Next Year's Suprise Team

[Indy]

I'll say Toronto because they have alot of young talent. They need Mike James to stay though

I can't wait untill the Raps fans see this post.

[air gordon]

I'm taking Boston to be a surprise team. Orlando is this years Golden State.

I think Al Jefferson and Gerald Green will both emerge into good quality players to put next to Psquared. Delonte West is an excellent point guard, Perkins and Tony Allen are only going to get better, and Wally is always good for some scoring. Add on another lottery pick, these guys are only going up.

well that's a bad thing. GSW is full of players on bad contracts and doesn't seem like a good mix

hopefully Ainge will learn a lesson and not commit big $ to Dunleavy/Murphy type players

[Mayerhendrix]

Boston always loses games by a close margin, but they need to get their bench stronger if they're going to pull out with a win in the 4th.

[Indy]

I'm taking Boston to be a surprise team. Orlando is this years Golden State.

I think Al Jefferson and Gerald Green will both emerge into good quality players to put next to Psquared. Delonte West is an excellent point guard, Perkins and Tony Allen are only going to get better, and Wally is always good for some scoring. Add on another lottery pick, these guys are only going up.

well that's a bad thing. GSW is full of players on bad contracts and doesn't seem like a good mix

hopefully Ainge will learn a lesson and not commit big $ to Dunleavy/Murphy type players

I was implying that it was a bad thing. Orlando had a great finish to the season and everybody is expecting great things for them next year, exactly the same as the Warriors were last season.

Plus, how many times has Orlando been predicted to do great things and fell flat on their face? Far too many pre-season previews have had them winning the East in the past, only for a first round exit every year. (I'm talking about post Shaq/Penny.)

[Its_asdf]

I'll say Toronto because they have alot of young talent. They need Mike James to stay though

You did not just say that.

The fucking guy doesn't even want to be in Toronto anyway. He's going to bolt at the first sight of any large money being thrown at him and Colangelo isn't stupid enough to offer him anymore than he's worth (which isn't much).

[air gordon]

I'm taking Boston to be a surprise team. Orlando is this years Golden State.

I think Al Jefferson and Gerald Green will both emerge into good quality players to put next to Psquared. Delonte West is an excellent point guard, Perkins and Tony Allen are only going to get better, and Wally is always good for some scoring. Add on another lottery pick, these guys are only going up.

well that's a bad thing. GSW is full of players on bad contracts and doesn't seem like a good mix

hopefully Ainge will learn a lesson and not commit big $ to Dunleavy/Murphy type players

I was implying that it was a bad thing. Orlando had a great finish to the season and everybody is expecting great things for them next year, exactly the same as the Warriors were last season.

Plus, how many times has Orlando been predicted to do great things and fell flat on their face? Far too many pre-season previews have had them winning the East in the past, only for a first round exit every year. (I'm talking about post Shaq/Penny.)

ah ok. my mistake. i agree with your assessment

[supernoobz]

I'll say charlotte if they start using there money, I hear there is going to be a good FA Market, so if they can use that well we may have a contender or at least a 30+ wins team, But If they don't Orlando will definitely be the surprise team especially if darko and ariza develop quickly

[Scotty]

i'm going to say Boston, Seattle and The Kings are going to be one of the top teams imo

[Indy]

i'm going to say Boston, Seattle and The Kings are going to be one of the top teams imo

I think Seattle will be in the lead for the lottery.

[Matthew]

Plus, how many times has Orlando been predicted to do great things and fell flat on their face?

The last time that happened was 2002, when they got horace, ewing and were sposed to get grant hill back.

[Silas]

Why would seattle be in the lead for the lottery? They've got nowhere to go but up. Ray Allen is coming off a career season and will likely be just as good next season, Rashard, assuming he's not traded, is also coming off a career season and has nowhere to go but up, Chris Wilcox had a monster second half of the season after he got traded and could be averaging 20-10 (more likely 16-10) next season, and Petro/Swift have shown strong signs of improvement and will likely develop into strong low post threats throughout the course of the season.

On top of that, the sonics finally have the PG/SG who can come in and back up Luke Ridnour and Ray Allen, and if the sonics draft a SF/SG, Damien wilkins will have some help, and they also have Nick Collison coming off the bench.

This team has nowhere to go but up and i'd be astounded if they missed the playoffs next year. (unless something bad happened like season ending injuries or something)

[Matthew]

Rashard, assuming he's not traded, is also coming off a career season and has nowhere to go but up

If he's just come off a career season, he has plenty of room for his play to drop down.

[Its_asdf]

Ray Allen isn't exactly the youngest guy on the team, and Rashard Lewis hardly got any better from last season. I foresee Lewis having a few more decent 20-5 seasons (although I find it quite pathetic that he can't even grab 6 or 7 boards) since he's 27 and its still early in his prime.

Robert Swift, Petro and Collison do have their potential, but I don't think they'll be having monster improvements to their game. Swift and Petro are projects and they'll take at least another 2 years.

