Before I get to my final 3 teams on my NBA countdown, I have to address something Rockets GM Daryl Morey said on the Ringer's "NBA Show" from yesterday. He said, and I am not making this up, that "James Harden is the best passing 2 guard of all time".
Is he out of his god damn mind!? I mean, I understand backing your franchise player, but come on, does he not have a television, or is he blind?! I have never once seen Harden make a clean, crisp pass to an open teammate. He either holds the ball for 20 seconds, then shoots it, drives to the basket to try and draw the foul, or jacks up a contested three. That is blasphemous, and shows how out of touch Daryl Morey truly is.
Had to get that off my chest.
Anyway, the final three teams today. The cream of the crop. I think you all can glean who I have. It's pretty obvious, because these are the only three teams that have a real shot at the title. It may only be 2 of these teams, but I have three teams left. GM's, coaches and talking heads on sports shows will say that the gap is closing, and other teams, i.e., the Celtics and Pacers and T'Wolves are coming, but they are blowing smoke. There are only three real teams in this league, and it's been that way for the past three seasons. On with the countdown.
At number 3, I have the San Antonio Spurs. Yeah, Tim Duncan is retired, he is an all time great and surefire first ballot hall of famer, and yes, Boris Diaw is gone, but as long as Greg Poppovich is the head coach, the Spurs will be perennial contenders. I love Tim Duncan, he was so much better than any player from his generation, but lets be honest, he was on his last legs a few years ago. He was still putting up numbers, despite playing on one leg, but he was older and his time had come. I actually like the Pau Gasol signing. He will fill in just nice in Duncan's spot. He will probably put up better offensive numbers, and his legs aren't gone yet. It was a good decision on both parts. Manu and Tony Parker are still plugging along. Manu is definitely a few steps slower, doesn't attack like he used to and misses more than he makes, but he is still a threat, somehow. He does the little things this team needs him to do. Tony Parker seems so much older than he actually is, but he still has that killer floater and runs the offense very well, but he is a total liability on defense. That's of no matter though, because the Spurs have the best defender in the game in Kawhi Leonard. He is absolutely lock down on defense on all opponents best players. He is the only guy that I have ever seen totally shut down LeBron. His offensive game has gotten so much better every year. He is becoming a true star, he just needs to accept that. I know that LaMarcus Aldridge's name has come up in trade rumors recently, but I don't think he is gong anywhere. He fit in very well with this team last year, and I like him on this team. He is a great inside out forward/center, and he has become a better defender. Danny Green is still there, and he is still a great defensive player and a good three point shooter. They have Kevin Martin now, and he is an excellent three point shooter and instant offense off the bench. They signed David Lee, who isn't that good anymore, but he was once an all star. Johnathan Simmons is going to get extended playing time this year, and I think he is going to break out. He looked good in minimal minutes last year, and I think he will look even better playing more and more. Kyle Anderson and Patty Mills are both excellent bench players that know their roles. Look, as long as Poppovich is there, the Spurs will win upwards of 55-59 games and be a perennial contender.
So Ty, how will the Spurs win the title? The Spurs can win the title if Leonard takes that next step offensively and dominates both ends of the floor. They also need Aldridge to step up the defense a bit and Gasol to play and score more than Duncan did last year. This could all happen. People are sleeping on the Spurs, and that is never a good thing.
At number 2, I have the defending champs, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Some may say they should be number one, but they didn't sign KD. They do have the best payer in the league in LeBron. He proved that in the finals last year. LeBron is so much better than everyone else in the league, its not even fair. He does it all and can impose his will whenever and wherever he wants. LeBron is an all time great NBA player. As long as he is there, he will make the Cavs the team to beat in the East. Kyrie Irving, while being a mediocre defender, is a wizard with the ball, and was on fire throughout the playoffs last year. He is a deadly scorer, and pairing him and LeBron, on the offensive end of the floor, is dangerous for opponents. Irving could legitimately challenge for the MVP this year. Kevin Love, who looked like a shell of himself at times last year, seemed to figure out his role for this team in the finals. They don't need him to be the T'Wolves version, they need him to get double figures in rebounds, throw excellent outlet passes and score 12-15 points a night. As I said, he seemed to finally figure it out in the finals. Tristan Thompson played some incredible defense in the finals last year, now he just has to do that for the whole season. He is a great rebounder as well. He and Love should grab every board if they are in the area. JR Smith just re signed, and he knows exactly what to do on this team. He is an okay defender and an excellent offensive player. He hit some huge shots last year. Iman Shumpert has fallen off a bit. He is not the defender or shooter he was when he got traded there, but he is a fine bench player. Channing Frye will stretch the floor, and he can play a little defense too. Their rookie, Kay Felder, is a huge step up from Matthew Dellavedova. He is super fast and can get a ton of buckets. Chris Andersen is an okay signing, but I don't love it as much as others. He is an okay player, but they already have 2 guys that do what he does, except they are way better than he is. Richard Jefferson, James Jones and Mike Dunleavy Jr are all about a million years old, and I don't think they will play all that much. This Cavs team is good, they are the defending champs. They could easily win 60 games if they want to, and they will definitely be the one seed in the East.
