HOOPSAHOLIC

The Los Angeles Lakers… the name itself screams basketball. This is the most legendary franchise in all of the NBA with multiple hall-of-famers such as Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabar.

This 2014-15 squad still has future Hall-of-Famer on it named Kobe Bryant, but we all know he’s on the downhill slope of his legendary career. It kills me to say that… As an "NBA lifer", it would be idiotic to not appreciate what Kobe Bryant has done for the game. Unfortunately, his bones are brittle and his knees aren’t getting any younger. He will be a great role model to the younger players on the Lakers squad, but the question is, how many of those younger players will be with the Lakers for the long-term. This Lakers roster looks like it may be shaping up space to offer one of the soon to be free agents in a couple of years..  (KD). 

Even though this roster doesn’t look to be playoff bound this season, it still has some solid talent that will translate to some decent wins throughout this season. I think the "Black Mamba" will make sure of that. At the point guard position the Lakers will have both Steve Nash and Jeremy Lin. I’m sure that newly appointed head coach Byron Scott will start Nash to start the season, but Nash has struggled to stay healthy these last couple years, therefore I think we will see more "Linsanity" at that postion this season. Last year with the Rockets, Lin averaged 12.5 points along with four assists per game. He was a good pickup for the Lakers this offseason, despite his more than hefty salary. 

First round draft pick Julius Randle is another player who shows a lot of promise. He was a beast at Kentucky last season, and many scouts believe he will have a career similar to Zach Randolph's because of their similar skill sets and body frame. Both players bang in the post and finish near the rim. Carlos Boozer is another offseason addition that will help out in the near future. He was claimed off of waivers once the Bulls dropped him in order to have cap space to sign Pau Gasol (away from Lakers) in the offseason. 

I think the Lakers strong point this season will be its wing scoring. Along with Kobe, the Lakers have streaky shooter Nick Young. “Swaggy P” can light it up, and when he’s on fire, be sure to get out of his way. But he struggled with consistency throughout his career, so it’ll be interesting to see how he performs in his expanded role. The Lakers could potentially start him along with Kobe on the wing once he's recovered from his hand injury. 

I think one player who's overlooked in the NBA is Xavier Henry. I’ve been watching him play since middle school, and he's got game. If it weren’t for injuries, I truly believe he would be living up to his lottery pick selection. He averaged ten points last season, to go along with a monster slam on former college teammate Jeff Withey, which many people think was the dunk of the year. If Henry can stay healthy, don’t be surprised to see him become one of the top bench scorers in the league. 

Kobe will lead this team to at least 35 plus victories if he can stay healthy and stay on the court. The Lakers could potentially make the playoffs if they played in the Eastern Conference, but unfortunately for them... they don’t. The West is stacked, plain and simple. It would definitely be a shock to still see this team playing into late May. 

It’s been a long time since basketball has been where it needs to be inside of Target Center in Minneapolis. In fact, it’s been a decade since the Timberwolves have been to the playoffs, and the “Big Ticket” aka: Kevin Garnett was still the best player in the Twin Cities when that happened (don’t forget Wally Szczerbiak). 

Though it’s been quite sometime since they’ve reached the mecca of the playoffs, the Wolves and their fan-base weren’t left without hope. They had a young, talented star in Kevin Love that was supposed to deliver the land of 10,000 lakes to the promise land, and no I’m not talking about the Mall of America. That all changed this offseason when Love decided that he wanted to be traded away from the organization that drafted him. Many think the Wolves are starting from scratch now that their best player is gone, but that really isn’t the case. After breaking down their roster, there are a few different things that I noticed that could play a big factor in where this team finishes at the end of the season. 

