1. Miami Heat
The favorites to win a third consecutive title in four straight Finals appearances.
2. Washington Wizards
A motivated John Wall should make them playoff contenders.
3. Atlanta Hawks
Some new faces at key positions, but a healthy Al Horford is pretty good.
4. Charlotte Bobcats
Signing Al Jefferson was nice, but the backcourt has a lot of questions.
5. Orlando Magic
They’re going in the right direction with drafting Victor Oladipo.
Head Coach: Erik Spoelstra
Key Position: Shooting Guard – With the health questions of Dwayne Wade this position will be closely scrutinized. Even when LeBron James is still at his best he needs to have Wade healthy and at his best if the Heat are to truly live up to their billing as a dynasty.
Key Acquisitions: F Michael Beasley, C Greg Oden
Key to Win the Finals: Keep LeBron happy.
Head Coach: Randy Wittman
Key Position: Point Guard – It was a rather disappointing start for the Wizards last year and the evidence was apparent that if John Wall is at his best the Wizards are a tough team to beat. With the pieces Washington has in place around him this should be a good year in D.C.
Key Acquisitions: F Al Harrington, C Marcin Gortat
Key to Win the Finals: Forget the past and move forward.
Head Coach: Mike Budenholzer
Key Position: Point Guard – This has always been a question mark for Atlanta. Jeff Teague is a solid point guard, but he doesn’t exactly light up the stat sheet on a nightly basis. The Hawks hope their future lies with the German product Dennis Schroder.
Key Acquisitions: F Elton Brand, F Paul Millsap
Key to Win the Finals: Start fresh with a few new faces.
Head Coach: Steve Clifford
Key Position: Frontcourt – There are a lot of big bodies now in Charlotte’s frontcourt. The biggest being Al Jefferson and first round pick Cody Zeller. If Bismack Biyombo can realize his defensive prowess with Jefferson and Zeller on board the Bobcats could finally have a strength on their roster.
Key Acquisitions: C Al Jefferson
Key to Win the Finals: Build a consistent winner.
Head Coach: Jacque Vaughn
Key Position: Center – Most didn’t expect that Orlando would find a replacement for Dwight Howard so quickly. They just might have with the breakout season of Nikola Vucevic. If he can continue to improve the Magic will be in a good position to build around him and Victor Oladipo.
Key Acquisitions: G Victor Oladipo (Rookie)
Key to Win the Finals: Keep your franchise players.
westhesportsguy.com 