Portis may have a bigger role. Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday should bring about the same production at best.

Suns got Javele McGee and are pretty much running it back with the same squad. They have chemistry & internal growth but are not as deep as us and Paul is only getting older.

Clippers even if they keep Kawhi will be missing him for a year.

Mavericks made no big significant moves so far.

Lakers are retooled but less defensive and betting on their big 3 to stay healthy and aging vets.

Nets are pretty much like the Lakers.

Warriors are deep but do they know how to make all the pieces fit. So far it's been a struggle. Maybe Klay will magically help them change that.

76ers process has ended thanks to us and the biggest splash I can see them making  is getting Damian Lillard and he and Joel Embiid alone or even with Harris still doesn't scare me although that would be interesting.

Memphis is a team to keep an eye on but still may have a ways to go and are in the West.

Same can be said for the Nuggets except for they are more established.

Pelicans may/may not self implode again. They lost a coach because of last year. If it happens again they could lose a Zinormas asset.

Knicks may be an eight seed at best next year. Their only real change is Evan Fournier.

Heat have improved. Might be a possible  nice rivalry for us and Trae and Jimmy might pickup where they left off. I still believe we have the edge in that regard.

Same could be said for Celtics who is still trying to figure out who will be there PG.

The Bulls have improved and may make a playoff leap this year and even surprise some teams similar to how we did last year. 

Hornets may have a similar run to the Bulls.

Wizards and Pacers should atleast be playoff teams next year. Pacers might be a tougher out than many expect.

 

The door is wide open for our Atlanta Hawks to run right thru it. Our depth is unmatched around the league. Chemistry should be alot better. We have atleast over 8 players that should internally get better individually and are nowhere near their primes. Even Bogi can get better by being more consistent all year long. Clint is in the midst of his prime and should be alot better in the post next year. 

Health was our biggest concern last year and arguably if Dre, Cam and Trae were healthy down the end we may have been holding up the trophy last year.

Our biggest concern now is bringing back JC which we still have the majority of the leverage to do so. NY has spent their money, Spurs have lessened their pot, Mavs could still try to go after him but would that really put them over the edge? OKC is about the only team left with money to spend and I highly doubt JC would leave us to go thru more years of losing seasons.

Not only should we be able to keep JC but we may even still be able to finish our roster with Lou Will. We've done our addition by subtraction getting rid of our weak links (especially Dunn and Bruno). 

With the league being as even as it has the past year we should be a team taking a sizeable step up because of our youth.

The favorites for now may still be the Nets, Lakers, Warriors, Bucks, Suns and maybe Miami but none of those teams give me a big scare when it comes to facing them. Bucks didn't really scare or dominate us last year. They won but it wasn't convincingly and we had a hobbled Trae, no Hunter squad.

[marco102]

4 minutes ago, sillent said:

 

The favorites for now may still be the Nets, Lakers, Warriors, Bucks, Suns and maybe Miami but none of those teams give me a big scare when it comes to facing them. Bucks didn't really scare or dominate us last year. They won but it wasn't convincingly and we had a hobbled Trae, no Hunter squad.

What did the Warriors or Heat do to be included with the favorites? 

The Hawks are just as much a favorite as these teams.

Great post though!

[HawkingAwesome]

i think the lakers are going to be a train wreck

[thecampster]

15 minutes ago, sillent said:

Bucks lost PJ Tucker to Miami (critical piece in slowing down KD and others last year). They kept Bobby Portis. Giannis will more than likely get even better (shooting) and Portis may have a bigger role. Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday should bring about the same production at best.

Suns got Javele McGee and are pretty much running it back with the same squad. They have chemistry & internal growth but are not as deep as us and Paul is only getting older.

Clippers even if they keep Kawhi will be missing him for a year.

Mavericks made no big significant moves so far.

Lakers are retooled but less defensive and betting on their big 3 to stay healthy and aging vets.

