Ty Tells You How each NBA Team Can Win the Title: Knicks, Kings, Bucks

Welcome back to my NBA countdown. Today, we will get teams 24, 23 and 22. We are still in the bad teams, and I think some of my teams today will surprise some readers. Anyway, on with the countdown.

At number 24 I have the New York Knicks. Some people, some respected people (ed note: Like me), actually seem to think that this team could be a threat in the East. I do not see that at all. I do not think this team will be any better than last year, and they stunk last year. I don't understand why respected journalists (ed note: Like me) think that signing Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose and Courtney Lee make them a threat. Noah hasn't been healthy for 2 plus years, and his shot is garbage. He is only good for defense and rebounding, and he is still not fully healthy. He will not return to his form from 3 years ago when he was a legit MVP candidate. Noah's attitude may be a great fit for New York, but his game is gone. Courtney Lee is not as good as others think he is. I saw him play live last year, and I did not come away impressed. He's an average shooter and defender. He is by no means a world beater. Then we have Derrick Rose. He hasn't been healthy in about 3 years as well. He doesn't go at the rim with the reckless abandon that he used to. His jump shot is trash and he is a terrible defender. He is also currently on trial for rape, which he all but admitted, by saying that every time he was intimate with his ex, he considered it consent, to doing. Then we have Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis. Porzingis will prove this season if he is good, or just a one year wonder. I think he will be good, but not great. Carmelo is a ball stopper, and he proved during the Olympics that he is slower and still not a good defender. He looked pretty bad, save for one game, during the Olympics, when he was the unofficial team leader. The rest of the roster is very blah to me. Guys like Kyle O'Quinn, Guillermo Hernangomez, Brandon Jennings and Lance Thomas, among others just don't; strike me as legit threats off the bench. Derrick Rose was out of his mind when he called them a "super team". The Knicks are not good, and they will be lucky to win 35 games this year. I have no faith in this team at all. I may be the only one, but I think they are going to be pretty bad.

So Ty, how will the Knicks win the title? The only way they win the title is if Noah becomes a MVP, Rose's knees don't betray him and he gets off this case, Porzingis takes a major leap and Anthony plays like he is 20 again. That is not happening. Sorry Knicks fans, this team is not good.

At number 23 I have the Sacramento Kings. The Kings have a semi talented roster, with the best true center in the NBA right now, but they just can't figure it out. They have good players, but they are all individual players, not team players. Boogie Cousins is great, but he has become uncoachable. He just hasn't figured it out. He is incredibly talented, but until he takes some real coaching, he will continue to lose games, and his cool. I'm a huge fan of his, but he is just a big stats on a bad team guy. Rudy Gay wants out of there so bad, I wouldn't be shocked if he got traded any day now. He is also past his prime. Aaron Afflalo's time in the sun is over. He's not as good a defender or shooter as he was 3 years ago. Darren Collison is an abuser. The fact that he only got an 8 game suspension for domestic violence is a travesty. Matt Barnes is more concerned with fighting former players than working on his game. He is still a decent defender, but he is also a huge malcontent and whiner. Willie Cauley Stein has no offensive game. Good defender, but terrible offensive player. Ben Mclemore still hasn't figured out the speed of the game, and he has no jumper. Ty Lawson is on this team, and last year proved he was done in the NBA. And in the draft, they took another big. This guy is from Greece, and he got owned in summer league. The other picks, Skal Labiessere and Malachi Richardson are too skinny, young and will not be ready to contribute any time soon in the NBA. The Kings are a mess, and have been for about a decade now. They will find their way to 30 wins, they do have talent, but that is about it.

So Ty, how will the Kings win the title? The Kings can win the title if these guys on the roster completely change the way they have played their whole careers, buy into being team and leave their egos at the door. No way that happens with this roster. Hopefully Boogie gets traded. That would be best for him and the Kings.

At number 22, I have the Milwaukee Bucks. This team should be so much better. They were in the playoffs two years ago, and they completely imploded last season. They have some great talent, but I just don't see them putting it all together. I love Giannis Antetokounmpo, and he just got paid, but does he have any real help. Michael Carter Williams cannot score and his defense hasn't gotten better. Greg Monroe was an absolute bust last season, and I bet he gets traded this year. Jabari Parker cannot stay healthy and cannot play defense or rebound. Khris Middleton should be so much better than he plays. He's good for a game winner here and there, but he misses way more big shots than he makes. John Henson just doesn't have it anymore. Their two big offseason moves were bringing in Matthew Dellavedova and Michael Beasley. Matthew Dellavedova stinks. He is a worthless, way below average guard. The Bucks should have buyers remorse immediately. Michael Beasley was so good in college and in China. You know where he hasn't been that good? The NBA. I don't understand why teams still give him a chance. The bucks also drafted Thon Maker at number 10. That was crazy. No one knows how old he is, and these comparisons to KD need to stop now. He hasn't played a single second in the NBA, and he is rail thin. This team's offseason additions make absolutely no sense at all. The Bucks should be better, but they will continue to hover around 33-36 wins.

So Ty, how will the Bucks win the title? The Bucks can win the title if Antetokoumpo becomes the league's MVP, Jabari Parker starts to go for 25 PPG, MCW finds a jump shot and starts to play defense, Khris Middleton becomes a real threat and Greg Monroe starts to play with a vengeance. I just don't see that happening. Sorry Milwaukee, but stop making stupid offseason pick ups that make no sense. until they figure that out, they will continue to be average.

Come back tomorrow for the next 3 teams.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The Head Editor is confused why the Knicks, a super team, are so low in his rankings. Who is the basketball expert here? Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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The 76ers are the Best at Being the Worst Basketball Franchise

Let me know when the 76ers are good and then I will fly away.

