(Not so) Bold Predictions
1. Kevin Durant will win
both the scoring title and MVP this season.
The Thunder will be playing without Russell Westbrook for at
least the first few weeks of the season, placing more of the scoring load on
Durant. Combined with the fact that this team already lacks a consistent third
scoring option due to the departure of Kevin Martin and Durant should post the
highest scoring average of his career this season. Also, due to voter apathy,
Lebron James would need a truly remarkable season in order to win his fifth
award in six seasons. With Durant doing more, he will be in line to win his
first regular season MVP.
2. The Knicks will not
win a playoff series
The Knicks have won exactly one playoff series since acquiring
Carmelo Anthony. With the top four teams in the East (Miami, Chicago, Indiana, New
Jersey Brooklyn) a clear cut above the rest, it is looking like Carmelo
will be facing yet another first round exit.
3. Stephen Curry will
solidify himself as the best shooter the league has ever seen
Seems bold right? But if you take a look at the numbers it’s
really not. You’re too lazy to look? Okay then I’ll show you why. Right now,
Ray Allen and Reggie Miller are probably considered the greatest shooters of
all time. Maybe even Larry Bird for any old timers out there. But take a look
at this chart.
_________________________________________________________________
Player
|
Career 3FG %
|
3-Point Attemps/Game
|
Ray Allen
|
40.1
|
5.8
|
Reggie Miller
|
39.5
|
4.7
|
Larry Bird
|
37.6
|
1.9
|
Stephen
Curry
|
44.6
|
5.6
|
Curry not
only shoots as many, or more, three’s than the game’s greatest players but he
makes a significantly higher percentage of them. And he’s only getting better.
In the three seasons where he has played at least 74 games (he played just 26
in his only other season) he shot 43.7%, 44.2% and 45.3% from three point
range. He shot 45.3% while taking almost
8 three’s a game last season. Neither Bird nor Reggie Miller’s best seasons
were as a good as Curry’s worst and Allen has only shot at that well once in
his career (2011 with the Celtics).
4. The team with the
worst record will not land the first overall draft pick
The team with the worst record only has a 25 percent chance
of winning it anyway, and they have actually only won it 3 times in 24 years.
Maybe NBA teams have forgotten this since about half the league seems to be
tanking. This draft is great and all, but teams better be damn sure they are
getting a franchise player if they are throwing away an entire season.
5. The Miami Heat will
win their third consecutive championship and Lebron James will stay in Miami
The East has gotten considerably tougher this season, but I
still don’t see the Heat losing. Remember, they beat the Bulls with Rose coming
off his MVP season in 5 games in 2010, before this team had really come
together. The Heat have a dangerous on/off switch that could doom them and
Dwayne Wade already looks old, but I see another ring in the King’s future.
Bold Predictions
1. The Detroit Pistons
will win more games than the New York Knicks
Maybe I’ve just listened to my brother talk about this team
too much and I’ve been brainwashed, but I’m actually excited about the Pistons
this year (heads up Chris – I was excited about the Buccaneers season too and
look where that went. I’m gonna go cry now). But Greg Monroe is legit, Josh Smith is a Swiss-army-knife-type talent and Andre Drummond will be a beast. I also think Chauncey Billups will help
this team a TON, although more as a locker room presence than as a player. As
for the Knicks, the deal for Andrea Bargniani was awful. He plays zero defense and hasn’t shot better than 35 percent from 3
point range since 2009. Plus, I think the playoff version of J.R. Smith (14 points, 33% from the field) will rear his ugly head more than the regular season version (18 points, 42% from the field). They’ll both make the playoffs, but the Pistons will be
the higher seed.
2. Kevin Love will get
serious MVP consideration
Did everyone forget how good this guy was? He averaged 26
and 13 two seasons ago, before missing almost all of last year with a wrist
injury. The Wolves will grab one of the last playoff spots in the West, and it
will be because Love has a monster year.
3. DeMarcus Cousins
will become a top 15 player in the NBA
Currently ranked No. 40 on ESPN NBA Rank (although, to be
fair, those rankings are mostly bogus. In what world is Tony Parker the 12th
best player in the league? He’s top 3 or 4 no questions asked. But that’s an
article for another day) Cousins has always had the potential to be great. Due
to maturity issues and inconsistency he hasn’t quite put it all together.
However, I think this is the year he turns it around. I’m not sure how many
games the Kings will win, but expect Cousins to have a monster year.
Neither may happen for a while because of a certain South
Beach star, but I love what the Houston Rockets are building. They have a
legitimate superstar (Harden) an overqualified wingman (Howard) and an
underrated third scorer (Chandler Parsons). Add in a decent backcourt duo in
Patrick Beverly and Jeremy Lin, as well as a valuable trade chip (Omer Asik)
and this team could be very dangerous come playoff time. If the Rockets can
flip Asik for a stretch four (Ryan Anderson maybe) they will be title
contenders. As much as I love Durant and Westbrook’s talent, they gave away the
piece to a potential dynasty in order to avoid amnestying Kendrick Perkins and cut costs. Ouch.
5. The Los Angeles
Lakers will have a better record without Kobe Bryant than with him this season
Probably my boldest statement, and maybe I shouldn’t underestimate
the Mamba, but this guy has played like 123,610,592 minutes in the NBA
(unofficial statistic) and just tore his Achilles. I could see the Lakers
scraping their way to a .500 record until he returns and then have things go
south when he’s still trying to take 25 shots a night and just can’t do it.
BONUS BOLD
PREDICTION!!!
The UConn Huskies will
reach the Final Four
Call me a homer but really, on the homer scale of 1 to Tommy
Heinson, I’m only like a 4. This team is very good. Shabazz Napier and Ryan
Boatright will form the best backcourt duo in college basketball and DeAndre
Daniels will take the next step to becoming a superstar. He’s like Kevin Durant
lite. Okay, so the extremely lite version. Like if Kevin Durant were an app, he’d
cost $9.99 and Daniels would be the free version that offered about 1/100th
of the same stuff but gave you a tiny glimpse of what the real version was
like. This team also has some serious depth and if any one of their centers can
step up and become a real low post defensive presence, they’ll be very good.
By: Nicholas Danforth
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