Ty tells you how each NBA team can win the title: Hawks, Bucks, & Heat

Before I continue my NBA countdown I want to take a second to talk about two college football coaches. First, get the help you need Steve Sarkisian. You clearly have a problem and you need the rehab that you're reportedly going to get. Your AD, Pat Haden, is doing you a disservice, but get your life together before coming back to coaching. You can't be drunk and be around young college athletes, that's wrong. Secondly, have a great retirement Steven Spurrier. Your teams haven't been great lately, the Gamecocks are 2-4 right now, but you're one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, terrible NFL coach, but great college coach. You turned Florida into a powerhouse and South Carolina wasn't relevant until you took over that job. Enjoy retirement.

Now, back to my NBA countdown. Did I mention that I love basketball.

Today we have teams 12, 11 and 10. All three are East teams and that means that almost all of the Eastern Conference playoff spots will be filled. To give you a comparison, we've got, after today's blog, 7 playoff teams, and 6 are from the East. Clearly, the West is way better right now. On with the countdown.

At number 12, I have the Atlanta Hawks. Yes, the same Hawks team that played in the East Finals last year. They're going to take some steps back. They have a good roster, but last year was a total fluke. They played out of their minds and won 60 games, but they fell flat when it mattered most. I think the same sort of thing will happen this year, but it will come before the playoffs. I've got them going from the first seed in the East down to number four, which would pit them against the Wizards in round one, and that would be a great playoff matchup. They also lost their best defender in DeMarre Carroll. I know that I called him a one season wonder, but he is a great defender, the scoring output was surprising to me. The roster is good, but not good enough to push past the second round. The backcourt is led by Jeff Teague. He's a solid point guard. He can get to the rim, shoot a little bit and finds the open three point shooter more times than naught. Kyle Korver joins him in the backcourt, but, while he's one of the best three point shooters in the game, that's all he does. He doesn't play defense, reference to the playoffs last year when LeBron James exploded through the lane went up for a dunk and Korver literally ran away from the play, can't drive and isn't that good of a passer. They traded for Tim Hardaway Jr and while I think getting out of New York will benefit him, what does he do besides shoot for a low percentage and gripe at officials. I loved Hardaway Jr while he was at Michigan, but he wasn't the best player any of his three years there and he won't be the best player on any NBA team, except the 76ers. Dennis Schroder is a good player, but he's being under utilized in Atlanta. He doesn't get enough playing time, and in the right situation, he could be an All Star. Kent Bazemore and Thabo Sefolosha round out the backcourt. Bazemore is a fine player, but nothing special and Sefolosha has a huge criminal case, he was wrongly targeted and hurt by the NYPD because they're a bunch of racist assholes, and that will effect his play this year. He's a lock down defender, but provides nothing on offense. The Hawks frontcourt is their strength, led by guys like Al Horford and Paul Millsap. Horford, when healthy, is one of the best fours in all of basketball. He's got great low post skills, plays excellent interior defense and can step back and hit long jumpers. Paul Millsap is finally getting the credit he deserves, getting his first All Star appearance last year, and is a great player in the NBA. He's the better version of Horford, and Horford is pretty good. The Hawks got Tiago Splitter in free agency, but he reminds me a lot of Aaron Baynes, with the exception being that the Hawks coach was a Popovich understudy. The Hawks run the same system as the Spurs, but Splitter will struggle since there's no Tim Duncan to take the load off him. Mike Scott comes off the bench, but he's pretty blah. The Hawks are going to take a step back this season and while they'll win somewhere in the range of 45 to 48 games, they won't achieve the success of last season.

How the Hawks will win it all.

The Hawks will win the title if Al Horford and Paul Millsap can stay healthy all season and average 40 plus points and 25 plus rebounds combined, that could happen, Jeff Teague becomes an elite point guard, in the same class as Chris Paul or Russell Westbrook, Kyle Korver hits threes at a record level and the bench gives them big time production. This team was a conference finals away from playing for the title last year, but they are destined to take a step back.

