My preview for the 2013-14 NBA season finishes with the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference: Home of the Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, and Philadelphia 76ers. As I have done for each division preview, I will address each team in order of where I see them finishing in the division standings.
New York Knicks: The New York Knicks once again have set very high expectations for themselves, speaking as though anything short of a championship is a failure. To their credit, they tried to improve their roster this offseason through getting Andrea Bargnani and Metta World Peace, but I don't think it's enough to make them do any better than last season. Carmelo Anthony will once again prove to be one of the elite scorers in the game, which by default makes the Knicks dangerous, but once you get beyond him, they have nobody that can be relied upon as a legitimate number two threat. J.R. Smith is too inconsistent; Amar'e Stoudemire is injury prone and past his prime; and Metta World Peace is only a half-decent one way player on defense at this point. The Knicks simply do not have enough around Carmelo Anthony to compete for a championship. That being said, they should still win this division since they are still a quality team who knows who they are. They know that they rely on Carmelo to win them games, and they know what role everybody else plays. The Nets are the more dangerous team to win the whole championship, but it will take them time to figure out who they are, which is why I pick the Knicks to win the division title.
Brooklyn Nets: The Brooklyn Nets had one of the more active offseasons in the NBA through the hiring of Jason Kidd as head coach as well the acquisitions of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Jason Terry, and Andrei Kirilenko. The Nets have claimed to be serious about contending, and they certainly backed up their talk through those moves. If you put those four guys with Joe Johnson, Deron Williams, and Brook Lopez, you potentially have a team that can win the whole NBA championship. Key word is "potentially". I don't see the Nets winning a championship, but if all the pieces come together and everybody plays to their maximum potential, then the Nets may have what it takes to dethrone the Heat in the Eastern Conference. What will be interesting is to see how quickly this team finds its identity and how they respond to Jason Kidd. The hiring of Jason Kidd was either a brilliant move or a stupid move. This team will need a coach who commands their respect, and I'm not sure Jason Kidd has the weight to be that kind of coach since they all still view him as their own peer. Why the Nets didn't go out and hire a guy like Brian Shaw is beyond me, but perhaps there is something I don't see in Jason Kidd that they do see. It's no doubt that the dynamic between Kidd and his players will be heavily scrutinized in New York and could end up playing a crucial role in how the season as a whole plays out. Whatever the end result is with the Kidd hiring, it can be certain that the Nets will be one of the more fascinating teams to follow due to all the potential that they have along with all the uncertainty.
Toronto Raptors: The Toronto Raptors are still in rebuilding mode, but at least they now have a front office that they can believe in. Masai Ujiri won the "Executive of the Year" award last year as the general manger of the Nuggets, and now he is the general manager of the Raptors, which means that the Raptors currently possess the top ranked general manager in the NBA. Ujrii has already shown that he isn't afraid to make bold moves through the Andrea Bargnani trade, and now he is also reportedly interested in possibly trading Rudy Gay. The Raptors aren't looking to contend this year, but rather figure out who they are going forward for the coming years. Rudy Gay, Jonas Valanciunas, DeMar DeRozan, Terrence Ross, and Kyle Lowry appear to be the building blocks for this team, but all that could change with Ujiri at the helm. He's going to find out which of these guys he wants, and which of them he doesn't want. Trading Rudy Gay makes the most sense since he has the most value of anybody on their team and also trading him would free up a ton of cap space. But if Gay ends up not being dealt, don't expect the Raptors to remain idle, either. Before this season is over, the Raptors will make at least one or two noticeable trades, and knowing that Ujiri is in charge likely means that they will be moves that help propel the Raptors in the right direction for the future.
Boston Celtics: With Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Doc Rivers gone, the Celtics are an entirely new team with the exception of Rajon Rondo. They are young, inexperienced, and prime for a race to the bottom of the NBA standings. Rajon Rondo likely not returning from his torn ACL until January helps their odds of a landing a high draft pick rise even higher. The bottom line for the Celtics is that they are in complete reboot mode. They have a new coach in Brad Stevens, who has never coached in the NBA before, working with a young and relatively inexperienced roster with a point guard coming off a torn ACL as the foundation. It's going to be ugly in Boston, but the bright side is that the 2014 NBA draft may be one of the best drafts of all-time, which makes having a bad season suddenly seem not so bad.
Philadelphia 76ers: Don't let Wednesday night's victory over the Heat as well as Michael Carter-Williams' near quadruple double make you think the 76ers have a chance to be half-decent. The reality is that they're going to be terrible and they are going to lose more than 60 games. It's a bad team with no star, no leader, and no identity. The head coach Brett Brown has never coached before, their lottery pick from a couple of years ago (Evan Turner) is on the trading block, and their current lottery pick Nerlens Noel is likely out for the season. If the 76ers are tanking the season for a high draft pick, then things are off to a great start. If they are hoping to make a push for a playoff spot, then they are in for an incredibly disappointing season.
---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord
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