5 NBA Teams Ready To Go
By Tej Kamaraju
By far, this is one of the most entertaining off-seasons I’ve seen in a while. With the draft, and free agency, teams just keep getting better and taller. Now, the Western Conference is loaded more so than ever. Even Eastern Conference teams are improving their rosters as well. Which 5 teams that didn’t make the playoffs last year are ready to go this year?
5. Minnesota Timberwolves: It’s time. Kevin Love is tired of waiting, and he’s not going to stick around in Minnesota if the Timberwolves keep losing. This is why he will be ready to go. Ricky Rubio is also a budding PG who is looking to score big time, while keeping up his high assist numbers. Along with Roy in the backcourt, the Wolves are on a mission to make it to the playoffs. It’ll be a shame if they don’t, but competition is tough.
4. Milwaukee Bucks: Monta Ellis, Brandon Jennings, enough said. Will Ellis and Jennings playing together, the Bucks were 14-8 in their final 22 games. Those are some pretty good numbers considering Ellis was in a shooting slump. They’ve proven that they can stick together despite all the criticism of the trade. In adding depth with Dalambert, re-signing Ersan Ilyasova, and drafting John Henson, the Bucks are ready to go.
3. Golden State Warriors: Curry and Bogut are coming off of injury, and they’re looking better than ever. Other than that, not many players on the Warriors are injury prone. They have a top 7 starting lineup, and incredible depth on their bench. With Thompson entering his sophomore year, Curry ready to finally start his career, the toughness of Bogut, the athleticism of Harrison Barnes, and the veteranship of Lee, this squad is also ready to go. They will stop at nothing to play at least 86 games this year.
2. Detroit Pistons: Watch out, Eastern Conference. The high crime isn’t the only thing Detroit will be known for. The Pistons are another sleeper team ready to play. With Andre Drummond, Brandon Knight, and dare I say Corey Maggette, the Pistons have depth and talent. They are looking to finally go back to their winning ways.
1. Brooklyn Nets: The Core 4 is looking to do some serious damage. Deron Williams just keeps getting better. Now that he’s playing with Joe Johnson, the two scorers will be exploding offensively. They will also have Brook Lopez in the post, and not to forget Gerald “Crash” Wallace working as hard as he can. Although reports indicate that the Nets are pretenders, they’re in a new city, and this is a new start. Is a new era ushering in?