The Knights of the FanHouse Roundtable have assembled to consider the NBA in '08-09. In this final dispatch, we discuss the best of the Eastern Conference. Be sure to also check out the hub of our NBA Preview activity. And check in at 8 PM EST for a live blog of the season opener, Cleveland at Boston.
Ziller: Boston seems to be a favorite in most corners, with Cleveland receiving top contender status. Is Cleveland the best contender to dethrone the Celtics? What about the Pistons? Or will one of the big movers (Philadelphia, Toronto) rise up?
Brett Edwards: Barring a major Boston injury, the only team that I think could dethrone them is Detroit. That being said, every year in the playoffs LeBron James is becoming more and more unstoppable. It's at the point now where I could see him singlehandedly dragging Cleveland to the Finals. Even over a stacked team like the Celtics.
Ziller: I tend to agree with the assessment of Cleveland: LeBron is near the point of being able to do it himself. Mo Williams isn't the best shooter in the world, but I trust him and Daniel Gibson and Delonte West more than the Larry Hughes, Eric Snow and Damon Jones of 2006-07.
Does Detroit need to do anything drastically different to get past Boston? Or is an older Rodney Stuckey and an unleashed Amir Johnson enough?
The Knights of the FanHouse Roundtable have assembled to consider the NBA in '08-09. In this dispatch, we discuss the worst of the Eastern Conference. Be sure to also check out the hub of our NBA Preview activity.
Ziller: Do any Eastern teams actually have no chance at the playoffs?
Matt Moore: Charlotte -- not with this coach in his first year (Larry Brown), with all the pressure he's going to put on a young squad. Not with the inevitable injuries. Not with you know who at the roster helm.
New York: One of their best players from a year ago (Jamal Crawford) is in hell in Mike D'Antoni's system, and they can't find someone to take Zach Randolph. No guns, no funs, no runs.
While I think the Nets will be the second worst team the league, albeit an entertaining one, they have a shot if Chris Douglas-Roberts makes a phenomenal leap, Vince Carter does everything he's never done in his career but is capable of, and the frontcourt gets healthy. Long shot, but a shot.
On Christmas Eve, Scott Skiles received the dreaded pink slip from the Bulls. Heartless? Perhaps. Unexpected? No fricking way. The NBA is a business, son, and business has to get handled ... even on a quasi-holiday. So who should fear the phone during Hanukkah, the 12 days of Christmas and New Year's Eve this year? We offer three candidates.
It's hard to imagine a job sullied as Knicks '08 drawing a top candidate in other town, excepting L.A. If Isiah Thomas had run amok in Minneapolis or East Rutherford or even Chicago, the franchise would have extreme trouble recruiting a respected, highly sought-after boss. But thus is the lore of the Knickerbockers, who yanked Donnie Walsh out of the midwest with relative ease and followed up with Mike D'Antoni.
How long until Walsh realizes what he stepped in? The level to which Isiah embarrassed NYC is only partially basketball-related, granted, and Walsh has served decades without getting his employers sued for sexual harassment. But the roster is an unequivocal disaster. There's no easy way out except to wait until 2011. Of course, Walsh can't wait until 2011 because the entire universe (save Zach Randolph, Jerome James and Jared Jeffries) is a free agent in 2010. Walsh will be breaking his back over the next 18 months to clear the rubble, and there's a strong possibility he'll come up short.
If Walsh can't escape some of this payroll at the trade deadline, he's going to have a very depressing spring experience on the court. A miracle might not get this team competitive enough to contend for the postseason, and if teams were focused on '10 cap space this past summer, imagine how feral these GMs will be in scavenging expiring contracts (of which N.Y. will have few) next July. Indianapolis is a long way from Madison Square Garden, but it's going to seem like it's in a different galaxy for Walsh this year.
Others receiving consideration:
Mike D'Antoni Baron Davis
Is Josh McRoberts still in the NBA? Why yes, yes he is. McRoberts landed in lovely Indiana as a result of the Jerryd Bayless heist executed by Kevin Pritchard. If the Pacers are selling white-boy these days (suggested but doubtful), McBob fits right in. I mean, come on, he went to Duke. In the world of basketball, that entry on your profile comes with a halo.
McBob isn't all he seems, though. You wouldn't catch angelic Danny Granger or St. T.J. Ford hanging out with Lauren Conrad of The Hills ... but that's exactly how McBob spent his rookie year in Oregon. Actually, that time would probably be spent in Los Angeles. LC doesn't do Oregon. And while the starlet didn't take a shine to Josh's game, he clearly loved his moment in the paparazzi spotlight and thirsts for more.
The new 90210 needs a crossover draw. McRoberts needs to see his name on TMZ. The Pacers visit the Lakers on January 9. Make it happen, Hollywood!
Others receiving consideration: Spencer Hawes, who taped an episode of Sunset Tan the day after Sacramento's season closer last year. Monta Ellis, who has an important message about the dangers of low-speed mopeds.
I like predictions vastly more than I do overviews. Why, you ask? Because no one cares about predictions later. That's because no one is ever right. Actually I take that back; people remember predictions if you say stupid things on national television and make it apparent that you suck at your job.
