so i wrote out all the below as a preview of the NBA season... and so much of it is out of the window already
Philadelphia won their first three games, two of those against Miami and Chicago, with Michael Carter-Williams becoming the first player since Shaq in 1992 to win "Player of the Week" in his first week in the league
anyway, in case you might want a little more insight into the upcoming season....
LeBron's Miami are looking for their third title in a row, a rare feat albeit one achieved three times in the past 20 years (Jordan's 91-93 and 96-98 Bulls, and the Shaq-Kobe Lakers 2000-02). The East looks to have strengthened at the top though, while the West has an interesting collection of imperfect teams at the top.
meanwhile at the bottom, there will be some truly bizarre teams motivated to lose by the tantalising prospect of good draft placing ready for a strong crop of players arriving in 2014. sure it's the sign of a flawed system, but it's still tricky to think of a better way to do it...
EAST
The weaker conference in general over the last 15 years (although still producing their fair share of champions), the East might actually be stronger than the West on top this year, as well as housing the defending champions of course.
The Elite - Miami, Chicago, Indiana, Brooklyn
(uncategorised) - New York
The Middle - Atlanta, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit, Washington, Toronto
The Rubbish - Charlotte, Philadelphia, Orlando, Boston
Miami lost one useful role-player in Mike Miller, and have little flexibility with most of their money tied up by the big contracts of their three stars. They did manage to pick up two "draft busts" in former #1 pick Greg Oden (who retired in 2011 with knee issues but hopefully has overcome them now and can contribute) and former #2 pick Michael Beasley (a man amongst boys at junior level, now a boy amongst men and generally considered a waste of talent) - if either of those are "useful" it might just be enough to boost the team.
Indiana came on strong last year, taking Miami to a decider in the Eastern finals and then making some canny acquisitions in the off-season. Chicago welcome back Derrick Rose, who has been out since the 2012 Playoffs with a cruciate ligament injury. Brooklyn are hard to gauge but look pretty scary on paper - they brought in Boston veterans Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in the summer and their starting line-up projects to be probably the first ever to feature guys earning $10m+ a year at each position. Teams who go over the "salary cap" have to pay a "tax" for that (in an effort to keep things kinda equal) - Brooklyn could well pay more in tax alone than some teams pay in total salary. Their Russian billionaire owner is pushing the boundaries a little (might force a rule change!), and then the best thing is they're giving all that to a rookie coach, the recently-retired Jason Kidd. Who is suspended from the first two games, I think it was for drunk-driving or something...
New York are better than the middle and worse than the elite - they have Carmelo Anthony but otherwise their team seems poorly constructed. Atlanta lost Josh Smith and Milwaukee lost Brandon Jennings (both those went to Detroit) and Monta Ellis as free-agents, but both teams have made some signings that seem to mitigate those losses somewhat. Detroit are excited to add Smith and Jennings (both with plenty of flaws but some lively games too) to young big men Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond, while Cleveland and Washington are hoping their squads can continue to develop under electric young guards Kyrie Irving and John Wall respectively - analysts seem more sceptical though. Toronto just about make it into this group as they'll be trying to get the #8 seed, but they probably lack the quality for a genuine push.
Boston "blew it up" in the summer by allowing Garnett and Pierce to leave as well as influential coach Doc Rivers. They brought in a young coach with a six-year deal, and their best current player (Rajon Rondo) missed the last half of last year with a knee injury. Philadelphia have fallen apart spectacularly over the last two years so they're starting from the bottom. Charlotte signed Al Jefferson to a big contract in the summer but that's not enough to elevate them, while Orlando are progressing well on the rebuilding curve and talented rookie Victor Oladipo should provide some entertainment along the way
WEST
The West had five teams finish with 55+ wins last year, though one of those (Denver) has since collapsed. The playoffs exposed flaws in all those powerhouses though, with San Antonio outlasting the competition and coming so so close to winning it all - but San An are the oldest team and another year on the clock may undo them (though that has been said for about five years now!). The real "strength" of the West comparatively of late has been the teams scrapping to get in the playoffs - there's been quite a few years where you could say the #9 West team was better than the #7 East team. That may still be true, but it's not a lot to hang your hat on
The Elite - San Antonio, Oklahoma City, LA Clippers, Golden State, Houston, Memphis
The Middle - Dallas, Denver, Minnesota, Portland, New Orleans, LA Lakers
The Rubbish - *Utah, Sacramento, Phoenix
San Antonio will be hoping that young Kawhi Leonard keeps up his progression to provide them with a youthful boost. Oklahoma City's coaching/planning was severely exposed when Russell Westbrook injured his knee in last year's playoffs - he and Kevin Durant are two of the best players in the world, but their tactics appeared to be "who needs tactics? we've got Durant AND Westbrook!". The Clippers got Boston's old coach Doc Rivers which should be a massive upgrade on Vinny del Negro, but they still seem to have a gaping hole in their squad for a big man.
Golden State and Houston are the new kids trying to muscle in. Golden State had a great run in last year's playoffs with Steph Curry unbelievable at times, and summer signing Andre Iguodala looks like a great fit for the team. Curry and big man Andrew Bogut are injury-prone though, so let's hope they can stay out of the treatment room. Houston were a great fun team last year, with James Harden showing superstar potential - adding Dwight Howard to the squad could be terrifying. Memphis just about hang on to the elite group, but San Antonio ripped them apart in the West finals last year and it's hard to see how they've got any better since then.
Dallas will be hoping to get a full season from German forward Dirk Nowitzki - his ability and coach Rick Carlisle may be enough to boost a thin squad to the playoffs. Health is a big issue for Minnesota also, with their star forward Kevin Love missing most of last season. It's now-or-never for this squad, as a couple of false starts have left them with a ticking time-bomb as Love's contract runs down. As mentioned above, Denver have dropped off severely from last year, losing their coach, general manager and one of their best players (Iguodala), and Danilo Gallinari, the Italian forward who led the team in scoring last season, is recovering from his own knee injury (every squad seems to have one!).
New Orleans changed their name from the Hornets (carried over when they moved from Charlotte) to the Pelicans (Louisiana's state bird), and made a couple of splashy (if risky) moves in bringing in Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans. If last year's #1 draft pick Anthony Davis can make big strides in his second season, they will be a decent team, but there is concern that the parts won't mesh too well. The Lakers are unaccustomed to being down here, but Kobe Bryant's snapped Achilles and Dwight Howard's defection leaves the team looking a little bare. Steve Nash may be in fantastic shape for a 40-year-old, but can he and Spanish forward Pau Gasol do enough until Kobe comes back? Portland have been the least talked about of this bunch, with worries over appeasing their own star forward LaMarcus Aldridge. I quite like them though, they were decent for a lot of last year (before giving up at the end) and their squad had no depth, a problem which seems to have been addressed. Unfortunately for them, the West is that deep that they could have a good season and still finish 12th.
Sacramento have been desperately striving to get even close to being in the mix for the last three years, but still don't seem to be there. The team has been in limbo for a couple of years too, with a vote late last season finally confirming they will stay in California rather than moving to Seattle. The loss of Evans helps them in a way to move on, and they will build around talented young big man DeMarcus Cousins, whose flashes of brilliance have just about persuaded management to keep hold of him with a big contract extension despite his frequent petulance. Utah have been very open about moving in a new direction, letting their two big men leave as free agents to allow young talents Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter to develop with more playing time. And finally Phoenix, who really don't seem to have much to build around at all - they recruited Eric Bledsoe in the summer but many are dubious if he'll be able to step up and be a team's star.
:laugh:
