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NBA ended quite a time ago, then free agency kicked in and ended and then to our delight, the Olympics Basketball came. But now all that is over, and until late October (when NBA starts once gain) there is pretty much next to nothing basketball coverage to dwell on.
So in my free time, I decided to make a list of teams to watch for the next season, the teams included in the corresponding list are those who had a major off season haul or had changed line-ups completely, so Miami, Spurs and OKC are not on the list.
NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
Anthony Davis alone is enough to make this an intriguing team, and having Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson and Austin Rivers, Robin Lopez alongside him only helps the cause but I think they are just too young and undeveloped to push past any of the remaining teams.
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Stephen Curry – Klay Thompson – Harrison Barnes – David Lee – Andrew Bogut, with solid bench depth at every position makes the Golden State team as much exciting as any team to watch but the only reason they are not in the list is HEALTH. Will Bogut, Lee and Curry, who have had health problems all throughout their NBA span, be fit together for a whole NBA season?
If you think this team played too fast last season with no defense get ready for this season, they added Igoudala who is a beast on fast-breaks dunk finishes and is renowned defender.
So basically they upgraded their offense and improved their defense with one solid move.
Between Lawson, Iggy and the Manimal, there’s already enough excitement in the Mile High City to put them in the top 5.
4. HOUSTON ROCKETS
Gone are the likes of Scola – Lowry – Camby – Dragic, and the perennial 9th place finish.
The Rockets have tanked out this season, with 4 rookies , 3 sophomores, Jeremy Lin and Asik. Rockets would be team to watch this season, right they are not gonna win anything , but still the lineup is pretty interesting.
3. BROOKLYN NETS
New City. New Colors. New Stadium. New Culture. New Stars. New Hope
The Brooklyn Nets had a pretty successful off-season, they resigned their franchise star Deron Williams, bought him a perfect running mate in Joe Johnson and resigned all their starters plus added pretty good bench mobs. (even a previous Euro League MVP) making them a lock for this list.
2. MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
Alexy Shved and Andrei Kirilenko were part of the top 10 players in London Olympics Basketball, and now both of them are in Minnesota, also they got Brandon Roy back after a year hiatus, a potential star in Ricky Rubio, a dark-horse in Derrick Williams and the recipe: a prefect franchise face in Kevin Love.
They pretty much got it all, the question will they over-achieve of under, look out for the answer this next season.
Steve Nash.
Metta World Peace.
Pau Gasol.
Dwight Howard.
Probably the best team ever ? Maybe.
Only the Lakers have the capability to stay contending for the championship each season due to their off-season moves, their off-season moves have always been fascinating and this season was no different.
They brought in the League best passer in Nash, the best defensive player in Howard and bench presence in Jodie Meeks and Antawn Jamison.
What more could you need?