The T'Wolves have a plethora of young talent. I mean when you trade someone good, you’re going to get some good pieces back, right? That’s exactly what the Wolves did. In exchange for Love, they received the first pick from the last two drafts in Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett. I know what you must be saying, “Wiggins is good, but Bennett has clearly been a bust in the NBA so far.” That statement may have some substance, but many young draft picks are chosen based on potential, and  Bennett still has plenty of that. Much of the criticism he's faced was that he wasn’t in good enough shape to play heavy NBA minutes, but that problem may have been resolved this offseason. Bennett had his tonsils removed, and has reportedly said he can finally breath the right way which should help his play. Also….. the Cleveland Cavaliers post and pre LeBron weren’t necessarly the cream of the crop when it came to developing players. Their franchise has had plenty of turmoil from their egotistic owner, to the inconsistency of the coaching staff. I mean what kind of organization fires Mike Brown and then re-hires him three years later? Then oh yeah fires him again after a year? Don’t forget that even their young phenom Kyrie Irving supposedly asked to be traded halfway through the season. This isn't about the Cavs, but what I’m getting at is that Bennett will have more opportunities to shine in Minnesota where he will face less pressure, and will have a head coach in Flip Saunders who is known for developing young players (ex: John Wall,  Garnett). 

Let's not forget about Andrew Wiggins. Yes, he was hyped as “Maple Jordan” before he even rocked the KU Blue, but I truly believe he can grow into being an NBA superstar. He has the frame and the athleticism to thrive in this league, and I definitely expect him to do so. I also think the whole "being the first, first pick to ever be traded before the season" will also serve as extra motivation for him. Hopefully we'll see the product we all hoped we would when he was emerging from high school in Canada. 

Another piece of young talent on this Timberwolves squad is Gorgui Dieng. Most of you may remember him from the NCAA Tournament a couple years ago when Dieng, along with Peyton Siva and Russ Smith led the Louisville Cardinals to a National Championship. Dieng was slow to get going during his rookie season, but he eventually started to flourish as the year went along. In the last two months of the season, Dieng averaged ten points and ten rebounds. Not bad for a rookie. Not to mention he's a stellar shot blocker, averaging two a game in the month of April. Let's also not forget how good Shabazz Muhammed was supposed to be. Last year he struggled to get going, only appearing in 37 games and averaging about three points. He was heralded similar to Wiggins coming out as the top high school prospect in the class of 2012, but after a bumpy year at USC he fell to the bottom of the lottery in last years draft and he's yet to recover from his free fall. If he can somehow blossom into the player we all thought he could be, the young talent on this T’Wolves team could be outright scary. 

The Timberwolves also have some veterans they can sprinkle in with the young talent. Let me go ahead and remind everyone that Nicola Pekovic is no scrub. The dude is a double-double machine and he can rebound with some of the best in the NBA. He’s a strong, Russian presence in the paint for the Timberwolves, and if he can stay healthy then look for him to increase his scoring average from 17 points per game to over 20 with the absence of K-Love. 

Then there's Ricky Rubio, the Spanish phenom. It didn’t seem like too long ago when all the hype was about a Steve Nash 2.0 playing over in Spain, and "just wait" until we see the next great passing point guard. I'll admit his passing ability is among the top in the league, but if he’s going to live up to any of his pre-NBA hype, he'll have to figure out how to make a jump shot. You would think NBA players wouldn’t struggle with something so simple as a mid-range jumper, seeing that they are in a gym shooting all day, but clearly that’s way over my head (do I sound like a frustrated Timberwolves fan?). But in all seriousness, Rubio is in the top half tier of NBA point guards and if they can find a consistent wing scorer then his assists will go up from 8.6 a clip. 

Along with Wiggins and Bennett, the Wolves were able to acquire Thaddeus Young from the Philadelphia 76ers in what could be the dark horse of the trade. Young was one of the few bright spots on a 76ers team that could go down as one of the worst in NBA history (maybe because they were purposely tanking). He averaged 18 points and six rebounds, and if he can duplicate that effort in Minnesota, the Timberwolves won’t be near as bad as I have them projected. 

Flip Saunders will be coming back down to the bench. Who was the coach when the Timberwolves last made the playoffs you might ask? The answer is Flip.  He was leading team filled with Sam Cassell, Latrell Sprewell, Wally Szczerbiak and Kevin Garnett to the Western Conference Finals. He was no stranger to the playoffs even when he left Minnesota. Flip was the coach of the Pistons after Larry Brown stepped down, and he went to few Eastern Conference finals with Chauncey BIllups, Rip Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace. 

