The 2014-15 NBA Preview

The NBA is back, ladies and gents. I'm about as amped as that twelve year-old on The Voice was when he met Taylor Swift. My 76ers might suck, but as I have said before, the NBA is the best and most entertaining overall league to enjoy as a fan. This year, I'm doing rankings based on who the contenders are all the way down to the the, well, 76ers. But, I'm going to do it based on Halloween movies, because, why not.

This season sees a shift in balance of powers. The Miami Heat have dominated the Eastern Conference, taking the weaker group of teams four years running. The Spurs have won the West each of the past two seasons. This season, the Spurs are still the favorites unless you buy high in LeBron-Love stock, which I am. But the major storyline for this season has to be the shift in power. There is no clear cut favorite because even the Spurs could dismantle with one injury to one of their main stars. Regardless, let's jump right in because its late and I'm up past my bedtime.

The Nightmare on Elm Street Group
The Contenders
1. San Antonio Spurs
2. Cleveland Cavaliers
The Miami Heat and the Spurs have represented their respective conferences in each of the past two seasons in the NBA Finals and now the only thing anyone thinks might change is the Cavaliers uprooting the Heat. LeBron James vs the Spurs for three years in a row? Its certainly the favorite before the season starts. James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving is MUCH better than the old Cavaliers teams that were winning 60 games behind James and Mo Williams. Granted LeBron is older and has a lot of mileage added to his odometer, he also has valuable playoff experience this time around in Cleveland. That is key because Love and Irving have played in as many playoff games as I have. The Spurs are favorites this season defending their championship of redemption from this past season. They return essentially the same core, just returning them much more fragile this season. If Duncan, Parker of Manu go down, which is not a crazy thought, this team will struggle. 

3. Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder need to play Shark Week for the first three months of the season and tread water while Kevin Durant is on the sideline. However, that is much easier said than done in the vaunted Western Conference. Russell Westbrook is still one of the best players in the league and Serge Ibaka is still awesome. However, it is still hard to say this team is as flawless as it was once. Without Durant, there are significant issues with this team that are going to be vulnerable. Still, when they do get healthy, this team can play with anyone.

4. Los Angeles Clippers
I might regret ranking these guys behind the Thunder. They finally looked pretty good in the playoffs, they finally played some decent defense and Chris Paul should be healthy for all of this season. Should someone outshine LeBron in his first year with Cleveland and a hurt Kevin Durant, why not Blake Griffin?

Goosebumps: My Best Friend is Invisible 
Is Derrick Rose Coming Back Group
5. Chicago Bulls
Chicago managed to win 48 games last season essentially without D-Rose again. Carlos Boozer is gone but Pau Gasol is in. A main four of Gasol, Taj Gibson, Joakim Noah and Rose would win 50 games or more. Noah was a sneaky MVP candidate last season and if healthy, Rose could be this year. But I can't put this team in to contender status for two reasons. One, they can't have my faith until Rose is healthy for more than a week. Two, they can't score points. Also I don't think Michael Jordan plays there anymore.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Western Chainsaw Massacre
6. Memphis Grizzlies
7. Golden State Warriors
The Warriors have a new coach in Steve Kerr, who always reminded me of Ed Herr who always reminded me of a potato chip. So Steve Kerr reminds me of a potato chip but he also makes me think he will be an awesome NBA head coach. That spells good for a Warriors team that knows how to play defense. Kerr should be able to teach these guys some nice offensive schemes that would probably make them the most balance team in the league outside of San Antonio. They were third in the league in terms of points allowed per possession. If they can rally up some offense from Steph Curry and the bench, this team is ready to make the jump out of the middle of the Western massacre. As for the Griz kids, don't sleep on them. At the end of this when I give my quick pick projections, the Grizzlies might surprise you and sneak up on you. Memphis was a 50 win team last year with the hiccup injury to Marc Gasol. With a healthy Gasol, the same core returning and the addition of my main man Vince Carter, I think this Grizzlies team could win 55 games. Please don't close the browser, no, NO!

