Who will be the contenders in 2010?My top choices are Boston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Chicago.Boston: Loads of potential in Delonte West, Al Jefferson, Tony Allen, Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Kendrick Perkins and the number 7 pick. Paul Pierce could still be there, and he will still be good. Doc Rivers has been around the league for a while, playing and coaching, and can guide these players to success.Dallas: They have proven youngsters in Devin Harris, Josh Howard, and Marquis Daniels, and Dirk Nowitzki will still get 20+ point nights. Avery Johnson, in his second season, is already in the NBA Finals. He's a top coach right now, and still learning and enforcing defense first.San Antonio: This may be my oddest choice, but I think that San Antonio will still be elite come 2010. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are young but one of the best backcourts in the league. Duncan will still be around in four years. But the reason I think they will stay this high is from good draft picks and smart free agent signings. That's how they got here. Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, Finley, Van Exel, Bowen, Horry, Nesterovic, and Barry were all signed or drafted by the Spurs. Gregg Popovich is a top-of-the-line coach.Chicago: They are in the same boat as Boston. They have loads of drafted talent in Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, Andres Nocioni, Tyson Chandler, and Chris Duhon, not to mention this years number two pick. They are set for the future. Scott Skiles is a pretty smart coach as well.
Orlando, Chicago, and Dallas should all be contenders in 2010.Orlando that team is gonne be really good Nelson, Howard, Darko WOW nice team.
Don't forget Orlando's pick this year. I'm excited to see how Darko turns out. Is he the flop everyone thinks he is?
Definetly Dallas. They still have a ton of young talent and a very impressive new coach in Avery Johnson. This team could be scary in 3-5 years. Also I like the Bulls. They have a ton of young rising talent and will get even more w/ both the second overall pick and a mid first round pick in this years draft. Even possibly Charlotte. They have a ton of young talent and might end up w/ a great young talent in Brandon Roy or Rudy Gay. They have Raymond Felton who showed what he can do towards th end of the season. An athletic freak in Gerald Wallace who can do a bit of everything. A future star in big man emeka okafor and a consistent young scorer in Primoz Brezic or however you spell his last name lol. Anyways this could be a great team and if they do get Roy they wont have any major holes anymore.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SunnyD @ Jun 16 2006, 07:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Don't forget Orlando's pick this year. I'm excited to see how Darko turns out. Is he the flop everyone thinks he is?</div>Don't think he is a flop. He just did not get the playing time when he played for DET.Excited to see what Darko can do as a starter next season.Unless it's against the Sixers. lol
Boston and Chicago in the East with all the young talent they have both put together. If those guys keep improving they should have pretty good teams. The Bobcats may also be right up there. I also think the Cavs will be contenders some time. Lebron is going to be even more amazing in 4 years and I am sure they will be able to give him a good team to play with.Dallas is an obvious choice for the West. I think the Spurs won't be contenders. In 4 years Duncan will be too old. They will still have a good playoffs team but will not be contenders.I think if Amare comes back and can be what people expected from him the Suns will be right up there. Diaw should be a future all-star. He plays as a big man and is a great passer. He has shown good D too and should improve. Then we have some more young players and we have a bunch of draft picks(thank you Atlanta). I believe the Suns and Mavs should be on top of the West for years to come.
I seriously think Boston is on the comeback, just thinking of the talent they have makes me amazed. I do think they will be contenders. They have a good pick and they will pick up some players along the way. Boston is on the rise in the east. Not to forget Chicago too, with Gordon, Hinrich, Nocioni etc. they will be a very good team.
I don't know about Boston, not because they don't have good young talent, but because their one superstar, Paul Peirce, might not be as good as he is now...and as with Chicago, you have to have at least 1 superstar to be a title contender, unless you're the Pistons, who still had several great, borderline superstar players.I think Dallas and Orlando will be...SA has a chance to be that good as well, and if Lebron stays in Cleavland them as well.I'm not sure about the Suns, because it all depends on Nash, and who will run the PG position as he obviously won't be that good by then.
Don't count out Phoenix. Nash might be gone, but they'll only aquire more talent and if Amare is 100%, things will be tough. Shawn Marion also wont be finished
Now Shawn Marion I think will be gone. With Diaw being so great I think next year they may trade him to free up cap space and even if they keep him he'll be 33 and not be the athletic beast he is now(he's had knee surgery too). They have 5 draft picks so far in the next 3 year so they better find someone with those...
I think Cleveland has a serious chance as well, LeBron only gets better per year and look at what he did this year with a decent supporting cast. If they can stay healthy and build around LeBron a little more they will be one of the top teams in the east.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Serge @ Jun 16 2006, 08:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Don't think he is a flop. He just did not get the playing time when he played for DET.Excited to see what Darko can do as a starter next season.Unless it's against the Sixers. lol</div>When Milicic was in Detroit, it wasn't a matter of playing time, although I do believe that more would have developed him better, but it was that he seemed to not know where to be on the court. He didn't run the plays well in games, and is labeled with soft, but can't play outside. At Detroit when Larry Brown put him in the final 3 minutes, that segment was called Happy Darko, because all the fans went nuts when he was inserted.I know in the right enviroment with a good amount of playing time, Darko will improve of course. But, I think the perfect place to learn how to play inside is in Detroit. Rasheed will work overtime to get his teammates to learn, and Ben and Antonio McDyess are both great players to learn from.His playing time will increase, so I think he will breakout soon. Not this season though. In four years, that will be enough time.
If Boston can keep this core together, and Green, Perk, and Al develop well enough, we will be possibly the best team in the East, providing we keep Pierce. PG- WestSG- GreenSF- PiercePF- JeffersonC- PerkLoads of potential to be a great team right there, hopefully Ainge will keep it together and theyll develop well enough. The Celts future is looking real optimistic these days.
The Cavaliers, Bobcats, Mavericks and Bulls. - LeBron will only be 25 in 4 years, yeah, thats all you need to know. - Bobcats have winners and almost no cap used, winners all over that team/ownership - Mavericks, Dirk will be 32 and they have a solid young cast and good ownership. - Bulls have winners and good coaching.
So you think the power will be in the East in four years? That is probably true, though.Nobody thinks that San Antonio will still contend?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SunnyD @ Jun 17 2006, 02:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>So you think the power will be in the East in four years? That is probably true, though.Nobody thinks that San Antonio will still contend?</div> Duncan will be 34, Ginobili 32...doubt it.
The Spurs won't contend. I do think eventually the East will be better but for the next few years i'll be enjoying being a West fan and the East being worse than I've ever seen them.
People want to play in a winning enviroment, San Antonio has proved that they can contend. Most of the players on the Spurs were drafted or signed as free agents, so they don't have any problem in those areas. Gregg Popovich is one of the best coaches/teachers in the league.
I am going to go out on a limb here but, I think the Bobcats could make a fairly good run with a decent SG in their lineup.Bulls, They are a young but potential and already talent loaded.Dallas, With all their younger players and Dirk (hopefully) still on there team they are going to be right up there.Orlando, will also be a close team but, there young guys will prove us to them in 2010.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SunnyD @ Jun 17 2006, 01:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>People want to play in a winning enviroment, San Antonio has proved that they can contend. Most of the players on the Spurs were drafted or signed as free agents, so they don't have any problem in those areas. Gregg Popovich is one of the best coaches/teachers in the league.</div>When their 2 best players aren't going to be what they were I don't expect them to contend. I still expect them to be a good team because of the reasons you have in the quote. Udrih and Oberto may turn into good players too.