So Ty, how will the Cavaliers win the title? The Cavs can win the title if they do exactly what they did last year. They need to slow the game down, let LeBron run the show, let Kyrie Irving slash and shoot and let Love and Thompson do the dirty work. They can also get help from officials, as game 4 of the finals showed last year, so they are more than capable of winning back to back titles.
And then there was one.
My number one team is the Golden State Warriors. I mean, who else could it be? They signed KD this offseason. They added another devastating shooter to an already devastating shooting team. How on Earth is any team going to beat these guys in a series? They have threats all over the court. And, I don't want to hear about, well their bench has been ripped to shreds to get KD. Who cares, they got KD. They also still have a decent bench anyway. I'll get to that in a minute. This back court is incredible. It's like nothing I have ever seen before. Steph Curry is the 2 time MVP, the best shooter I've ever seen and cannot be stopped, unless the refs get involved, see the finals last year. Klay Thompson is the second best shooter that I have ever seen. He gets the ball and has a quick release, and more times than not, the shot goes in. He is also this team's best defender, and he is really good at defense. And now, they have KD. He is probably the third best shooter in the game right now, and he is on the same team with the best and second best shooter. He also totally stepped up his defense last year. He needs to stop with these little side comments, and he better get used to people booing him and rooting against him, but he is still an excellent player. The Warriors back court has the last 3 MVP winners. I don't know how any team is going to stop these guys from scoring at will. Then, they have the best swiss army guy in Draymond Green. He needs to quit kicking guys in the groin, and stop talking trash, but he is really good on this team. He isn't their best player, not by a mile, but he is their most important. He is the key to this team and he is their toughness. He is also the only guy that showed up in game 7 last year. Andre Iguodala, two seasons removed from being finals MVP, is still on this team, and he is still good. He is a good shooter, another very good defender and a great veteran on this team. Shaun Livingston is still coming off the bench, and anywhere else, I think he would be a starter. He is a really good player. They don't have any dominant big men, but was Bogut ever dominant? No. Anderson Varejo, ZaZa Pachulia and JaVale McGee will split time, and they are all fine, even if McGee has had some crazy stuff happen to him in the NBA. David West signed on, and he is still ultra tough, can shoot the jumper and, like Iguodala, a great veteran. Even James Michael McAdoo got some run last year, and he looked okay. This team is absolutely loaded. They will be impossible to stop. I know people are trying to temper expectations, but I'm going the exact opposite direction. If this team doesn't win at least 70 games, and the title, it should be deemed a failure. They are just too good, loaded with too many scorers and have one of the better coaches in the NBA. No team with 2 of the best shooters ever has ever added a third, lethal scorer. This signing was unheard of. It definitely watered down the league, but the Warriors are going to be fun to watch, and also, root against. They were the lovable underdogs 2 years ago, but now, they are the hunted. They are the bad guys. They are the team that everyone outside of the Bay Area wants to lose. They will be the most scrutinized team by a wide margin this year. Hopefully those guys have thick skin, because a lot of people will be hating on them all season.
So Ty, why will the Warriors win the title? The Warriors should win the title simply because of this collection of shooters. There has never been a team like this put together before. They will be unguardable. I know it's just the preseason, but they have already been putting up ridiculous shooting numbers. As I have already stated many times, they should expect nothing less than a title this year, and they should have little to no resistance from anyone, not even LeBron and the Cavs.
That's my countdown. Tomorrow I will have predictions for the title, I think you all know where I'm leaning, as well as awards predictions and some surprises that will happen. And on Friday, I will have a NCAA basketball preview. Come back for those in the next couple of days. Thanks for the eyeballs.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He wanted to say that the Warriors were going to win at least 80 games, but the head editor made him lower the expectations. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.
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