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This NBA season has seen numerous changes this offseason, some so fitting that they left us wondering as to why that move didn’t happen before and others were mindbogglingly stupid. While that’s common to every offseason, this particular offseason seems to have resulted in an inexplicable belief: Around 10 teams are contending for the title.
Ok, hold it.
We know that the Miami Heat are a cut above everybody else. Let’s call them tier one. Then you’ve got the next bunch. The real title contenders: Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers etc. Call them tier two. Anybody below this isn’t a title contender! There’s not more than 5 legitimate contenders this season.
In this article, we take a look at such overrated teams. Some aren’t title contenders, but in any case, are overrated.
5. Detroit Pistons
The Pistons are a pretty interesting team to look at. They recently signed Josh Smith and traded Brandon Knight for Brandon Jennings. Then they’ve got Chauncey Billups and Andre Drummond (who’s one of the most exciting young talents in the league). They’ve got a decent supporting cast in Charlie Villanueva, Rodney Stuckey and Will Bynum.
Pretty good team right? Yes. Will they improve leaps and bounds compared to last season? Eh, Probably not.
Detroit has tons of talent, but little of it fits together. Jennings is a ball-dominant guard who can’t score efficiently, and while he regularly makes it to the highlight reel, he’s not what you would call a winning player.
Plus, there’s just not enough shooters on this team to space the floor for Detroit’s frontcourt trio of Smith, Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond. None of those guys can do anything outside of the restricted area, and since the Pistons can’t space the floor, there’s no reason for defenses to do anything but pack the paint.
Maybe, next year, they’ll be able to make a significant playoff run. But for now, they’re grossly overrated.
4. Minnesota Timberwolves
OK, yeah, this team is a playoff team. They’ll definitely make the cut, but anything more than that, I wouldn’t bet my shirt on it.
Minnesota has an excellent offensive unit, and they’ll score in tons. However, the Love-Pekovic duo haven’t spent much time on the floor together in three combined seasons, but the Wolves have struggled defensively in those minutes in all three, per NBA.com.
Neither big man is a defensive stopper and Love is, in all honesty, an average defender. When Kirilenko got traded, so did their stopping power in the front court. Ronny Turiaf might add some spunk in this aspect, but let’s face it, he’s not gonna play a lot of minutes.
Both Love and Rubio are returning from injury, and while Minnesota will be fueled by it, they’ll take sometime to find their rhythm. The Wolves are going to be improved and just as importantly, they’re going to be a treat to watch.
However, there’s no way they’re going to be able to put together a good enough defense to get all the way up to Conference semis.
3. New York Knicks
The most exciting team in the league right now? Yup. Title contender? No way.
Somewhere below the tier one and tier two teams reside the Hawks, Knicks and Nets. That means there’re at least 5 (taking into account both conferences) teams ahead of them in the title contention.
New York didn’t lose much over the summer, as Marcus Camby and Steve Novak weren’t playing significant roles by the end of the 2012-13 campaign. But contrary to popular belief, they really didn’t add anything either.
Andrea Bargnani is one of the biggest busts in recent times. He produces empty stats, doesn’t defend and is going to complicate an already hazy frontcourt rotation.
Metta World Peace is on the wrong side of 30 and Amar’e Stoudemire is nursing his knees.
Re-signing J.R. Smith might not be as fruitful as they hoped. He was never a focused player, and now that he’s got his finances in order, he might not produce as much. Also, nobody knows how well he’ll play after his surgery.
Nobody’s saying the Knicks are going to miss the playoffs altogether. But there’s just no convincing evidence that they’re going to be much better than they were a year ago. So, pegging New York for something like 50 wins and a second-round playoff exit seems about right.
Expecting them to perform better than that is probably a mistake.
2. Brooklyn Nets
This is the most intriguing of the lot. The Nets were a good team last season with 49 wins and a 4th seed in the Eastern Conference. During this offseason however, they added All-Stars to this already strong team. This team can develop into a legitimate title contender (tier two) or will be the biggest bust this season.
The possibility for things to go wrong is surprisingly large.
Deron Williams isn’t a sure bet to start the season with two healthy ankles. The duo from Boston, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are both on the wrong side of 35. While Jason Kidd was a legendary Point Guard, it’s entirely possible that he’ll completely mess up his first ever coaching job. Remember Magic Johnson and Isaiah Thomas’ ventures into coaching?
The Nets are deeper than ever, so perhaps some of the concerns surrounding the roster’s age and health are overblown.
But some people have Brooklyn at 10-1 to win a championship this year, and only four teams—the Heat, Bulls, Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers—have a better chance, according to oddsmakers.
That’s overestimating them a little too much.
1. Oklahoma City Thunder
Ok, hear me out.
Durant will dazzle us with his skill and the Thunder will win a whole lot of games this season, no doubt. Durant’s probably at the beginning of his prime, and that means he can only improve compared to before. That means OKC is a threat to make plenty of playoff noise for the foreseeable future.
However, I’m not convinced that they’re a bonafide contender anymore.
Ten days back, they were up there in tier two. However, Russell Westbrook underwent his second surgery on the same knee. A second surgery has never been good, as history has shown. In any case, he’ll miss the first month of the season and there’s no saying how well he’ll play on his return.
One thing we can say for sure: The Thunder are screwed with him.
The Memphis Grizzlies literally manhandled OKC in last year’s second round, and no amount of individual improvement from Durant this year will change the fact that the Thunder need a second superstar option.
Even if Westbrook comes back at full strength, and starts prancing around the court, this is still a team that starts both Kendrick Perkins and Thabo Sefolosha, two players who opponents largely ignore.
With Kevin Martin’s trade, most of the sixth man’s scoring load falls on the woefully untested Jeremy Lamb.
OKC was a title contender when James Harden was on the roster, but now that the deal that sent The Beard to Houston has yielded nothing of value, the team just doesn’t hold as much promise anymore. As strange as it sounds, the Thunder’s title window might already be closed.
