Best Draft Classes Represented in the NBA

As you've noticed I like these hypothetical situations.  So I took a look at all the drafts going back to 1995 and decided that if I were to do a 6 man tourney of today's NBA players, with 6 players from each draft class representing a team.  You end up getting 15 teams (I made a team of undrafted players).  In trying to determine the best draft class out there, granted some of the younger draft classes have more to prove than some of the older ones and you really can't expect much from the rookie or sophomore class, but hey, it's still fun to speculate.  It'd be like a mini-conference, and it's kinda fun throwing together these rosters.  Let's assume everyone is healthy (I only picked active NBA players, ie, not retired, we assume they play sometime this year), heck, I'll even say what team I think they'd be like this year.

1st.) Draft Class of 1996 (Boston Celtics: All star cast who might suprise you defensively)

PG- Steve Nash

SG- Allen Iverson

SF- Kobe Bryant

PF- Jermaine O'Neal

C- Marcus Camby

6th man- Ray Allen

There's just so much firepower on this squad I don't even know where to begin, first you have right now the best and arguably most refined player in the NBA; Kobe Bryant.  Then you add in one of the premier points in Steve Nash, who also is an elite shooter (50% FG, 40% 3pt, 90% FT), Allen Iverson, one of the best pure scorers ever, and two solid defensive minded big men in Jermaine and Camby, it's neigh unstoppable, add in one of the last premier pure shooters (one who can create nontheless) in Ray Allen as a reserve, and you can't get any more high powered than that.

2nd.) Draft Class of 2003 (LA Lakers: Sick looking roster on paper, might have some holes we didn't think of)

PG- LeBron James

SG- Dwayne Wade

SF- Carmelo Anthony

PF- David West

C- Chris Bosh

6th man- Josh Howard

This is a very explosive offensive squad and one that can play well together (note 2008 Olympics where Wade, James, Anthony, and Bosh were all teammates).  LeBron I think will easily become the best player in the league, and possibly the best player we've ever seen for a while, especially considering he, along with Melo and Bosh won't reach their primes until the 2012 Olympics.  Howard is a solid scorer off the bench and West is an aggresive player who quietly finds his shots and boards.  However, the biggest concern about this squad would be perimeter play, the next would be defense.  Unlike the '96 squad, Bosh and West won't cover up defensive mistakes like O'Neal and Camby would, additionally, as underrated as Wade and LeBron are on defense, I don't know that they have the stopping power that Kobe Bryant does either, that's why they slide to number 2.  These guys will get killed beyond the arc though, however, on the other hand, they likely would be able to run the other team to death.

3rd.) Draft Class of 1999 (Phoenix Suns: the effective running team)

PG- Baron Davis

SG- Manu Ginobili

SF- Ron Artest

PF- Shawn Marion

C- Elton Brand

6th man - Richard Hamilton

If I could get a coach to run with a team like this it would be Don Nelson.  First thing you probably notice is that yes, this is a really small team.  Elton Brand is undersized for a 4 and even Shawn Marion is a little short, but they are all aggressive and will run you to the ground.  This is a team that would run at you full kilter and just simply try to outscore you, I'd actually really like to see all these guys play together sometime, I bet you it'd be a lot of fun.  That being said, they'd also get outmuscled by any team with a semi-legitimate frontcourt.  Though, Marion and Brand are pretty efficient rebounding forwards.

4th.) Draft Class of 2001 (Toronto Raptors: inside-outside, works in theory)

PG- Gilbert Arenas

SG- Joe Johnson

SF- Jason Richardson

PF- Pau Gasol

C- Tyson Chandler

6th man - Tony Parker

The more I look at this, the more I realize this is a fairly potent inside-outside team.  With Joe Johnson and Jason Richardson spotting up at the wings and Gilbert Arenas taking it from the top of the key.  You get Pau Gasol to post in the high post and Tyson Chandler patrolling the middle and reading for the easy spin move/alley-oop or the quick offensive board and putback.  Run a quick high screen and Arenas breaks open for an open three or drives, should he drive then find Chandler for the quick bucket, or should the defense follow find Gasol for the open 15 footer on the roll, if the defense collapses find either Johnson or Richardson open for the three or drive.  Additionally both Richardson and Johnson can create their own shots as well, throw in Parker if you need a little extra push and aggresiveness around the rim or something, but all in all, I like how this team ends up being constructed.  Of course, it's a team that could all too easily fall in love with jumpshots too.

