[d-grizzlyParticipant]

I would like to have a big discussion and welcome the debate from anyone.

Lakers
Spurs
Portland
Nuggets – west top 4

Magic
Celtics
cleveland.
(atlanta, miami…again) – East top 4

Not much to be said about LA really…with kobe…and adding artest…the key ingredient to ensure another title is odom. With portland, stay healthy, stay focused…oden needs to drastically improve to bring them to another level. The nuggets..they need to find a way to make the 4 better. kenyon martin is not efficient enough at the 4 offensively, thus, making it hard to win. The nuggets also need some depth at SG..i liked the 2 punch they had with jones and smith…now it’s just a steaky shooter smith..

Do the SPURS have enough? they have three 4 time champions, and a coach…hungry for another ring while age/health stare at them in the face. When i think about it now though…picking up jefferson and blair is huge. Just think how easier it’s gonna be for rjefferson now… instead of being a number #2 or #3 option…he becomes #4…allowing him to relax. Big tim, parker or ginobli will continue to attract double teams, leaving jefferson open…and blair open in the paint as well….

Is it me, or do the MAGIC seem to get better every 2 weeks? they just signed barnes…this is a big help at SG/SF. Having pietrus as a lockdown defender/3pt shooting plus barnes as an alright defender with average offense, it’s definitly a good combo off the bench. Whether people like keeping gortat or not, it’s definitly going to be a good thing if dwight gets injured..knock on wood…or if he gets in foul trouble. Nelson must get back to what he was pre-injury… and howard learning a few post moves can get them a title if they keep the same mentality.

And we have the CELTICS. That demon team that has just as equal chance as anybody in this league to win it all. Can garnett influence and lead the team again? or is it just over? Rondo growing up and having less of an attitude is now a huge factor. The next thing with these guys is…do you continue to start perkins? i say yes…why disrupt what worked? Sheed off the bench will help. The really nice thing other than picking up sheed…was pickin up daniels. I like watchin daniels play…and he’s definitly going to contribute. You also have eddie house..that short wanna-be gangsta that can hit 3’s…practically whenever he wants to. I can already see it now…east conf….boston vs. orlando….game 7..double overtime…

After that…cleveland. how hungry is lebron? i just can’t see them getting further than the second round.
Atlanta getting crawford is going to give them a lot of points. Keeping bibby….veteran leader…great 3pt shooter. Miami…i consider them a possibility of being the top 4…depending on if they can get boozer or odom…or both. Listen, a healthy wade, beasely/chalmers-year2…this team did not get worse.

[MallStax5Participant]

the spurs i think will win the championship.
yes they do have enough to counteract with the lakers i feel.
and uh
as i see it now.

Lakers
Spurs
Nuggets
Portland/Jazz

Celtics
Cleveland
Magic
Atlanta

in the finals i have

Boston vs Spurs.

i think shaq is not enough for cleveland
sheed is enough for boston
orlando just got unlucky with the other two moves

lakers will dominate
spurs will too

[the microwaveParticipant]

BIAS pick – but Philly (depending upon Lous success) may be in that mix as well… They were close to miami all season last yr, Atlanta got out to early jump but my sixers won series 2gms to 1… Should be a fun yr

[ckowalskiParticipant]

I think LA being solidified as the top seed really depends on them resigning Odom. Think if Portland signed him. With all their young talent they already give LA fits when they play and then they add maybe the most versatile defender in the NBA? I think that Portland would round out the top 4 and the Nuggets are the number 3 seed, possibly even the number 2. Give Chauncey a full year with that team.

In the East, I think the Celtics and Cavs switch seeds but other than that I agree. I still think Cleveland can beat Boston in a series but I think Orlando’s depth would get to them.

[R-Dot-13Participant]

I agree that Philly will be in the mix, possibly the 4th, 5th spot in the east.

But I think it will be a Spurs/Celtics final.

The Spurs will have enough this year to beat out Lakers for the Western Title, expecially with the addition of Jefferson.

The only reason in my opinion the Celtics didnt get tehre is because of Garnetts injury.

Rondo is turning into of of the best pg in the NBA,
Pierce, and Allen will always be great players.
Then theres Garnett to be hte leader of the team.

So I think Spurs/Celtics, with the Celtics taking it

[MagikKnickParticipant]

I think it comes down to matchups..

Spurs VS Lakers..honestly, I think this is the finals right here…

Parker vs Fisher
Ginobli vs Kobe
Jefferson vs Artest
Duncan vs Pau
McDyess vs Bynum

Will Odom stay in LA?
What type of impact will DeJuan Blair have his rookie year?
How improved is George Hill?
Will Roger Mason still be effective after a breakout season?
Will Adam Morrison have an impact on LA?
Is Ron Artest for better or for worst?
Whose bench is better?

