which lottery team has the best chance to reach the post season next season
teams in the lottery are Clippers, Thunder, Sac, Memphis, Wiz, Minny, Warriors, Knicks, Raptors, Bucks, Nets, Bobcats, Pacers, and Suns.
I'd have to go with the Suns first, Wizards (If healthy), Bucks/Clippers next (Health/Chemistry) and the others that have a chance are Nets, Bobcats, and Raptors. The East is going to be tougher if teams are healthy, heck maybe Indiana sneaks in. Def. the Wizards have the most potential with Arenas, Butler, Jamison, Young, 5th Pick, Mike James, Haywood, Stevenson, McGee, etc. Suns also, but they are old and destined to trade someone or so it seems.
the thunder are gonna make be really down the road. do they make the playoffs i dont know. it really all depends on good coaching, durant growth as a leader and player, westbrook and green as well. if harden can play well on the next level, and good bench. but i think the wizards will be back with agent zero, butler, and a-jam all healthy, plus they got some nice young players who are developing well.
The Bucks have a good team. If they add Blair at #10, they have Bogut (C), Blair (PF), Jefferson (SF), Redd (SG), and Sessions (PG). I know that Charlie V is a free agent, as well as Sessions I believe. I think that the Bucks will keep Sessions in the fold and let Charlie V walk. Now I know that Blair might not be their man but they have some talent there with Luc Richard Mbah a Moute coming off the bench as a SF/PF as well. They were decimated by injuries last year too, so if their starters can stay on the court they will win a significantly higher amount of games. Also, Skiles was able to take the Bulls to the playoffs without an All-Star on the roster so having a couple of All-Stars like Redd and Jefferson already in the fold will make it that much better for Skiles. The Bucks actually worry me a little bit as a Bulls fan.
I think both the Nets and the Raptors have the best chance to make it back to the playoffs. The Suns may be the best team of the bunch, but I fully expect that 7th/8th seed to be back up for grabs in the East whereas the Suns could win 46 games (again) and come up short. Both New Jersey and Toronto have the pieces to win 40 games and will each (hopefully) add a contributor with their respective lottery selections. Free Agency will obviously play a part, maybe more for the Nets than Toronto because of the nature of their current contracts.
Simply because we know the Clippers well enough to know that even with talent, this organization manages to become to increasingly inept by the year. They aren't going anywhere with Dunleavy as their coach.
As for realistic possibilities, I think the Wizards can contend for a top 5 seed if they stay healthy. The question is will they? Even if they are, Gilbert isn't nearly the same player he was a few years ago when he was an MVP candidate. I like their core group of guys though, and Flip is a good regular season coach (not in the playoffs though lol). The Suns barely missed the playoffs this year, so they're an obvious choice, too.
At first, I would've said the Raptors, but I'm not sold on Jay Triano as their coach. That and they just don't seem to have any sort of offensive identity. The Nets and Bucks however, seem to have the pieces to make a run at the 7 and 8 spots in the East.
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