Basketball

Northwest Division

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1. Oklahoma City Thunder
They’re still contenders without Russell Westbrook, but won’t win without him.
2. Minnesota Timberwolves
Injuries aside this will be an exciting team to watch.
3. Utah Jazz
Some young talent will be counted on to produce right away.
4. Denver Nuggets
A new direction for a franchise known for their run-and-gun style.
5. Portland Trail Blazers
If LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard play well again they will be in the playoff mix.

Head Coach: Scott Brooks
Key Position: Point Guard – Reggie Jackson did a good job filling in for Russell Westbrook, but the team didn’t function the same way when he hurt his knee.  While Westbrook recovers it will be important for the Thunder to establish a cohesive unit instead of constantly running it through Kevin Durant.
Key Acquisitions: G Andre Roberson (Rookie)
Key to Win the Finals: Find a rhythm without Russell Westbrook.
Head Coach: Rick Adelman
Key Position: Frontcourt – They actually did well without Kevin Love for most of last season, but they couldn’t have Nikola Pekovic doing all of the dirty work on the boards.  No one can replace what Kevin Love brings to the Wolves and with him back this team will be scary good.
Key Acquisitions: F Corey Brewer, G Kevin Martin, C Ronny Turiaf
Key to Win the Finals: Stay healthy.
Head Coach: Tyrone Corbin
Key Position: Frontcourt – Utah is now letting Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors control the paint with the departures of Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson.  Favors arrived in the trade for Deron Williams a few years ago and Kanter was a high draft choice.  Both are talented big men and the Jazz want them to succeed right away.
Key Acquisitions: G Trey Burke (Rookie)
Key to Win the Finals: Get the young guys to buy in.
Head Coach: Brian Shaw
Key Position: Point Guard – Carmelo Anthony is long gone and surprisingly so is the head coach George Karl.  The new face of the franchise now is Ty Lawson who has had his share of doubters throughout his NBA career.  He is becoming a very good point guard and a prolific scorer for a team that now desperately needs him to do more of the same.
Key Acquisitions: G Randy Foye, F J.J. Hickson, G Nate Robinson
Key to Win the Finals: Establish a new regime.
Head Coach: Terry Stotts
Key Position: Frontcourt – There isn’t much help for All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge.  He will need to continue and put up stellar numbers for the Blazers to remain competitive against teams with better forwards.  If former lottery pick Thomas Robinson is given a chance to show his worth then the Blazers will have won big time.
Key Acquisitions: F Thomas Robinson, G Mo Williams, G Dorell Wright
Key to Win the Finals: Do the best with what you have.

Pacific Division

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1. Los Angeles Clippers
Doc Rivers was brought aboard to get the Clippers a championship.
2. Golden State Warriors
A good learning experience last year will help them win those tough games.
3. Los Angeles Lakers
How long Kobe’s absence will be has the Lakers season up in the air.
4. Sacramento Kings
If they can reign in DeMarcus Cousins the Kings will be sneaky good.
5. Phoenix Suns
A clear re-building project is underway in the desert.

Head Coach: Doc Rivers
Key Position: Power Forward – Blake Griffin has be a better all around player if the Clippers want to take that next step.  Doc Rivers should be able to do that since he has coached Kevin Garnett to a championship in Boston.  If Griffin becomes a dominant power forward the Clippers will be contenders for many years.
Key Acquisitions: G Darren Collison, F Jared Dudley, F Antawn Jamison, C Byron Mullens, G J.J. Redick
Key to Win the Finals: The time to win is now.
Head Coach: Mark Jackson
Key Position: Frontcourt – The Warriors lacked size against the Spurs in the playoffs last year and they hope to have improved that with a few additions to bolster their depth.  With the injury history of Andrew Bogut the Warriors hope they have elevated any worries here.
Key Acquisitions: G Andre Iguodala, F Jermaine O’Neal, F Marreese Speights
Key to Win the Finals: You have to play defense sometimes.
Head Coach: Mike D’Antoni
Key Position: Frontcourt – With a duo of Pau Gasol and Chris Kaman most teams would be satisfied with that, but considering that the Lakers had Dwight Howard last season this looks like a major downgrade.  It will be interesting to see how the Lakers make it work this year.
Key Acquisitions: G Jordan Farmar, G Wesley Johnson, C Chris Kaman, G Nick Young
Key to Win the Finals: The health of Kobe Bryant.
Head Coach: Michael Malone
Key Position: Center – When he isn’t an emotional recking ball DeMarcus Cousins is one of the best centers in the league.  If the Kings can control that emotion and with a new extension this should be a big year for Cousins and the Kings.
Key Acquisitions: F Carl Landry, G Greivis Vasquez
Key to Win the Finals: A permanent home will ease their stress.
Head Coach: Jeff Hornacek
Key Position: All – There were a few spots that needed to be re-done and the Suns did so in a big way.  Adding Eric Bledsoe is a good addition, but they’ll have to decide if he’s a point guard or a shooting guard with Goran Dragic entrenched at the point.  The rest is up for grabs with holdovers and youngsters.
Key Acquisitions: G Eric Bledsoe
Key to Win the Finals: Build for the future.

