The NBA Off Season is almost a month old. While there are still plenty of free agents out there, most signings and trades have been finalized and we can start to see what rosters will look like for next season. This is a good time to give my thoughts on each roster, going division by division, with projected order of finish.
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1. Los Angeles Clippers
Projected Starting Lineup
C - DeAndre Jordan
PF - Blake Griffin
SF - Jared Dudley
SG - JJ Redick
PG - Chris Paul
Projected Bench
SG Jamal Crawford
PG Darren Collison
SF/PF Matt Barnes
PF/C Byron Mullens
SG Willie Green
PF/C Ryan Hollins
SG/SF Reggie Bullock
The Clippers expected to contend for a championship, but instead fell in the first round of the playoffs. There were plenty of changes for Los Angeles "other" team. Gone are Chauncey Billups, Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Eric Bledsoe, and in are Jared Dudley, JJ Redick, Darren Collison and Byron Mullens. I am a fan of the new acquisitions. Redick is a great shooter who has worked hard to become one of the better all around shooting guards in the league. He should flourish next to Chris Paul. Dudley has languished on the Suns for the past few years, but brings toughness and defense to the small forward position and is an upgrade on Butler. Collison and Mullens were overmatched as starters, but both should be very solid backups. Of course, you can't talk about the Clippers off season without mentioning swapping out Vinny Del Negro for Doc Rivers. You cannot have much more of an upgrade then that. If all the new pieces can gel and work around stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, the Clippers have to be one of the two or three best teams in the West, if not the favorite.
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2. Golden State Warriors
Projected Starting Lineup
C - Andrew Bogut
PF - David Lee
SF - Andre Iguodala
SG - Klay Thompson
PG - Stephen Curry
Projected Bench
SF/PF Harrison Barnes
PF/C Marreese Speights
PF/C Jermaine O'Neal
SF/PF Draymond Green
PF/C Festus Ezeli
SG Kent Bazemore
PG/SG Toney Douglas
Every seven or eight seasons the Warriors squeak into the playoffs and really make some noise once they are there. Then the following season injuries strike and they go back to lottery land for years. For the first time in a long time, the Warriors used the off season to build on that success. Golden State's big prize was Andre Iguodala, who's defense and open court ability look like a match made in heaven for this roster. Harrison Barnes will move to a bench role and could win Sixth Man of the Year as a result. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are the best shooting back court in the NBA and with David Lee, Golden State has three players with 20 point per game potential. The Warriors were able to shred three bad contracts to the Jazz, and signed Marreese Speights, Jermaine O'Neal and Toney Douglas to round out the bench. If brittle Andrew Bogut and Curry can stay at least somewhat healthy, the Warriors have NBA Finals potential.
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3. Los Angeles Lakers
Projected Starting Lineup
C - Chris Kaman
PF - Pau Gasol
SF - Nick Young
SG - Kobe Bryant
PG - Steve Nash
Projected Bench
SG Jodie Meeks
PF/C Jordan Hill
PG Jordan Farmar
PG Steve Blake
SG/SF Wesley Johnson
C Robert Sacre
SF/PF Elias Harris
For the first time I can ever remember, a big time free agent actually left the Lakers. Also, for the first time I can ever remember, the Lakers are clearly second fiddle in Los Angeles. This will be a year of transition for Los Angeles while they let the big contracts of Pau Gasol and Steve Nash run their course. Los Angeles signed Chris Kaman, Nick Young, Jordan Farmar and Wesley Johnson to fill out their roster, but nobody quite knows how good, or bad, the Lakers will be until Kobe Bryant returns, even though rumors have Bryant well on track to be ready to play opening night. Also, Mike D'Antonio somehow still has an NBA job. The Lakers will fight for a final playoff spot, but probably will not win more then 45 games. It's all about the 2014 off season for the Lakers, when they will have virtually no one under contract.
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4. Sacramento Kings
Projected Starting Lineup
C - DeMarcus Cousins
PF - Carl Landry
SF - John Salmons
SG - Marcus Thornton
PG - Greivis Vasquez
Projected Bench
PF/C Jason Thompson
PG Isaiah Thomas
PF Patrick Patterson
SG Ben McLemore
SF/PF Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
SF/PF Travis Outlaw
PG/SG Jimmer Fredette
The Kings already won this off season before teams were even allowed to sign free agents. This franchise was just about to break out the green and yellow SuperSonics jerseys, but will remain in Sacramento for the long haul. Now a team held hostage by the Maloofs will finally be able to rebuild. There is some talent on this roster, with DeMarcus Cousins, Marcus Thornton and rookie Ben McLemore. But there are holes all along this roster. Greivis Vasquez is a nice fantasy basketball player but it is still unknown if he is good enough to be a leader on a good team. This team is just too young, and still to undisciplined, to win many games in 2013-2014.
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5. Phoenix Suns
Projected Starting Lineup
C - Marcin Gortat
PF - Markieff Morris
SF - PJ Tucker
SG - Goran Dragic
PG - Eric Bledsoe
Projected Bench
SG Shannon Brown
SG/SF Caron Butler
SF/PF Michael Beasley
SF/PF Marcus Morris
SG/SF Gerald Green
C Alex Len
PG/SG Archie Goodwin
The Suns are going to be bad this year. Very bad. And that might not be a bad thing. For the last few years the Suns management has tried to hold together an aging roster by overpaying for guys like Hakim Warrick and Channing Frye. This year the only real upgrade they made was trading for Eric Bledsoe. Bledsoe is a very talented player, but his addition will push Goran Dragic over to shooting guard and will make Phoenix an even worse team defensively. Other then Bledsoe and Dragic and perhaps Marcin Gortat this team is completely composed of mediocre veteran role players. More then likely the Suns will continue to lose games and eventually give youngsters like the Morris twins, Alex Len and Archie Goodwin some run as they hope to win the Andrew Wiggins lottery.