Edit: I also noticed that Ray Allen will be making 15 plus million per year starting in the 2007-08 season and he'll be making 18.7 million when he's 35. :S

[Fenix]

Yeah, that Ray Allen contract was superb considering Seattle is almost broke and is need to rebuild.

[Silas]

The only large contract seattle has is with Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, and Rashard's contract will end up being about 11 million per year by the time it expires, which isn't when he is that old.

They have several million dollars in cap space after this season which is plenty to resign Chris Wilcox for a large contract, and sign the two rookies they draft. I dont think they need to do any rebuilding at all considering how they played in the last part of the season.

The reason Rashad doesnt grab 6 or 7 boards is because, despite his height, he is a perimeter SF. People like LeBron James get their boards because they spend a lot of time in the lane (and he's more athletic and stronger). It's like somebody like Peja get 6 or 7 boards.

People talk about Ray getting payed so much when he's so old, but the truth is he's going to be productive in his old age, he's like Reggie Miller, even when he starts losing his athelticism he'll have his fantastic shooting to fall back onto. I see him being productive into his late, late 30's, obviously not 18mil a year productive, but i think the sonics had to resign him if they wanted any hope for future playoffs. They were planning on having another great playoff run this season, but that didnt quite work out with Nate McMillan leaving.

I also agree with the point that Swift/Petro are projects that will take a few years to develop, but with all the playing time they're getting, they are already productive and i see them becoming even more productive in years to come, so next season, especially with wilcox, they wont have to worry about the gaping hole they've had in the middle for so long.

A team like the nicks or the timberwolves or the sixers need to rebuild, not a team like the sonics.... I hope they draft a SG/SF to back up Ray in the first round but we'll see what happens. So many people are picking them to draft a big man, which i dont think they should do with Swift/Petro/Collison/Wilcox, but i wouldnt be suprised...

[Indy]

People talk about Ray getting payed so much when he's so old, but the truth is he's going to be productive in his old age, he's like Reggie Miller, even when he starts losing his athelticism he'll have his fantastic shooting to fall back onto.

I disagree, because Ray uses his athleticism so much in his shooting. The main thing that makes him such a good shooter is his ability to create his own shot. He doesn't run off of screens like Reggie did, I don't see him being able to have Reggie's old age success.

[Its_asdf]

The reason Rashad doesnt grab 6 or 7 boards is because, despite his height, he is a perimeter SF. People like LeBron James get their boards because they spend a lot of time in the lane (and he's more athletic and stronger). It's like somebody like Peja get 6 or 7 boards.

So, in other words, he's soft.

Lewis is nearly 7 feet and has good athletic ability. It doesn't matter if you're a perimeter player or not, the trick to rebounding is to as Charles Barkley put it, "go and get the damn ball".

[Silas]

If the sonics wanted to play him at PF they would, they arent asking him to get 6 or 7 or 8 boards, he's already an all star playing the way he's playing.

And with Ray, i think he'll still be athletic enough to shoot the lights out of the ball. The difference will be his midrange game. He makes a lot of fading/flying jumpshots midrange, that will be affected in his old age, just like it affected reggie, but he'll still be able to hit 3pt shots. I dont think people realize how athletic he really is, he's just not as flashy as he once was when he was young. He can still dunk when he actually wants do. In the last game of the season he jumped right over andre miller and slammed it in his face, and in the playoffs last season against the spurs he did a highlight dunk right in tim duncan's face.

[Drex]

If the sonics wanted to play him at PF they would, they arent asking him to get 6 or 7 or 8 boards, he's already an all star playing the way he's playing.

Getting more rebounds isn't going to hurt anybody, except the other team.

[Silas]

The point i'm trying to make is that Rashard is an all star and he's in his prime so the sonics have nowhere to go but up, i dont give a damn about his rebounds.

[jerry]

umh Raps rite now still have alot of Cap, so get rid of Mike James for a good and a little expensive guy who they dont want...idk like even ricky davis?actually that would be weird...lol

[Silas]

is ricky davis an unrestricted FA this summer?

[Its_asdf]

Ricky Davis' contract is up in 07/08 and he'll be making around 6.8 million during that year. Quite a bargain for a player as talented as he is.

[jerry]

Well t hen trade Mike James plus maybe a first round draft or somethin for Ricky and when his contract expires RESIGN!

hey btw who do you think in the NBA wants Mike James the most?

[Its_asdf]

Atlanta needs a good point guard, I'd love for the Raptors to pull a sign and trade for Pachulia or something, but I think he's too liked by the Hawks to be moved for James. Other than Zaza, there isn't another player that I would exactly go for. Marvin Williams, Josh Smith and Childress are all SFs and I really want Graham to continue to develop and give some more confidence/playing time next season. Al Harrington is a PF and a piss poor SF, and no one else is particularly worth Mike James on that team.