Ty Tells You How each NBA Team Can Win the Title: Nets, 76ers, and Lakers

In what will become a yearly tradition, I will count down all 30 NBA teams, from worst to best, prior to the start of the season. The regular season kicks off on October 25th, so I figured there was no better time than 2 weeks before to give you guys and girls my rankings and predictions. This will span the next 10 days, but I will sprinkle in some of my other stuff, i.e. "Ty Watches", and other pop culture things, but the NBA will be my main focus for the rest of this week, and most of next week.

Okay, enough foreplay, let's get to it.

Coming in at number 30, the worst team in the NBA in the 2016-17 season will be...the Brooklyn Nets. You thought I would pick the 76ers, they'll be on this list very soon, but I think the Nets will be slightly worse. The Nets are a dumpster fire. They have a few quality players, well, maybe only Brook Lopez, but other than him, this team is either too young, too overrated, or just plain bad. But wait you say, they signed Jeremy Lin and Luis Scola this offseason. I say, so what. Why Jeremy Lin worked in Charlotte was because he wasn't the first option. He was instant offense off the bench. In Brooklyn, he will be the guy, and that does not bode well for the Nets. Scola is old, slow, can't score anymore and is a liability on defense. Brook Lopez is a very good throwback center, but he is oft injured, but he will do his thing, but it won't matter because he has little to no help. He will probably miss some games too, as he always does. The fact that he didn't miss a game last year was a total outlier. That won't happen again. The rest of the roster is filled with guys like Randy Foye, Bojan Bogdanovic, Anthony Bennett and Grevies Vasquez. Does that sound like any kind of good NBA team? I didn't think so. The rookies they picked are so so. Caris Levert, who I root for because he played at Michigan, cannot stay healthy. Yogi Ferrell is smart, but slow and small. The NBA is going to be a grind for him. The Nets will be lucky to win 20 games this year. Bill Simmons should be thrilled because the Celtics are going to be picking in the lottery once again, the Nets owe their pick to them, because the Nets stink. This team is a mess and they will be a mess all year. I feel bad for Brook Lopez because he is legitimately good, he just has no help.

So Ty, how will the Nets win the title? The only way the Nets will win the title is if every other team decides to tank, and that is still a total longshot.

Coming in at number 29, the Philadelphia 76ers. I have been harder on the 76ers than most, but they finally rid themselves of the mess that was Sam Hinkie and "trusting the process". That was a complete waste of 4 years, the 76ers became a joke and I felt that I could play for that team. They are still a terrible team, but they have the look of a team that may, at the very least, try to win some games this year. I mean, they only won 10 all of last year, so there is nowhere to go but up. I know that their first pick, and the top overall pick in the draft, Ben Simmons, is out with a foot injury, but they should still be slightly better than 10 wins. The bummer with the Simmons injury, if you are a 76ers fan, that kid needs to play NBA games. He has no jumper and looks a tad slow right now. He needs that game experience because he is the type of player that will get better when he plays top level competition. But, the 76ers do get to finally see Joel Embiid, after 2 lost years. He has played in a preseason game, so I'm going to assume he will be playing when the season starts. He looked good during the preseason game too. He has great feet and is a decent low post scorer. He could be a decent defender too. Time will tell, but I'd be optimistic that Embiid could be a good NBA player. Nerlens Noel, who is forever on the trading block, is a very good defender and rebounder, but he has no offensive game whatsoever. He is a skinny version of DeAndre Jordan, but I think Noel is a better defender. He will probably be traded though. Jahlil Okafor is a good scorer, but he is an average rebounder and a terrible defender. He is also a hothead, so who knows how many games he'll play. Dario Saric is supposed to finally come over to the NBA, and he looks pretty good. He is a lot like Simmons, just 4 inches shorter. A lot of people have been waiting to see this guy play, me included, and he is supposed to be pretty good. But, who knows. Other than these guys, the 76ers roster stinks. Elton Brand is a million years old. Nik Stauskas is a bust. Jerami Grant cannot slow himself down and is always out of control. Jerryd Bayless is a poor three point shooter, which is his "specialty". This team is lousy. I do like the young guys, but they have too many big men, and Simmons is going to miss a lot of time. They 76ers will win more than 10 games, but they won't get to 20. They are, as I said before, only marginally better than the Nets, but both teams stink.