5th.) Draft Class of 2002 (Houston Rockets: you know what you're getting and it's pretty consistenly good)

PG- John Salmons

SG- Tayshaun Prince

SF- Caron Butler

PF- Amare Stoudemire

C- Yao Ming

6th man- Carlos Boozer

This would be a fairly solid team, both Amare and Yao are pretty versatile in both the low and high posts, so they could definitely give the frontcourts a major matchup problem.  Prince I believe can man the 2 slot well enough and would be a solid defensive stop.  I really couldn't find a good guard so I put in John Salmons who is a decent ball handler.  Caron Butler is a solid finisher and Boozer is just another big body off the bench should they need more inside presence.  That being said, it's a solid team but not a standout team.

6th.) Draft Class of 2004 (Philadelphia 76ers: maybe they're a little better at shooting, but they'll run you like crazy)

PG- Ben Gordon

SG- Kevin Martin

SF- Josh Smith

PF- Al Jefferson

C- Dwight Howard

6th man- Andre Iguodala

It was kind of a toss up for me between Iggy and Luol Deng, but I like Iggy's game a little better, and he's shown to be slightly more consistent.  An Al Jefferson/Dwight Howard frontcourt could be potentially monstrous should they coexist effectively, or disastrous should they only get in each other's way, I can see either one happening.  However, a Ben Gordon/Kevin Martin backcourt would be fast and explosive, especially with Josh Smith running with them.  They could also run small subbing out Jefferson and running Iggy at the 3 and Josh Smith at the 4, being a super fast, super athletic team.  Howard just crashboards and the 4 other players take off waiting for an outlet.  I mean, it's something of a waste of Howard's offensive talents, but I'm sure they'd throw him an alley-oop here and there as he trails in behind the offense.

7th.) Draft Class of 1997 (San Antonio Spurs: solid all around, no frills, down to business)

PG- Chauncey Billups

SG- Anthony Parker

SF- Tracy McGrady

PF- Tim Thomas

C- Tim Duncan

6th man- Stephen Jackson

I can actually see this team doing potentially very well, they actually are a reasonably constructed team, and I can actually see a lineup like this happening in the NBA, like, as an actual team, not an All-Star team.  Obviously the focus of the offense will be around Billups, McGrady, and Duncan with Thomas and Parker playing more role positions and shooting a lot of 3s.  Stephen Jackson would be a solid player off the bench and contribute both in scoring and a little on the defense.  Definitely a solid, solid team.

8th.) Draft Class of 1998 (Golden State Warriors: live by the 3, die by the 3)

PG- Mike Bibby

SG- Vince Carter

SF- Paul Pierce

PF- Antawn Jamison

C- Dirk Nowitzki

6th man- Rashard Lewis

This will be an explosive high scoring team, I can see them averaging like 50 threes per game.  The problem, they'll be abused like no other down on the block.  They don't have a single legitimate low post presence.  However, that may not be a problem, as they have a legitimate 3 pt threat in every position, they can try to trade buckets, and hope to win out that way.