Coming in at number 11, we have one of my new favorite teams to watch, the Milwaukee Bucks. First of all, while he may be a crummy person in his personal life, Jason Kidd is an excellent coach, much to my surprise. His team totally buys into defense and spacing on offense. The Bucks get Jabari Parker back after tearing his ACL during his rookie year. He looks to be a good scorer in the NBA, and under Kidd's tutelage, he will become a good defender. Joining Parker in the back court you have guys like Michael Carter-Williams and OJ Mayo. Carter-Williams isn't much of a shooter, but he's explosive going to the rim, plays good defense and usually finds the open man. OJ Mayo came into the NBA with huge expectations, struggled to score, play defense and stay in shape his first couple of seasons, but has found a good place for him in Milwaukee. He thrives coming off the bench, providing the Bucks with instant offense. In the frontcourt, they got one of the better offseason signings in Greg Monroe. Most people, including me, thought he was going to either New York or Los Angeles, but he surprised everyone and signed with the Bucks. He's an excellent rim protector and rebounder, and if he can get some skills in the post, he will be unstoppable. Khris Middleton is an emerging star. He hit some clutch shots last season and is becoming a legitimate 20 point a game type player. Next to Andrew Wiggins, the Bucks have my second favorite young player to watch in Giannis Antetokounmpo. His nickname is the "Greek Freak", so that's what I'll call him. Anyway, he is long and rangy, explosive to the rim, can shoot the midrange jumper and is pesky on defense. He is an All Star and All NBA player in waiting. He's awesome. John Henson and Miles Plumlee come off the bench in the frontcourt, and while I like Henson's game, he's a decent defender and a decent shooter, Plumlee provides nothing for this team. Other guys off the bench are Jerryd Bayless, a castoff from Memphis, Greivas Vasquez, who hasn't been that good since college, Chris Copeland, who's a fine three point shooter, but that's it and Tyler Ennis, a kid who should've stayed in college. The Bucks are getting better and better, but are still two or three years away from competing with the Cavs and Bulls in the East. They will win 48 or 49 games and be third or fourth in the East.

How the Bucks will win it all.

The Bucks will win the title if Greg Monroe becomes an MVP caliber type of player, Parker stays healthy and puts up huge numbers, Antetokounmpo puts everything together and is an All Star and the bench provides huge sparks every night. The Bucks are good, just not elite yet.

Finally, let's get into the top ten. Coming in at number 10, I have the Miami Heat. You've got to give it up to Pat Riley, the guy loses LeBron James, has one bad year, gets the best young player in the draft in Justise Winslow, gets Dwayne Wade to come back, and Chris Bosh is healthy. Also, he resigned Goran Dragic after trading for him last year. This team, if they can stay healthy, has the horses to compete with the Cavs and Bulls, and may actually be better than both. First, the back court is loaded. Dwayne Wade may be old and only plays half a season, but when he's healthy, he's one of the 15 best players in the league. He's also won three titles, so he knows how to perform in the clutch. Goran Dragic is an excellent point guard, and getting out of Phoenix was the best thing to happen to him. He's an All Star caliber player, and with the teammates he has in Miami, he will flourish. Like I said before, I like Justise Winslow a lot. The fact that he dropped to Miami at number 10 in the draft is appalling to me. He was the best player on the national title champion Duke Blue Devils that had guys like Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones. He is going to be great in the NBA. With the return of Chris Bosh and the emergence of Hassan Whiteside, the Heat's front court is ferocious. Bosh is one of the best shooting big men and while he may be a bit soft, he gets clutch rebounds and plays okay defense. Whiteside has the potential to get a double double every night. And I'm not talking points and rebounds, I mean blocks and rebounds. He loves playing defense and that's what the Heat need him to do. Loul Deng, A'Mare Stoudamire and Udonis Haslem, while pretty old and not as good as they once were, are capable back ups and provide the Heat what they need off the bench. Mario Chalmers and Chris Anderson are still there, but these guys are trade chips. The Heat are good and can be elite this year. If they stay healthy, I see a 50 win team, and competing all season long with the Bulls and the Cavs for the top spot in the East.

How the Heat can win it all.

The Heat will win the title, and they're the first team that I feel has a legitimate shot, if these guys can all stay healthy and produce like they've produced their whole careers. Getting Bosh back healthy is huge. He's the leader of this team, and gives them the leadership they need. I really, really like this Heat team, but they are no higher than tenth overall unless they can stay healthy and that's a big if.

