Teams to look out for this upcoming NBA season

1313034 There are quite a few teams that made some noise in the NBA this past season. Now with the additions of players such as Blake Griffin, Stephen Curry, Johnny Flynn, and more great young players, this will be an exciting season. One of the preseason favorites for the championships is of course the lakers, who bring back pretty much the exact same team that won it last year, but replacing Trevor Ariza, who was a breakout player for the lakers in the playoffs, with Ron Artest, who might even be an upgrade from Ariza. Artest gives the lakers a guy who can shoot the long range jump shot consistently, and a guy who can score between fifteen and twenty points a game, like he's done throughout his career, which surprises people, because most people know Artest as a headcase, a brawler, and a complete psycho, but he is a great player. His strength is being a suffocating defender, with great size and good quickness. The Lakers still have Kobe, which means that they are in the hunt no matter what. Another team to look out for are the Chicago Bulls. They lost Ben Gordon, which hurts, but they still have John Salmons, Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, and the Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose returning with some valuable experience from that incredible series against the Celtics last year. All those guys are under the age of 24, except for Salmons, and all of them had breakout years last season. Luol Deng returns to the lineup, which will be huge, and Kirk Hinrich, who is one of the most underrated players in the NBA, also returns. This very young team, the 'Baby Bulls,' are coming into this season with a ton of confidence after taking the Celtics to seven hellish games in that incredible series, so watch for the Bulls to make a lot of noise this coming season. The San Antonio Spurs have revived their team, mainly with the addition of Richard Jefferson, a great scorer who averages around twenty a game every year, and a guy who is also an excellent defender. He is durable, so when Ginobli misses those twenty to thirty games that he is guaranteed to miss, they have another guy who can pick up the slack, after what happened last year in the playoffs, against the Mavericks, when Tim Duncan and Tony Parker were playing the entire Dallas team by themselves. The Spurs also got rid of some dead weight, Fabricio Oberto, Kurt Thomas, and Bruce Bowen, and brought in Jefferson of course. Bruce Bowen was a tough loss, since he can still be a force shooting the ball and is still a great defender, but I would trade him for Jefferson any day of the week. Roger Mason is coming off a breakout year, where he was terrific shooting the ball, and the addition of solid players like Antonio McDyess, the Spurs are a legit contender for the championship, and are going to challenge the Lakers for their crown. The Denver Nuggets were relatively unknown, until the playoffs got under way and people realized that this team was for real. They have one of the best stars in the NBA in Carmelo Anthony, and an emerging star in J.R. Smith, and Mr. Big Shot, Chauncey Billups. The Birdman Derrick Anderson returns after a great year, so expect another terrific year from the Nuggets, who also add Ty Lawson, the lightning fast guard from North Carolina to an already talented group. There is not much to say about the Cleveland Cavs, who have the best player since Michael Jordan in LeBron James, and the addition of one of the most dominant big men in NBA history in Shaquille O'Neal. Sure Shaq isn't the same Shaq who averaged 28 points, 14 rebounds, 2 blocks a game when he was in Orlando or L.A., but he showed everyone he can still play, after he revived his career in Phoenix last season. Shaq gives them a big force down low, which will help King James out tremendously, and Mo Williams, who was great for the Cavs all year last year, returns to the team, so expect another amazing year for Cleveland. The Minnesota Timberwolves are still a team with a lot of work to do, but this is a team who is getting ready to start climbing the mountain. They have one of the best and probably the most underrated player in the league in Al Jefferson, who averaged 23 points and 11 rebounds a game last year, reminding T'Wolves fans about the guy who used to wear the number 21. The T'Wolves might not get Ricky Rubio to play for them, but they still have Johnny Flynn, who I think is better than Rubio, and they also got Wayne Ellington in the draft, who I think will be a steal. He looked great in summer league, as did Flynn. The T'wolves still have a lot of work to do, but they are close, and they are dangerous. The Detroit Pistons are a team looking good, with the additions of Ben Gordon, who averaged 20 a game last year for the Bulls, and the addition of Charlie Villanueva, who is a big man with great range. They join guys like Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rodney Stuckey, and Jason Maxiell to form a very good team. Watch out for this Detroit team. The Orlando Magic has one of the brightest stars in the league in superman Dwight Howard, and added 'Vinsanity' Vince Carter, but they also lost talented rookie Courtney Lee, who was terrific all year for the Magic except for that missed layup in Game 2 of the finals. They also lost Hedo Turkoglu, which hurts, but they still have Rashard Lewis, Jameer Nelson, and Superman, Dwight Howard, who will team up well with Vince Carter. The Magic will be a good team next year, but they won't get into the finals. There are some other teams who you can expect to make some noise this year, and some teams who are on the decline. It's a long season, so anything could happen. It should be a wild year next year in the NBA, which is something you can expect. true

2009-08-18T06:30:36Z

91834 0 Teams to look out for this upcoming NBA season

2009-08-18T06:30:36Z