9th.) Draft Class of 2005 (Portland Trailblazers: young and should be good, but could possibly be overhyped)

PG- Chris Paul

SG- Deron Williams

SF- Danny Granger

PF- David Lee

C- Andrew Bynum

6th man- Monta Ellis

10th.) Draft Class of 2006 (Chicago Bulls: The team some ends up being less than the sum of its parts)

PG- Rajon Rondo

SG- Brandon Roy

SF- Rudy Gay

PF- Tyrus Thomas

C- LaMarcus Aldridge

6th man- Randy Foye

11th.) Draft Class of 1995 (Sacramento Kings: they're not bad, they're not good, they'll float in the middle and you kind of would forget about them)

PG- Brent Barry

SG- Jerry Stackhouse

SF- Kevin Garnett

PF- Antonio McDyess

C- Rasheed Wallace

6th man- Joe Smith

12th.) Draft Class of 2007 (Minnesota Timberwolves: a lot of young talent that will do well but get no where with it)

PG- Rodney Stuckey

SG- Kevin Durant

SF- Thaddeus Young

PF- Al Thornton

C- Al Horford

6th man- Nick Young

13th.) Draft Class of 2000 (Milwaukee Bucks: wait, who's on this team?)

PG- Jamal Crawford

SG- Michael Redd

SF- Mike Miller

PF- Kenyon Martin

C- Joel Przybilla

6th man- Hedo Turkoglu

14th.) Best of the Undrafted (Memphis Grizzlies: nothing against these guys, but like the Grizzlies, no one would know why they're all on the same team)

PG- Jose Calderon

SG- Raja Bell

SF- Andres Nocioni

PF- Udonis Haslem

C- Brad Miller

6th man- Ben Wallace

15th.) Draft Class of 2008 (Oklahoma City Thunder: potential and upside, that's it)

PG- Derrick Rose

SG- OJ Mayo

SF- Michael Beasley

PF- Jason Thompson

C- Brook Lopez

6th man- Russell Westbrook

2012 Olympic Roster

Ok ok, I know it's still kind of early, but you know me, I like these kind of random speculations, so assuming we look forward to 2012 Olympics (London, right?) what kind of roster are we looking at?  Some of the players will have to go, Jason Kidd will be 39 and likely long retired, Kobe Bryant 34, Tayshaun Prince 32, and Carlos Boozer 31, which means, that the rest of the core is younger, significantly younger.  The solid core of the team, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, and Deron Williams will be around the 27-28 mark, aka their prime, scary.  So who do we bring back?  Well here are my projected starters if I were making the team:

PG - Chris Paul

SG - Dwayne Wade

SF - LeBron James

PF - Chris Bosh

C - Dwight Howard

Dwayne Wade will be turning 30 during those Olympics but keeping him on as a sort of veteran leadership wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea, additionally, this keeps a core of starters that have played together on the international scene before and know what it's like.  I personally liked Chris Bosh's contributions more than Carmelo Anthony's in the past Olympics so I'm inclined to start him over Melo, and I believe that Melo can be a more effective floor leader with the newer players in the second unit, which would be consisting of:

Guards: Deron Williams, Brandon Roy, Derrick Rose

Forwards: Carmelo Anthony, Lamarcus Aldridge, Kevin Durant

Center: Al Jefferson

So the new additions would be Roy, Aldridge, Durant, Rose, and Jefferson, with D-Will and Melo anchoring the whole team down.  It's a more traditional lineup that 2008 Olympics and creates a much more balanced team, of course, one item to note is that there is no real 3 pt specialist (like Michael Redd) so perimeter shooting might be an issue.  If he develops a consistent stroke considerations might include someone like JR Smith or someone of that ilk.  Not really sure though, but this is who I'd go with.

As a note, for the qualifiers, I would love to see an Amare Stoudemire/Dwight Howard frontcourt.  Please let that happen within the next two years in FIBA Americas.  A Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Amare Stoudemire, Dwight Howard starting 5 would be sick.

Tinkering with the Lakers, again...