Nets are pretty much like the Lakers.

Warriors are deep but do they know how to make all the pieces fit. So far it's been a struggle. Maybe Klay will magically help them change that.

76ers process has ended thanks to us and the biggest splash I can see them making  is getting Damian Lillard and he and Joel Embiid alone or even with Harris still doesn't scare me although that would be interesting.

Memphis is a team to keep an eye on but still may have a ways to go and are in the West.

Same can be said for the Nuggets except for they are more established.

Pelicans may/may not self implode again. They lost a coach because of last year. If it happens again they could lose a Zinormas asset.

Knicks may be an eight seed at best next year. Their only real change is Evan Fournier.

Heat have improved. Might be a possible  nice rivalry for us and Trae and Jimmy might pickup where they left off. I still believe we have the edge in that regard.

Same could be said for Celtics who is still trying to figure out who will be there PG.

The Bulls have improved and may make a playoff leap this year and even surprise some teams similar to how we did last year. 

Hornets may have a similar run to the Bulls.

Wizards and Pacers should atleast be playoff teams next year. Pacers might be a tougher out than many expect.

 

The door is wide open for our Atlanta Hawks to run right thru it. Our depth is unmatched around the league. Chemistry should be alot better. We have atleast over 8 players that should internally get better individually and are nowhere near their primes. Even Bogi can get better by being more consistent all year long. Clint is in the midst of his prime and should be alot better in the post next year. 

Health was our biggest concern last year and arguably if Dre, Cam and Trae were healthy down the end we may have been holding up the trophy last year.

Our biggest concern now is bringing back JC which we still have the majority of the leverage to do so. NY has spent their money, Spurs have lessened their pot, Mavs could still try to go after him but would that really put them over the edge? OKC is about the only team left with money to spend and I highly doubt JC would leave us to go thru more years of losing seasons.

Not only should we be able to keep JC but we may even still be able to finish our roster with Lou Will. We've done our addition by subtraction getting rid of our weak links (especially Dunn and Bruno). 

With the league being as even as it has the past year we should be a team taking a sizeable step up because of our youth.

The favorites for now may still be the Nets, Lakers, Warriors, Bucks, Suns and maybe Miami but none of those teams give me a big scare when it comes to facing them. Bucks didn't really scare or dominate us last year. They won but it wasn't convincingly and we had a hobbled Trae, no Hunter squad.

Yah, don't sleep on the Jazz or Nuggets.

[NBASupes]

The Bucks didn't improve losing Tucker. If anything, they got worse. Tucker is like Carroll and Portis like Bazemore. Bazemore is more productive but Carroll is far more impactful. They will hate losing Tucker. I can see them having some issues next year in terms of the regular season. 

Suns, yeah. They improved for sure and will remain in the top tier convo out west. 

Clippers should be play in good but they drafted extremely well. They are retooling considering Leonard might be out for the year. 

Mavs still aren't done yet. So like Atlanta, I will hold my comment 

Lakers and Nets aren't done yet 

Warriors got a lot more talented, not sure if they are better than last year. Still everything rides on Klay return. 

76ers still got moves to make 

Heat massively improved. I was someone who thought the bubble was a fluke but I like this team more than that one. Lowry is an upgrade over Dragic and Tucker is as close as they will get to replacing Crowder impact wise. They still got to build up that bench. Losing Achuiwa won't help. Glad they brought back Vincent. He's gonna have a rotation role this year. They will need Okpala to really step up. 

Nuggets and Pels aren't done yet.

Memphis should he intriguing. Very intriguing. 

Knicks will win games due to their style of play, I just wonder how they will address the elephant in the room. The PG position. I think they are targeting Dennis but want him at a cheaper rate. The issue is, you get a ball dominate PG, it changes Randles impact. 

Hornets gotta stay healthy but they are clearly a legit play in team. 

The Bulls are as well. 

