2008 NBA Preview

Yes, it's a little late to “preview” something that has already started. However, for the first time I thought it would be interesting to at least have an idea of how good some of the teams in the NBA are before trying to predict who will finish where. In other sports, this information is typically gathered by watching preseason football or baseball spring training games. However in the NBA, it is simply too difficult to ascertain anything from watching the preseason, and more importantly, I missed the entire preseason. I have tweaked a few things this week, namely how good the Celtics will be, and where exactly Chicago will fall. At the least, this will be fun to mock in seven months. Without further ado, my take on the upcoming NBA season:

Eastern Conference

15. New York 26-56)

14. Milwaukee (28-54)

13. Philadelphia (29-53)

12. Charlotte (31-51)

11. Washington (33-49)

10. Atlanta (35-47)

9. New Jersey (37-45)

*I originally thought Atlanta could sneak into the playoffs as a sleeper before I actually examined any of the teams. If the Hawks or Milwaukee can gel and mature and play a smidgeon of defense, they could replace a stumbling playoff team from a year ago.

Playoff Teams

8. Toronto (40-42)

7. Indiana (41-41)

6. Chicago (42-40)

5. Cleveland (43-39)

4. Miami (44-38)

3. Orlando (47-35)

2. Detroit (52-30)

1. Boston (58-24)

*I originally had the Celtics closer to 50 wins than 60, and Chicago higher up the totem pole. Miami is a highly flawed team, but most of those 44 wins will be due to Dwyane Wade. I thought Orlando would be the class of their division and they have solidified that in the first two weeks.

All-Stars

C Dwight Howard

C Shaquille O'Neal (fan vote)

F Kevin Garnett

F Chris Bosh

F Paul Pierce

F LeBron James

F Luol Deng

G Dwyane Wade

G Gilbert Arenas

G Michael Redd

G Chauncey Billups

G Richard Hamilton

G Jason Kidd

Playoffs

1^st Round

Boston over Toronto

Detroit over Indiana

Orlando over Chicago

Miami over Cleveland

2^nd Round

Boston over Miami

Detroit over Orlando

Conference Finals

Boston over Detroit

Western Conference

15. Minnesota (26-56)

14. Seattle (28-54)

13. Memphis (29-53)

12. LA Clippers (31-51)

11. Sacramento (34-48)

10. Portland (36-46)

9. Golden State (40-42)

*Sacramento is the sleeper team to me. If Ron Artest and Mike Bibby are healthy and Artest stays out of trouble, they have too much talent not to win enough games to make the playoffs. As it is, I took the conservative approach and left them in the back of the pack.

Playoff Teams

8. LA Lakers (40-42)

7. New Orleans (46-36)

6. Denver (48-34)

5. Houston (54-28)

4. Dallas (56-26)

3. Phoenix (57-25)

2. Utah (58-24)

1. San Antonio (62-20)

*I've like New Orleans for a while. I think they are the sixth best team in the west, and just stuck in the NBA's best division. If they were in the East, they could win over 50 games and be a contender. Denver has yet to show me they can put it together. I wonder if Phoenix can stay healthy, but they are in a relatively weak division. Utah should pick up right where they left off last year, with the modern Stockton-Malone in Boozer and Williams.

All-Stars

C Amare Stoudemire

C Yao Ming

F Carlos Boozer

F Dirk Nowitzki

F Tim Duncan

F Shawn Marion

F Carmelo Anthony

G Steve Nash

G Allen Iverson

G Tony Parker

G Kobe Bryant

G Tracy McGrady

G Deron Williams

Playoffs

1^st Round

San Antonio over LA Lakers

Utah over New Orleans

Phoenix over Denver

Houston over Dallas

2^nd Round

Utah over Phoenix

San Antonio over Houston

Conference Finals

San Antonio over Utah

Awards

All-NBA

C Yao Ming

F Kevin Garnett

F LeBron James

G Dwyane Wade

G Kobe Bryant

MVP: Kevin Garnett

Rookie of the Year: Kevin Durant

Defensive Player of the Year: Kevin Garnett

NBA Finals: San Antonio over Boston