Because we just can't get enough of it. Here's an idea I had a while ago, and while Odom has embraced his role as a 6th man, I think the Lakers can still improve at least in terms of players. Maybe. Maybe I'm crazy and just love tossing these ideas around. As you all probably know by now, I'm a fan for trading Lamar Odom, maybe throw in Luke Walton as well, but seriously, that guy makes enough to kind of wonder who you'd be trading for (that's like $19 million/year, no way I'm trading Odom and Walton for Marbury). So in conclusion, I would trade Lamar Odom for:

Andres Nocioni and Drew Gooden from Chicago

This is an interesting one that has potential, at least to me. Chicago is moving towards their younger players and thus are looking to jettison some of their older players, two of them being Gooden and Nocioni. I believe that Nocioni is a somewhat underrated defender, and additionally, he's very, very proficient from long-range (like all his Argentinian teammates). While Odom isn't a pure post player, he does finish well at the rim and is a big body for rebounding, upgrade from Drew Gooden. Gooden on the other hand adds some legitimacy to the reserves on the frontcourt for the Lakers, playing behind Gasol, he's a solid post presence that won't take a lot away from the team. Not exactly the first guy you think of when you ask about PFs but we're not asking for premier caliber here. So Gooden will be more than sufficient, I think he'd be better than most backup PFs out there. The question once again becomes though ego, can Gooden settle with coming off the bench? Certainly though he's been a starter before, and I think would be a solid backup should either Gasol or Bynum get injured. The Lakers' depth chart ends up looking like:

PG - Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar
SG - Kobe Bryant, Sasha Vujacic
SF - Andres Nocioni, Trevor Ariza, Luke Walton
PF - Pau Gasol, Drew Gooden, Vladamir Radmanovic
C - Andrew Bynum, Chris Mihm

Odom on the other hand would bring experience and a solid player next to Luol Deng, and another scoring option. I think with a player like Derrick Rose, Odom could really thrive. Of course that all depends on how well Tyrus Thomas and/or Joakim Noah can hold down the C spot. However, either way I can see it working out. It could possibly add another headache to the guard platoon that has been alleviated with the injury of Larry Hughes but I could see the Chicago depth chart looking like:

PG - Derrick Rose
SG - Kirk Hinrich, Larry Hughes, Ben Gordon
SF - Luol Deng, Thabo Sefalosha, Demetris Nichols
PF - Lamar Odom, Tyrus Thomas, Cedric Simmons
C - Joakim Noah, Aaron Gray

Or something of the sort, the whole backcourt situation on Chicago is a little on the messy side. That's my take.

10 yr vets vs 5 yrs or younger

Do you think experience makes a difference?  Let's see how you like this then:

I have three rosters, one consisting of players in the NBA for 10 or more years (in their 10th year), one for players 5 or less (in their 5th year), and one for everyone in the middle.  Who'd win?

10 or more

PG: Steve Nash, Chauncey Billups

SG: Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Vince Carter

SF: Tracy McGrady, Paul Pierce

PF: Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, Rasheed Wallace

C: Tim Duncan, Marcus Camby

Res: Rashard Lewis, Jason Kidd, Ray Allen

5-10

PG: Baron Davis, Gilbert Arenas

SG: Joe Johnson, Michael Redd, Manu Ginobili

SF: Caron Butler, Gerald Wallace

PF: Amare Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Elton Brand

C: Yao Ming, Tyson Chandler

Res: Richard Hamilton, Jason Richardson, Tony Parker

5 and under

PG: Chris Paul, Deron Williams

SG: Dwayne Wade, Brandon Roy

SF: LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant

PF: Chris Bosh, Josh Smith, Al Jefferson

C: Dwight Howard, Emeka Okafor

Res: Luol Deng, Danny Granger, David West

Ok so here are the lineups.  Who do you think will win this one?  Just something I thought I'd throw together.  Assuming right here right now playing, who wins, who loses, who would you swap out and why?  Take it away.

Blockbuster 2.0 in the making

Yahoo! Sports has this going down within the hour, about an hour ago, so supposedly it happened.

Not really sure what to write about it, but in order for me to be on top of things and this to breaking to the people that only folly Poor Man's GM (which is nobody), here's a tidbit.

The trade is essentially Allen Iverson for Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess.  Rumors also have Cheick Samb floating around here and there but he's kind of a non-factor that just makes the money work.  

