2014-15 regular season predictions

[SDC]

MKG was a 75% FT shooter in his rookie year with a decent number of attempts.

dragic was a 75% FT shooter this year.

there's hope for kidd gilchrist.

[Mori Chu]

He's only 21 I think. He seems to have a great work ethic and stays in the practice court for long hours. I think he can figure this out and become a really valuable NBA player if he wants to.

[INFORMER]

part of it is I think he's been underrated in his first two years. He does just about everything but shoot.

I really have to disagree with both statements, and I was really high on MKG going into the draft.

He's a solid defender that was billed as a great defender.

He is an above average rebounder.

He has average to below average ball-handling skills.

He isn't adept at passing or making plays for others.

So I'm not sure how you can he doesn't everything but shoot. I think he still can get better, but he has a LONG way to go.

[SDC]

it's not true that gerald green is as good as gone in phoenix. NOT TRUE at all.

here's my prediction for 2015:

if the suns do better or as good as last season by all star break--suns will trade gerald green.

if the suns do much worse than last season by all star break--suns will not continue on their current path. suns will not double down on having 3 starting caliber PGs and one of them will have to go--traded for another big. Which means Green could stay, since's he's the prototypical shooting guard.

now who will go? of the 3, bledsoe is the most difficult to trade because of his contract and knee. IT is the most desirable (by a hair over goran) because his contract. but mcdo will not do that trade because it is newly signed. dragic OTOH, may opt out soon and ask for 11 mil/yr or more salary...

[Split T]

part of it is I think he's been underrated in his first two years. He does just about everything but shoot.

I really have to disagree with both statements, and I was really high on MKG going into the draft.

He's a solid defender that was billed as a great defender.

He is an above average rebounder.

He has average to below average ball-handling skills.

He isn't adept at passing or making plays for others.

So I'm not sure how you can he doesn't everything but shoot. I think he still can get better, but he has a LONG way to go.

He's not a jump shot away from being lebron, but being able to shoot would open up his game tremendously. He can defend, rebound, finish, move without the ball. He does a lot of things and he's only 21. If he learns to shoot, he could be kawhi Leonard.

[Sunsfan4life]

I'm going to go with 49 wins and the 8th/7th Seed. Pretty crazy that I'm talking 8th seed and predicting 49 wins but so goes life in the west. I think either the Mavs, Rox or Grizz will fall out of the playoffs.

As for conference predictions

East
1.Cleveland
2.Chicago
3.Charlotte (surprise, surprise)
4.Brooklyn
5.Atlanta (Sleeper if Hortford stays healthy)
6.Miami
7.Toronto
8.Washington (Think they are a bit overratted)
9.Indiana
10.Detroit
11.New York
12.Boston
13.Milwaukee
14.Orlando
15.Philadelphia

West
1.San Antonio
2.LA Clippers
3.Oklahoma City
4.Golden State
5.Portland
6.Dallas
7.Phoenix
8.Memphis
9.Houston
10.Utah
11.New Orleans
12.Denver
13.LA Lakers
14.Sacramento
15.Minnesota

The shocker here is I have the rockets falling out of the playoffs. They lost Parsons and replaced him with Ariza which is a downgrade in my book, they lost Asik who they barely played last yr but he was their Howard insurance. I can Easily see the Rockets being the 5th seed as well, I think you'll see 5-9 in the west be within 3 or 4 games of each other so its so tough to predict.

In the East, the southeast is very hard to predict. Arguably their are 4 teams who can win it, but I like what The Hornets did in the off-season. Added Stephenson and Marvin Williams to an already good core of Kemba and Big AL. Vonleh is going to help too. The Hawks before Hortford went down were the 3rd seed in the east last yr, so they should be in the thick of things. Miami is so hard to predict, as I see Bosh having a big yr, but betting on Dwayne Wade to stay healthy just isn't a smart bet.

[Shabazz]

I think many of you are severely underrating the Mavs.

[Split T]

I like the monta-parsons-dirk combo on offense, but it's terrible defensively. They'll miss marion as RJefferson is not Marion and they'll miss having a real pg. Calderon > Felton or Nelson. They will be counting too much on chandler to cover up their defensive shortcomings and he's not 2011 chandler anymore. I still think their good and will be in contention for a playoff spot, just can see them falling out easier than any other team. They made it by one game last year and I don't think they made any net improvements.

[LazarusLong]

I think many of you are severely underrating the Mavs.

I think Dallas will be able to score points on anybody, but they are hurtin' cowboys on D. And if Chandler is out for long stretches with injuries, they're doubly effed. Calderon is not spectacular, but he was steady; Felton has been erratic througout his career and I don't know how much gas Jameer has in his tank.

Dirk Nowitzki has had an amazing career. He's played in close to 1,200 games as a perimeter big man; that's a helluva lot of miles for a guy 7 foot and about 255 lbs. Banking on him to stay healthy most of the season is a very risky proposition.

[INFORMER]

I think many of you are severely underrating the Mavs.

Maybe. It may not be wise to bet against Rick Calisle, and maybe their point guard trio proves more effective than many expect. Jameer Nelson has been solid in the preseason.

[Shabazz]

Obviously the big wild card is Chandler's health. But even a diminished Chandler is a huge upgrade over Dalembert at the most important defensive position. And PG is not a terribly important position in the Mavs offense, so replacing Calderon (defensive sieve) with Nelson and Harris (I don't think Felton plays much) is not as much of a net drop off as you guys are indicating, if at all.

[ShelC]

On paper the mavs definitely got better. Chandler will bounce back to have a strong season, Parsons will allow Ellis to play off the ball more offensively and then Nelson can steady the ship and run pick and roll/pop with Dirk and Chandler.

[SDC]

if indiana sucks this year and decides to do a partial firesale, who would you rather have? scola or david west? (it doesnt solve the suns center problem)

[ShelC]

Neither. Indy doesn't have anything I'd want.

[Ring_Wanted]

Scola can be left out. West just sprained his ankle apparently really badly so right now he can't be a target.

Ian Mahinmi also suffered an injury, to his shoulder, but he'll be ready to play and he makes sense for us. Still, the Pacers need him too so probably they are not interested in just a salary dump for minor assets like second rounders, and I am not comfortable spending a 1stR on him, although they could use a true point guard, so maybe Mahinmi and their 2015 second rounder for Ennis.

[SDC]

Zach Lowe: "Eric Bledsoe’s brutality, Goran Dragic’s trickery … I love these guys."

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-a ... gs-part-2/

[SDC]

here are the 8 teams i hope would make the playoffs in the west

1) phoenix
2) GSW
3) Dallas
4) the hated spurs
5) OKC
6) nawlins
7) clippers
8) t-pups

[Superbone]

Zach Lowe: "Eric Bledsoe’s brutality, Goran Dragic’s trickery … I love these guys."

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-a ... gs-part-2/

Good stuff.

[pickle]

t pups? that's pretty bold sdc. i really can't see them outplaying both memphis and houston...

[Indy]

Neither. Indy doesn't have anything I'd want.

Not even a hug?