8. Houston Rockets
I like James Harden and I like Dwight Howard. I've seen Dwight take a group of humiliating players to the NBA Finals like he did in 2009, so somewhere in that confusing Superman body (does that sound gay-ish? I was shooting for blackish.) is a passion for winning and the potential to put a team on his back. Haven't seen it since. He decimated the Lakers and he has coasted in Houston. Granted last season was Year One for this Harden-Howard experiment, the Rockets had moments of sheer excellence and they also had a handful of moments that really pissed you off. But, with the signing of Trevor Ariza, if they play defense this team could be very dangerous. We just need to bank on the offense coming and Howard caring. 

The Blair Witch Project
The Right on the Cusps "Don't Sleep on These Guys!" Guys
9. Dallas Mavericks
10. Portland Trailblazers
Dallas is the generic sleeper team from the past two seasons and it continues this year because the Mavs could easily end up anywhere from the fifth spot out West down to missing the playoffs if Dirk isn't healthy. As for Portland, they probably have one of the best starting five's in the league. If they could put together any bench together whatsoever, they would be much more dangerous in the exhausting Western playoffs. To win out West right now, you need depth and that is why the Spurs have gone to the Finals for two years in a row. Portland will be exhausted and run dry by the end of Round 2, but they do have the starting five to at least get there. 

Paranormal Activity
Eastern Conference Round 2-ers
11. Toronto Raptors
12. Washington Wizards
I put the Raptors above the Wiz Kids for one reason, because Bradley Beal is missing at least a month to start the year. Both of these teams are pretty similar to last season, moreso Toronto who really might be the exact same top nine as last season. Washington brought in Paul Pierce to help them in the playoffs. I like both of these teams, but if one of them was going to make the Eastern Conference Finals, I'd have to go Washington. Pierce knows the playoffs, Beal would be healthy by the postseason and John Wall looks ready to take the next leap.

13. Charlotte Hornets
I love MJ's social media tantrum that we've been going through the past few days. It is entertaining and it shows that basketball is alive in Charlotte, fella's! They may have needed the greatest basketball player of all time to do so, but hey, the Hornets are relevant. This has to be the highest they've been ranked on a power rankings since power rankings were invented to decide on the most talented cave making cavemen. But they deserve it, I love Big Al. I think Lance Stephenson will fit in here. Kemba Walker just inked an extension. They got Cody Zeller and they drafted Noah Vonley, both of whom I like too. MKG looks better than ever after working on his jumpshot this past offseason. I am sold on the Hornets and I could be talked into this team falling in the top four in the Eastern Conference playoffs. 

14. Atlanta Hawks
I am ranking a Hawks team with not only a relevant Al Horford but a healthy one all season. If that happens, this Hawks team could be more dangerous than the noise they made in the playoffs last season against the Pacers. I'm also sold on Pero Antic after what I saw in that same series last year. But anyway, listen to this team with Horford in it. You've got Horford, Elton Brand, Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver, Thabo Sefalosha, Jeff Teague and Shelvin Mack. That is drastically different without Horford. But when healthy, this team is energetic, plays defense and can outscore you in spurts.

What Lies Beneath
What the Hell Can We Expect From These Guys
15. Phoenix Suns
16. New Orleans Pelicans
Nobody believed in the Suns last season, than they surprised us all and people were picking them for the postseason, than they narrowly missed the playoffs and now everyone thinks the Suns will regress. They probably will, but at some point the public needs to be right about something for these guys, right? The loss of Channing Frye hurts, the weird group they've got together hurts and the conference that they play in hurts. I don't think the Suns will regress quite as much as everyone else thinks, I like the Morris twins, but I don't think they win close to 50 games again. However, the team I have ranked below might be the 2014 surprise team. New Orleans has Anthony Davis, a monster of a guy who might be making the leap into the All-Star players of the league. I think the Omer Asik signing makes sense here. Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans add some exciting shooting. Eric Gordon, Darius Miller, this team has stockpiled assets and all they need to do now is make sense of it all and learn to win. 