The eastern conference playoffs have separated themselves from the pack. At this point, even the play in games should be competitive 

East favorite - Brooklyn 

East contenders - MIL, ATL, PHI, and MIA

East pretenders - NY, BOS, CHI, CHA, and IND

East borderline teams - WAS and TOR

East lottery teams - DET, CLE, ORL

Edited August 3, 2021 by NBASupes

[sillent]

17 minutes ago, marco102 said:

What did the Warriors or Heat do to be included with the favorites? 

The Hawks are just as much a favorite as these teams.

Great post though!

Media..... The media won't be able to deny us after this yr but they still have a little refute in them to give us enough credit. We literally won no awards last year. Travis didn't even get a GM award so until then I'll let them keep up with the foolishness and overlook us.

[sillent]

11 minutes ago, thecampster said:

Yah, don't sleep on the Jazz or Nuggets.

I did sleep on the Jazz. The Nuggets are in there and I'm definitely not sleeping on them. Besides us I think the Nuggets have been the best drafting team for awhile now getting sleeper after sleeper.

The Jazz mirrored us last year as far as being the 2 deepest sleeper teams on each conference except for the Jazz actually used most of their fuel during the regular season. I think realistically the Jazz best chance should've been last year. Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell's relationship is tender and the majority of their other players are only getting older. Mitchell may also have an issue with the fans after their last playoff run and it may wear on him and the team's connection. We may have seen the best of the Jazz as currently constructed but I did forget to add them to the list.

[JayBirdHawk]

17 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Knicks will win games due to their style of play, I just wonder how they will address the elephant in the room. The PG position. I think they are targeting Dennis but want him at a cheaper rate. The issue is, you get a ball dominate PG, it changes Randles impact. 

I think the elephant in the room is they signed all these guys to 3 year contracts???? Did not see that coming.

$78M — Evan Fournier (28)

$43M — Derrick Rose (32) 

 $32M — Nerlens Noel (26)

$30M — Alec Burks (29)

I guess they are copying us - use capspace before your young guys are due extensions. 

[NBASupes]

Just now, JayBirdHawk said:

I think the elephant in the room is they signed all these guys to 3 year contracts???? Did not see that coming.

$78M — Evan Fournier (28)

$43M — Derrick Rose (32) 

 $32M — Nerlens Noel (26)

$30M — Alec Burks (29)

No one is letting good players hit the market anymore.

[sillent]

15 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

The Bucks didn't improve losing Tucker. If anything, they got worse. Tucker is like Carroll and Portis like Bazemore. Bazemore is more productive but Carroll is far more impactful. They will hate losing Tucker. I can see them having some issues next year in terms of the regular season. 

Suns, yeah. They improved for sure and will remain in the top tier convo out west. 

Clippers should be play in good but they drafted extremely well. They are retooling considering Leonard might be out for the year. 

Mavs still aren't done yet. So like Atlanta, I will hold my comment 

Lakers and Nets aren't done yet 

Warriors got a lot more talented, not sure if they are better than last year. Still everything rides on Klay return. 

76ers still got moves to make 

Heat massively improved. I was someone who thought the bubble was a fluke but I like this team more than that one. Lowry is an upgrade over Dragic and Tucker is as close as they will get to replacing Crowder impact wise. They still got to build up that bench. Losing Achuiwa won't help. Glad they brought back Vincent. He's gonna have a rotation role this year. They will need Okpala to really step up. 

Nuggets and Pels aren't done yet.

Memphis should he intriguing. Very intriguing. 

Knicks will win games due to their style of play, I just wonder how they will address the elephant in the room. The PG position. I think they are targeting Dennis but want him at a cheaper rate. The issue is, you get a ball dominate PG, it changes Randles impact. 

Hornets gotta stay healthy but they are clearly a legit play in team. 

The Bulls are as well. 