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1. Los Angeles Clippers
Projected Starting Lineup
C - DeAndre Jordan
PF - Blake Griffin
SF - Jared Dudley
SG - JJ Redick
PG - Chris Paul
Projected Bench
SG Jamal Crawford
PG Darren Collison
SF/PF Matt Barnes
PF/C Byron Mullens
SG Willie Green
PF/C Ryan Hollins
SG/SF Reggie Bullock
The Clippers expected to contend for a championship, but instead fell in the first round of the playoffs. There were plenty of changes for Los Angeles "other" team. Gone are Chauncey Billups, Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Eric Bledsoe, and in are Jared Dudley, JJ Redick, Darren Collison and Byron Mullens. I am a fan of the new acquisitions. Redick is a great shooter who has worked hard to become one of the better all around shooting guards in the league. He should flourish next to Chris Paul. Dudley has languished on the Suns for the past few years, but brings toughness and defense to the small forward position and is an upgrade on Butler. Collison and Mullens were overmatched as starters, but both should be very solid backups. Of course, you can't talk about the Clippers off season without mentioning swapping out Vinny Del Negro for Doc Rivers. You cannot have much more of an upgrade then that. If all the new pieces can gel and work around stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, the Clippers have to be one of the two or three best teams in the West, if not the favorite.
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2. Golden State Warriors
Projected Starting Lineup
C - Andrew Bogut
PF - David Lee
SF - Andre Iguodala
SG - Klay Thompson
PG - Stephen Curry
Projected Bench
SF/PF Harrison Barnes
PF/C Marreese Speights
PF/C Jermaine O'Neal
SF/PF Draymond Green
PF/C Festus Ezeli
SG Kent Bazemore
PG/SG Toney Douglas
Every seven or eight seasons the Warriors squeak into the playoffs and really make some noise once they are there. Then the following season injuries strike and they go back to lottery land for years. For the first time in a long time, the Warriors used the off season to build on that success. Golden State's big prize was Andre Iguodala, who's defense and open court ability look like a match made in heaven for this roster. Harrison Barnes will move to a bench role and could win Sixth Man of the Year as a result. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are the best shooting back court in the NBA and with David Lee, Golden State has three players with 20 point per game potential. The Warriors were able to shred three bad contracts to the Jazz, and signed Marreese Speights, Jermaine O'Neal and Toney Douglas to round out the bench. If brittle Andrew Bogut and Curry can stay at least somewhat healthy, the Warriors have NBA Finals potential.
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3. Los Angeles Lakers
Projected Starting Lineup
C - Chris Kaman
PF - Pau Gasol
SF - Nick Young
SG - Kobe Bryant
PG - Steve Nash
Projected Bench
SG Jodie Meeks
PF/C Jordan Hill
PG Jordan Farmar
PG Steve Blake
SG/SF Wesley Johnson
C Robert Sacre
SF/PF Elias Harris
For the first time I can ever remember, a big time free agent actually left the Lakers. Also, for the first time I can ever remember, the Lakers are clearly second fiddle in Los Angeles. This will be a year of transition for Los Angeles while they let the big contracts of Pau Gasol and Steve Nash run their course. Los Angeles signed Chris Kaman, Nick Young, Jordan Farmar and Wesley Johnson to fill out their roster, but nobody quite knows how good, or bad, the Lakers will be until Kobe Bryant returns, even though rumors have Bryant well on track to be ready to play opening night. Also, Mike D'Antonio somehow still has an NBA job. The Lakers will fight for a final playoff spot, but probably will not win more then 45 games. It's all about the 2014 off season for the Lakers, when they will have virtually no one under contract.
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4. Sacramento Kings
Projected Starting Lineup
C - DeMarcus Cousins
PF - Carl Landry
SF - John Salmons
SG - Marcus Thornton
PG - Greivis Vasquez
Projected Bench
PF/C Jason Thompson
PG Isaiah Thomas
PF Patrick Patterson
SG Ben McLemore
SF/PF Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
SF/PF Travis Outlaw
PG/SG Jimmer Fredette
The Kings already won this off season before teams were even allowed to sign free agents. This franchise was just about to break out the green and yellow SuperSonics jerseys, but will remain in Sacramento for the long haul. Now a team held hostage by the Maloofs will finally be able to rebuild. There is some talent on this roster, with DeMarcus Cousins, Marcus Thornton and rookie Ben McLemore. But there are holes all along this roster. Greivis Vasquez is a nice fantasy basketball player but it is still unknown if he is good enough to be a leader on a good team. This team is just too young, and still to undisciplined, to win many games in 2013-2014.
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5. Phoenix Suns
Projected Starting Lineup
C - Marcin Gortat
PF - Markieff Morris
SF - PJ Tucker
SG - Goran Dragic
PG - Eric Bledsoe
Projected Bench
SG Shannon Brown
SG/SF Caron Butler
SF/PF Michael Beasley
SF/PF Marcus Morris
SG/SF Gerald Green
C Alex Len
PG/SG Archie Goodwin
The Suns are going to be bad this year. Very bad. And that might not be a bad thing. For the last few years the Suns management has tried to hold together an aging roster by overpaying for guys like Hakim Warrick and Channing Frye. This year the only real upgrade they made was trading for Eric Bledsoe. Bledsoe is a very talented player, but his addition will push Goran Dragic over to shooting guard and will make Phoenix an even worse team defensively. Other then Bledsoe and Dragic and perhaps Marcin Gortat this team is completely composed of mediocre veteran role players. More then likely the Suns will continue to lose games and eventually give youngsters like the Morris twins, Alex Len and Archie Goodwin some run as they hope to win the Andrew Wiggins lottery.
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