The Race for the Lottery Prize

by OldeBull on Oct 26, 2006 4:55 PM CDT Comment 7 comments

While everyone else is predicting the next NBA Champ, I choose to wallow in the muck of the NBA's lower depths divining the candidates for next June's NBA lottery. I probably just don't want to give up the pleasure I derived predicting the Bulls draft pick for the coming year. Thank god for Isiah Thomas, giving us a dog in this race. Submit your own list and if we have a good response I'll keep a record and we'll get Matt to award a prize to the best prediction.

Here are my bottom 10 picks from worst to mediocre.

Portland (26-56)Perhaps not the the leagues worst team, but they only get to play the East's also rans twice instead of 4 times. The're very young and the front office is probably spending more time looking at Ohio State's, Texas' and Florida's basketball schedule than there own.
Atlanta (27-55) Here is a team without a plan, but there probably too good to pass Portland. What Dukee or Tarheel can they draft this coming Summer?
Toronto (32 -50)They might surprise but I think that they are looking at this season as an opportunity to develop their youngsters and earn another high draft choice. Why is Sam Mitchell still coaching that team?
Philadelphia (34-48) They get all their points from 2 guys , (Iverson & Webber)who are likely to miss at least 30 game between them. They look terrible on defense and Mo Cheeks has to be the early favorite to be the first coach fired.
Charlotte (35-47) They have talent but it's still young. Maybe next year they challenge for a playoff spot.
Seattle (35-47) Not good enough to compete in the West. Swift at Center, Dixon at guard, Yeck. I'm probably overrating them at this spot.
New York (36-46) They have no incentive to dump games in March & April like the rest, so I'm giving them three more games then they are probably worth. Of course they could completely blowup and give us a top 3 pick again.
Memphis (37-45) The're not as bad as some like to think and Gasol will be back by mid season.
Milwaukee (38-44) I expect them to take a step back this season. Look for Charlie Vilaneuva to have a down year.
Golden State (38-44) There's a lot of personnel conflicts on this team but I'm betting on Nelson to get them more wins than they deserve. They will score a lot more points but this is a very weak and soft defense.

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My head is exploding trying . . . .

to come up with an accurate list of the bottom feeders. Probably because I think there is so much parity in the Eastern Conference. I don't know if any team will win less than 34 or more than 54. Heck, I even think Atlanta will be not-laughable because I've always thought Speedy Claxton was underrated.

so can I answer "ditto?"

by GWKD on Oct 26, 2006 6:34 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Marvin Williams broke his hand

not sure how much it matters, but definitely makes Atlanta worse.

by GWKD on Oct 27, 2006 1:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Steve Kerr on Parity

Even a broken clock is right two times a day, but
ha!!! I was before Steve Kerr on parity!!! he agrees, at least as to the top teams.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=sk-parity102706&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

1. The big man is almost extinct. Only Shaq, Tim Duncan and Yao Ming have the ability to control games in the paint. With so many teams playing an up-tempo, perimeter-oriented style, each game's outcome is becoming more dependent on outside shots. And every team has shooters.

The salary cap. With a penalizing luxury tax, 29 of the 30 teams in the NBA are playing on basically an even level. Only the New York Knicks have the financial means to disregard the tax and outspend their opponents, but obviously, it hasn't gotten them very far.
The superstars aren't teaming up. You can make a case that Wade and Shaq qualify, but O'Neal is nowhere near the player he was a few years ago. Look at the other contenders and their combos: Duncan and Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry, LeBron James and ... who? Due to the cap and the fact that there are 30 teams in the league, it's become almost impossible to put together a Magic/Kareem, Bird/McHale, Jordan/Pippen type of combination.

The result is the most wide-open field of title contenders the NBA has possibly ever seen.

But is that a good thing?

by GWKD on Oct 27, 2006 4:14 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Darkhorses

The Lakers and T-Wolves are both a season ending injury away from lottery-dom.

Will the Ginobili/Nocioni era ever be over?

by Paxson Jackson on Oct 26, 2006 6:40 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

It'll be Portland

Given how tough the West is, I'm almost positive they'll end up with the worst record in the league. They've got a few good young players, but as long as Randolph and Miles are there, they'll continue to cause problems.

by Big D on Oct 26, 2006 6:47 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs