Ford/Pelton NBA Future Rankings

[colincb]

Wow, the Bulls, Mavericks and Bucks all falling significantly.

I would love to hear the reasoning behind those other than Dirks age for Dallas

Paraphrasing:

- Bulls have a lot of issues: free agents, roster, health, management. Team in turmoil.

- Dallas only has 4 players under contract (free agency is also a big concern for the Hornets). GWill and Parsons are two FAs, no 1st this year, little young talent besides justin Anderson.

- Bucks moved up a lot last year in this and didn't deserve to. Greek has continued to improve, Parker's jury still out, Middletong reversed, MCW and Monroe struggled, FO questions with Kidd wanting a stronger voice (deja vu all over again)

[billysan]

Wow, the Bulls, Mavericks and Bucks all falling significantly.

I would love to hear the reasoning behind those other than Dirks age for Dallas

Paraphrasing:

- Bulls have a lot of issues: free agents, roster, health, management. Team in turmoil.

- Dallas only has 4 players under contract (free agency is also a big concern for the Hornets). GWill and Parsons are two FAs, no 1st this year, little young talent besides justin Anderson.

- Bucks moved up a lot last year in this and didn't deserve to. Greek has continued to improve, Parker's jury still out, Middletong reversed, MCW and Monroe struggled, FO questions with Kidd wanting a stronger voice (deja vu all over again)

Makes sense, I think we are a little spoiled thinking the Mav's will always be in the playoff hunt with Dirk on board but that isnt necessarily the case anymore.

The Bulls and Buck definitely a mess at this point. This could make them both into teams that will trade away assets quickly in an attempt to blow it up and start over.

[greece66]

We're ahead of OKC and San Antonio? ****, I hope that doesn't jinx us

same thought here.

on the bright side, we get some good publicity finally. many journalists had written us off last summer.

[Granath]

While I appreciate the love, there's no way I'd objectively rank the Celtics over the Spurs.  Their front office/coaching is at least as good as ours and Leonard and Aldridge are more valuable than any asset we have.

It's a future analysis over the next 3 years. And that's the problem for San Antonio. Of their top 10 guys, 6 are well into their 30s. Aldridge is about to turn 31. Duncan and Ginobli should be retiring. Parker is 34. Diaw is 34. West is 35. That's an exceptionally OLD crew -much like the downturn of the Big 3 here in boston. Only Leonard could be considered any kind of future building block.

So then you consider their future draft picks. They're choosing 29th this year and I don't think they even have a 2nd rounder. After that they only have their own picks (unless the Hawks 2nd rounder is worse than 55). That cupboard is bare.

Now that's not to say they can't make trades or attract FAs. That's not to say their FO isn't the best in the league. That's not to say their coach isn't great. They may not miss a beat. But at the same time it's also not hard to foresee a near total collapse of that team in the next two years. Remember, Father Time is undefeated - it beats everyone, including the Spurs.

[colincb]

...

Isn't Miami really high? I guess they're rating Whiteside and Winslow pretty high because everyone else on that roster is over the hill and neither Whiteside nor Winslow have me 100% convinced yet.

Had the same reaction but:

Miami has earned the benefit of the doubt by skillfully pivoting from the big three era to a team that has made the most of a rare lottery pick (promising Justise Winslow), a second-round pick (Josh Richardson) and minimum-salary free agents (Tyler Johnson and Hassan Whiteside).

While a new contract for Whiteside and re-signing Dwyane Wade should swallow up the Heat's cap space, South Beach (tied for our No. 1 market) can still help Miami land veteran free agents like stretch-run addition Joe Johnson. And the Heat's creative cap management, credited to GM Andy Elisburg, could become especially important if Chris Bosh takes medical retirement and his salary comes off the books next summer -- giving Miami max cap room.

[spikelovetheCelts]

I see Smart, Crfowder and AB rising next Year. IT stays the same. KO may blossom too. Rozier is a wild card fot us. He could be special. We all saw glimpses of it. If Hunter out Young could at least play and hit shots. We should be high in these rankings we should have some new young talent this summer. I hope to see these 8 picks become 3 young players and a stash overseas.
We will be there based on our bigs. I am hopeful DA can trade a guard for a big. He is better at Ted's than draft. I say take Bender and be hopeful.