So Ty, how will the 76ers win the title? The same goes with the 76ers title chances as goes with the Nets title chances. They need every other team to have massive injuries and they still won't win anything close to a title.

Coming in at number 28, I have the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers finally got the Kobe Bryant problem off their books with his retirement. He was the main reason this historic franchise has been a gutter team for the past 4 years. I'm thrilled that he is done in the NBA. This roster is young, and could be good in about 3 or 4 years, but they do not have the players to compete right now. I do like the hiring of Luke Walton, but only for the Lakers. I thought Walton could have gotten a better job, but I'm sure he wanted to go back to the franchise that he played for. I get it, I just think it was a poor choice from Walton. Like I said, they have a good young nucleus, they just aren't ready to compete for anything important. Julius Randle is a very good low post scorer, and he could turn into a decent defender. Brandon Ingram was one of the few young guys I liked in the draft, but he needs to gain weight and start to look like he cares about basketball. He is a little too lax looking when he is on the court, and veterans will exploit that. Jordan Clarkson is a star in the making and he will thrive now that Bryant is gone. He can score anywhere on the court, and he can be a good defender, if he commits himself. The jury is still out on D'Angelo Russell. Will he learn from mistakes last year, or will he continue to be a locker room pariah? Can he score at an elite level? Can he defend the better point guards in the league? Can he play a whole season? Can he become a leader? These are all questions that have no answers right now. Russell will show this season if he is going to be worth the number 2 pick, or if he is going to be a bust. Then, their free agent class is a joke. Loul Deng, old and slow, Timofey Mozgov, couldn't see the court after the all star break for the Cavs last season, Yi Jianlian, who hasn't been in the NBA for years and was crushed by NBA players in the Olympics and Metta World Peace, didn't he retire a few years ago, just terrible. This team is going to be at the bottom of the league until the young players develop. The Lakers have proven to not be a free agent destiny in the past few years for star free agents, so they have had to build via the draft. They may be the first team to crack 20 wins, but that is it, 20 wins. The Lakers stink, and they will continue to stink until they land a big time free agent, or the young players develop.

So Ty, how will the Lakers win the title? The only chance the Lakers have to win the title is if they trade for Russell Westbrook, just re upped with OKC, Kevin Love, is he even elite anymore and one more big time player, and that is not happening.

That's it for day one. come back tomorrow for numbers 27, 26 and 25.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He was on the draft board for the 76ers, they just wanted him to sit for 15 years first. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Ty tells you how each NBA team can win the title: Magic, Pacers, & Hornets

I love basketball.

Continuing my NBA countdown, today you'll be getting my number 21, 20 and 19 teams. We are just on the outside of the playoffs. These teams are okay, have been good recently but are in a downswing or they are rising, but there just not a playoff team yet. I like these teams, but they're a year or two away, or past their prime. On with the countdown.

My number 21 team is the Orlando Magic. I really like what they are doing in Orlando right now. They are building a strong, youthful team that's full of potential. They drafted my favorite player from last years draft, Elfrid Payton. First of all, he has the best hairdo in the league, but aside from that, he's a really good, really young point guard. He's going to be a star in this league and he will continue to get better and better. Victor Oladipo is a fantastic defender and he's one of the most athletic players I've seen in a long time. He may have been the best overall player in his draft class from three years ago. Nikola Vucevic looks like a really strong player. He made a huge leap last season and he should continue to get better each season. Aaron Gordon is extremely athletic, but he needs to stay healthy if he wants to become a consistent starter in the NBA. They resigned Tobias Harris last season after many, many teams tried to get him. I think he's one of the most underrated players in basketball. He's an all around great player. He's more than just a scorer now. They drafted foreign prospect Mario Herzonja, and while I don't know how good of a player he is, he's extremely confident in himself and his abilities. That's half the battle. The problem with the Magic is their bench. It's pretty thin, filled with unproven players. Guys like Shabazz Napier and CJ Watson and Evan Fournier have shown me very little in their early careers. Everyone else on the bench is average at best. They have a decent, but very young roster. They remind me a lot of the Timberwolves. They'll struggle to win 30 games this year, but if they stay together, this team will be really good in three years.

How the Magic will win it all.

