While Boston sports fans may be understandably focused on baseball right now as they soak in the Red Sox’s second World Series in four years, they may want to at least begin to turn their heads to the basketball court as the Celtics find themselves on the verge of a promising 2007-2008 season.
MOST IMPROVED
The biggest turnaround this year is expected to be in Boston where the additions of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen have some experts thinking the Celtics could go from worst to first in a relatively weak Eastern Conference.
Boston will now have one of the best top-three in the league. With Paul Pierce and Allen to spread the floor and all eyes on Garnett, role players like Rajon Rondo and former-LSU standout Glen Davis will get lots of easy looks.
HONORABLE MENTION
After making the playoffs, the Magic broke the bank on a contract for former-Sonic Rashard Lewis, who could see more open shots with a force like Dwight Howard in the middle.
Zach Randolph should pair well with Eddie Curry to give New York an inside presence in a deal that shipped Steve Francis out of the Big Apple. Young teams Charlotte and Atlanta upgraded in different ways as the Bobcats traded for Warriors’ guard Jason Richardson and the Hawks added Al Horford and Acie Law in the draft.
Richardson will finally provide veteran leadership and scoring to a Bobcat team making it more competitive, while Law and Horford add a ball handler and size to a talented Hawks squad that desperately needed both.
While Orlando should end up with the most wins of these four teams, I look to Atlanta to have the biggest improvement from this past season.
With the improvement along the Atlantic coast, it seems inevitable that an ’06-’07 playoff team will be at home next spring – the only question is: which team?
It’s hard to pick against incumbents like LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal and Dwayne Wade, but the biggest shakeup might still be on the horizon. The Lakers are still trying to move arguably the best player in the game – Kobe Bryant – with the Chicago Bulls in the middle of most of the trade rumors.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Out West, it’s tough to bet against any 2006-2007 playoff teams, but a couple nonplayoff teams have noticeably enhanced rosters.
The Memphis Grizzlies made three straight playoff appearances with a healthy Pau Gasol, and this year Gasol’s return is accompanied by the addition of Darko Milicic, Mike Conley Jr. and Gasol’s Spanish national team teammate Juan Carlos Navarro.
Combine Euro-big men Gasol and Milicic with quick point guards, Mike Miller’s shooting and Rudy Gay’s athleticism, and Memphis could be perfectly suited for rookie coach Marc Lavaroni’s expected up-tempo style.
The New Orleans Hornets missed the playoffs by only three games in an injury-plagued ’06-’07, before adding rookie Julian Wright and replacing once-again Milwaukee Buck Desmond Mason with former-Toronto Raptor Morris Peterson.
If the Hornets can stay healthy, a rotation of Wright, Peterson, Chris Paul, Bobby Jackson, Rasual Butler, Peja Stojakovic, David West and Tyson Chandler should be enough to pressure for a low playoff seed.
PHOENIX WINS IT ALL
Despite all the shuffling, Phoenix and the three Texas teams should find themselves atop a league still dominated by the Western Conference.
The Bulls should be near the top of the East with the much improved Celtics and perennial Eastern power Detroit.
Not that the winner of the East will matter much come NBA Finals time.
As things stand, the Bulls’ depth should to be too much for the three-man Celtics and the aging Pistons.
The Suns were on pace to win it all in ’06-’07 before questionable suspensions of Amare Stoudamire and Boris Diaw derailed them late in the Western semifinals against the Spurs.
The Suns return the same core this season with the addition of former-All Star Grant Hill.
——Contact Jerit Roser at [email protected]