1. Utah Jazz: Deron Williams. The best point guard in the NBA not named Chris Paul. The Jazz will always be competitive with him and Carlos Boozer on the floor. I always liked Boozer’s game; a guy with a lot of offensive weapons, and he’s paired with Mehmet Okur, a center who’s more than capable of hitting shots from 20 feet and beyond. In the pre-season small forward Andrei Kirilenko came off the bench, so it’s interesting to see what Jerry Sloan will do when the regular season gets underway next week. Will he continue to start C.J. Miles and at small forward, with the athletic guard Ronnie Brewer rounding out Utah’s starting line-up? This team has some veterans, some young guys, but didn’t do a whole lot in the off-season. Sloan is a great coach, so there’s a pretty good chance the Jazz will win this division (the only true competition here is Portland), get back to the playoffs and get kicked out in the second round by either the Hornets or Lakers.2. Portland Trail Blazers: As a fan of the game it’s no secret that this is a team to get excited about. Health remains a concern, with Martell Webster out for a while, and we have to see if Greg Oden’s knee can hold up during the grind of an 82-game season (with probably 10-15 extra games in the playoffs?). But the depth of the Blazers is exceptional: Roy, Aldridge, Blake, Outlaw, Aldridge, Batum, Przybilla, Bayless, Fernandez, Rodriguez, I mean, come on! This is ridiculous, this is an outrage, with so much talent on one team, Nate McMillan is one lucky coach. The Blazers are once again a proud franchise, will go back to the playoffs, and we all will enjoy the ride for hopefully many years to come.
3. Denver Nuggets: Every time I read something about the Nuggets, it’s George Karl saying that everybody is so positive, committed in playing defense, and are playing with a chip on their should because the media writes them off. I can imagine Melo and AI being frustrated since the trade of Marcus Camby, and being the players that they are, they will try hard to prove people wrong who are saying they can’t win. But who will man the middle? Nene had a lot of injuries throughout his career, and even battled cancer last season. I really hope he is now 100% healthy, and together with Kenyon Martin (speaking of injuries….) I hope they can provide what the Nuggets need now Camby is gone: boards and blocks. If the Nuggets make the playoffs this season, it will definitely surprise me.
4. Minnesota Timberwolves: This team could win one award this season if it actually existed: highest number of undersized shooting guards on one roster. They could’ve solved that problem if Kevin McHale didn’t trade their original draft pick O.J. Mayo to the Grizzlies. But he did, but now has power forward Kevin Love in return. So at least that’s two big guys under the basket for the Wolves, with him and Al Jefferson getting a lot of minutes at the power forward and center position. Ex-Grizzly Mike Miller came along in the Mayo trade, a great shooter but it’s not enough to keep up with the rest of the West. For the Timberwolves there’s only one rule: there’s always next year.
5. Oklahoma City Thunder: There’s enough talent on this team to win some games, especially when the team is lead by young star Kevin Durant. And let’s not forget Jeff Green, Nick Collisson and Chris Wilcox. Joe Smith is a proven veteran who will have a good influence on the younger players, but let’s be honest here: they won’t win right now, fans will lose interest quickly because they don’t have the patience to see what will happen in the next couple of seasons, and within five years this franchise will move to another city. Yes, I’m a pessimistic person.
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