The Grudge
The Scariest Movie in the NBA
17. Miami Heat
Who is going to replace LeBron James on this team? Maybe that's not fair, because we all know the Heat won't be a 60 win team anymore. I guess the question, debate, argument now is whether or not the Heat will win enough games to make noise in the playoffs. Are the Heat better than the Raptors and Wizards? No. Are they better than the Nets and Knicks? Yes. Chris Bosh is in year 12, Dwyane Wade can't play over 60 games anymore and his workload physically can't increase without LeBron, the defense this team face will be far more dangerous now that they don't have LeBron. The bench becomes an Achille's heel now. Ray Allen is gone. I do like Shabeez Napier, but there is a lot I don't like about this team. What's the over/under on how many fans show up to games now? Seventeen?

The Shadow Walkers
Because I Got High
18. Denver Nuggets
Weird team this year. Huge drop off last season from the prior one, ultimately missing the playoffs and smoking a bunch of weed watching the Broncos get blown out in the Super Bowl. This year, I don't know what to make of them. They have a lot of rotation guys and coach Brian Shaw is going to have a hard time making sense of the group he has. But he does have a healthy Danilo Galinari, he does have a healthy Ty Lawson, he does have Aaron Afflalo back in Denver. So, the shooting and scoring should be there. I just wonder who the hell is going to play defense on this team. 

Pet Cemetery
Someone Has To Be the East Eight Seed
19. Brooklyn Nets
20. Detroit Pistons
21. New York Knicks
One of these teams has to make the playoffs unless one of the lottery teams hits gold with everyone on their roster. Otherwise, we are left the Nets, who lost Jason Kidd as head coach and Paul Pierce, the Pistons, who improved to Stan Van at head coach and the Knicks, who are the definition of mediocre. I think the Nets have the best shot based on the fact that they made the playoffs last season and they return largely the same group minus Pierce, who was only brought there to make a single big shot in the first round. Apparently. The Pistons could surprise a lot of people but they won't be surprising the Nugget Blog because I am thissss close (pretty close) to picking the Pistons to make the playoffs. I love me some SVG, I've always been a big supporter of Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe and I love signing DJ Augustin. I just wonder how long it will take until Josh Smith self-destructs. As for the Knicks, I don't know what their thinking. Do they honestly think they are still a big factor and a force in the East? Carmelo is another year older, Iman Shumpert is better trade bait than anything else and JR Smith might be the newly dubbed dumbest guy in the NBA. Tyson Chandler is gone. The only bright spot in New York is that Mike Woodson is finally gone. 

The Hills Have Eyes
We'll Probably Suck, But Not Like Really Suck
22. Milwaukee Bucks
Jabrari Parker will be a lot of fun to watch. Don't forget that this team is just two years removed from an impressive eight seed in the Eastern playoffs, where they were tossed around like a rag doll by the Miami Heat, but only pay attention to that first part if your a Bucks fan. This team has talent. They still lack a star, and they hope Parker can turn into that. But for the time being, when your rookie is probably your best leader, you've got problems. Milwaukee is like a magazine, they got issues. Burn!

23. Utah Jazz
The Jazz have no business being ranked as the 22nd best team in a 30 team league. For as much noise as they are generating this offseason, they are still a pretty bad team. I almost gave the Bucks their own section because I think there is too much distance between them and the Jazz. Yet, in today's tankfest of a league, the Jazz find themselves ranked better than eight other professional basketball affiliations. Gordon Heyward is back and making more money than NBC has made off their best primetime lineup. I didn't see anything last year to love about Derrick Favors or Enes Kanter like I was led to believe I would. Alec Burks could turn out to be a nice player but it won't happen over night. So yeah, this team would be lucky to crack 27 wins. 

