RK (LW) TEAM REC
1 (1) SPURS 46-10
Fresh of their all-star appearance, the Spurs Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili might take a back seat to Tony Parker in the second half of the season. I believe Parker will use his all-star snubbing as motivation and will be the Spurs best player in the second half of the season.
2 (2) CELTICS 40-14
The Celtics are confident and believe they can make it to the NBA Finals without having home court advantage in the Eastern Conference which is why I expect them to focus on staying healthy in the second half of the season as oppose to challenging Miami for the best record in the East.
3 (3) HEAT 41-15
The Miami Heat will finish with the best record in the Eastern Conference by the end of the season, but it may not matter as much because they are much better on the road then at home. I expect Lebron to have a better second half than he did before the all-star break which should result in him winning his third straight MVP Award.
4 (4) MAVERICKS 40-16
The Mavericks will be without forward Caron Butler for the rest of the season, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see the team trade him and his $10.6 milliion expiring contract. In an effort to improve their chances of competing with the Lakers and Spurs, a trade might be imperative.
5 (5) BULLS 38-16
The Bulls Joakim Noah is expected to be back on Wednesday and his return will certainly bolster the Bulls interior defense and increase Derrick Rose’s chance of winning the MVP Award. However, I think the Bulls will still finish third in the East and I don’t expect them to continue winning at their current (.7037) percentage, considering half of their remaining games will be against teams with .500 or better records.
6 (7) THUNDER 35-19
The Oklahoma City Thunder are tied with the Lakers in the loss column and are on track to win 53 games, which I believe they might end up winning. I expect them to finish with the fourth seed behind the Spurs, Mavericks and Lakers. I believe Kevin Durant will also finish fourth in the MVP voting behind Lebron, D-Rose and Dwight Howard.
7 (8) MAGIC 36-21
The Orlando Magic will finish the season seeded fourth in the Eastern Conference and will have a first round match up with either the Hawks or the Knicks if they end up trading for Carmelo Anthony. I expect the Magic to be very relentless in their pursuit of Eddy Curry or Todd Murphy, if and when either player is traded and have their contract bought out by their new team.
8 (6) LAKERS 38-19
I think it’s fair to say that the Lakers have conceded the top seed in the West to San Antonio, but I definitely expect them to end up with the second seed. Like Kobe said, the Lakers were bored with familiar roles in the first half of the season, especially after coming of back to back championships. Their boredom will turn to seriousness by mid April, at which time they will be ready to defend their championship.
9 (9) HAWKS 34-21
The Hawks are the fifth best team in the East and could be the sixth if Carmelo gets traded to New York. I think management has to be aware of this, which is why I wouldn’t be surprised if the Hawks were to make a trade before the deadline. Marvin Williams is the most likely candidate to be traded with Josh Smith being next in line.
10 (10) TRAIL BLAZERS 32-24
Rumor has it that the Blazers are trying to trade Andre Miller; a player I consider to be a very solid point guard, to the Nets for Devin Harris. The belief is Harris, Matthews and Roy once he returns should give the Blazers a formidable backcourt trio that should be able to compete with just about any backcourt in the league. The Blazers are looking to speed up the tempo and must believe that Harris would be better suited for that task, whereas Miller is more of a prototype point guard.
11 (13) NUGGETS 32-25
The Nuggets will have a completely different team within less than a week and from the looks of things the Knicks may be emerging as their ultimate trade partner for Carmelo Anthony. Either way, it appears that the Carmelo Anthony trade saga may be coming to an end.
12 (12) GRIZZLIES 31-26
The Grizzlies are tied with the slumping Jazz for the eighth and final playoff spot. I expect the Griz to eventually beat out the Jazz for the final spot. Trading O.J. Mayo appears less likely now that Rudy Gay is out with an injury. Mayo should replace Rudy in the starting lineup and considering all his recent troubles, I expect him to use that to his advantage and play a lot better than he did in the first half of the season.
13 (11) HORNETS 33-25
The Hornets have been consistently inconsistent and I expect that trend to continue in the second half of the season. The reality is the Hornets are not a very talented team, compounded to that is the fact that the team is owned by the league and without a regular owner calling the shots, player movements will be highly unlikely before the trade deadline.
14 (16) KNICKS 28-26
The Knicks and the entire city of New York for that matter are sitting on the edge of their seats in anticipation of Carmelo Anthony’s arrival. Clueless reporters are writing that the Knicks are giving up too much for Carmelo so let me set the record straight. If the trade goes through, the Knicks would be swapping Felton for Billups, which is fine by me. Eddy contract is expiring and the Knicks were not going to re-sign him anyway. Basically, the Knicks would be trading Gallinari and Chandler for Carmelo. Please explain to me why would any general manager pass up that trade? This trade is an absolute ‘no brainer.’
15 (14) JAZZ 31-26
The Jazz are winless since the resignation of Jerry Sloan and I am going on record to say that they will not make the playoffs this season. The sad conclusion to the story is that in an effort to appease Deron Williams, the Jazz forced Sloan into early retirement and when it’s all said and done, Williams will leave Utah when he becomes a free agent in 2012.
