The NBA world is buzzing as the preseason has been as eventful as every basketball fan would like. Fresh faces, team changing free agent signings, Major coaching changes and and an amazing Schedule for us to lick our lips over.
In this blog I will update you on everything that has happened in the NBA universe since The Draft. Saying that, lets start with the rookies.
The Draft itself was a surprising one with UNLV forward Anthony Bennett bring picked no.1 instead of favorite Nerlens Noel (drafted no.6, then traded to Philadelphia). Other draftees included Victor Oladipo picked no.2 by Orlando, Alex Len picked no.5 by Phoenix and Ben Mclemore picked no.7 by Sacramento. I have a strong feeling that the rookie of the year chase will be a good one.
Moving on to free agent signings which was dominated mostly by this question… Where is Dwight Howard going? That question was thrown around so much during this summer and I can now say he has gone to the Houston Rockets. In my view I think it was a done deal when the Lakers front office decided to put up billboards saying “#StayD12”. Not a good move. I think Jeanie Buss said it best…
When it came time to try to convince Dwight to stay, we lost the best closer in the business in Dr. Buss. Putting up the billboard maybe wasn’t the right thing. But we maybe have to learn to do things differently because Dr. Buss isn’t here anymore.
She also commented on the billboard saying “it’s not the Laker way” and I 100% agree. I think it’s safe to say that the Lakers won’t make the playoffs next season.
As for Houston they have immediately become a legit team with a great starting lineup with D12, Harden and co and also a half decent bench. A team to watch for sure.
We move to the eastern conference and the fight for the 6,7,8th seeds have changed dramatically. Milwaukee are out of contention with losing Brandon Jennings to Detroit. They do have Brandon Knight but if last season proved anything it’s proved that Knight is a significant downgrade compared to Jennings. Speaking of Detroit they have been very busy this off-season signing the aforementioned Brandon Jennings, their old leader Chauncey Billups, Josh Smith from Atlanta and Rasheed Wallace as assistant coach. And with the beast front-court of Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe they’re in the playoff hunt.
Boston are in rebuild mode as Paul Pierce, Jason Terry and Kevin Garnett have now taken their veteran skills to a now stronger Brooklyn nets team. Cleveland are now out of rebuild mode and are ready to go for a playoff spot. With Kyrie Irving blossoming rapidly and Anderson Varejao coming back, I can see them in the playoffs.
Up the top echelon of the east, the New York Knicks have signed Metta World Peace to help Melo in his efforts for a championship. And lastly the back to back champions Miami Heat have signed center Greg Oden (who hasn’t played a full game since 09) which is a great signing for them, it makes up for the amnestied Mike Miller who’s now at Memphis.
Finally the coaching carousel. Doc Rivers is now coaching the LA Clippers which is fortunate for the clips. Franchise player Chris Paul was saying that if they didn’t sign Doc, he was going somewhere else. Lucky for them eh?
Weeks from retiring as a player, Jason Kidd is now the head coach of the Brooklyn nets. He says that he wants to inject pace in Brooklyn’s current style of play. We’ll see where that goes.
As for Boston. They have first time NBA head coach Brad Stevens. Stevens was coaching Butler Bulldogs college but has taken the plunge and moves up to the NBA. Personally if Danny Ainge gives him the time, Boston will be back in the top 8 in no time.
