Teams listed in projected order of finish.
1. Boston Celtics
In a weak division, handicapping is hard. I'd like to say this pick is based on more than a mental coin flip, but I'd be lying.
Typical of the Atlantic Division, sans Toronto, Boston has a few stalwart players and some playoff experience, but hardly a prayer of title contention. Paul Pierce is the team's best player and arguably the division's best forward. Ricky Davis was once a lunkhead who hogged the ball and shot at the wrong basket in a lame attempt to secure a triple-double. Now, he is among the best sixth men in the league.
The caveat with the Celtics are the departures of Antoine Walker and Gary Payton to Miami. Both made significant contributions to the Celtics' playoff run last year.
2. Philadelphia 76ers
The Sixers will always be about Allen Iverson until he leaves the team. As he goes, so goes the franchise. But there is a new force gaining momentum in Philadelphia, and he might help spur the Sixers back into the title hunt sooner rather than later. I speak of Andre Iguodala.
Iguodala has the legs to jump out of the building, and is a born finisher on the floor the way Iverson is a born play creator. He might emerge as the Sixers' franchise player as Iverson inches into his 30s and his athleticism begins to wane.
The Sixers also have a lethal outside game thanks to Kyle Korver, a Creighton product who was panned a bit as a rookie becauuse scouts thought his release was too slow and he couldn't do much besides shoot.
It turns out, Korver has a lightning quick trigger, and if all NBA players could shoot like him, nobody would bother ever putting the ball on the floor.
3. New Jersey Nets
The Nets made the playoffs last year thanks to a late-season surge and the Cavs' collapse. Once there, they were hammered in four straight by the Heat.
This team still has Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson, but Kidd's knees are getting worse by the year. Jefferson was injured last year, but he's still on the upside and one of the game's best all-around players.
Jeff McInnis gets yet another fresh start in New Jersey. Supposedly, coach Lawrence Frank wants to use him in a dual role, playing two-guard alongside Kidd and helping to spell Kidd when he's not on the floor. How soon before he begins sandbagging on defense and making critics out of the Nets organization?
That's the beauty of being an NBA player. If four teams have told you to take a hike, there are still 26 others who believe they can salvage you.
4. New York Knicks
The Knicks' stud pick-up of the off season happened shortly after the NBA Finals ended. The hinted flirtations between Isiah Thomas and Larry Brown turned into a basketball love affair when Brown accpeted the Knicks' head coaching gig.
Brown is about all Knicks fans have to get pumped about, however. Brown had a team ready to contend in Detroit, a team put together masterfully by Joe Dumars. In New York, he will have decidedly less to work with.
Dumars might have been Thomas' underling as a player, but there is no question as to who is the better GM. Brown inherits a roster that is capped out for the next three years, counts Stephon Marbury as the franchise player, and now counts Eddy Curry, he of the questionable heart health, among its ranks.
It might not be an entire season before Brown is on the lookout for his next job.
5. Toronto Raptors
My early favorite to win the NBA draft lottery next spring. The Raptors are designed with a high draft pick in mind. That means they are bad. Very bad.
The brilliant strokes of drafting Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter are ancient history now. The Raptors still have the potential-laden Chris Bosh, so there is some hope for the future. But Jalen Rose is the closest thing the Raptors have to an impact player other than Bosh, and Rose is getting old.
With hockey back, the Raptors will struggle to get any attention while Ontarians are busy fawning over their beloved Maple Leafs.
Up next: the Southeast Division
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