This week will be all basketball talk from me, specifically NBA talk. I love basketball and this is the time of year where things are beginning to happen, or at least, people are talking about things that may happen. This time of year is basically basketball fans favorite time of year. Coaching changes, players being moved either via free agency or trades, talk of players being traded and the ramp up to the finals, which start tonight.

What I want to focus my time on today is the talk of players being moved. More specifically, I want to address the talk that the 76ers, the moribound, useless, once proud, but are now a joke 76ers, have made it known publicly that they would be willing to part ways with either Nerlens Noel or Jahlil Okafor. I mean, WTF Philadelphia. How do they ever expect to put a team that is competitive out there if they continue to trade away all this young talent that they tanked so hard to get. A few years back they had the rookie of the year winner in Michael Carter-Williams. Sure, that rookie class wasn't that great and Carter-Williams did most of his damage on a terrible team and when he played against real defenders he got locked down, but he still did enough to win the rookie of the year. One year later, they traded him to the Bucks for some more draft picks.

This was all Sam Hinkie's doing. He told all the 76ers fans to "trust the process", he assured them that what he was doing was the right thing and they would soon be highly competitive again. With the pick he got from Milwaukee, he took Joel Embiid. Who can guess how many professional basketball games Embiid has played in his first two seasons? Anyone? He has played 0, and I'm including preseason and summer league games. He may even miss the beginning of this season and the front office has already stated that he will not play summer league as they are "taking every precaution imaginary". So, you trade away the reigning rookie of the year, in hopes of landing the next great big man, but you take a player that had known foot issues during his one season at Kansas, and he still hasn't played one single second in the NBA. What a joke. Also, the year before they drafted Embiid, they took Noel, who is now apparently on the trading block, and he tore his ACL during his one year at Kentucky. Two years in a row and the 76ers drafted injured players that had to sit out at least one full season before even stepping foot on a court. Yeesh, that is brutal.

Last year they took Okafor. Okafor "fell" to them at number 3. This pick perplexed me because they already had Noel and Embiid who play the same position and, I don't know if the front office watches modern basketball, but big men aren't the commodity they once were. But, I was willing to look past it because, you take the best available player, that's what teams do in the draft. And, to give Okafor a little credit, he played in about 60 games his rookie season and he was not terrible. Well, he was terrible defensively, but offensively, he was okay. He scored in double figures and was an average offensive rebounder and has some decent low post moves. But, he is also a 19 year old hot head that may not be ready for the responsibility of being a professional. Just look at the incidents he got involved in, at bars, during his rookie year. He may be a loose cannon. I guess not to worry 76ers fans because he may be gone as well.

This is what bugs me. Yes, I know that they won the draft lottery and that they plan to take either Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram, but why are they making two of their young, half way decent players available for trades? Nerlens Noel has shown flashes of being an elite defender and, if he works on his low post game, he could be an all star. And yeah, Okafor plays no defense, but if he becomes, at the very least, a capable defender, he could also be an all star. He has the offense, he just needs to put it together on defense. Who knows with Embiid, but they seem to be putting all their eggs into his basket and they expect him to be immediately better than Noel or Okafor. I don't think that I would take that bet. I want to see Embiid play 30 or 40 games before I would even consider getting rid of any big men I have on my roster. Other people will tell me that Simmons and Okafor's game don't mesh or that Noel would clog the lane for a guy like Ingram. I say, who cares. At least Nerlens Noel has proven to be a decent enough defender and Okafor has shown that he can score double figures night after night.

The 76ers sound like they want to blow it up again, and that is not fair to the fans. They will not be able to attract any star players there because, whenever someone does something good on a basketball floor, the 76ers want to trade them for draft picks. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, DeMar DeRozan or Kyle Lowry aren't going to want to go play for this franchise. Why would they want to waste the prime of their careers playing for this terribly run team. I naturally assumed that when Sam Hinkie stepped down that the 76ers would start to resemble a real basketball franchise, but the new people in charge are just doing the exact same thing. They want the fans to, once again, "trust the process". That's bull shit. That's unfair. Does the GM and the other higher ups making decisions realize how brutal it must be to be a 76ers fan right now? This team is an absolute joke. They are barely better than some of the D League teams. Hell, they may not even win the D League if they were relegated to play there because they are such an embarrassment to the NBA.

Which brings me to my final point and why I think this nonsense of making Noel and Okafor available is so stupid. First off, they want to take another 19 year old to be the face of the franchise. Well, its been reported that Ben Simmons would much rather be a Laker, and me personally, I don't think this kid will live up to the hype. He is an over privileged, spoiled brat that has never been pushed or told no by any coach and he carries himself with an arrogance he hasn't even come close to earning. He already acts like a Laker. Then there's Brandon Ingram. I think he will be a good pro, he could be a poor mans Kevin Durant, but it is going to take a few seasons, maybe even 4 before he is an all star caliber player. He has to put on weight, put in tons of time in the gym and become a much better defender before he is any kind of threat to the real stars in the NBA. I think Ingram will be a much better pro than Simmons, but I also think it will take much longer before he gets to that elite level. Just look at Durant's first few years in the league. It wasn't until James Harden and Russell Westbrook were drafted that Durant elevated his game and became the dominant player he is today.

If I were running the 76ers, I would either trade the top pick, not Noel or Okafor, for some established, semi decent pros, or I would take Buddy Hield. Hield would fit kind of perfectly with guys like Noel, Okafor and Embiid. He could come in and score points right away and his defensive game is underrated. But, since the 76ers only value assets, they will trade one of both of the guys I mentioned, draft either Ingram or Simmons, and be terrible for the next decade or so. The 76ers are the worst run team in any professional sport that I have ever seen. They are an embarrassment to the NBA and their fans.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He desperately wants to focus on good basketball and not bad management. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

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.