NBA PREVIEW: IN-DEPTH LOOK PART 1

With exhibition basketball just about done and only a week until Tip Off, let’s take a step back to accurately draw a picture of what the NBA will look like this upcoming season.

Read on as I rank, analyse, and give off-season grades to all 30 NBA teams.

Evan Turner, Lavoy Allen, Michael Carter-Williams, Nerlens Noel, Thaddeus Young, Vander Blue, Rodney Williams, Spencer Hawes, Jason Richardson, Kwame Brown, James Anderson, Arnett Moultrie, Gani Lawal, Royce White, Khalif Wyatt, Hollis Thompson, Darius Morris, Tony Wroten.

A year ago, the Andrew Bynum/Jrue Holiday pairing was viewed as a solid combo that would cement Philadelphia’s yearly participation in the playoffs for years to come; but when Bynum failed to take part in a single game of the 2012-2013 season, Philadelphia’s front office decided to look elsewhere. With both Bynum and Holiday out of the picture, and a roster full of inexperience, the only thing new GM Sam Hinkie and new head coach Brett Brown are looking forward to is the 2014 NBA Draft.

Evan Turner and Thaddeus Young will be the go-to guys on a year that could turn out to be very productive for them both. The could easily be traded at some point, so this season, they’ll be auditioning for potential destinations.

Nerlens Noel and Michael Carter-Williams seem to be two valuable pieces to the ongoing renewal, so they’ll be seeing much playing time in Year One of their respective careers. I don’t think either of them will exceed expectations any time soon, but they’ll still turn a few heads here and there.

The whole world has the Sixers finishing with the worst record in the league, with much of their focus centered on next summer, so let’s not be too hard on them, guys.

Hired Sam Hinkie as GM, Hired Brett  Brown as head coach, Tony Wroten, Royce White, James Anderson, Tim Ohlbrecht, Darius Morris, Gani Lawal, Michael Carter-Williams (draft), Nerlens Noel (draft).

Evan Turner is a former number two pick who has always showed promise, but not quite to the standard held for a player picked in the high lottery. With Jrue Holiday gone, he should find himself handling the ball a lot more. For him, this will be a make or break season.

The summer of 2014 is what this organization has its eyes set on. More specifically, Andrew Wiggins. If a year from now the Canadian phenom lands in Philly, the 2013-2014 season could be remembered as a winning one.

Royce White is on the team’s payroll, so we are all praying for him to take part in on-court activities. I didn’t fully understand the trade, but he is cheap and can play, so I guess they closed an eye on everything else.

Channing Frye, Gerald Green, Markieef Morris, Marcus Morris, Eric Bledsoe, Goran Dragic, Marcin Gortat, P.J. Tucker, Shannon Brown, Archie Goodwin, Alex Len, Dionte Christmas, Miles Plumlee, Ish Smith, Viacheslav Kravstov, Malcolm Lee, Kendall Marshall, Alex Oriakhi, James Nunnally.

Phoenix possesses a potentially formidable backcourt tandem in Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic. Bledsoe is coming off a borderline breakout season with the Clippers, where as a result, he became one of the most highly coveted guards on the market. For Dragic, EuroBasket gave him so much confidence that next year he should be set to have his best year yet.

1. Goran Dragic and Marcin Gortat are two tantalizing tradeable assets Ryan McDonough could use to rack up draft picks. I can’t imagine Phoenix competing for a playoff spot anytime soon if they eventually decide to dump the two Euros.

2. Their sleeve jerseys.

Even though Utah will have a down year, this season will work as stepping stone for what lies ahead. Hayward, Favors, Kanter, Burks, and Burke, have all been viewed as potential/borderline stars, so no need to panic, Jazz fans.

Former lottery picks Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter finally get the opportunity to fill primary roles, something basketball fans have been waiting to see. Their playing styles should coincide appropriately and give the whole state of Utah something to look forward to.

Utah is another squad who has the luxury of having multiple young threats to play with. While their season record won’t be one to remember, I have a feeling that, years from now, we will look back on this Jazz season with a positive eye.

Trey Burke’s struggles in the Orlando Summer League are causing people to wonder how long he will take to get used to the fast-paced pro game. Utah’s point guard of the future faces a lot of pressure this year, and the expectations are very high. Will he pan out?

Al Jefferson, Kemba Walker, Jeff Taylor, Ramon Sessions, Ben Gordon, Anthony Tolliver, Gerald Henderson, Jeff Adrien, Bismack Biyombo, Brendan Haywood, Jannero Pargo, Josh McRoberts, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, James Southerland, Cody Zeller, Troy Daniels, Abdul Gaddy, Patrick O’Bryant.

Jameer Nelson, Nikola Vucevic, Tobias Harris, Kyle O’Quinn, Romero Osby, Andrew Nicholson, Jason Maxiell, E’Twaun Moore, Doron Lamb, Arron Afflalo, Victor Oladipo, Glen Davis, Ronnie Price, Kris Joseph, Solomon Jones,  Manny Harris, Mickell Gladness, Maurice Harkless.

The Magic’s current young roster is a perfect mirror to their GM, Rob Hennigan. As a young and promising league executive, Hennigan has managed to collect a group of talented, young guys who are bound to fulfill bright futures in the NBA.

Rookie Victor Oladipo will be a project at the PG spot, so we are all expecting Jameer Nelson to keep his starting job, for the meantime.

I’m not sure what Oladipo’s role will be, but if early ROY predictions are of any relevant indication to how his debut season will be, expect something special.

Tobias Harris, Moe Harkless, and Nikola Vucevic showed flashes of potential stardom more than once last season. These three guys possess a combination of skills, physical tools, and instincts that not many teams have at their young core. When you factor in that they are 21, 20, and 22 respectively, it’s beyond human capacity to try and estimate how good they can be.

Shaky start for Oladipo?

I don’t think Oladipo is a point guard. Nor a shooting guard. He’s just, a basketball player. Putting him in a box would negatively affect his nature, which is to play instinctively on both ends of the floor. A worthy number two pick shouldn’t have to play a position he wasn’t drafted for. He was drafted to defend, and bring a winning mentality. Let him do just that.

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