The Charlotte Bobcats will win the Atlantic. Okay, maybe not. But I can quasi-dream. In reality, I think the Orlando Magic will win the division. Also, reality: I lied about being "bold". Maybe. See, it turns out that even Magic bloggers agree that we could all question whether the Magic can repeat last year.
It doesn't seem that long ago that the Southeast was an afterthought. I'm aware that sounds stupid as this division attempts to rise to serious L-bound prominence, but it's true -- before Dwight Howard and before Dwyane Wade and before Josh Smith and before Jeff McInnis ... what was there?
It doesn't particularly matter now; the division is still only an erstwhile powerhouse; you would never see a prediction coming that any one of these teams can contend for the NBA title right now, and that's what matters in these sort of things.
Of course, Orlando is a different story of sorts. Maybe. At least we have to wonder: Does Hedo Turkoglu Still Have the Special Sauce?
Mirror, Mirror, on the wall: Who has the highest point differential of them all?
That would be the Celtics at a ridiculous 10.3, shocker shocker.
So you might sorta, kinda say the Celtics are good. We might as well start there with our predictions. The Celtics may not be the odds-on favorite in Vegas, but if you ask any scribe, odds-maker, or fan in the land, they're going to tell you that the road to the title goes through Boston, and if you want it, you had better bring the biggest guns you have.
The Celtics lost exactly one significant piece over the summer, James Posey. And while Posey certainly hit some big shots for them late in the playoffs, they're pretty solid at the "savvy veteran perimeter player" position. They bring back Kevin Garnett who has now tasted the wine from the cup and wants more, and Paul Pierce now has even more confidence, if that's somehow possible. And, though I can't believe I'm about to say this, Doc Rivers is perfectly matched to coach this team. When you simply have more talent than most teams, and that talent is dedicated to defense and willing to do whatever it takes to win on a team level, you've got an edge. And the Celtics have a huge edge.
Don't know if you heard, but the Celtics run this joint. And by joint, I mean league. So everything in the Atlantic starts and ends with the defending champs. Let's start there with our list of headlines, shall we? Time Waits For No Man, But Is Still Scared of Kevin Garnett
Considering how interesting, exciting, and unpredictable last season was supposed to be, you have to wonder why we came to that conclusion. The Celtics traded for two legit superstars, had their role players develop into a cohesive unit, had the best team in the league from start to finish, then, despite several seven-game series, won the championship rather handily over a Lakers squad that was considered the heavy favorite. Doesn't really seem like rocket science. And there's no massive change to this squad. James Posey headed off to New Orleans to hit big shots elsewhere, but other than that, this is the same team that dominated for most of the season. Yet we have to create reasons why they won't repeat, because otherwise, well, that's called sports.
So let's see, what can we use.. oh! I know! The age card! That one's easy. Kevin Garnett is 32, Paul Pierce is 30, Ray Allen is 32, and Sam Cassell is three thousand years old. So eventually there's going to be a slide, right?
Of course, Garnett is in unbelievable form, Pierce is still in the tail-end of his prime, Rajon Rondo is only 22, the Celtics only needed Allen in spots, and the rest of the team has years in front of them. But still?
The Knights of the FanHouse Roundtable have assembled to consider the NBA in '08-09. In this dispatch, we discuss the contenders of the Western Conference. Be sure to also check out the hub of our NBA Preview activity.
Ziller: Can anyone top the Lakers?
Matt Moore: The smart money is on the Lakers. There's no question. If you're talking percentages, I'll give the Lakers a 68% chance to win the West. There are question marks. And their route to the Finals was deceptively easy last year (I'm becoming a full fledged Jazz hater, which is bizarre given my small market affection). But come on. Even I'm not crazy enough to say anyone else can be the favorite versus a team with Kobe Bryant who's actually somehow gotten better, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and Andrew Bynum. It's just sick.
But there are reasons to think that if the Hornets had been able to withstand the Spurs' attrition-war last year, they would have pushed that team harder than anyone had before and harder than the Spurs, who had nothing left at that point, did. The biggest difference when I talk about the Lakers versus the Hornets is that the Hornets to me were a more consistent team. The Lakers were either on long winning streaks or looking vulnerable like they did in that nasty stretch against the Bobcats and a near-loss to the Wizards at home. When the Lakers are on, they're nearly unstoppable. But the Hornets are the quiet assassin.
The Knights of the FanHouse Roundtable have assembled to consider the NBA in '08-09. In this final dispatch, we discuss the best of the Eastern Conference. Be sure to also check out the hub of our NBA Preview activity. And check in at 8 PM EST for a live blog of the season opener, Cleveland at Boston.
The Knights of the FanHouse Roundtable have assembled to consider the NBA in '08-09. In this dispatch, we discuss the worst of the Eastern Conference. Be sure to also check out 
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The Knights of the FanHouse Roundtable have assembled to consider the NBA in '08-09. In this dispatch, we discuss the contenders of the Western Conference. Be sure to also check out 
