THE TOP FIVE
1 San Antonio Spurs – Defending champs, Tim Duncan comes back at a discount price to help keep Boris Diaw and Patty Mills and the team stays intact. The favorites to start the season for sure.
2 Oklahoma City Thunder – While they lost veterans Sefalosha and Butler, they added shooting guard Anthony Morrow in free agency who is a career 43% shooter from beyond the arc and picked up a big in Mitch McGary and a defensive minded wing in Josh Huestis in the draft. Oh yeah K.D. and Russell Westbrook are still there too.
3 Los Angeles Clippers – With Doc Rivers fully in charge, the Clippers have had a quiet, but productive off-season so far. In free agency they’ve added stretch-5 Spencer Hawes and point guard Jordan Farmar to help with their depth and offense. In the draft L.A. selected shooting guard C.J. Wilcox who can knock it down from long range and cash in at the free throw line, and is a solid defender already.
4 Chicago Bulls – Even though they didn’t get Carmelo Anthony, the Bulls did add Pau Gasol in free agency and will be getting former league MVP Derrick Rose back. Adding those two All-Stars to a team that made the playoffs last year and the Bulls are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the Eastern Conference.
5 Cleveland Cavaliers – Bringing LeBron James back in free agency not only makes the Cavs a playoff contender, but a lot people feel an NBA Championship contender. I’m not ready to go there yet. Let’s wait and see what happens with all of these Kevin Love rumors. But even if they don’t deal for Love, with James, number #1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins and Kyrie Irving serving as the Cavs big three, David Blatt’s team is one to watch out for in the East, which is now up for grabs.
THE BEST OF THE REST
6 Portland Trail Blazers
7 Indiana Pacers
8 Houston Rockets
9 Golden State Warriors
10 Memphis Grizzlies
11 Washington Wizards
12 Miami Heat
13 Dallas Mavericks
14 Phoenix Suns
15 Toronto Raptors