The eastern conference playoffs have separated themselves from the pack. At this point, even the play in games should be competitive 

East favorite - Brooklyn 

East contenders - MIL, ATL, PHI, and MIA

East pretenders - NY, BOS, CHI, CHA, and IND

East borderline teams - WAS and TOR

East lottery teams - DET, CLE, ORL

Who said the Bucks improved? Sometimes I think people take the 1st words/sentences they see and run with it. I believe Giannis is the only/main guy that will improve for the Bucks.

Alot of your other things are repetitive but you're right Knicks may get Schröder which would atleast keep them playoff bound and possibly push them above the 8th seed. Which again Instated above.

The main reason I've made this statement now is because the league is more even then ever as far as top to bottom goes. No matter what else happens during this free agency nobody is getting the next LeBron, KD, etc thru trades and free agency. The players left may give teams a little edge but not enough to change their status much. I could see the Heat adding Derozan but it still doesn't scare me. Anybody getting Kawhi besides the Clippers would have to trade significant assets to do so and he's not even available to play next year.

Teams pretty much are who they are and internal growth may be the biggest factor to who changes positions. Which is why I didn't go as far as making tiers. DET, CLE, ORL and even TOR could possibly surprise if their youth takes a sizable jump. Besides Cleveland I doubt it but overall I do agree ATL, Nets, Bucks and Possibly Heat will most likely be top 4

[Diesel]

 

I'm a bit disappointed by Media prognostications....  They don't respect us yet.  I say Good... We play with that Chip on our shoulder. 

However, the media is forecasting:

1.  Nets 

2.  Bucks

3.  Heat. 

 

Sometimes they switch the Nets and the Bucks. 

What I say is that the Bucks without Tucker will be a different team.  He was a defensive cog for them.   What I say is that the Heat changing from Dragic to Lowry is really a step back.   Unless they get Derozen, I don't see how this helps Miami's Chemistry. 

Other teams like the Bulls and Hornets are getting Love too.  Nobody speaks of the Hawks.  That's why it's important that we dismantle the teams in the East this year. 

I haven't heard much about Philly either.   They should be mad too. 

[Sothron]

This is another season I think the old "East is weak" argument has been disproven. The east has consistently gotten better.  Detroit, Cleveland and Orlando are the only three teams that are outright tanking now in the east.

[Atlantaholic]

1 hour ago, HawkingAwesome said:

i think the lakers are going to be a train wreck

Yup, though if Lebron and AD remain healthy and play like they did a couple years ago they'll be contenders. Basically it's two top 3 players on the same team, and in basketball that's enough to win regardless of what else you trot out there. If they lose either one for any extended amount of time or if they aren't 100% when the playoffs roll around it will get laughable though. 

[Atlantaholic]

4 minutes ago, Sothron said:

This is another season I think the old "East is weak" argument has been disproven. The east has consistently gotten better.  Detroit, Cleveland and Orlando are the only three teams that are outright tanking now in the east.

Yea the east is really strong atm. Lots of parity. 

[JayBirdHawk]

5 minutes ago, Sothron said:

Detroit,

Detroit spending money like they are trying to win though.  signed Olynyk and Joseph.  If they were outright tanking they should be looking for bad expirings for picks.  Not saying they will be good but doesn't seem deliberately  'tankish'

[Diesel]

24 minutes ago, Sothron said:

This is another season I think the old "East is weak" argument has been disproven. The east has consistently gotten better.  Detroit, Cleveland and Orlando are the only three teams that are outright tanking now in the east.

I won't lie... I like some of the moves that Detroit has made.  I don't think it moves them in Contention but

Kelly Olynk will be good to go with Cade Cunningham.  Jerami Grant, and Killian Hayes.   Bring along Siddiq Bey and Josh Jackson and they have a good young team.   Again not in contention, but I don't think that they are tanking either. 

 

[thecampster]

I'm wondering what effect the Olympics is going to have on next year.  Many of the best players in the league are missing out on a month of rest and repair.  Wondering how that will affect the start of the season and potentially seeding with the obvious injuries that will come out of it.

