Preditions for 2009-2010 Season
Posted by Keith Haney on October 28, 2009
It’s time for my annual predictions. I say annual because I made some last year and figured I’d do it again.
First off, I can’t get a pulse on what I think the Jazz are going to do this season. There are so many variables up in the air. For a team that, on paper, remains largely unchanged from a year ago they are a huge mystery. If the following players aren’t on the team come the playoffs, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised: Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver, and Matt Harpring.
I could see them finishing as high as 3rd or as low as 10th in the West. My gut says they trade Boozer before the February deadline for a serviceable player at either the small forward or center spot and that pushes them to a 4th place finish behind the Lakers, Spurs, and Trailblazers.
West Playoff Teams:
1) Lakers – Still #1, not because of Artest, but because Bynum is that good and will finally stay healthy.
2) Spurs – Richard Jefferson provides major relief for Parker, Ginobli, and the aging Tim Duncan. Every team in the league will regret passing on DaJaun Blair.
3) Trailblazers – Andre Miller will provide the calmness they lacked in the playoffs last season.
4) Jazz – They only have to get someone decent in exchange for Boozer to improve the overall team. My favorite trade of late: Rudy Gay and Marko Jaric for Boozer.
5) Hornets – Okafor will have a break out year. He’s never played with someone like CP3 before.
6) Nuggets – An injury to Melo, Nene, or Billups for any length of time could kill them. They have a short bench. They were injury free last year. That doesn’t happen twice.
7) Clippers – Got rid of the cancer that is Zack Randolph and added Blake Griffin. Baron Davis should care this season. Somehow Mike Dunleavy will still only managed a 7th place finish.
8) Mavericks – They didn’t get better, just older. Only Nowitzki keeps them in the playoff hunt.
The Rest of the West:
9) Suns – Playing without any bench depth will catch up to them this season as Nash ages.
10) Thunder – If they spend money at the trade deadline by trading for a good player and take on cap space, they’ll make the playoffs.
11) Rockets – No Yao and no T-Mac means no playoffs. I know they are scrappy, but the West is too deep. In the East, they’d end up 5th!
12) Timberwolves – I fear I’m rating them too low. Johnny Flynn will make Kevin Love and Al Jefferson that much better. Too bad they wasted their other draft pick on Ricky Rubio.
13) Warriors – Could somebody help this team sign someone who doesn’t require the ball in his hands to be effective? Captain Jack, Monta Ellis, Corey Maggette, Stephen Curry, Anthony Morrow… Their mentality is ”Shoot first, shoot second, shoot third and pass fourth”. Sadly I fear, Anthony Randolph will fall into the same trap, how would he learn anything else?
14) Grizzlies – Allen Iverson, Zack Randolph, and OJ Mayo on the same team? I didn’t think a more selfish team could be created than the Warriors, but I just found them.
15) Kings – Worst team in the league. When Kevin Martin is your best player – BY FAR - you are in big, big trouble.
East Playoff Teams:
1) Cavaliers – They would have won it all last year but the Magic shot lights out. Shaq puts them over the hump.
2) Magic – Vince Carter or Hedo Turkoglu? I can’t believe some people don’t think VC is a MAJOR upgrade.
3) Celtics – Older legs on Jesus Shuttlesworth and KG will be helped out by the old legs of Rasheed Wallace and a deeper bench in general.
4) Bulls – Having Deng back gives them lots of options for trades of either Kirk Heinrich, John Salmons, or both.
5) Hawks – Did they even have an offseason? I can’t remember a thing they did positive or negative.
6) Heat – Who below them is better?
7) Raptors – A rebound year. This team has something to prove.
8) Wizards – Arenas will make a comeback, but it won’t be enough. Teams 9-12 below will all contend for this last spot.
The Rest of the East:
9) Pacers – Danny Granger will be even more dominant this season.
10) Pistons – When you are trying to build a team around Ben Gordon and Charlie Villaneuva, you are screwed.
11) Sixers – Even if Elton Brand has a comeback year (I think he will), they don’t have enought to contend for a playoff spot.
12) Bucks – I’m taking a BIG risk and thinking Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut will actually be healthy.
13) Knicks – I’m rooting for them to lose more than I’m rooting for Jazz to win. I want a #1 pick. They are the Anti-Yankees. Spend TONS of cash and get nothing out of it.
14) Bobcats – Where is this team going? They don’t even have anyone to build around. Apparentely Jordan doesn’t have anything motivating him to improve this team or he would have mentioned them in his HoF speech.
15) Nets – A solid young nucleus to build on. Add another high draft pick and an offseason signing (Lebron?) and they contend as early as 2011.
Western Conference Playoffs
Round 1
(1) Lakers over (8) Mavericks
(2) Spurs over (7) Clippers
(3) Blazers over (6) Nuggets
(4) Jazz over (5) Hornets
Round 2
(1) Lakers over (4) Jazz
(3) Blazers over (2) Spurs
Round 3
(3) Blazers over (1) Lakers
Eastern Conference Playoffs
Round 1
(1) Cavs over (8) Wizards
(2) Magic over (7) Raptors
(3) Celtics over (6) Heat
(4) Bulls over (5) Hawks
Round 2
(1) Cavs over (4) Bulls
(2) Magic over (3) Celtics
Round 3
(1) Cavs over (2) Magic
NBA Finals: Cavs over Blazers in 5
More predictions coming soon in another blog.
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montgump on October 28, 2009 said:
There is no way the Blazers make the finals. There is no way they even make out of the scond round.