The playoffs are a humongous stretch for the Timberwolves because they play in a stacked Western Conference, but to say they’re the worst team in the league isn’t giving them their due justice. They also have players such as Kevin Martin, Corey Brewer, J.J. Barea and Chase Budinger that should contribute this season. I truly believe that in two or three years this will be a team to look out for. 

Remember that NBA Finals when a Dwight Howard led Magic team played Kobe Bryant and the Lakers back in 2009? Well if you do congrats, because I barely do.. I was still in high school, and that’s how long it’s been since the Magic have truly been relevant. In fact, there is no one left on the Magic roster from that 2009 team. Jameer Nelson was the last dude from that team that stuck around, but he bounced this summer for the Dallas Mavericks. 

When I first looked at the Magic roster for this upcoming season, two words immediately came to mind: “ew” and “gross”.. Then after looking at it again, I kind of laughed to myself because there’s no buttering this one up, the Magic are going to be awful this season. They’ve literally invited eight new people to their training camp that weren’t on the team last year. Head coach Jacque Vaughn will have his hands full this season as he tries to make lemonade with no lemons. 

The Magic have added two veterans in Ben Gordon and Channing Fry through free agency, and both should be productive players for the Magic. But adding two guys that are on the down hill slope of their prime (if they ever had one) won’t necessarily translate to more Magic wins. They also added Evan Fournier from the Nuggets. I liked his game when he was coming into the league a few years ago, but he’s yet to show the finesse scoring that was so highly touted when he came over from Europe. Fournier did have a stellar game against Portland last season, so maybe he's making strides (video to the right). Orlando is an extremely young team, which gives them promise in the future… but in an epically distant, far away kind of future. 

I’ll start by talking about the player I really like on this team, who was actually acquired via the draft, and that’s point guard Elfrid Payton Jr. Not many hoop fans know exactly who he is, because people rarely got to watch him play since he played college ball at Louisiana Lafayette. Let me go ahead and let all of you know now, that this dude will be a star in this league. Don’t believe me? That’s fine… but no one thought a kid (actually a man) they'd never heard of out of Weber State named Damien Lillard was going to be good for the Blazers either. Even though it’s not often, there are occasional hidden gems that pop out of small colleges just like Lillard and now Payton Jr. He is a dynamic point guard and an aggressive defender that really pushes the tempo on offense. Even though it won’t be next season, his game will translate well with the other young, athletic players the Magic have in Victor Oladipo and Aaron Gordon. 

I love Oladipo’s game, I really do. My only question is: Will ever be able to turn into the “go to guy” on any team? He averaged 13 points on only 12 shots a game, but his outside shooting really needs to get better. In order to be an elite scorer in this league, he will have to be able to light it up away from the rim. He’s already a great all around player, averaging four rebounds and four assists as a rookie. He was also apart of the Team USA select squad this summer that played against the USA roster that competed in the FIBA World Cup. It can only benefit a young player to play against some of his best peers in an environment filled with distinguished coaches such as Coach K and Jim Boeheim. 

Nikola Vucevic will also be another Magic player that will have a lot of production. He's probably the best player/piece the Magic received in the deal for Dwight Howard. Vucevic is virtually a guaranteed double double every game with 14 points a clip to go along with eleven rebounds. He needs to be more aggressive on the offensive end, though. Last season he only averaged two free throws a game, if Vucevic can get that number up, he could be recognized as a prolific scorer to go along with his stout rebounding. 

I also believe Tobias Harris and Maurice Harkless will have a decent season. Both are under the age of 22, so like I said before, this team has tons of promise moving forward. Also, If rookie Aaron Gordon can figure out how to score anything but a layup, then maybe the Magic will surprise me. I think Gordon’s game will take a couple of years to develop into what the Magic want. He can dunk it from the free throw line, but he can’t even make a free throw SMH! 

“Paging Larry Bird…. Paging Larry Bird… The Celtics need your help.”

After a year of complete weirdness in Boston, the Celtics now face a 2014 season in which they can expect similar results to last season, as one of the NBA’s bottom feeders. Simply put, the Celtics' roster isn’t very good. Not only is the roster not great, but their best player doesn’t want to play for them, and there are even reports that the front office is saying Rajon Rondo is now “uncoachable”. To top it off, those reports came before the Celtics announced he will be out for a couple of months because of broken hand.

