Mandatory Credit: Thomas Campbell-US PRESSWIRE
New Orleans Hornets: Eric Gordon & Anthony Davis; Sub – Austin Rivers
Year 2 A.C. (After Chris) is not looking too bad. By midseason, I imagine Austin Rivers will have supplanted Greivis Vasquez as the starting point guard. While all eyes will be on the development of Anthony Davis, Eric Gordon will still shoulder the scoring load, along with newly acquired Ryan Anderson. This is also a contract year for Al-Farouq Aminu, so the first 10 games should be a good gauge of how badly he wants it. Akin to the upcoming regular season, these Hornets are capable of causing a stir and can bust some brackets out West.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Russell Westbrook & Kevin Durant; Sub – Serge Ibaka
Westbrook and Durant remind me of Stockton and Malone – if Stockton shot 3x as much, passed half as much, was able to dunk, and wore shorts twice as long. Okay, bad analogy. Actually, there’s absolutely nothing similar, because I see at least one championship in their future. James Harden finished the 2011-12 season 5th in PER among all SGs, and 4th in TS% among ALL players. The three players ahead of him were Manu Ginobili, who only played 34 games, Steve Novak, who played half as many minutes per game as Harden, and Tyson Chandler (who almost set a record for highest TS% ever). Despite this, Harden is still not good enough to make their NBA Jam team!!
Phoenix Suns: Goran Dragic & Luis Scola: Sub – Michael Beasley
For the sake of Phoenix fans, and Robert Sarver’s unparalleled generosity (trading Captain Canada to a division rival), I hope karma returns the favour and Kendall Marshall is the second coming of Nash! With a solid backup at each position (Sebastian Telfair, Shannon Brown, Jared Dudley, Channing Frye, and the athlete formerly known as Jermaine O’Neal), and a solid front court in Scola and Gortat, the Suns can be very competitive this season.
Portland Trailblazers: Damian Lillard & LaMarcus Aldridge; Sub – Wesley Matthews
This is one of those teams that will perform better as a 2-man squad, than a 12-man roster. Lillard, Aldridge, and Matthews are the Blazers core for the next couple of years, but outside of that are stop-gaps and questions. The Small Forward spot is led by Nicolas groin-punching Batum, and backed up with Victor Claver, Luke Babbitt, and Will Barton. While the acquisition of J.J. Hickson should help, it should be worth noting that their Centres are Meyers Leonard and Joel Freeland, both of whom are huge question mark.s
Sacramento Kings: Tyreke Evans & DeMarcus Cousins; Sub – Isaiah Thomas
The Jekyll and Hyde team of the tournament! I can totally see the Kings ripping off a few upsets, with Evans and Cousins playing the two-man game to perfection. I can also see these two fighting each other and losing defaulting their game! Aaron Brooks and Thomas will give fits to opposing point guards all season long, while Jason Thompson and rookie Thomas Robinson should complement Cousins very well. Throw in the scoring ability of Marcus Thornton, a healthy Francisco Garcia, and the veteran presence of John Salmons, and the Kings are worth keeping an eye on this season. I just wish this tournament would’ve been done when the Kings could trot out Jason Williams and Chris Webber. Ah the good ole days.
San Antonio Spurs: Tony Parker & Tim Duncan; Sub – Manu Ginobili
What’s not to like about the Spurs? Outside of the usual suspects (Manu, Parker, TD), Kawhi Leonard is emerging as a budding star, Dajuan Blair, Matt Bonner, Boris Diaw, and Tiago Splitter are all fully capable of providing Duncan the rest he’ll need for the playoffs, and Gary Neal, Stephen Jackson, and Danny Green provide a diverse spark from the bench. Gregg Popovich continues to churn out winners, so I’d expect nothing less – in the regular season and in the tournament.
Utah Jazz: Mo Williams & Al Jefferson: Sub – Paul Millsap
The Jazz front court is solid with Jefferson and Millsap being double-double threats on a nightly basis. Also, a full season with Derrick Favors will help the former Yellow Jacket, who was thrust into a starting role at the beginning of his rookie season with the Nets. We know what to expect out of newly acquired Marvin Williams – nothing spectacular, yet still serviceable. The pressure will be on Gordon Hayward to take his game to the next level, as Randy Foye lurks in the shadows taking minutes. Speaking of their bench, welcome back to the NBA Jamaal Tinsley!
Follow Jay Rosales on Twitter @Rosalesaurus