The initial reaction is that neither team really gets significantly younger, but it does shake things up.  Let's look at it from team to team:

Denver Nuggets:

Well, if this falls through the projected lineup would probably look something like this:

Starting 5:

PG- Chauncey Billups

SG- JR Smith

SF- Carmelo Anthony

PF- Kenyon Martin

C- Nene Hilario

Off the bench:

Guards: Anthony Carter, Chucky Atkins, Sonny Weems

Forwards: Linas Kleiza, Renaldo Balkman, Antonio McDyess, Juwan Howard

Centers: Chris Anderson, Steven Hunter

I'm with the party that believes that Chauncey Billups is a bigger upgrade over Anthony Carter than JR Smith is a downgrade from Allen Iverson.  If JR Smith has shown us anything, it's that he can score, and Allen Iverson was a scorer.  While Iverson may be more proven, I'm willing to take my chances with the younger scoring shooting guard.  Billups adds size and veterancy to the backcourt and someone who can both shoot the ball, adding a greater perimeter threat in addtion to the moving of JR Smith to the starting lineup, and someone who is unselfish and is effective at running the offense.  It'll be interesting to see how things work out, as the Nuggets will likely slow their pace down a bit.  However, the roster looks to be a bit more solid and you don't run into the problem of Melo and Iverson each doing their own thing, should the chemistry work Billups brings more to a team than just his numbers, he makes the team more of a team.  At least that's what he did in Detroit, we'll see if that carries over.  McDyess shores up a think frontcourt and is a solid hustler and will likely platoon time with Kenyon Martin keeping them both fresher.  The biggest concern is who backs up JR Smith, I can see points in time where Billups maybe plays 2 with Anthony Carter sliding into the lineup, otherwise, I expect Kleiza to be the main backup 2 guard.  Can't say I've seen enough of Kleiza to say whether or not that's good or bad.

Detroit:

This is where the trade raises a couple of question marks, the starting lineup projected would probably be something like this:

Starting 5:

PG- Allen Iverson

SG- Richard Hamilton

SF- Tayshaun Prince

PF- Amir Johnson

C- Rasheed Wallace

Off the bench

Guards: Rodney Stuckey, Arron Afflalo, Will Bynum

Forwards: Walter Hermann, Jason Maxiell, Walter Sharp

Centers: Kwame Brown

It'll be interesting to see how Iverson fits into the system, though the Pistons do need a player who can just simply take over games.  Handing the reigns over to his hands however, might not be the greatest idea, unless Michael Curry decides to start Stuckey and slide everyone over a slot, benching Amir Johnson and playing small.  Either way, it's not idea, but I can see it working.  Iverson is a proficient passer when has a mind to, though his option is to always score first.  I think he'll draw enough attention that Hamilton, Prince, Johnson, and Wallace will all be able to do well, but then it's a matter of getting them the ball.  We'll see how this pans out, it's another one of those big risk, big reward moves.

If we're to look at the Iverson trade from a financial standpoint it's actually quite ingenious.  If Iverson doesn't win the ring then oh well, it was a good run, and good bye.  Extra $20 mil on the books, Sheed wants to retire, there goes another $13 mil.  They extended Rip, but they have around $30 mil to play around with in free agency, enabling them to probably land someone like Lamar Odom or Hedo Turkoglu end of this year and make a serious run for LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, or Amare Stoudemire while still resigning Tayshaun Prince in 2010.  Joe Dumars is a genius to say the least, and this is one of the smoothest transitions I've seen yet.

UPDATE: Samb is indeed included in the package, a lot of people believe that this would likely lead to a buyout of McDyess who would probably return to Detroit in 30 days.

Upgrade for OKC?

I was reading through Yahoo! BDL's preview of the OKC Thunder, and two glaring weaknesses that could be construed are PG and C slots, granted you could argue that every position not currently played by Kevin Durant is weak. Some would argue the SG slot if you consider Russell Westbrook a PG type player, something of a defensive minded 1, kind of like Rajon Rondo, however, it could also be argued, as Zorgon from Blue Blitz points out, that Westbrook might be better suited at a 2 slot than the 1 (see item 9). As much as we try to talk ourselves into believing that Robert Swift is not a bust, the fact that you oftentimes have to start Nick Collison at center leads me to believe that hte center position is weak. Here's my call, and if you disagree, you disagree, but I think it gives the Thunder a legitimate shot.

