Boston Celtics
Needs: Youth, Bench, and Size
The Truth and KG missed a combined 62 games the past two seasons. They are by no means the competitors they once were before. The burning desire to compete is still there in their hearts and minds, but their youth has fleeted. KG’s production has steadily declined over the years, but he is still VERY capable of taking over a game with his more than solid 18 foot jumper and his interior defensive ability. Paul Pierce, Mr. Injury Faker, has continued to post great all-star numbers but take a look at this white-on-rice defense. These fellas age like fine wine; however, their time in Boston has expired. Without a doubt, these two players will be future Hall of Famers. But the fact of the matter is that this Celtics team is not the 2008 Celtics anymore. Jesus Shuttleworth has taken his talents over to South Beach; Rajon Rondo suffered a season-ending ACL injury; Jeff Green received open heart surgery just a year ago; now sophomores Jared Sullinger and Fab Melo have had injury riddled rookie campaigns; Jason Terry underwent knee surgery this off-season; the list goes on. If and ONLY if the team stays healthy, the Celtics could most definitely make another serious deep playoff run. The recent track record of this team states otherwise.
This team is now Rondo’s team. Without Rondo the second half of the season, the Celtic offense went stagnant. Rondo’s ability to dish to the open shooter, fearlessly slash through the lanes, and pickpocket the opposing ball handler were sorely missed. It was clear that in the first round playoff series with the New York Knicks, the Celtics lacked a primary ball handler. In their losses, the Celtics averaged 14.3 AST and 16.8 TO. The assist to turnover ratio is hideous. In the regular season, Rondo averaged 11.1 AST and 3.9 TO, which comes out to approximately 3:1 ratio. Rondo single-handedly could have taken over the Celtics offense. In the two playoff victories, the Celtics averaged 21 AST and 15.5 TO. It looks like Beantown will come up empty handed again next year if they choose to stick with this injury prone lineup.
Here’s my advice: REBUILD AROUND VOLTRON. Rondo, Green, and Sullinger make a great core, but this team still needs help. Look at the Celtics to make some moves this offseason or next season (Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett anyone?)
Brooklyn Nets
Needs: A starting PF and Shooters
You gotta be Kidd-ing me. J. Kidd's back after retiring a whole whoppin' 10 days ago. This is a huge risk by the Brooklyn Nets. Now the question is "What will J. Kidd's coaching style be like?". The Nets figure Kidd will be a player's coach, taking a more hands-on approach with the players. Kidd's had the opportunity to play with many future Hall-of-Famers and play under coaches like Danny Ainge and Rick Carlisle. It is important to note that Kidd has personally played against the existing rosters of the current NBA teams, and the Nets can definitely use that to their advantage. What is key is who the upper management and Kidd will select as their assistant coaches. Well, rumors are already out there that he is fond of hiring Lawrence Frank as one of his assistant coaches. That makes great sense because Kidd posted his best numbers under Frank in New Jersey from 2001-2008. Whoever the assistant coaches are, they will control the huddles next season a lion's share of time.
Now that the Nets are squared away with their head coach of the future, they’ll look to shore up their bench with shooters in the upcoming NBA draft. Beyond Joe Johnson and Marshon Brooks, Brooklyn’s offense was painfully predictable. The opposing defenses blitzed D-Will, JJ, and Brook Lopez and gave Gerald Wallace and Reggie Evans the open top of the key jumper. With almost $77 million in salary dedicated to five players (Johnson, Williams, Lopez, Humphries, and Wallace), the Nets have no cap space to make a splash in this summer’s free agency. What can they do then you ask? Trade. Trade. Trade.
Who can they trade? The oh-so-sexy Mr. Kardashian. His expiring 12 million dollar contract along with Marshon Brooks’ rookie contract can be a very enticing package to a throng of teams this summer. An even better question is: Who can they trade for? Carlos Boozer. http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=a7l5umk Chicago is looking to get younger and trading the Booze Cruise will help them achieve just that. Why does this trade make sense? Mr. Bruiser will provide the Nets with an effective big man with post up skills and a killer, unorthodox 15 footer. Oh and he ain’t afraid to show you what the Rock is cooking (hard fouls and physical play). What’s better is that he’ll rejoin his old running mate, D-Will, from back in their Utah days. D-Will will finally have a buddy to play pick-n-roll and pick-n-pop with now. YAY FOR FRIENDS!
