http://espn.go.com/nba/powerrankings/_/year/2014/week/-1 We're ranked #15. Mediocrity is the worst place to be in the NBA. Not good enough to compete for a championship; not bad enough to get a franchise-changing talent. Yay. Here's to our future of 38-44 wins!
If you're not one of the glory franchises, the only paths are to be very bad or very good. Once you hit the middle, it's tough to break out either way.
It's not hard to imagine us leap frogging Atlanta, Minnesota, and Dallas on that list. #12 doesn't sound so mediocre, does it? An Amare-less NYK at #11 isn't uncatchable, either.
If we were ranked #15 and knew - KNEW - this was the peak of our team's potential, I'd say we were mediocre. Right now, though, I'd say we were just passing through.
Man.... maybe I drank the cool-aid, but I think this team is going to surprise some people. I think we addressed all of our bench issues from last year, and hopefully our starters can play as well, or better, than last year.
Not true, max. We're on the rise. We're hardly "stuck." Were the Thunder "stuck in mediocrity" when they were the 8 seed in 2010? They made it to the Finals two years later. Do teams go from awful to great without ever being in the middle? Your logic makes no sense. Never mind the fact that the games haven't even been played yet. Preseason rankings mean nothing.
Rockets were 8th seed last year. Now they're ranked #6. How did they land franchise changing talent? Don't you have to be very bad to do that? Confused.
We're #11 in future power rankings. And that's with a crappy draft outlook since we have to give our pick up to CHA. While I'm not going to jump on Eric's sunshine-and-unicorns outlook, we're going to be decent-at-worst this year** and have tons of flexibility. Trade LMA for lots of young pieces? Re-sign him and keep filling out the roster with quality role players as Lillard becomes an All-NBAer? Package some talent in a consolidation trade? Let everyone's contracts expire and be big ballas in 2015? We're not the Bucks, for goodness' sakes. **-barring, well, you know.
Maybe. But I am more optimistic. We have made great strides during the off season. Dame will continue to get better. Leonard may yet develop. McCullough could end up being a baller. We have players we can trade with now to fill gaps... So here's hoping we continue to grow and make trades... and get better.
This team still has no long-term plan in place that Aldridge will want to stay around for. That's the worst part.
Exactly. He's at his peak. Lillard may get better, but no one is thinking McCollum is anything but perhaps a nice combo guard. Does Nico make the jump to his potential? Perhaps, but a Lillard-LA-Batum triumvirate is likely not winning championships. Perhaps we can get lucky and make it to the second round.