16 (15) 76ERS 27-29
I anticipate the Sixers holding on to the seventh spot in the East. I don’t see them surpassing the Hawks or the Knicks if they get Carmelo, but I will say they will be a nightmare matchup in the first round for either the Bulls or Celtics. I will be very surprised if the Sixers trade Iguodala, because quite frankly, I don’t see them getting equal value in return so why pull the trigger.
17 (18) SUNS 27-27
The Suns are currently right at .500, but making the playoffs will take an absolute miracle and I just don’t see that happening with the Grizzlies and Blazers playing so well. I know they are only 2.5 games out of the eighth spot, but for them to make it, the Grizzlies or Blazers will have to fall and without the Suns making a trade to bolster their roster, the likelihood of that happening will be very slim. The problem with making a trade is that the Suns don’t have any tradable assets outside of Steve Nash and trading him would be an indication that they are looking to rebuild.
18 (20) WARRIORS 26-29
My hometown Warriors have come on strong as of late winning 7 of their last 10 games, but it might be a case of a little too late, as far as making the playoffs is concern. Word out of Oakland is that the Warriors will be looking to go after the Blazers Oden or the Rockets Yao Ming, with the latter being their preference considering the strong Bay Area Asian Community.
19 (17) PACERS 24-30
I was very impressed with the Pacers new head coach Frank Vogel’s proclamation that teams best beware of facing the Pacers in the first round of the playoffs. I believe it was simply his way of motivating his team, because I doubt any of the top teams in the East got the message. The team is 7-3 under their new head coach with two of their losses coming against the Heat in two very close games. The Pacers primary focus in the second half of the season however, should be holding off the Bobcats for the eighth and final spot in the East. Currently, they are only one game ahead.
20 (19) ROCKETS 26-31
The Rockets are not going to make the playoffs, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see them make a trade before the deadline. If they do make one, it would be to improve the team’s future and will not have anything to do with increasing their chances of making the playoffs this year. Could a trade be brewing with the Warriors for Yao?
21 (21) BOBCATS 24-32
The Bobcats are only one game behind the Pacers and I know their owner Michael Jordan will do everything he can to increase his team chances of making it. M.J is going to make a trade and rumor has it that either Stephen Jackson or Gerald Wallace might be on the move.
22 (23) CLIPPERS 21-35
All the Clippers can hope for is to improve as a team in the second half of the season. Those improvements may not be determined by the wins, rather by the continuous developing chemistry between their young stars. Once Gordon returns, the rotation should return back to normal and hopefully Griffin will use the second half to improve his post game and his jump shot.
23 (22) BUCKS 21-34
The Bucks shooting guard and former all-star Michael Redd is close to returning after being out for 13 months due to a severe knee injury. I doubt he can return to his old form, but if he’s anything close to that, the Bucks will have a great chance of making the playoffs. A more likely scenario would be for the Bucks to trade Redd, whose $18.3 million expiring contract makes him very attractive. The trading deadline is shaping into a very exciting one and the Bucks should be very active if they intend to salvage their season.
24 (24) PISTONS 21-36
The sale of the Detroit Pistons is closed to being finalized and until it’s completed, everything will be at a standstill. I don’t expect the deal to be consummated before the trade deadline on Thursday and if in fact that is the case the Pistons will not make any trades.
25 (25) NETS 17-40
The Nets got back into the Carmelo Anthony sweepstake and even struck a deal, but Melo will not be going to New Jersey. The Nets are rumored to be engaging the Nuggets for another trade that should land them the Knicks Gallinari and Felton if indeed those players are traded to the Nuggets. If that happens, Devin Harris could be on his way out.
26 (26) WIZARDS 15-39
The Wizards future looks really bright with JaVale McGee, John Wall and Nick Young aboard, not to mention the high draft pick that they are sure to get considering their terrible record. In McGee and Wall, the Wizards have their center and point guard of the future, two positions that are considered the hardest and most important to fill.
27 (28) RAPTORS 15-41
Second year guard Demar DeRozan showed a glimpse of why the Raptors are so high on him during the slam dunk competition. He’s currently the Raptors second leading scorer with 15.9ppg, but he has an incredible upside. The Raptors could be a completely different team if DeRozan continues to improve along with center Andrea Bargnani and the team is fortunate to add a top 3 lottery pick.
28 (27) KINGS 13-40
The Kings DeMarcus Cousins has a boatload of talent and could be a star in this league if he can get his temper under control. He should average 20/10 by next season, by which time the Kings could be playing in Anaheim, California.
29 (29) TIMBERWOLVES 13-43
The Timberwolves are playing the role of facilitator which is why I expect them to be very active before the trade deadline. I don’t expect them to make any significant trades, but I do expect them to add a player or two from teams looking to shed salaries, similar to what they did when they acquired Michael Beasley from the Heat last summer.
30 (30) CAVALIERS 10-46
The Cavs are not going to make any major moves, unless a team is willing to take on Jamison contract that has $15 million left after this season, while providing them with future draft picks, because the team is not really looking to improve this season. The team’s primary concern is to hopefully land a high draft pick and to add as many future first round picks as they look to rebuild through draft.
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