It is early in the NBA season but, as we approach the end of the first quarter of the season, it is becoming more and more clear which teams are contenders and which teams are pretenders.
While it is certainly too early to write teams off (except you New Jersey and Minnesota), there are a lot of games yet to be played, a lot of injuries yet to occur.
It is getting to be that time where teams throughout the NBA are beginning to realize exactly what they have (or don't have) and whether or not that will be enough to get them to the playoffs. So, which teams are facing a cause for concern?
I left the Knicks off of this list because I think it is pretty obvious that coming into this season they weren't very concerned with what happened in 2009. It is 2010 the Knicks are concerned about. So, why even put them on this list. They aren't here to win. They are simply sleepwalking until this summer when they hope to get their hands on LeBron, D-Wade or Chris Bosh. Good luck, Knicks fans…
New Jersey Nets – New Jersey is off to one of the NBA's worst starts in recent memory and, at 0-15 with significant cap space this summer, is clearly a team in transition right now. General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe has some nice young talent on the roster in Devin Harris, Brook Lopez, Terrence Williams and Courtney Lee, but, even with the injury problems the team has faced this season, sooner or later a shake-up is likely to come. Head Coach Lawrence Frank has had a nice run in New Jersey, advancing to the playoffs in each of his first four seasons at the helm, but the Nets have missed the playoffs in each of the last two off-seasons. With his team struggling so mightily and in the midst of a four game road trip that includes stops in Portland and Los Angeles (against the Lakers), Frank finds himself sitting squarely on the hot seat following the team's abysmal start. The Nets have a tremendous duo around which the team can build in Harris and Lopez and, considering the team's woeful start, might be best off simply playing the year out and heading into the off-season with as much cap space as any team in the NBA.
Washington Wizards – After an injury-plagued season a year ago in which the Wizards won just 19 games and fired Head Coach Eddie Jordan, Washington added the sharp-shooting Mike Miller and Randy Foye this off-season to a roster that already included All-Stars Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison and hired Flip Saunders to run the show. With so many productive players and an established coach in place, the Wizards felt coming into the season that they would be in contenders in the Eastern Conference. Things haven't gone so smoothly, however, and after one month of play, Washington finds itself sitting alone in the cellar of the Southwest Division at 4-9 and on pace to win just 25 games this season. With Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison due a combined $100M (approximately) over the next few years, it seems as if Caron Butler's more manageable deal (he is due just under $11M in the final year of his contract next season) and Mike Miller's expiring deals could well be on the way out in search of a better fit for Saunders squad.
Minnesota Timberwolves – Minnesota is another team with several young, talented players on the roster but is also struggling to remain competitive as team President David Kahn rebuilds what was once a perennial playoff team. With the draft rights to Spanish sensation Ricky Rubio and young players like Kevin Love, Jonny Flynn, Al Jefferson and Ramon Sessions locked up for the next few years, Kahn and the expiring, and inflated, contracts of Mark Blount and Brian Cardinal on the books, Minnesota has several tradable assets and is scheduled to have nearly $20M in cap space next summer. And a fairly bright future. This team is in desperate need, however, of some veteran leadership (Rip Hamilton?) to come in and provide an example of what it takes to prepare like a professional and win games in the NBA. Minnesota is a long, long way from being a competitive basketball team right now and without the promise of contending for a championship (and in the bone-chilling cold of the Twin Cities), it will be tough to maximize the team's available cap space by bringing in big name free agents. Can you imagine LeBron James bolting his hometown of Cleveland for Minneapolis? Not going to happen.
Detroit Pistons – How far the mighty have fallen? After making a remarkable six consecutive trips to at the least the Eastern Conference Finals, the Pistons shipped out 2004 Finals MVP Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets last November in exchange for the soon-to-be retired Allen Iverson and have been a fringe playoff team at best ever since. With the cap space from A.I.'s expiring deal, the Pistons were big spenders in free agency this summer, signing Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva to deals worth a combined $90M. Turns out that just because you have money, doesn't mean you have to spend it. The Pistons are the losers of six consecutive games (I know, they have been without Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton) and sit alone at the bottom of the Central Division standings. Without a low post scoring presence, the Pistons have become little more than a jump-shooting team and are in the bottom five of the league in scoring at 92.5 points per game. It has long been rumored that, with the addition of Gordon and the team looking to get younger, Hamilton could be on his way out of the Motor City. With Detroit struggling to find an identity and wins, it is time (when Hamilton returns from an ankle injury) for the Pistons to shop the three-time NBA All-Star.
Los Angeles Clippers – The Clippers came into this season with expectations, both internal and external, quite possibly at an all-time high. With emerging players like Al Thornton and Eric Gordon combining forces with proven veterans like Baron Davis and Marcus Camby and the selection of the top pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, Blake Griffin, it looked as if the Clippers could steal some of the headlines from the Lakers. Not the case so far. The team stumbled out of the gate and, despite playing better basketball of late, finds itself(6-10) sitting outside the playoffs and in the lottery once again (if the season were to end today). With Chris Kaman playing at a very high level, Griffin expected to return from injury in the coming weeks and DeAndre Jordan itching for more playing time, the Clippers could very easily use Marcus Camby's expiring contract to bring a shooter to one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the NBA.
Chicago Bulls – The Bulls appeared to be a young, up-and-coming team after its tremendous first round playoff series against the Boston Celtics last season. With Derrick Rose proving to be a legitimate starter (and most likely a heckuva lot more) in the NBA and the Bulls pushing the defending NBA champions to seven games in the playoffs, expectations were high for Chicago coming into the season. Especially from this writer. Ben Gordon walked via free agency, joining the Pistons and, while he isn't the most versatile player in the world, Gordon's ability to knock down clutch shots and spread the floor with his 3-point shooting has been sorely missed in Chicago so far this year. Luol Deng and John Salmons are good basketball players, but neither is suited for standing at the arc waiting for Rose to create wide-open jump shot for them. And it has hurt the Bulls. Badly. (I was wrong, ok? The Bulls REALLY miss Ben Gordon. I admit it. I was wrong.) If Chicago wants to make a push in the playoffs and possibly contend for a Central Division crown, the Bulls will have to bring in someone to help open things up in the lane for players like Rose, Deng and Salmons.
Teams to watch: The Indiana Pacers nearly made this list, but the return of Troy Murphy (who was second in the NBA in rebounding and fourth in double-doubles last season) and Mike Dunleavy, Jr., should push the Pacers into playoff position. The Toronto Raptors have been anything but spectacular through 16 games of play and the team's lack of defense (and toughness) is making it difficult for Toronto to beat anyone of consequence (the Raptors have one win over a team with a winning record so far this year and just gave up a season-high 116 points to the Charlotte Bobcats). The firing of Byron Scott and the injury to Chris Paul may be the only things keeping the New Orleans Hornets off this list right now. Rookies Marcus Thornton and Darren Collison are proving to be more than capable players at the NBA level and, unless this team reverts back to keeping those two off the floor, the Hornets seem to have righted the ship.