Southeast Division

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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.

Central Division

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1. Indiana Pacers
Added depth with a stacked starting five will strengthen them.
2. Chicago Bulls
A healthy Derrick Rose puts them back in contention.
3. Cleveland Cavaliers
A familiar head coach returns along with a winning formula.
4. Detroit Pistons
One free agent splash and trade positions them to win now.
5. Milwaukee Bucks
Their rebuilding to keep players that want to stay in Milwaukee.

Head Coach: Frank Vogel
Key Position: Small Forward – Paul George is clearly the best player on the team and a solid second is their center Roy Hibbert. However, Danny Granger was once the best player and he is still around albeit a bit banged up.  It will be interesting how the Pacers dole out the minutes with a healthy Granger available.
Key Acquisitions: F Luis Scola, G C.J. Watson
Key to Win the Finals: Defense wins championships.
Head Coach: Tom Thibodeau
Key Position: Point Guard – This is still the same team that fought and clawed their way through a season in which there were so many questions about when Derrick Rose would return.  He is back and fully recovered from a knee injury.  How far the Bulls go towards contending for a title rests on their talented point guard.
Key Acquisitions: G Mike Dunleavy
Key to Win the Finals: A fully healthy Derrick Rose.
Head Coach: Mike Brown
Key Position: Center – There is no doubt who is the face of this franchise, but if Andrew Bynum returns anywhere near his stats from 2011-12 then the Cavaliers will have gotten a steal in free agency giving him a 2-year incentive laden deal.  Time will tell if he’s motivated with a familiar head coach from that season.
Key Acquisitions: C Andrew Bynum, G Jarrett Jack
Key to Win the Finals: Establish an identity with Kyrie Irving as the face of the franchise.
Head Coach: Maurice Cheeks
Key Position: Small Forward – They made a splash by being the team to sign Josh Smith right from the beginning with hardly any competition.  Now that he’s on board it will be interesting to see how the rotation works with Kyle Singler and Jonas Jerebko seeing significant minutes last year.
Key Acquisitions: G Chauncey Billups, G Brandon Jennings, F Josh Smith
Key to Win the Finals: Follow the model of the Indiana Pacers.
Head Coach: Larry Drew
Key Position: Shooting Guard – Both Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings did not want to stay long term unless they were paid top dollar.  Milwaukee let Ellis go and traded away Jennings.  Signing O.J. Mayo is a bit of a reach, but for the Bucks it makes sense. They hope he and Brandon Knight can replace what Ellis and Jennings brought to the Bucks.
Key Acquisitions: F Caron Butler, G Brandon Knight, G O.J. Mayo, C Zaza Pachulia
Key to Win the Finals: Build a winner for many years.

2013 NBA Champions

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You could sum up this series with the question, ‘What if?’  What if the Miami Heat had not been so lackadaisical in Games 1 and 3? What if the San Antonio Spurs had Tim Duncan on the floor at the end of the fourth quarter in Game 6?  What if Ray Allen didn’t hit that shot to take Game 6 into overtime?  A lot of ‘what if’s’ indeed.
Without a doubt this series was a defining one for both teams.  If the San Antonio Spurs had one, it would have been their fifth title in as many chances.  All won during the reign of their head coach Gregg Popovich, who is perhaps the best coach in the NBA today. Since the Miami Heat overcame a near defeat in Game 6 to win in seven games they have now proven that they can win not one, but two titles.
Like any team would, Miami did use an us against the world mentality to their advantage.  And the fact that they have the best player in the NBA in LeBron James willing them to victory.  There was no doubt last year that he is the best right now.  The scary thing is that he is only getting better and in the prime of his career. The other scary thing is that teams around the league are gearing up again for his impending free agency in a few years i.e, ‘The Decision: Part 2’.
Going forward it will be interesting to see how Miami will try to stay relatively intact.  LeBron, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh are taking up a huge chunk of their salary.  Some of their role players might decide to call it a career, but Miami will find it incredibly hard to replace some of their role players that helped during critical moments of their playoff run.  The Spurs will have the same problem, but there’s no doubt they will remain title contenders.
If the Heat truly want to be considered a dynasty in their critics minds, they’ll have to continue to make appearances in the NBA Finals.  Winning cures all and so far the signs are looking good. There will be a lot of folks that root against them while they’re together, but there’s no dispute that we are seeing something that doesn’t come around very often.  A truly dominant team that won’t go down without a fight.