Send Chris Wilcox and Joe Smith to Charlotte for Raymond Felton and Nazr Mohammed.

While I mentioned that sending Wilcox and Wilkins to Golden State for Al Harrington seemed like a good idea, to more than just me, beyond purely financial reasons, Al Harrington doesn't really address a whole lot of the problems that OKC beyond maybe perimeter shooting. Deal breaker? Well in this one it would definitely have to be Nazr Mohammed's $18 million contract over the next 3 years, but given the roster construction of the current roster, I don't see that it's that big of deal, OKC develops over the next couple of years (which they will need to develop) and Mohammed becomes another expiring contract that Sam Presti can magically turn into some trade exception or 5 draft picks, all first round.

Ok, all joking aside let's look at how this works out. We have Russell Westbrook develop as a defensive minded SG, a defensive stopper, something akin to Raja Bell, and then we start Raymond Felton at the PG. For all our woes about Felton, he's a solid point, just a little overshadowed by his draft class, you know, like by Deron Williams and Chris Paul. However, Felton I believe is a major upgrade and I believe will definitely help facilitate an offense that is ridiculously stagnant. Furthermore, with Westbrook sliding into a 2 slot Durant can move to where we all believe he will be better suited playing, at SF. By trading off Chris Wilcox and Joe Smith, the PF slot platoon is also cleared and you have fewer people playing out of position. For the moment I'd startNick Collison and have Jeff Green kind of work his way in off the bench. While Nazr Mohammed isn't exactly the most sexy name in terms of centers, he's shown he can start. After being traded to Charlotte for Primoz Brezec and Walter Hermann, Mohammed started for a bit with Emeka Okafor sliding over to the PF slot. He averaged 17pts, 9.4rbds, 0.8 blcks, and 0.8 stls in 5 games on 74.1% shooting. Okafor didn't do horribly either, posting 14.4 ppg and 11 rpg during that same stint, then, to the confusion of many fantasy owners, Mohammed was abruptly benched. However, that I believe is enough of a glimpse to show that Mohammed can make himself effective as a starter. Regardless of any reservations you might have about him, he is at worst serviceable, and in my opinion a significant upgrade over Swift and Petro. The depth chart ends up looking something like this:

PG- Raymond Felton, Earl Watson

SG- Russell Westbrook, Damien Wilkins

SF- Kevin Durant, Desmond Mason

PF- Nick Collison, Jeff Green, Steven Hill

C- Nazr Mohammed, Robert Swift, Johan Petro

Not great by any means but an upgrade to what they have now.

I don't think Larry Brown would've lobbied so hard to draft DJ Augustin that high if he was just going to be a backup to Raymond Felton, that pick could've been much better spent on something else. Which leads us to conjecture that Raymond Felton is not the Bobcats' PG of the future, aka Larry Brown doesn't really like him. From all the reports I've read, Larry Brown doesn't really like anyone on the team, except maybe Jared Dudley. So the Bobcats add to their frontcourt depth, and bolster the PF slot at least a little which I think needed the most work. Worst case scenario, perhaps Gerald Wallace and Joe Smith can be packaged together to make another trade, either way, they get cap flexibility and an improved roster in the frontcourt, which is what they're looking for. Personally, I'd start Wilcox and then work Joe Smith into the rotation allowing both to see some time at center should Brown decide to run a smaller lineup, this also allows Sean May a little more time to fully recover and perhaps become the player he's supposed to be, gives Alexis Ajinca some time to develop, keep Emeka Okafor where he is most effective, in the paint, and keep Gerald Wallace where he won't get concussions, at SF. This creates a lineup that looks something I think, like:

PG- DJ Augustin

SG- Jason Richardson, Matt Carroll, Shannon Brown

SF- Gerald Wallace, Jared Dudley, Adam Morrison

PF- Chris Wilcox, Joe Smith, Sean May

C- Emeka Okafor, Alexic Ajinca

It does leave the Bobcats a little thin at the PG slot, but I think you can package something to get a backup PG of some sort. Though I supppose good ones are hard to come by, maybe tack John Lucas III onto the trade for a draft pick? Anyway, this is the brunt of it, I think maybe it works? It doesn't make either team a contender right away, but it definitely is an upgrade, I think.

