Welcome back to My Take. This week I had planned to talk
about where I was wrong with my college football predictions. But over the
weekend, many of the teams in my losing column won their games. So I wasn’t
that wrong… yet. Down the road I will talk about where I was right and wrong
toward the end of the season when we have a better picture. This week I will
make my predictions on the NBA regular season. There have been lots of free agent
signings and trades that have changed the landscape.
My
Terrible Team: The Portland Trailblazers
Portland has had a terrible off-season, probably one of the
worst ever. They traded a solid veteran, Nicolas Batum, for an unproven rookie,
Noah Vonleh. Their star guard, Wesley Matthews,
signed with the Dallas Mavericks during free agency. Their biggest loss was
letting four-time NBA all-star, LaMarcus Aldridge, go to the San Antonio Spurs.
Just when it seemed like everybody left town, they made the trade for a young
center, Mason Plumlee, from the Brooklyn Nets. Even though Trailblazer fans are
excited for Mason Plumlee to start this season, there still isn’t enough talent
around their all-star point guard, Damian Lilard. I would put Lilard in my top
10 point guards in the league right now. But it is too much to expect Damian
Lilard and upcoming star Mason Plumlee to accomplish very much with their
supporting cast this season. So I predict Portland to miss the playoffs this
year.
My Surprise Team: The
Milwaukee Bucks
My surprise team is
the Milwaukee Bucks Just a few years ago, this team was a dumpster fire. They
were losing games, and never drafting the right players. For a time, there were
rumors of moving the team out of town. Last year however, their top pick from the
2013 draft, Giannis Antetokounmpo, emerged in the league as a young star, along
with their 2014 pick, Jabari Parker. They fell short in the playoffs against
the Chicago Bulls in the first round. This free agency period, they landed
former Piston big man, Greg Monroe. Last year Monroe averaged almost 16 points
per game and 10 rebounds. I think with this addition, Milwaukee will have a
solid regular season, and make it to the second round of the playoffs.
Thanks for reading this week’s blog. Once the regular season
gets under way, I will revisit the NBA and make my NBA Finals predictions.
Interesting. I had no idea there was so much involved with basketball and the players on each team. I didn't know there was so much riding on who the coaches traded for.
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