The Magic will win the title if every single player takes a huge step forward and become All NBA caliber players. That won't happen this season, but Oladipo and Payton are destined to be stars. Give them three years.

My number 20 team is the Indiana Pacers. Yes, the same team that was in the east finals two years ago. They really struggled without Paul George for almost all of last season. Their roster is pretty thin as well, with a lot of cast offs from other NBA teams. George Hill is s good point guard, but he's not an All Star and he's only getting older. Paul George is back and he's a top 20 NBA player. The only problem, they'll regret playing him at the four this season, and that won't work for him on defense. Fours are too big and strong for him to guard. They'll beat him up. He'll get his on offense, but defense will punish him. They signed Monta Ellis, but I feel like his best days are behind him. He doesn't really care to play defense. Usually a rookie wouldn't be an upgrade, but Myles Turner, right now, is a better player than Roy Hibbert. That sentiment would have been crazy two years ago, but Hibbert is pretty rough to watch now a days. I think Turner can be a competent center in about three or four years. He does run awkwardly, but he has decent post skills and can rebound and be a rim protector. Their bench, with the exceptions of Jordan Hill and Rodney Stuckey, is either rookies or second and third year players, aka, my buzzword, unproven. I do like Stuckey and Hill though. Stuckey is instant offense and Hill is a good player that got out of LA(he was a Laker) so he can blossom. The Pacers are destined to take a step back. I see 34 or 35 wins this season and they will win ugly.

How the Pacers will win it all.

The Pacers will win the title if George is somehow, some way, able to handle fours on defense, George Hill plays the best basketball of his life, Myles Turner becomes all NBA defense and averages double figures, Monta Ellis contributes on both ends and Stuckey and Hill become starter quality players. I like their roster, but all that stuff isn't happening. Sorry Pacer fans. How they handle this season and offseason will say a lot about the direction the Pacers are going in.

My number 19 team is the Charlotte Hornets. With the injury to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist you may think 19 is too high, but that injury, in my opinion, doesn't change too much about this team. MKG will be hard to replace though, that's for sure. He was definitely coming into his own and his injury will be a tough pill to swallow for the Hornets. The rest of the roster is decent, but not great. They also drafted Frank Kaminsky way too early. He has bust written all over him. Another poor GM decision by Michael Jordan. Kemba Walker is an All Star in waiting. I love the intensity and passion he plays with. He's a really good basketball player. Walker is almost good enough to make the MKG injury a moot point. Almost. Al Jefferson is a good big man that's finally getting the credit he deserves. He plays the game with a mix of old and new school moves. He's an awesome basketball player. He should be a perennial All Star. They traded for Nic Batum before the draft, but I don't know how he fits. He's a good shooter, but there's no Damien Lillard to help take the pressure off. Kemba Walker is good, like I said before, but he's not on Lillard's level yet. They also traded for Jeremy Lamb, who couldn't get off the bench in Oklahoma City and signed Jeremy Lin. I think it's fair and reasonable to stop the hype on Jeremy Lin. He hasn't been very good since he left the Knicks, and he was only good for about 25 games with the Knicks. I like Jeremy Lin the person, I love the pranks he plays on people, but I don't like Jeremy Lin the basketball player. He's not that good. PJ Hairston has a lot of promise, but he can't seem to stay out of trouble. His problems will doom his career. The rest of the roster is not very good. You're grasping for straws if your ninth player off the bench is Tyler Hansborough and your tenth player is rookie Aaron Harrison. Hansborough was a college star, but his game doesn't translate to the NBA and he's an extremely dirty player. Harrison regressed in his sophomore year of college and I don't see him getting much better in the pros. The Hornets may flirt with a .500 record, but are more likely to win 35 games.

How the Hornets will win it all.

The Hornets will win the title if MKG has a miraculous recovery, Walker scores 40 points a game, Jeremy Lin finds the form he had during "Linsanity" and plays like that all season and Nic Batum becomes an All Star. Al Jefferson will be great because he's a great player, but he's in a similar situation as Boogie Cousins. At least Jefferson has a teammate almost as good as him in Kemba Walker.

So, there you have it, teams 21, 20 and 19. Come back tomorrow for teams 18, 17 and 16. We get our first playoff team tomorrow.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He enjoys writing about basketball, but is looking forward to writing about good basketball. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.