We are getting ready for another season of hoops. I always look forward to the beginning of the NBA season, a new start. So with the season knocking on our doorsteps, let’s take a look at the teams this year and where they potentially could end up this season.

After a drama filled season last year. Welcome back NBA!

Eastern Conference

Atlantic

Brooklyn Nets; Last season, 22-44, (Scoring will come in bunches in New York here, D-Will and finally, Joe Johnson will be a straight SG.)

New York Knicks; Last season, 36-30, (Basically same team except for a silent addition of veteran Jason Kidd, still can get easy shots for players.)

Boston Celtics; Last season, 39-27, (Same thing over again, another year older, but Jason Terry will replace some of the deep ball threat they lost in Allen. Sullinger may perhaps be a nice addition.)

Philadelphia 76ers; Last season, 35-31, (Andrew Bynum gets his team, he will be a force for the East to deal with, I expect Evan Turner to become a solid 2nd scoring option)

Toronto Raptors; Last season, 23-43, (Toronto is...well...Toronto.)

Central

Indiana Pacers; Last season, 42-24, (Roy Hibbert, yes please. Give this man the rock, and let him score even more.)

Chicago Bulls; Last season, 50-16, (Tough call, reasonable up and comers in division, and questions of if Derrick Rose will be the same?)

Milwaukee Bucks; Last season, 31-35, (Monta Ellis adds scoring, still needs better shot selection.)

Detroit Pistons; Last season, 25-41, (Big man, Greg Monroe should be a 19/10 guy this year & should be main scoring option season.)

Cleveland Cavaliers; Last season, 21-45, (Tristan Thompson needs to continue developing a midrange shot, because off of last year, he needs a much better offensive game.)

Southeast

Miami Heat; Last season, 46-20, (Defending champions under more pressure, people always wanna knock the King off his throne. Ownage in the division this season.)

Atlanta Hawks; Last season, 40-26, (Losing Joe Johnson hurts, of course, with Morrow as a 3 point threat, along with Korver, a batch of long balls will be put up in Atlanta this season.)

Washington Wizards; Last season, 20-46, (Trevor Ariza, who I like a lot, will struggle here, as seemingly all players do. PG John Wall has some knee issues that don’t help matters much.)

Orlando Magic; Last season, 37-29, (With only scorer Aaron Afflalo, likely being the chief scoring choice, and a team with Glen Davis as a big man, hard times coming to Orlando.)

Charlotte Bobcats; Last season, 7-59, (Bismack Biyombo had a reasonable season last year, but needs to work on scoring the rock. Kemba, has heart, but his shooting was atrocious at 37%. )

Western Conference

Northwest

Oklahoma City Thunder; Last season, 47-19, (Team ready to become the next “big thing” if they aren’t already – will be even hungrier now after sniffing the champagne.)

Denver Nuggets; Last season, 38-28, (With the all-around game from Andre Igoudala, as he should become a bigger scoring threat for Denver, replacing Afflalo at SG.)

Utah Jazz; Last season, 36-30, (Improved, with Mo Williams leading the squad, he can shoot the deep ball and get the ball to Millsap, so better scoring options will become available.)

Minnesota Timberwolves; Last season, 26-40, (Love will dominate as expected; Rubio needs to improve his shooting. But the story here is getting Brandon Roy, and how much he can put in, coming back from his bad knees.)

Portland Trailblazers; Last season, 28-38, (Should be moving the ball a little better this year, but essentially a minimal upgrade.)

Pacific

Los Angeles Lakers; Last season, 41-25, (Seriously? Could credibly win 67+)

Los Angeles Clippers; Last season, 40-26, (Chauncey even at 36, if he can get back to health, he can still drill 3’s and hit clutch shots. Odom is back in LA, should be happy, and could be a big 6th man provider again.)

Golden State Warriors; Last season, 23-43, (On paper, they look like they could be a fine team, shooters, and players all over the court, we will see if they can improve the terrible rebounding.)

Phoenix Suns; Last season, 33-33, (Brand new team in a new direction. Should be a good rebounding team with Gortat and Scola. Beasley may possibly be a 20 pt guy here, if he wants to be.)

Sacramento Kings; Last season, 22-44, (They will still score pts, without much difficulty, but still lack defense, and you need to stop teams from scoring the ball.)

Southwest

Memphis Grizzlies; Last season, 41-25, (Rudy Gay is an all around baller, who can score, rebound and a respectable defender. They improved nicely and should make a run for this division.)

San Antonio Spurs; Last season, 50-16, (Did they really have that season last year? Yes. Seems every year they are ready to be written off. Basically, the same team, starting age of 30, age sooner or later has to catch them, right?)

Dallas Mavericks; Last season, 36-30, (Suddenly injury riddled 34 yr old, Dirk Nowitzki, could miss playing time with his knees. SG O.J. Mayo is great spot up guy, but the team is on the decline.)

New Orleans Hornets; Last season, 21-45, (Snagging a potential defensive beast in Anthony Davis, should help immeasurably. Also getting sharpshooter, and often underrated, Ryan Anderson is massive. Anderson ought to be a foremost scorer. Hornets might be a big surprise this season.)

Houston Rockets; Last season, 34-32, (They landed their man, PG Jeremy Lin, now we will see what he can do devoid of the talent that he had in NY. A very young front court that will need leadership on this team.)

Tony Karpinski of VegasTopDogs.com