I think LA is the mornng line fav but certainly beatable. Kobe may have decided to cruise through the regular season and in his defense he is beatup but he needs to provide an awful lot of the backcourt scoring once the games mean something. I think they will regret the Artest move.
Denver at full strength is going to give them all they can handle. Lawson coming off the bench lets them rest Billips and those two are a tough matchup for LA. Given they should benefit from last years playoff experience and are the younger team they are clearly second best in the West. They do still struggle on the road which is a problem.
San Antonio's top guys are either injured or seem to have lost a step. Ginobili especially and Jefferson hasnt been a difference maker (but when has he been?)
I dont believe in Dallas and Utah simply doesnt have the horses. Wes Mathews is an impressive rookie for the Jazz. I still remember the game when Xavier McDaniel tried to strangle his father, Wes sr. Think Utah is happy paying Kirilenko 16 million this year?
The surprise team is Ok City who would play Dallas in the first rd if the season ended right now. They don't have enough guns to do too much damage in a long series but they will let you know they were there. Durant has contined to progress and they have a good nucleus of talent around him though the frontcourt is still small. One of the interesting stats is that they are 15-10 at home and 15-11 on the road. Only Dallas and La have more roads wins than the Thunder do.
Memphis has played well (for them) though have shown signs of fading. Amazingly enough Z. Randolph has been producing and being a good teammate (if not punching anyone or getting arrested qualifies).
In the East there are only 4 teams worth talking about. Cleveland, Orlando, Boston and Atlanta. Dala discounts Cleveland but Shaq does negate Howard to an extent and gives them a low post presence. While they may yet make a trade, if healthy the team they have presently should get out of the East because Orlando isnt as good with Vince Carter as they were with Hedu and Courtney Lee, Boston cant stay healthy and looks older and slower with each passing game and Atlanta is athletic but isnt a real threat.
Cleveland could use another wing shooter but in reality who couldn't? There just isnt anyone out there and the Shaq/ Delonte for Caron/Jamison proposed here makes sense in a fantasy league only. First of all there is zero chance that the Wizards would trade for another guy with gun issues in the wake of the Agent zero deal. Secondly Shaq would probably just not report to Washington. Not to mention that Cleveland should intend on using Shaq's expiring contract space to sign Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade in the summer. Cleveland should focus on someone like Kevin Martin who can create his own shot and whose defense can be hidden by the Cavs. Really if they could work a deal for Jamison alone (maybe for Z Ill's expiring contract?) that would solve two problems for them and allow them to match up better with LA in the finals. (Problems being JJ Hicksons minutes and a tall player who can hit an open jumper and be able to more effectively defend Pau)
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