The Nets would also be utilizing the “addition by subtraction” method. Let’s face it, Kris Humphries was collecting more dust on the bench than an Oreck vacuum cleaner. The Hump is and will forever be a distraction as long as he plays in the NBA. After the acquisition of Boozer, the Nets can address their shooting woes by adding couple shooters at the veteran’s minimum (i.e. Kyle Korver, Anthony Morrow, Marco Belinelli, Reggie Williams).
Brooklyn looks to build upon last season's success. A playoff spot is guaranteed, but they're still few pieces away from becoming an upper echelon team.
Philadelphia 76ers
Needs: Coach, Front Court, Experience
Good news: The 76ers have found the point guard of the future in Jrue Holiday.
Bad news: Everything else is in shambles.
Like his former Bruin point guard teammates, Russell Westbrook and Darren Collison, Jrue Holiday has finally come into his own and made a name for himself on his team. However, the difference between him and his ex-teammates is that Jrue does not have the star power around him like the others do. Russell has Durant and Ibaka; Collison has Nowitzki and Mayo; Jrue has … well... himself. The 76ers haven’t had a guard of his caliber since The Answer (Allen Iverson). I’m not saying Jrue and A.I. belong in the same category, but Holiday, like Iverson, has the capability to individually take over a game. Unlike A.I., he actually attends practice.
Philly needs to assemble a team that can complement Holiday. Evan Turner and Thaddeus Young are GOOD players but good players at best. Evan Turner saw a 9 minute jump in play time from ‘11-12 to ‘12-13. He earned his spot in the lineup, playing and starting in all 82 games of the season. He also posted solid numbers: 16.3 PTS, 6.3 REB, 4.3 AST, and 0.9 STL, all increases from the prior season. But don’t let the numbers fool you. His player efficiency rating (PER) was well below the league average (15.0), scoring at 12.03. His PER in ‘11-12 was 12.68, so actually his efficiency on court declined. Like Turner, Thaddeus saw approximate 7 minute increase of playing from the ‘11-12 to ‘12-13 season. He also started at PF in all the games he played this past season. And yes, he did capitalize on the increase in playing time and starter position, he logged more PTS, REB, AST, and STL. The biggest spike we saw was his rebounding, up from 5.2 to 7.5. He recorded the team’s highest PER of 18.16. As long as Thad-Yo can maintain that 7.5 REB average next season, the Sixers won’t need to shape up the PF position. The starting PF spot is his to lose.
The center position is the Sixers’ weakest position. The Sixers haven't had a good quality center since Dikembe Mutumbo in 2001-2002. It’s never really been in the culture of Philadelphia to have a dominant scoring center, but it’s time for a change. Philly took a MAJOR gamble by trading for Andrew Bynum, and they happened to shoot craps. The Man Child sat on the bench the entire season. Sam Hinkie, Sixers GM, dubbed the Andrew Bynum a complete failure. Maybe he was referring to Bynum's hairdos.
Bynum should've focused on his rehab rather than trying out a new hairstyle every month. When your general manager admits a mistake, you are certain that you struck out. The Sixers are forced to make a critical decision on whether or not to take another gamble on Bynum. Ultimately, the Sixers are facing the dilemma of “high risk, high reward”. Either way, the Sixers are in dire need of an elite center if they want to stay competitive with teams like Miami and Indiana. Hinkie’s in the hot seat. He’s got to shape up this lineup before the offseason is over. Can the task be done? We'll just have to see.