24. Boston Celtics
If they wind up trading Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green like they probably should, this team will be much further down. But for the time being, the Celtics have a decently weird chance at being respectable. Rondo and Green are both good players, Rondo needing to prove he is totally healthy before I totally believe in him again. I think Marcus Smart is going to be a great player to build around. Avery Bradley is making about seventy trillion times more money this season than he should be, but he is still a good defensive dude to have around. Regardless they need to trade Rondo before he leaves and they get nothing but funny Jimmy Kimmel clips to show.

25. Minnesota Timberwolves
The T'Wolves landed big by getting Andrew Wiggins, the first pick in the draft this season, and Anthony Bennett, the first pick in the draft last season, for their main man Kevin Love, who was bound to leave them after this season anyway. They turned nothing into a lot of potential. So could this team be really bad considering outside of an unproven Wiggins, a bust-worthy Bennett and Ricky Rubio, they have no eye catching stars? Sure. Could this team be pretty good if Wiggins turns out to be a mega superstar and easily win Rookie of the Year? Yeah, maybe. Will they probably just bore everyone, wind up a forgotten group of guys and win 25-30 games. More likely, yup.

26. Sacramento Kings
None of their offseason moves made any sense, Boogie Cousins hasn't proven that he is mature enough to be an All-Star yet and they play in the West. None of that works in their favor.

27. Orlando Magic
I wonder when the Magic will be good again, and looking at their roster, I couldn't even take a guess. They may be stockpiling assets in the lottery, but I don't love anyone on their team. Oladipo had a good rookie season, but he is a guy you can build your future around? Likewise, is Elfrid Payton? These dudes might turn out to be great players and even All-Stars, but can they carry a franchise? Much of the same in Orlando this season.

28 Days Later
No Offense, You Suck
28. Indiana Pacers
This one hurts because I hate to see anyone go down with injury and it sucks for Paul George to go down. Injuries suck in general, but when a star goes down in "extracurricular" games, it is just harder to swallow. The Pacers had a window, and the Heat shut it both of the past two seasons. But now it might be shut for good with Stephenson in Charlotte and Paul down for the year. Roy Hibbert will have to make tremendous strides and George Hill will need to perfect his jumper for this team to average, I don't know, 40 points a game. They couldn't score with their best two scorers on the team last year, how are they going to make points with both of them gone this season?

Psycho
Kobe Is Pissed Off (Updated Since Randle is Hurt)
29. Los Angeles Lakers
I updated this entry since I am posting it late and now Julius Randle is hurt. I bump the Lakers down from the prior section because Randle might miss a longgggggg time now. So, with him and Steve Nash sidelined, this team just lost more depth and got less talented, somehow. The only reason to watch a Lakers game this year is to watch Kobe A) pass up open players for his own chance to score as he desperately tries to break Kareem's record, B) whoops some butt to redeem last season or C) makes his vintage Kobe face in disgust as the likes of Nick Young shooting bricks night in and night out. Always go with C.

Child's Play
Yeah We're Not Trying To Win Anymore
30. Philadelphia 76ers
Tony Wroten might honestly be their best player after MCW. We haven't seen any of Nerlens Noel or Joel Embiid yet, so not counting them, I honestly would peg Wroten as the second best. I just threw up typing that sentence. 

So, without further ado, my playoff predictions!
Eastern Conference
-First Round-
1 Cleveland over 8 Brooklyn
2 Chicago over 7 Miami
6 Atlanta over 3 Toronto
5 Charlotte over 4 Washington

-Second Round-
1 Cleveland over 5 Charlotte
2 Chicago over 6 Atlanta

-Third Round-
1 Cleveland over 2 Chicago

Western Conference
-First Round-
1 San Antonio over 8 Portland
2 Oklahoma City over 7 Dallas
3 LA Clippers over 6 Houston
4 Memphis over 5 Golden State

-Second Round-
4 Memphis over 1 San Antonio
3 LA Clippers over 2 Oklahoma City

-Third Round-
4 Memphis over 3 LA Clippers!!!!

NBA FINALS
Cleveland over Memphis in 6, I am putting way too much faith in the Big Three immediately gelling. Don't let me down, LeBron!