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Every off season, the story remains pretty much the same – a lot of trades, signings and surprises. There has been a lot of shuffling of players this off season, rather more surprising than usual. Some teams strengthened their squad, some rebuilt theirs while others are hoping they don’t perform worse than before. I have listed 5 teams which, in my opinion, will surprise the fans next season, for the better. They are listed in no particular order.
The timberwolves will be hoping that their team doesn’t get ravaged by injuries for the second season in a row. Last season, Kevin Love played just 18 games and when he did play, he couldn’t play up to his full potential. Throughout the season, Nikola Pekovic, Andrei Kirilenko, Brandon Roy, Ricky Rubio all got injured and had to miss extended periods of time. Due to these injuries, Minnesota managed to post just 31 wins last season.
They have a formidable team on paper. Ricky Rubio, a potential rising star, is at point. Kevin Love, All Star, is at Power Forward. The Wolves have signed Kevin Martin which means that they wouldn’t be affected by Brandon Roy’s weak knees anymore. Pekovic, Love and Ronny Turiaf form a solid frontline while Rubio, Martin, Jose Barea, Brewer and Chase Budinger can rotate the guard positions between themselves well. I would be very surprised if they do not end up in the top 5 of the Western Conference.
Yes, you read the title right. The Cleveland Cavaliers might actually take most of the fans by surprise this season. Take a look at their frontcourt – Andrew Bynum, Anderson Varejao and Anthony Bennett. It’s a very dominant, physical and athletic front line. The only issue is fitness. Varejao played just 50 games in his last 2 seasons at the NBA but he averaged 12.5 PPG, 12.95 RPG and 1.5 SPG in them. Bynum, despite having played well at Lakers, hasn’t played in an NBA since over a year. If these two remain healthy, the Cavs’ frontline will be hard to break down.
That being said, they have 2012 Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving (who was also a 2013 All-Star) at point guard. C.J. Miles and Jarrett Jack can ably assist Irving in the backcourt. They have an interesting mix of size and skill which might just be enough to carry them to a playoff berth. Anything after that, will be a matter of luck.
The Bolton Celtics is truly one of those teams which can achieve a playoff berth if they want to. The “surprise” element is because of the fact that they still remain a playoff team after losing Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. With them gone, Rajon Rondo will probably totally control the offense. He, however, has to take a good hard look at his jump shot. Kelly Olynyk, the big rookie (literally), needs to start performing right from the word go. The same applies for sophomore Jared Sullinger. They have quite some depth in their bench with Jeff Green, Gerald Wallace and Brandon Bass.
One big advantage they have is that the Celtics are a decent team in a poor conference. They can easily perform better than the bottom 5. So, it all depends on whether the Celtics want to achieve a playoff berth. This is one team which has truly shaken up it’s roster and can become whatever it wants to be.
The Trail Blazers had just one major problem last season. Their bench hardly had any depth. This meant that the starters had to play 35+ minutes every game for the entire season. This resulted in them being exhausted and as the season progressed, their performance dropped. What really impressed me was the manner in which they fixed this problem.
Portland drafted C.J. McCollum, definitely a rookie who shows promise. They bought Mo Williams and Dorell Wright to keep their offense honest. To augment their frontline, they signed Robin Lopez. Their team looks solid now: Rookie of the Year Damian Lillard, Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge, Robin Lopez, C.J. McCollum and Mo Williams. It has both depth and skill. It would be interesting to see how they utilize these players.
Last year was a wake-up call for the Mavs. They failed to make it to the playoffs for the first time in over a decade and that too by just 4 games. This year, they won’t be making the same mistakes.
Dirk Nowitzki is into this 16th year and he still remains one of the best offensive Power Forwards in the league. Dirk will lead the offence and will take care of the rebounding part too. He’s ably supported by Samuel Dalembert to patrol the paint and also to assist Dirk in rebounding. The Mavs have signed Monta Ellis and Jose Calderon. Ellis is a prolific scorer and Calderon is a capable point guard. Veteran Vince Carter can take care of the offense as and when needed. Shawn Marion is still around and he can handle the defensive side of the court with Dirk and Dalembert. On the whole, the Mavs are looking really solid this season and will definitely make it to the playoffs.
The Nets have regrouped better than last season and they have an all All-Star opening line-up with Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Brook Lopez. They performed well last season and they will perform well this season. Since the Nets just went from a good team to a better team, they weren’t present in my list but however, their off-season movements deserved them an honorary mention.