 

[Atlantaholic]

59 minutes ago, Diesel said:

 

I'm a bit disappointed by Media prognostications....  They don't respect us yet.  I say Good... We play with that Chip on our shoulder. 

However, the media is forecasting:

1.  Nets 

2.  Bucks

3.  Heat. 

 

Sometimes they switch the Nets and the Bucks. 

What I say is that the Bucks without Tucker will be a different team.  He was a defensive cog for them.   What I say is that the Heat changing from Dragic to Lowry is really a step back.   Unless they get Derozen, I don't see how this helps Miami's Chemistry. 

Other teams like the Bulls and Hornets are getting Love too.  Nobody speaks of the Hawks.  That's why it's important that we dismantle the teams in the East this year. 

I haven't heard much about Philly either.   They should be mad too. 

The Heat are the most overrated of the bunch by a country mile. Jimmy is getting older, Bam seems to have peaked, and their big addition is a 35 year old PG who is already visibly in decline, and they just tied the rest of their cap to a spot up shooter, personally I think they are a play in team next season.

[thecampster]

NBA players at the Olympics - Rotational players bolded.

Argentina

Facundo Campazzo (Denver Nuggets), Luca Vildoza (New York Knicks), Gabriel Deck (Oklahoma City Thunder)

Australia

Patty Mills (San Antonio Spurs), Joe Ingles (Utah Jazz), Aron Baynes (Toronto Raptors), Matisse Thybulle (Philadelphia 76ers), Dante Exum (Houston Rockets), Josh Green (Dallas Mavericks), Matthew Dellavedova (started season with Cleveland Cavaliers). 

Czech Republic

Tomas Satoransky (Chicago Bulls).

France

Frank Ntilikina (New York Knicks), Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (Brooklyn Nets), Nic Batum (Los Angeles Clippers), Evan Fournier (Boston Celtics), Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz.)

Germany

Isaac Bonga (Washington Wizards), Mo Wagner (Orlando Magic)

Italy

Danilo Gallinari (Atlanta Hawks), Nico Mannion (Golden State Warriors), Nicolò Melli (spent 2020-21 with Pelicans and Mavericks)

Japan

Rui Hachimura (Washington Wizards), Yuta Watanabe (Toronto Raptors)

Nigeria

Chimezie Metu (Sacramento Kings), Josh Okogie (Minnesota Timberwolves), Gabe Vincent (Miami Heat), Jordan Nwora (Milwaukee Bucks), Precious Achiuwa (Miami Heat), Jahlil Okafor (Detroit Pistons), KZ Okpala (Miami Heat), Miye Oni (Utah Jazz). 

Slovenia

Luka Dončić (Dallas Mavericks), Vlatko Čančar (Denver Nuggets)

Spain

Marc Gasol (Los Angeles Lakers), Willy Hernangomez (New Orleans Pelicans), Ricky Rubio (Minnesota Timberwolves), Juancho Hernangómez (Minnesota Timberwolves)

United States

Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat), Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns), Kevin Durant (Brooklyn Nets), Jerami Grant (Detroit Pistons), Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors), Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks), Keldon Johnson (San Antonio Spurs), Zach LaVine (Chicago Bulls), Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers), JaVale McGee (Denver Nuggets), Khris Middleton (Milwaukee Bucks), Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics).

 

Edited August 3, 2021 by thecampster

[JayBirdHawk]

1 minute ago, Atlantaholic said:

The Heat are the most overrated of the bunch by a country mile. Jimmy is getting older, Bam seems to have peaked, and their big addition is a 35 year old PG who is already visibly in decline, and they just tied the rest of their cap to a spot up shooter, personally I think they are a play in team next season.

When Riley brings out the 'fat grabber' for Lowry - we'll see how many games he misses to get 'conditioned'