So there you have numbers 12, 11 and 10. Come back tomorrow for numbers 9, 8 and 7. Things are starting to get real.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He made a bid to buy the Milwaukee Bucks, his offer of being awesome was turned down. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty tells you how each NBA team could win the title: Pistons, Mavericks, & Jazz

I love the NBA, and I really love playoff caliber basketball.

Continuing my NBA countdown, I'll be giving you teams 18, 17 and 16. Today we get our first playoff team. This team will actually replace a team from last seasons playoffs. The three teams I'll be talking about today are right on the verge, or missed their window. They have decent enough rosters, but are just on the outside of the playoffs, with one exception. My first playoff team may surprise you, but that's the fun of making preseason predictions. On with the countdown.

Coming in at number 18 is the Detroit Pistons. There are things I really like about this team, but there's just as much that I dislike. They might surprise, but probably not. First, the dislikes. For one, they completely over paid to keep Reggie Jackson. Being an Oklahoma City fan, I watched Jackson grow into a quality NBA starter, but I also saw how he reacted when he didn't get his way. One year, he'd have a huge impact during OKC's playoff runs, but last season, with Durant and Westbrook out for extended periods of time, he did not respond to the challenge. Instead of being the leader they needed, he became a ball hog, so far as to veterans icing him out and not passing him the ball. He then complained that he wasn't getting the touches or minutes he thought he deserved when Westbrook returned, and basically demanded a trade. His wish was granted much to my delight. Now, GM Stan Van Gundy gave him a max contract and that's insane. He's not a max player, and if he doesn't get his way, he'll openly complain. Another reason the contract baffles me is, the Pistons have a much better point guard in Brandon Jennings. I know he's coming off a torn ACL, but he's ten times the player Reggie Jackson is. He's also a lefty, and lefties are very tough to guard. Jennings can shoot okay enough, and he's really good at finding the open man. Unfortunately, for him and the Pistons, I think he's trade bait since they gave Jackson so much money. Some team will greatly benefit if Jennings is traded, and the Pistons will suffer. I'd take Jennings over Jackson 10 times out of 10.Now, a player I like. Andre Drummond is a good big man to have, but his front court mate, Greg Monroe, left and signed with Milwaukee. That will be tough on Drummond. Drummond is a great rebounder and defender though, and he may strive being the focal point of the Pistons half court offense. They drafted Stanley Johnson, who I like a lot, but he's only 19 or 20 years old. He's another one and done, and it takes time for these guys to develop before they become a true threat. Besides Marcus Morris, who I think is a really good, really underrated player, they "beefed" up their bench with guys like Steve Blake, way too old, Danny Granger, way too old and oft injured, Aaron Baynes, won't succeed outside of the Spurs organization and Ersan Ilyasova, just not that good of an NBA player. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is a good shooter, but he hasn't figured out the NBA game just yet. The overpaying of Reggie Jackson and signing or trading for veterans that are ten years past their prime make the Pistons a 35 to 37 win team. That may get you in the playoffs in the East, but probably not.

How the Pistons will win it all.

The Pistons will win the title if Reggie Jackson and Brandon Jennings find a way to mesh together and play high level basketball, that won't happen, they both think they're alphas, but only one of them is(Jennings), Drummond becomes a 20 point a game scorer, Stanley Johnson becomes a key contributor right away and the old vets find the fountain of youth and play like they did in their primes. Sorry Detroit, that's not happening.