[McWinningParticipant]

Spurs vs Magic is still my prediction for the finals.

[R-Dot-13Participant]

What about the east?

[dwat4444Participant]

i’ve got lakers vs. Orlando again with the same result. Orlando added a lot of pieces but I’m not sure if they’re going to mesh like the team did before. Still I don’t feel like cleveland and Boston can match up with the talent in Orlando right now. My one concern is that Turk was their best defender on Lebron and kobe(not pietrus). Now they don’t have him they may be able to dominate even more against them. Besides from those 2 concerns I see orlando winning the east. In the west LA will be even better. When you win a championship and get better theres only one possible route.

[MagikKnickParticipant]

I got the Celtics taking it for the east..

Cavs didnt improve enough..
Orlando changed like half their roster, I dont see them getting it together this season
Celts added ‘Sheed, who would fit great with that team

My Finals
Spurs vs Celts
Who Wins?

Parker vs Rondo
Ginobli vs Allen
Jefferson vs Pierce
Duncan vs Garnett
McDyess vs ‘Sheed

At first, I tought this was an easy Spurs win..and after i thought about it, the Celts have a legit shot here, im kind caught in the cross-hairs, couldnt tell you who’d win o_O

[dwat4444Participant]

Spurs vs. Celtics would be the most boring nba finals ever. Final score 78-76, 84-79, 90- 81. God wouldn’t that be boring as hell? It’s likely but both teams would be slowing down by the time they got to the finals so it would be even slower…ouch

[d-grizzlyParticipant]

i think a rondo vs parker, and duncan vs garnett would be awesome. it would be a nice defensive finals to enjoy. Dwat4444, i take it you like uptempo fastbreak 140-135 point games.

[grizz32Participant]

1.Lakers
2.Spurs
3.Trail Blazers
4.Nuggets
5.Hornets
6.Mavs
7.Warriors
8.Jazz
9.Grizzlies
10.Suns

[d-grizzlyParticipant]

i like that west deal, but you’re leaving out okc…and they are for now better than the grizzlies…and i think okc could sneak 8th…but definitly will be placed 9th or 10th.

[grizz32Participant]

I see them 11th. They dont have the big post presence yet. They are going to need rebounding. And more depth. I dont think they are better than us.

Gasol>>>>>Mullens
Randolph=======Green
Gay<<<<<<>>>>>Harden
Conley<<<<<>>>>>OKC bench

[d-grizzlyParticipant]

both teams have outstanding talent.

Gasol and thabeet will outdo krystic and mullens. Randolph and arthur will outdo green and collison…until green solids himself…which isn’t too long from now. Durant will always be better than gay, mayo will always be better than harden, and conely can develope into a realtime point guard…but i think westbrook will be a step ahead for awhile.

grizzlies bench – thabeet, arthur, young, carrol, haddadi… and we MUST sign m-williams.

okc actually does have a nice bench – collison, mullens, sefolosha, weaver, livingston, etc.

[d-grizzlyParticipant]

to me, the lakers have a repeat if they get odom back.

if they fail to resign him, san antonio will have too many big men to wear down the lakers front court…also…TIM DUNCAN > PAU GASOL…not hatin on you pau! you’re still one of my fav’s!

if l.a fails at odom, i’m thinkin it’s gonna be san antonio vs ( celtics or magic )

[llperez]

If Lakers resign Odom, they are the favorites to win the whole thing. Even if they don’t they are still in the disccusion because an improved Bynum will see more minutes and Artest can make up for some of the things they lose with Odom. Kobe is still the best in the league, and Gasol is in his prime.

Spurs would be second, but they have a lot of question marks for a team that lost in the first round. If Manu stays healthy and Jefferson has an impact that he failed to bring in Milwaukee, and Blair can contribute, then they have everything it takes to surround Duncan and TP for a title.

Nuggets, Blazers and Mavs are all in the same boat imo. Anyone of them could pull off the upset, but it would would be just that, an upset. And really don’t sleep on the Mavs. With Howard healthy and Matrix in the fold as well as Terry, kidd, and some improving bench players like Hollins, they now have talent around Dirk.

In the east, the Celtics are probably a very slight favorite over Orlando right now. I absolutley think Orlando has gotten better, but the Celtics have KG returning and that makes up for a lot.

Cleveland is still third. Their supposed great defense was exposed by the Magic. Shaq will help, but this not 2002. He can not take over games. Shaq, Z, and Verajao still does not exactly scare anybody. West, MoWill and AParker are solid, but this still comes down to whether or not Lebron can caryy them.

No one else in the east is in the serious discussion at this point.

My prediction: Lakers vs Celtics

[d-grizzlyParticipant]

looks like l.a vs (celtics or magic) now. l.a agreed with odom to come back basically

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