Glass half full perspective? Well at least they drafted Marcus Smart. Very true though, because Smart does look to be one of the more complete players in the 2014 draft class. He's able to do it all from scoring to rebounding to playing defense. If he doesn’t run into any rowdy Texas Tech donors in Boston, then he surely will prove to be a great NBA player. But the big question is: how long will that take? Under the instruction of Celtics' coach Brad Stevens, Smart should flourish, partially because Stevens is used to coaching college-aged talent since it was basically yesterday he was coaching at Butler. But the Celtics' roster doesn’t really seem to have a bunch of guys that Smart can turn to as a mentor. Paul Pierce and KG bounced outta town a couple of years ago, and the Celtics were lacking in veteran leadership last season. 

I personally wouldn’t mind seeing Rondo and Smart get on the floor together just to see what would happen once Rondo is healthy. Two-point guard systems have worked recently seeing what the Phoenix Suns did with Dragic and Bledsoe, and what the Thunder did in the playoffs starting both Westbrook and Reggie Jackson. I think the athleticism of the two could at least cause some havoc on the floor and be a handful for opposing defenders. 

Jeff Green is someone the Celtics will have to lean on to carry the scoring load. Yes, Rondo is “technically” the best player, but he’s never been known to drop 30 points on a nightly basis, or really even a yearly basis. Also he's always hurt!! So they will need to trust in Green to be the go-to wing scorer that averages at least 17 to 18 points a game. We all know Green can score, but if the Celtics have any hope, he will need to do it consistently. 

Avery Bradley is another interesting piece to this Celtics' puzzle. He’s been the staple lock-down defender for this squad the last few seasons, but he has to stay healthy and improve his scoring. He averaged 14 points last season, which was an upgrade on previous seasons, and had a steal a game, but names like Green, Bradley and Rondo will have to carry this team. The Celtics also added Evan Turner this offseason so he will be an interesting fit to the puzzle. Many people have put some of the blame on him for the collapse of the Pacers last season since they fell apart once he was traded to Indiana. 

I think for the big men, it will be interesting if Kelly Olynik pans out to be the prospect we all thought he could be coming out of Gonzaga. He’s "balled out" in summer leagues, but has yet to do it on a consistent basis in the regular season. He averaged eight points and five rebounds a clip, but the Celtics will need more production from him moving forward. His defense needs some work too. One of his “bang bros” in the post will be Brandon Bass who I think will have another productive season. He played every game last year and averaged 11 points and five rebounds. If him Olynyk and Jared Sullinger can team up and become dominant on the boards, then the Celtics will be a lot better than what I’m projecting them to be. 

The Milwaukee Bucks enter the 2014-15 NBA offseason with no expectations for success. Literally none. But why are they so happy? The answer is simple: the Bucks think they’ve drafted a savior for their franchise in Jabari Parker. The pick may not show its value this season, but they know it will be fruitful in the years to come. 

For this season, the Bucks biggest hope should be that Parker meshes well with the young talent the Bucks already have, as well as new head coach Jason Kidd. The way Kidd made his grand entrance in Milwaukee really bothered me. First off, he bailed on the Brooklyn Nets after only one season. Secondly, he inquired about the Bucks job while the position was still being held by Larry Drew. I know the NBA isn’t filled with a bunch of morally sound people, but in any scenario… that’s a sketchy move. You aren’t supposed to go after another man’s job.. it’s one of the many rules of the “bro code” that men follow each and every day. But anyways… that should have nothing to do on how he performs as the Buck’s head coach, I was just stating that the dude wasn’t a “bro”.

Kidd will have a handful of young talent that he'll try to develop this season. I’ve already mentioned their top pick Jabari Parker, who many think will win the rookie of the year, but I’m most intrigued with forward Giannis Antetokonmpo AKA: "The Greek Freak". This dude looks like a longer Kevin Durant, if you can even imagine that. He’s only 19 years old, and is still very raw, but if he can improve and really get in the flow of an NBA game then Antetokonmpo could be a star in this league. Antetokonmpo just needs to put the pieces together. He averaged seven points per game last season with four rebounds, but I wouldn’t be surprised if those numbers jumped to 13 and eight this year. Kidd tried to experiment with him at point guard over summer league play, so it’ll be interesting how much he will do that once the season starts. 