Number 17 on my list is the Dallas Mavericks. What a crummy, terrible, horrible, asinine way to lose your top free agent this summer. I wrote about how cowardly this all made DeAndre Jordan look, and it was a huge blow to the Mavericks hopes of making the playoffs. Now, as I wrote in my piece, Jordan wouldn't have made them an NBA championship contender, but he would've kept them in the playoffs at least. I feel bad for Dirk Nowitzki as well. How many other legitimate superstars have left as much money on the table to help the team get better. Nowitzki will go down as one of the best big men shooters of all time, but the end of his career is going to be tough because the Mavericks aren't going to be as good as they've been lately. Not only did they miss out on DeAndre Jordan, but they let Tyson Chandler walk without trying to sign him, Monta Ellis left in free agency and their "big" offseason additions were Wes Matthews, coming off a torn ACL, Deron Williams, who hasn't been an impact player in about 6 years and JaVale McGee, who is the most out of control player in all of basketball. Go google some JaVale McGee "highlights" and watch with amazement at how absurd some of the stuff he does is. They still have Chandler Parsons, but is he truly a quality starter in the NBA? I haven't seen it since his third year in Houston, and he gets injured all the time. He may have been a one season wonder. Devin Harris is still around, but all he's any good for anymore is shooting the three. JJ Barea is still there, but he's just getting older and older. Samuel Dalembert may end up being a good defensive center, but he will not help this team on offense. I want to touch on the Wes Matthews signing again for a minute. They ended up giving him a max contract after the whole DeAndre Jordan thing, and while that was a poor decision, Wes Matthews is a really good NBA player. He led the league in three point percentage last year. That's right, Wes Matthews and not Steph Curry hit threes at the highest rate. He also plays excellent defense. He is a very, very good basketball player. The Mavericks are going to step back this season. The question is, how far of a slide back will they take? Will they be a mid 30 win team, or will they tank? I'd guess they will end up in the mid 30 win column. Dirk has too much pride to give up at this point in his career and Wes Matthews will want to show people he's worth the big contract. Unfortunately, the rest of the roster is average.

How the Mavericks will win it all.

The Mavericks will win the title if they can get the Steve Nash from ten years ago to come back and play for them, Dirk finds the fountain of youth, Matthews becomes an MVP candidate, Parsons proves he's not a one season wonder and the bench highly exceeds expectations. This will be a rough year for the Mavericks, Mark Cuban and, most importantly, Dirk. They will struggle in the West and Dirk may call it quits after this season. We will have to wait and see.

Finally, my first playoff team. Coming in at number 16 is the Utah Jazz. I thought that I'd never say this, but Quinn Snyder may be a competent coach (ed note: That sentence makes me angry). He has a young team that's buying into playing team basketball and being stout on defense. Gordon Hayward is becoming a really good NBA player. He's playing like a max contract guy and I didn't expect that. He looks likes he's going to be good for a long time. Trey Burke has had a rough start to his young career, but the Jazz have tempered that problem by drafting Dante Exum last season. He got hurt, but he's a 6'6 point guard, and he looks to be really good. Burke is more of a bench player anyway, but it pains me to say that because he was a star when he played for Michigan, and you all know I'm a huge Michigan fan, both football and basketball. Derrick Favors is a pretty good NBA player and forward. He's a good post player and very good rebounder. Alec Burks is quietly becoming a pretty good scorer in the NBA. He's instant offense for the Jazz. Rodney Hood is a lefty sharp shooter, and he's playing good basketball right now in his young career. Rudy Gobert is an upgrade from Enes Kanter, especially on defense. He's not the scorer that Kanter was, but his imposing presence in the post made it an easy decision for the Jazz to trade Kanter to OKC last season. The issue with the Jazz is the rest of their bench. They took a shot, it may end up working out for them, by drafting Trey Lyles in the lottery this past draft. He barely saw the floor in his one season at Kentucky, and no one knows how good he really is. He has a ton of potential, but he's extremely raw. He is the definition of a prospect. And, other than Hood and Trevor Booker, the rest of the bench is question marks. Is Jeff Withey really worthy of an NBA roster spot? Trevor Booker is okay, but will he take the next step? The rest of the bench, literally, who are these guys? I don't know much about them. Like I said, the Jazz will make the playoffs, taking the Mavericks spot from last season, in the hyper competitive West, but they will get swept out of the first round. They will win either 44 or 45 games this season.

How the Jazz will win it all.

The Jazz will win the title, now they're the first team in my countdown that has a "shot" simply because they will be in the playoffs, if they catch fire at the exact right time and run off a series of monumental upsets. They will be the eight seed in the West and they will have to go through a murderers row of opponents. That won't happen this year. they'll be a nice story and Jazz basketball is on it's way back, but they're not elite. Not yet.

So, there are my 18, 17 and 16 teams in the NBA. Come back next week and we will get into the upper echelon of teams in the NBA. All the teams next week will be playoff teams and you will get my Finals prediction and my pick to win the Finals next Friday.

It will feel good to write about teams that are actually good.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. We all watch sports here at SeedSing, but Ty is the only one that really knows what he is talking about. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.