NBA: 10 Things To Look Forward To

Finally basketball fans, the NBA season has started! On the first day, the Lakers looked dominant, Celtics won at home, Lebron lost again, and Derrick Rose is starting at point for the Bulls. Here is my list of things to look forward to this 2008-09 season:

1. The Lakers have two 7-footers in their starting lineup, Lamar leading the second squad, the deepest bench in the league, and Kobe Bryant. If they can stay healthy, I predict a 64-win season and the title.

2. Beantown just hung another banner in their historic stadium. Are the Celtics still hungry? And how will they deal with the loss of their best perimeter defender (how are they going to slow down Kobe?)?

3. Baron Davis is back in his hometown and playing for another historically bad team. Will he and Camby miraculously lead the Clippers to the playoffs?

4. The 76ers solidified their lineup with the addition of a healthy Elton Brand. Will the 76ers live up to their hype and challenge Boston for the Eastern crown?

5. There's was a reason to be excited in Portland, but he has the durability (and face) of a 55 year old man. After being manhandled in the opener versus the Lakers and losing Oden to injury, can Portland live up to the hype?

6. The Chicago Bulls looked like a huge mess during the offseason but everything came together in their first game with Derrick Rose at the helm. Can this rookie finally lead the Bulls to their full potential?

7. New York Knicks are still recovering from Isiah Thomas's past decisions. With Marbury remaining relatively quiet and Mike D'antoni as the coach, I believe we'll be pleasantly surprised this season.

8. Seattle, the most depressing city in America, no longer has an NBA franchise of their own. How will Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder fare in the Western division. (I'm not going to be optimistic here, 16 wins.)

9. Let's face it, LeBron James does not like the Cleveland Cavaliers or the city of Cleveland. He likes Jay-Z, he likes New York and it is a contract year. How is this season going to play out in Ohio?

10. Derrick Rose, OJ Mayo, Michael Beasley, and Kevin Love are expected to make huge contributions to their respective teams. Can these NBA neophytes really make a huge difference and who will make the biggest impact and win the ROY trophy? (I still say OJ Mayo)

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NBA Corner

Clippers were able to steal away Baron Davis from the Golden State Warriors and bring back hope to LA’s OTHER basketball team. Unfortunately for the Clipper fans, the corner stone, Elton Brand, decided to sell his house, packed his bags, and agreed to a deal with Philadelphia. And 20-point scorer Corey Maggette is gone too (but we all knew this was going to happen). Looks like the Clippers won’t be making the playoffs again… and we all hate EB now.

Maggette is absolutely yoked and should fit in perfectly in Oakland.

As soon as allowed, the Lakers offered our personal favorite, Sasha “the machine” Vujacic, a one year $2.6 million dollar offer. He still hasn’t responded. For a guy who came off the bench, averaged 9 points a game and found himself entrusted in the final moments of close games by Phil Jackson, I would expect the Lakers to lock him down for at least 2 years (so does Sasha).

Beasley dominated his first summer-league game and scored 28 points, the next game he went 1-13 FGs, 5 turnovers, and 7 fouls. However, judging from his 28-point performance against Tyrus Thomas and Joahkim Noah, Beasley should undoubtedly become a force for the Heat this season.



Second-round pick Mario Chalmers is also displaying signs of greatness by outperforming top pick Derrick Rose in his first game and putting 19 pts 9 assists in his second game. Who knows, maybe this kid will start at the 1 for Miami later this year.

Russell Westbrook. Rookie of the year? Seattle’s.. Oklahoma City’s… first round pick is averaging 18.5 points in his first two summer-league games, shooting well (8-10 his second game) and is meshing well with Kevin Durant and Jeff Green.



Quickly falling. Phoenix Suns. Nash is getting old. Shaq is already old. Grant Hill will get injured this season (and he's old). Leandro Barbosa and Boris Diaw have fallen out of favor. Amare Stoudemire can’t play defense. Shaq was their plan. Looks like ruin to me.


Future of the West. Brandon Roy, Jerryd Bayless, Travis Outlaw/Martell Webster, LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Oden. Just process that for a minute. They’re going to be really good really soon.

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