Let's talk about the upcoming NBA season

[Raven]

Here's how I rank the top 8 teams in the West.

San Antonio - added Brent Barry
Minnesota - can Sam Cassell's body hold up
Sacramento  - great system, great talent, no chemistry
Utah - added Boozer and some stiff who played in Detroit
Houston - bench is not as thin as most people think
Phoenix - I'm probably over estimating Nash's impact
Memphis - well coached, but raw talent seems lacking
Denver - this team could be a surprise, either way, poor chemistry

Who doesn't make the playoffs

LA Lakers - payback time for the rest of the West
Dallas - losing Nash and gaining Dampier is not a step forward

Bottom dwellers

Seattle - needs an impact player - badly
Portland - no character
Golden State - horrble offseason moves  
LA Clippers - poor Elton Brand, a forgotten superstar  
New Orleans - their only good player wants to be traded

[Jaddison]

Would swap Dallas with Phoenix.  Nash is brittle.  MArquis Daniels could do quite well as Dallas PG but last year was Dampiers contract year...this year isn't, lol, I think Dallas will notice the difference..

Lakers may make it into Playoffs....think Denver may be the real sleeper team really depends on how C. Anthony can find a way to blend and if Camby can stay healthy, they have the bigs to be able to let Camby play 24 min and still stay in a game.

Portland could surprise if Stoudemire plays consistently.

Seattle, New Orleans and GS are just flat out bad teams

[Raven]

You agree with the top four, though. I think they're pretty easy picks. I'm a Rocket's fan, so I'm horribly biased, but I just can't imagine a team with YM and TM not making the 5th seed. After that, it's a wash.

I am fairly confident, though, that the Lakers are going to be a disaster.

[Nameless]

I'm really excited to see how the East shakes out this year with NJ basically a scrap heap.  Between Miami, Milwaukee, NO(*), Indianapolis and Detroit, I think you have the top of the pile in the East.  With Detroit clearly getting better, I think they're the favorites (ok, so I'm a homer), but it's really going to be interesting....

EDIT * - Totally forgot NO went to the West now!  Changes things even more....

[TheMissingLink]

Portland - no character

Granted, I've liked Portland my whole life, but I think everyone will soon find out that Portland is better than people think.  After trading Rasheed, we closed the season playing very well.  The key to our success is keeping Derek Anderson healthy.  It doesn't really matter if Damon plays well or not - we do have Nick Van Exel and can just sub him in if we need a PG.  Plus, we have the best shot-blocker (Theo Ratliff) of last season.  

Personally, I think that even though Portland has no real character like you say, it's better than their bad-boy image they've had for awhile now.  Plus, you'll see them slip into the 7th or 8th spot in the west, and lose in the first round of the playoffs

[Driver]

Yeah, I think an EC team will take the title again this year, but at least the Jazz won't fare as poorly.  I'll guess Indiana for the Finals, but I think you're underestimating Denver this year - they may still pick up Dennis Rodman!

Seattle may not be that bad if the Lakers game was any indicator.

[Driver]

Any of you guys want in on a Fantasy NBA league?  It's wide open.

[McNutt]

I don't know if you guys caught it, but SI posted an excerpt from Phil Jackson's upcoming book that was very interesting.  

Read it here  

I had no idea his beef with Kobe was that serious.

[Raven]

It's interesting that you mention Damon Jones, since the Rockets tried to trade for him earlier this summer.

As for the East, I'd pick Detroit (out of respect), Indiana, and Miami.

4-8 is a wash.

And everyone predicting great things with Shaq are kidding themselves. He might have lost the weight, but the damage has already been done. His body won't hold up, and every game he sits out will be an automatic lose. They'll make the playoffs, because it's the East, but their playoff run ends the min they play Detroit or Indiana.

I've never liked K Mart. He runs his mouth too much. I expect him to clash with other players on the team. Oh wait, it's already happened. It was reported that he sucker punched Nene. Yeah, they're going to be just one big happy family.

[SuperHiro]

I disagree about Shaq. His body may start to break down but he's unbelievably motivated and hungry this year. Last year he heard nothing but how washing up he was and how banged up his toe is and how he's only good because Kobe takes the pressure off.  The low level of competition in the East will give him a real chance to heal up. You can certainly see the twilight of Shaqs career in the distance, but it's not here yet.

I hate making guesses this early as to who makes it to the finals. But I really like Houston and Miami or Detroit right now.

And that article with Phil Jackson is just sad. One of the only moments where I actually felt pretty bad for him. I still think he's overrated as a coach, but man he was trying to make chicken soup of out chicken feathers that year.

[Jaddison]

With Portland they could have an interesting team with Van Exel swinging to the 2 with Stoudimire on the floor.  If Anderson and Van Exel can stay healthy they have talent to be quite interesting.

I hope Shaq does well in Miami, despite his sometimes childish ways in his feud with Kobe I have  always liked the big lug...he just seems to have things in perspective and has fun.

I think Yao is going to have bust out year now that he doesn't have to worry about Stevie Me First Francis hogging the ball, I think TMac will be more than happy to work it inside out...should keep his back a lot healthier.

Utah could shine but they certainly aren't going to sneak up on anyone this year.

I think Minnesota is a big question mark as 2 of their main 3 are older and somewhat fragile and the whole Szcerbiak thing could get ugly again.

[Dramatist]

I think Shaq is going to have a monster year in Miami.  Remember he is out to prove himself all over again and I think that will be motivation enough for him to dominate.  I'm not sure they'll get past Detroit or Indiana though, but the rest of the East seems weak.

The West looks tough on the other hand, although I think the East will have the champion again this year.

San Antonio should be excellent this year.  Minnesota should be very good as well.  Denver and Utah should be much better this year as well.  Sacramento and Dallas should be a little worse, the Lakers should be a lot worse.  Houston is a wild card.  I expect Yao to be improved this year, and it should be fun to have McGrady and Yao team up, that should be an excellent one two punch.  I haven't even mentioned Phoenix, Memphis and New Orleans either.

I'm really looking forward to this season.

[Jaddison]

Say what you will about Jackson but winning everything when the expectation is to win everything is extemely daunting...look how few repeat much less 3 peat 3 times.  I think the measure of his effect are the non-champioship years, how close they came despite the adversity.

Heck look at the Yankees and Torre.