Season Preview: Oklahoma City Thunder

Finally, we're done after this, and right before start of the season too.

Starting 5:

PG- Russell Westbrook

SG- Kevin Durant

SF- Jeff Green

PF- Chris Wilcox

C- Nick Collison

Off the bench

Guards: Earl Watson, Damien Wilkins, Kyle Weaver

Forwards: Desmond Mason, Joe Smith, DJ White

Centers: Robert Swift, Johan Petro

I have to cringe every time I think about this team, I really do. I went to school in Seattle, and while the Sonics sucked, they at least had the heydays of The Glove tossing up alley-oops to The Rain Man, and Detlef Schremph, and Sam Perkins jacking up 3s at the end of the 4th quarter. They were a team that sucked, with history. Now, they're just a team that sucks. Ok, ok, so maybe I'm not being fair, I'm not considering everything that happened and the legislation and the whole Key Arena scenario and schmo that Howard Schultz is for selling the team in the first place. Alright I'm going to try to be more objective now and not be too abrasive on the Oklahoma City fans out there, but honestly speaking, there's not much in store for them out there, especially this season.

Besides both having coached under Greg Popovich, PJ Carlesimo shares another thing outside of being defensive minded with Mike Brown, that is, they both run the same offensive sets, in essence, have your PG bring up the ball, and give it to your best player. Mike Brown got lucky with this one, because his best player is LeBron James. As great as Kevin Durant is and/or may be, he's no LeBron James. Considering that Durant is only 20, I see a possibility of Durant developing into a trigger happy gunner that is horribly inefficient on the floor, maybe I'm just pessimistic, but it's how he's being taught to play. Seriously, the only time I've seen this team "dominate" was when Durant decided to suit up for a Summer League game. Wilcox and Collison are solid players, but when they're your 2nd and 3rd most effective players on the floor, then I think you're in trouble. Collison to me is like those hustle player that goes for the boards and just does the dirty work, like a... white Udonis Haslem. Wilcox is basically like a more-effective Ronny Turiaf, hair and all, to me something an energy guy, he just scores a bit to go along with it. Jeff Green has shown flashes of great play, but his game is also still raw and unrefined, it's gonna take some time for him to get into it. Damien Wilkins has shown streaks of being able to take the ball to the hole, and has played well during the preseason, I might remind you he played exceptionally well at the beginning of last season before abruptly disappearing from the face of the planet. Russell Westbrook is untested and was drafted more for his defensive abilities so anything he does contribute on the offensive end would be a plus, whereas Earl Watson, well, no one's ever really been sure what to make of Earl Watson, but since Luke Ridnour's gone, I guess that makes him the point man until Westbrook comes of age or if Carlesimo starts his rookie, the backup.

Desmond Mason was brought in as a sort of marketing thing since he's from OKC, and Joe Smith is serviceable but also a non-factor on defense. Either one could snag a starting spot I suppose if things don't work out with Green and Smith outplays either Collison, Wilcox, or the both of them. Finally, if we look at the center rotation, we have Robert Swift, who hasn't been healthy enough to show to us that he really is in fact, bad, and Johan Petro who has shown us that he's somewhat worse than not good, Sene has been relegated to D-League because he's that much worse than Petro, and Ibaka will stay in Europe, because... he's not ready for the NBA? Not really sure about that. Seriously though, when a team has 2 7-foot center eligible players and is forced to start Nick Collison at the 5, not a good sign. So my call on Robert Swift, bust. I'm not going to touch the tatoos and the emo getup.