NBA.com - Who had the best offseason?

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

*WARNING... VERY LONG THREAD AHEAD*

Ok, so I was on NBA.com and I couldn't help, but notice that NBA.com has they're predictions on how they believe the 2009-2010 season will turn out. Every single team... all 30 teams, NBA.com's David Aldridge has they're predictions on how likely they believe it is for each team to win the championship, based on the Draft, free agency, trades, coaching changes, new ownership, new arenas, etc. It goes a little something like this...

Note: I will break this up in three parts and three seperate times... this is the TOP 10. The next ten will come at another time. So will the final set of ten.

No. 1: San Antonio Spurs... Added forward Richard Jefferson (from Bucks), forward/center Antonio McDyess (from Pistons), center Theo Ratliff (from Sixers), and forward DeJuan Blair (from Draft). Lost forward Bruce Bowen (to Bucks), forward/center Kurt Thomas (to Bucks), forawrd/center Fabricio Oberto (to Bucks), and forward Drew Gooden. They feel that 22-year old rookie center Ian Mahinmi is the key man to step up, post' Tim Duncan era.

No. 2: L.A. Lakers... Defending champs, who added F Ron Artest (from Rockets), but lost F Trevor Ariza (to Rockets). They were also able to keep G Shannon Brown and F Lamar Odom, from free agency. They feel that if center Andrew Bynum can stay on the court for the full season, then the Lakers are near unbeatable.

No. 3: Boston Celtics... Added F/C Rasheed Wallace (free agency from Pistons) and Marquis Daniels (free agent from Pacers). However, they did lose Leon Powe. They feel that the key man is center Kendrick Perkins, who really stepped up after Kevin Garnett went down.

No. 4: Orlando Magic... added G Vince Carter (from the Nets), F Ryan Anderson (from Nets), Brandon Bass (free agent from Mavericks), and F Matt Barnes (from Suns). They did lose F Hedo Turkoglu (to Raptors), G Courtney Lee (to Nets), F/C Tony Battie (to Nets), and Rafer Alston (to Nets). They did manage to keep C Marcin Gortat. Key man is G Jameer Nelson, who one of the players who helped make the Magic contenders, but that shoulder injury might have slowed him down, we'll have to see.

No. 5: Toronto Raptors... added F Hedo Turkoglu (free agent from Magic), G Jarrett Jack (free agent from Pacers), G/F DeMar DeRozan (first- round draft pick), G Antoine Wright (from Mavericks), G Marco Belinelli (from Warriors), C Rasho Nesterovic (free agent from Pacers), and F Reggie Evans (from Sixers). Despite all those additions, they did lose G Anthony Parker (to Cavaliers), G Jason Kapono (to Sixers), F Devean George (to Warriors).

No. 6: Washington Wizards... added G Randy Foye (from Timberwolves), F/G Mike Miller (from T'Wolves), and new coach Flip Saunders. They lost F/C Darius Songalia (to T'Wolves), F/C Alexiy Pecherov (to T'Wolves), and C Etan Thomas (to T'Wolves).

No. 7: Cleveland Cavaliers... added C Shaquille O' Neal (from Suns), G Anthony Parker (free agent from Raptors), and F Jamario Moon (free agent from Heat). However, they lost F/C Ben Wallace and G Sasha Pavlovic to Suns. They were also able to retain F Anderson Varejao.

No. 8: Detroit Pistons... added G Ben Gordon (from Bulls), F Charlie Villanueva (from Bucks), F/C Chris Wilcox (from Knicks), F Austin Daye (frist-round draft pick), F DaJuan Summers (second-round draft pick), F Jonas Jurebko (second-round draft pick), and new head coach John Kuester. But, they lost F/C Rasheed Wallace (to Celtics), F Antonio McDyess (to Spurs), G Arron Afflalo (to Nuggets), G Walter Sharpe (to Denver), G Allen Iverson, and fired coach Michael Curry. The key man is Ben Gordon, as long as he's okay with coming off the bench backing up Rip Hamilton.

No. 9: Dallas Mavericks... added F Shawn Marion (from Toronto), F Kris Humprhies (from Raptors), F Quinton Ross (free agent from Grizzlies), G Rod Beaubois (first-round draft pick), F Drew Gooden (free agent from Spurs), and F Tim Thomas (from Bulls). While, they lost G Jerry Stackhouse to Grizzlies, they managed to keep G Jason Kidd. The key guy is F Josh Howard.

No. 10: Atlanta Hawks... added G Jamal Crawford (from Warriors), and G Jeff Teague (first round draft pick). They lost G Acie Law (to Warriors), G Speedy Claxton (to Warriors), and G Flip Murray. While they managed to keep G Mike Bibby, C Zaza Pachulia, and F Marvin Williams.

I want to know... is this accurate? Do you think that the 2009-2010 NBA season will likely plan out this way? Were you surprised at any point in this thread? Any thoughts at all?

 

[jmt225]

I really wish in sports, real life could be like video games and you could turn the damn injuries off, but since you can't, you just have to assume and predict with the thought of every team stays healthy this season, and looking at those rosters, if they do... I don't see how anyone doesn't have Boston as the best team in the NBA. The fact is... if Garnett is healthy, they win another championship this year. And now with that team, plus the addition of Rasheed Wallace (who I truly believe will have the best, most productive season he's had in the last few years)... Boston is going to be unbeatable in the playoffs.

Los Angeles... while the addition of Ron Artest was genius, I still don't think it makes them a better team than Boston. I still have them over San Antonio and Cleveland (though it's VERY close in both cases), but with an aging Derek Fisher still running the point, Andrew Bynum showing himself to be the hack he truly is, a now non-motivated Lamar Odom, Phil Jackson not being there 100%, and no improvements on the bench... I don't have any faith in the Lakers defeating a team like Boston in the Championship.

I know I said assuming that every team stays healthy, but it's very hard to assume something like that when it comes to San Antonio. They're becoming a really old team, and a lot of their key players are injury prone. Hell, Tony Parker is already injured from what I understand. I just don't see them remaining healthy all season and even if they did... I don't think they'd be able to get past LA, or even Denver for that matter.

Speaking of Denver... where the fuck are they on that list? That team last year was fantastic, and they only gotten better with adding Ty Lawson to the roster. Trust me... he's going to be a GREAT back up point guard in this league. In fact, I see him being to Denver what Bobby Jackson was to Sacramento during the Chris Webber era. That guy can play some ball, and I think he's going to be a tremendous addition to the team. And if Chauncey can stop playing like a bitch in big games, then Denver could very well end up in the Championship with Boston.

As far as Cleveland goes.... good team, but still has a weak bench, and while Shaq could help them get past a team like Orlando, they still won't be able to defeat a healthy Boston Celtics team. No chance in hell.

 

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

Well, according to NBA.com's David Aldridge... the Denver Nuggets rank at No. 13.

 

[Big Sexy]

NBA.com's David Aldridge has they're predictions on how likely they believe it is for each team to win the championship, based on the Draft, free agency, trades, coaching changes, new ownership, new arenas, etc. It goes a little something like this...

This is NOT a list of the chances each team has to win the NBA title. This is David Aldridge's list of who had the best off season 1-30. That is why you see teams like Washington and Toronto in the top 10, and teams like Denver not even in the top 10.