LeBron Will Lead Cavs to Title
King James and Cavaliers to win NBA central division crown
Nov 5, 2006
Atlantic Division Winner
New Jersey Nets: New Jersey is flat out loaded with talent and athleticism. Start with Jason Kidd, New Jersey’s do everything point guard, who led the team in assists, rebounds and steals a year ago. You read right – rebounds. The point guard will absolutely battle for every carom. Toss in Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson, and you’ve got runaway offense. Young center Nenad Krstic is fast blossoming into a force in the middle. At 7 0, 255, Krstic can score, rebound and block shots. Two first round draft picks, Josh Boone and Marcus Williams, bring depth and strength at point guard and center. What the Nets need is more production from forward Jason Collins and from the bench, which they may get from their draftees and newly acquired sharpshooter Eddie House. This will make New Jersey virtually unbeatable in the Atlantic Division.
Central Division Winner
Cleveland Cavaliers: For Cleveland, it starts and finishes with LeBron James – virtually every pundit’s choice as top player in the NBA. The Cavaliers , though, proved last year that basketball is the ultimate team sport, as even James’ 31 points and seven rebounds per game in the playoffs couldn’t get Cleveland out of the second round. Having lockdown defender Larry Hughes for an entire season will be a huge boost to a backcourt that sports a nice mix of youth and experience.
First-round draft pick, Shannon Brown, will allow head coach Mike Brown to mix defense and offense, when he goes to his bench -- something that personnel didn’t allow last season. Forward Drew Gooden is back with a new contract, solidifying a front line that includes 3-point specialist Donyell Marshall, acrobatic Anderson Verejao, offensive-minded center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and newly-acquired enforcer Scott Pollard. Coach Brown now has the ability to play both fast and slow, a combination that spells division, and possibly NBA, crown.
Southeast Division Winner
Washington Wizards: This prediction comes with one codicil – If Miami’s Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning ward off Father Time and post great seasons, the defending NBA Champions will win the division. Sure, this gives us an out, but that’s what predictions are all about. Assuming Shaq and Zo collapse, as any NBA player their ages should (they’re 34 and 36, respectively), a much younger and more athletic Wizards squad should prevail.
Point guard, Gilbert Arenas, is a true superstar and arguably the league’s deadliest outside shooter (he made a buzzer-beating 45-footer look as easy as a free throw, in the playoffs last season. Forwards Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler aren’t especially big, but they can score with the best of them and Butler is an above-average rebounder for his smallish stature. Plus, Butler, entering his third season out of UConn, keeps getting better; this could be a huge year for him, as his supporting cast continues to improve.
Southwest Division Winner
Dallas Mavericks: The toughest division out west could be a very tight horse race between the Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs. With do-everything leader, Dirk Nowitzki, sporting a fat new contract, and a supporting cast that includes Jason Terry, Jerry Stackhouse and athletic third-year forward, Josh Howard, the Mavericks are an imposing NBA force, to say the least. If journeyman center, DeSagana Diop (pronounced Sagahna Jop) continues his dramatic improvement under new coach Avery Johnson – Diop blocked nearly two shots per game last season and is now listed as the starter – Dallas might be even better this year. A return to the NBA finals is certainly not a long shot.
Northwest Division Winner
Minnesota Timberwolves: Sure the T-wolves were just 33-49 a year ago, but they added promising guard, Randy Foye, in the draft, they’ve got firepower in the backcourt with Mike James and Ricky Davis, and we haven’t even mentioned Kevin Garnett, who is the best player in the NBA, west of LeBron James. There’s plenty of depth at forward and when Rashad McCants returns from injury in early 2007, he’ll add one more spark to an already potent offense. If Davis ever decides to guard anyone and Foye becomes the impact player he looked like during the Las Vegas Summer League , Minnesota can return to the 58 wins it had just three years ago.
Pacific Division Winner
Phoenix Suns: By far the biggest no-brainer pick is the Phoenix Suns in the Pacific Division. Sure, we know about both Los Angeles teams, but they don’t impress us much. The Suns scoring 115 points every night without breaking a sweat, however, does. When they decide to notch it up, 130 is always a possibility. Phoenix has MVP Seve Nash, Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudamire, who is back from injury. Forget that the Suns don’t play much defense, because every game is a sprint, and they have Carl Lewis at every position.