Someone who performed well for the Bucks last season, despite the bad record was Brandon Knight. Knight averaged almost 18 points a game after he came over from the Pistons, and the Bucks will probably use Knight more as an off-guard this season with the additions of Jerryd Bayless and Kendall Marshall. The addition of those two point guards should also pay dividends for the Bucks as well. Marshall is one of the more under-rated passers in the entire league, and if he can find someone on the team who can score, then his assist numbers should be around eight per game. Also, in case you forgot... here's a video displaying Brandon Knight's great defense. At least he tried.... right?

The post-game for the Bucks this year should improve now that Larry Sanders is healthy. Last season he only played in 23 games, and it affected the Bucks in a major way seeing that they were ranked last in the league in defensive rating. It was only two years ago that Sanders had a monster season blocking almost three shots a game (and earning a 44 million dollar contract). The Bucks would like to see that production again from the young center. He will have to stay healthy and stay out of trouble for that to actually happen. They also have another promising big-man in Drew Henson. Last season Henson averaged 11 points and seven rebounds, and Kidd has hinted that Henson could even start this season. If that happens, it means Ersan Ilyasova would have to come off of the bench. Ilyasova is another player who showed a lot of promise two seasons ago, but struggled to get into a rhythm last season only averaging 11 points and six rebounds a clip. 

Let’s not forget about OJ Mayo, ladies and gentlemen. I mean this dude was once the most heralded high school recruit in the nation… but that was before he went to USC, and broke a lot of NCAA violations. Sounds a lot like Shabazz Muhammed too, right? But anyways, Mayo has always shown that he can score, but it’s the other aspects that need some tuning. I think when he signed with the Bucks last offseason, he believed he could carry a team and be the go-to-guy. Injuries put the brakes on that last season and he ultimately missed 30 games. Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if OJ eventually becomes a bench scorer for the Bucks. Khris Middleton is another guy that showed promise last season, and should be a great contributer off of the bench. 

The Bucks are really set up similarly to the Orlando Magic. Both teams are stacked with young talent, and don't really have that one guy who seprates themselves from the rest of the pack as the "best player". Yes, Parker will end up being that player, but it will be interesting to see just how soon. It’ll be fun to watch this young group of players develop. 

The starting lineup for the Bucks will surely be fluid. Kidd hasn’t yet determined what position the “Greek Freak” will play. I also mentioned earlier that I wouldn’t be surprised if Mayo came off of the bench, but he could end up starting. Brandon Knight could eventually play the shooting guard position if Kidd feels comfortable enough starting Marshall or Bayless at the point. I would actually say there’s a ZERO percent chance that the starting lineup on opening night will be the same 82 games later. 

The Utah Jazz could be in some trouble as they approach the start of the 2014 NBA season. Why, you may ask? Well, seeing that the most interesting news about the Jazz this offseason were the naked photos that leaked of Trey Burke, probably doesn’t give the most hope for the team moving forward. The Jazz have been in “long-term rebuilding mode” for quite sometime now. Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap both came and went, and now the team will be lucky to keep their head above water this season. 

The Jazz will look (and hope) for Gordon Hayward to lead this young team into some type of relevancy. The Jazz matched the four-year max contract offer that the Charlotte Hornets offered him in the offseason, so now they officially have a ton invested in the wingman from Butler. Hayward is an above average NBA player, but how many legitimate teams would actually pay this dude max money? Seems like more of a desperation move than anything. Last season Hayward averaged 16 points with five assists and five rebounds. He will be one of the few scoring options this team will have, so don’t be surprised to see those numbers will improve this season. 

Derrick Favors is another player the Jazz are hoping can help lead this young team. Last season he averaged 13 points to go along with eight rebounds. Those stats aren’t terrible, but going into last season the Jazz was hoping he would emerge as one of the better post players in the league after Jefferson and Millsap bounced out of town. If Favors and big-man Enes Kanter can get in a rhythm and team up to dominate the post, the Jazz will be able to rebound with anyone. Kanter had a lot of promise after sitting out at Kentucky for a year and declaring for the draft, he’s just yet to show all of that promise. Going into last season I thought this post duo would be one to reckon with but I was clearly wrong. There’s still hope though because both players are still very young and still have plenty of potential.

It’ll be interesting to see what the Jazz decide to do with their point-guard position this season. They drafted Trey Burke in the lottery two years ago, and then drafted Australian phenom Dante Exum in this year’s lottery. I’m still skeptical about Burke’s pro potential because of his size. He can shoot with the best of them, but last season he only averaged 12 points and five assists. Those stats aren’t bad for a rookie, but he had plenty of opportunities on a team that was going nowhere and giving away shots to anyone who wanted them. Literally there was so many shots to go around it was like an open bar. Exum is actually one of my favorite prospects in the 2014 draft class, because he has the potential to be one of the top guards in the league. His long length, and knack for finding his teammates should translate well in today’s NBA. He made it no secret that he wanted to be drafted to the Lakers, so it’ll be interesting how he adapts to Utah after coming from “The Land Down Under”. 

The Jazz also has Alec Burks who they could start at shooting guard this season. Last year he averaged 13 points and played okay under the circumstances. Steve Novak is also on this team, so he should be able to help with shooting off of the bench. Former dunk champion Jeremy Evans will be another “key” contributor off of the bench this season.

As I took a gander through the Philadelphia 76ers lineup, I found it hard to find very many players name's that I recognized. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the first indication of a team that isn't very good. I’ve been deeply invested in the NBA since before I can remember, and if I’m having trouble finding eight guys that I’ve heard of, then your team is probably going to suck. Unfortunately for the 76ers and head coach Brett Brown, they're that sucky team.

Don’t get me wrong, the Sixers have some young talent that will eventually blossom into stardom, but the roster they have now is purely pathetic. The reason I’m so harsh? Philadelphia been somewhat vocal in their intentions these last couple of seasons. Their game plan hasn’t been to win as many games as possible, in fact it’s just the opposite. The Sixers have tried to lose as many games as possible to hopefully win the NBA draft Lotery and get the #1 pick. Last season they were successful in losing a plethora of games, but they weren’t in their attempts to get the first pick of the draft.

For this season, we can expect Michael-Carter Williams to put up good numbers yet again in games that don’t matter. In all seriousness, Carter-Williams can play. He was nowhere near the problem for the Sixers last season. He won Rookie of the Year honors, and was truly the only bright spot for this team. He averaged 17 points per game to go along with six rebounds and six assists. Carter-Williams is very well rounded and uses his length well at the point guard position. Smaller guards have a hard time matching up with his wing-span. The one positive to the Sixers sucking is that Carter-Williams was given a chance to play through his mistakes worry free. He literally had no pressure, since nobody expected them to win. Hopefully that experience will pay off this season. 

Last year the Sixers were without Nerlens Noel because of an injury he sustained while still playing at Kentucky. The organization thought it would be best not to rush him back since the team was so bad. Many people are expecting big things out of Noel this upcoming season now that he’s finally healthy. At one point in college, Noel was projected to be the number one pick in the draft, and he probably would’ve been if he wouldn’t have torn his ACL. He had a great summer league this year and could really prove to be the best player on this team even in his first season of actually playing. 

Embiid has the exact story as Noel, so with a year of rest this season on his surgically repaired foot will eventually get him ready to team up with Carter-Willams and Noel for the 2015-16 season. That leaves slim pickins for the rest of the Sixers roster. Jason Richardson is on his last leg, but he will hopefully bring some veteran leadership to this team. Casper Ware and Tony Wroten are two other players who should bring depth to the team’s backcourt. Wroten could end up starting in the back court if they decide to go the dual point guard way. I fully expect the Sixers to yet again have one of the worst records in the league. I’m not a fortune teller, but I could see this team making some noise in about two or three years once their youngins grow up a little bit.