New York Knicks
Needs: Frontcourt Depth, Rebounding, Backup PG
The New York Knicks finally won their first playoff series this past postseason after a 13 year drought. While this may seem like promising news, it isn’t. It isn’t in the eyes of all Knickerbocker diehards, Spike Lee, Chris Rock, and Jersey Shore’s finest Vinny.
 |
| Vinny is fed up like the rest of the Knicks fans. |
New York ranked a dismal 5th to last in the league in rebounding. For a team with players like Kenyon Martin, Amar’e Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, Marcus Camby, and Tyson Chandler, boards should come a plenty. The problem here is age. The Knicks own one of the oldest frontcourts in the NBA and with age comes more susceptibility to injury. New York will have to evaluate the free agents on the market to determine which player can fit immediately into their system. Timofey Mozgov is a likely candidate; he would provide the Knicks with an immediate upgrade in the center position. Although he would not start for the Knicks, his size and strength alone would elevate New York’s level of frontcourt play. He is still very raw offensively, but thankfully he will not be asked to be a scorer on this heavily loaded offensive Knicks squad.
 |
| The Knicks defense is questionable... |
Despite recording the 2nd best record in the Eastern Conference, the Knicks lost in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals to the Indiana Pacers. In the past 20 years, the Knicks and Pacers have seen each other 7 times in the playoffs. The Knicks were simply outhustled and outrebounded in the series against the Pacers. The Knicks caught a break in the first round when they faced the Rondo-less, worst rebounding team in the NBA in the Celtics. This aging Knicks team is built to win now. The timeframe gets smaller and smaller by the week. New York must get younger and bigger this offseason if they hope to win another playoff series.
Toronto Raptors
Needs: Health, Team Ball, Consistency, Rebounding
The Raptors finished off the season with a more than promising 5 game winning streak (Last 11 games: 7-4 record). All of Canada hopes that the streak can continue into the 2013-2014 NBA season. Toronto has not made the playoffs since the Chris Bosh era. Masai Ujiri, Toronto’s new GM, will need to address few things before entering the 2013-2014 season. They will look to develop more team chemistry this offseason. This will require Uriji to work his magic like he did in Denver to find a cohesive bonding unit. The opening night starting lineup appears to look something like this: PG Kyle Lowry, SG Demar Derozan, SF Rudy Gay, PF Andrea Bargnani, C Jonas Valanciunas. This unit has yet to see one NBA game all together, so this offseason will be crucial to the development as a starting unit.
Health has been and will continue to be a concerning issue for this team. Lowry, Gay, Bargnani, and Valanciunas each missed significant parts of the 2012-2013 season, so they will have rely on their bench throughout the season. High flyer Terrence Ross, dirty worker Landry Fields, and do-it-all Amir Johnson will therefore be seeing a lot of minutes next season. Rebounding was a problem all season long for the Raptors. They averaged a lowly 28th in the league (40.2 REB/game) with their leading rebounder, Amir Johnson, averaging 7.5 REB/game. The rookie Valanciunas will need to be more aggressive on the boards his sophomore year if the Raptors want to stay competitive this upcoming season. He showed flashes of his potential, but his numbers were never consistent.
On paper, the Raptors have all the right personnel to get them into the playoffs, but so did the Lakers in 2012-2013. The Lakers miserably failed in the first round of the playoffs getting swept by the Spurs. I digress. As long as the key members of this squad can stay healthy, they can be quite a formidable team. They will be able to fly under the radar right into one of the bottom playoff seeds of the Eastern Conference. Speaking of flying, Rudy Gay, Terrence Ross, AND DeMar DeRozan have all participated in the NBA dunk contest. These past participants, along with teammates Landry Fields and Mickael Pietrus (Air France) will give Kyle Lowry a field day throwing up alley-oops. One thing's for sure, there definitely will be no shortages of dunks next season.
ATTENTION: Air Canada flights will now include rim-rockers, tomahawks, and excuse-me-let-me-dunk-this-in-your-face dunks.
UP NEXT: Eastern Conference Central Division
The Bayless Babbles is a sports blog is co-authored by UC Merced/ USC alumnus Justin Cheng and UC San Diego alumnus Brent Lee.
Email: baylessbabbles@gmail.com
Follow The Bayless Babbles on Twitter (@BaylessBabbles)
LIKE & share the articles on Facebook!
Do one of these! Thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment