With the NBA season just under 5 weeks away (yay) I decided to dive into 3 teams that I am high on, and 3 teams that I am not so high on, aka, low on. This does not mean that I think a team is going to be bad, I just do not believe they will live up to the expectations that people are putting on them. Now let’s dive into 3 teams I like and 3 teams I don’t like.
One team I like: The Toronto Raptors
The Raptors won the NBA Championship just 3 years ago, and while the team has since been gutted, losing guys like Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, Serge Ibaka, Marc Gasol, Norman Powell, and most recently Kyle Lowry, they still have a few holdovers from the title team, like Pascal Siakam and Fred Van-Vleet, and also the coach of that team, Nick Nurse, whom is an excellent coach. They also have a lot of young talent like 4th overall pick Scottie Barnes, Gary Trent Jr., Malachi Flynn, and Precious Achiuwa to go with Van-Vleet, Siakam, and OG Anunoby. They have Goran Dragic, who if they keep him, which I do not think they will, can provide Toronto with an experienced point guard and can help with the ball handling duties. Toronto has experience, youth, and talent up and down their roster, and after a year near the bottom of the NBA, I do not hate the Raptors chances to sneak into the 2022 NBA playoffs, though I am not picking them to actually make it.
One team I don’t like: The Los Angeles Lakers
Ok, I should not say I don’t like the Lakers, because I think they have a very good team with 2 of the best players in the world, but I do not think they are legit championship contenders. This roster is old and very injury prone. Anthony Davis and LeBron James have a history with injuries and DeAndre Jordan, Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, Trevor Ariza, Rajon Rondo, and Wayne Ellington are old. How are those guys supposed to be players who you can rely upon throughout an 82 game grind of a regular season? The spacing is horrid, the center duo of DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard is awful, as both guys looked unplayable for most of last season. Russell Westbrook is good but he doesn’t shoot and while he can take some of the ball handling responsibilities off of LeBron, wasn’t Dennis Schroder supposed to do the same thing? Again, I think the Lakers have a good team and can make a deep playoff run, but are not on the same planet as Brooklyn or Milwaukee, and to me, they should not be the favorite in the West.
One team I like: The Washington Wizards
The Wizards have had a really nice offseason, turning Russell Westbrook, and some second round picks into Spencer Dinwddie, Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, Aaron Holiday, and Isaiah Todd. They also drafted Corey Kispert to add to a team with solid young talent already like Rui Hachimura, Deni Avdija, Thomas Bryant, and Daniel Gafford. Washington still has Bradley Beal on their roster, who while yes Beal is a free agent this upcoming summer, there have been no signs that Beal wants to leave the District of Columbia. I think the Wizards will make the play-in tournament because they have really good depth and have a superstar to get them a bucket when they need it. Hey, we do not have to watch Alex Len start playoff games anymore so that is a good thing for Wizards fans.
One team I don’t like: The Memphis Grizzlies
The 2021 Memphis Grizzlies were good, they showed a lot of promise, a team that looked like that if their front office gave them a chance, they could be very competitive in the Western Conference in 2021-22. They had the star in Ja Morant, and the role players of Dillion Brooks, Kyle Anderson, and Jonas Valanciunas. However, Memphis did not make a push, instead the team traded Valanciunas for what was Steven Adams, the opportunity to move up from the 17th pick to the 10th pick, and a future first round pick. They are going to rely on Jaren Jackson Jr. a lot, who throughout his career has shown the inability to stay on the court, whether that's due to health or foul trouble. He needs to become Morant’s co-star, and has yet to prove he can actually do that. The roster took a step back this offseason, they drafted Ziaire Williams 10th overall but I am not sure how much he helps year one. The Grizzlies had a real chance to build off of last season, but I am not so sure they did.
One team I like: The Utah Jazz
I know it is easy for me to say I like the team that won the most games in the NBA last season, and though the long term contracts the Jazz are committed to scare me, Utah might be the favorite to win the West. They have the star in Donovan Mitchell, they have his co-star(s) in Rudy Gobert and Mike Conely, they are very deep with Joe Ingles, Bojan Bogdanovic, Jordan Clarkson, and Royce O'Neale. Utah’s downfall last season was the small ball Clippers, who have lost their best player for likely the whole season. They added 2 guys who they feel they can trust at small ball 5 in Rudy Gay and Eric Paschall, something the desperately needed during that Clippers series. I was very skeptical about the Jazz after that disaster against the Clippers, but they have addressed those problems now, even though they probably will not face those problems this year.
One team I don’t like: The Charlotte Hornets
The Hornets have a good team with flashy, talented players. However, in what is becoming a much deeper Eastern Conference, I am not sure the Hornets are a playoff team, or even a play-in team. They are going to be fun to watch with LaMelo Ball throwing lobes to Miles Bridges, rookie Kai Jones, and newly signed Kelly Oubre Jr., but that does not lead to a playoff spot. LaMelo is still developing, Gordon Hayward has proven he cannot stay healthy, the bigs are ok at best, and they are going to rely on Terry Rozier too much to be their leading scorer. The team has talent on the wings but they are thin at guard and center, while I think the Hornets can be a good team, I am not sold on the fact that they will become a good team.
With the season 5 weeks away, we will start to get answers on how each team looks. However, until that point all we can do is speculate and get ready for the 2021-22 season as it quickly approaches. The countdown is on!
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