2010 NBA Playoffs Outsiders

- The Season's Over -

There’s Always Next Year: Eastern Conference

April 15, 2010

Pistons and Knicks Photo Credit: Icon SMI

The NBA playoffs get rolling on Saturday, and all eyes will be on the big-name match-ups (Kobe vs Durant) and possible upsets (It’s not far-fetched for OKC to topple LA in round one. How about Spurs-Mavericks?). And while 16 teams will pull out all the stops to keep their seasons going for another two months, 14 clubs are already done with little to look forward to this summer except the June 24 draft and free agency.

Here’s a breakdown of the seven Eastern Conference teams on the outside looking in, and what type of view they have while everyone else is playing for a banner.

Detroit Pistons (27-55)

The Hope: PF Jonas Jerebko was one of the steals of the second-round, ending up with a solid rookie campaign (9 points and 6 boards per, 48% FG). Rodney Stuckey is establishing himself as an explosive, to-the-rim player who’s fun to watch. The Pistons have a little bit of money to use this summer, and GM Joe Dumars is due to make something out of it after last year’s “haul” (Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva). They can probably resign a resurgent Ben Wallace for nothing if he doesn’t retire.

But Don’t Forget: That shine from their six-year run at the title (2003-2008, including a Championship in 2004) is completely gone. Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince are starting to look a little long in the tooth, and athletic wings in their 30′s can fall off quickly. The lackluster duo of Gordon and Villanueva lock up a lot of money for the next four seasons.

Indiana Pacers (32-50)

The Hope: The Pacers are serious about making some moves and trades (notably Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, and TJ Ford) to start rebuilding ASAP. They play at an exciting pace, and second-year players Roy Hibbert and Brandon Rush are looking good. Rookie Tyler Hansbrough showed some nice things (and some injury concerns). With any luck, they’ll convince underrated PG Earl Watson to stay. I know it’s a year off, but they have almost nothing on the books beyond next summer and could find themselves in the mix for some big free agents in 2011.

But Don’t Forget: They have terrible rebounding issues, and Hibbert and Jeff Foster are way too slow to provide this help in Indy’s system. Danny Granger is good, but he’s not the guy you want as your best player if your goal is a winning season. The Pacers don’t have a lot of money or a high enough draft pick (likely 10th) to make a real splash this summer, and Murphy and Dunleavy probably won’t be traded before mid-season when their shooting and expiring contracts would be most valuable to a contender.

New Jersey Nets (12-70)

The Hope: Despite ending up with one of the worst records of all-time, the Nets finished relatively strong after starting the year with nearly every half-decent player injured at the same time. New Jersey returns every player worth keeping (Brook Lopez, Devin Harris, Terrence Williams, Courtney Lee, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Yi Jianlian), and they have a humongous pile of cash sitting around to sign a max contract and/or numerous supporting cast members, plus they hold a top-four draft pick.

But Don’t Forget:The max contract guy they’re most likely to sign is Carlos Boozer, and he’s regularly injured and not a team leader. The fan base is a bit down after this pooper of a year, and the supposed-to-be new owner has some serious business ethics issues to work out (though that never stopped the Clippers’ Donald Sterling). Two of the likely top-four draft picks are freshmen who apparently don’t like to be coached (Kentucky’s John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins), so their added value could be offset by team chemistry issues.

Checking in with the Knicks through Wizards, after the jump …

Danilo Gallinari Photo Credit: Icon SMI

New York Knicks (29-53)

The Hope: The Knicks have been gearing up for the summer of 2010 since 2007, so they’re about to spend some serious money on the free agent market. New York is the only team with enough cap space to sign two max contract players (not counting Miami if they retain Dwyane Wade), and every baller has the secret dream of playing in basketball’s mecca (NYC or the Garden, either one is applicable in this case). There’s a good chance they’ll get Joe Johnson plus a big man—likely Chris Bosh or Amar’e Stoudemire—so the talent level is definitely going up. They retain some decent youngsters in Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Toney Douglas, and Bill Walker, and coach Mike D’Antoni will always make things interesting.

But Don’t Forget: New York is such a laughingstock at this point (even more so than NJ), it’s conceivable that their free agency grab won’t net as many impact players as one would think; both Bosh and Stoudemire aren’t franchise guys who will lead any team to the promised land, and either one is likely to want out within two years. D’Antoni isn’t a defensive coach, and the Knicks need a serious defensive adjustment before the wins start coming (they haven’t had a winning season since 2000-01).

Philadelphia 76ers (27-55)

The Hope: Coach Eddie Jordan is gone. GM Ed Stefanski is hopefully one step behind him. These two departures will help a lot. And Iverson is finally done. Marreese Speights, Louis Williams, and Thaddeus Young have become valuable pieces, and rookie Jrue Holiday showed promise by the end of the season.

But Don’t Forget: The Sixers are locked up financially next year and aren’t looking real promising the two following years, either, so free agency isn’t getting them anywhere. There are a lot of questions about the focus and direction of this club, including if face of the franchise Andre Iguodala will be traded in the near future. Philly better make their top-seven draft pick count because their second-rounder is owed to Milwaukee.

Toronto Raptors (40-42)

The Hope: For having one of the most woeful defenses in recent memory, Toronto still nearly got into the playoffs with Chris Bosh riding the pine for the last six games with a facial fracture. There is plenty of offensive pop left on the roster after Bosh signs somewhere in the lower 48, and Jose Calderon returned to form by season’s end as the most underrated PG in the league (41% 3′s, 6-1 A-TO rate since February). Rookie G/F DeMar DeRozan held up and improved his shot selection during the season.

But Don’t Forget: Bosh is gone, and the Raptors were never particularly good with him. They only have a little bit of wiggle room financially, and they are saddled with some hefty contracts that aren’t going anywhere for a while (three players make about $120 million over the next five seasons), notably Hedo Turkoglu. Toronto’s defense needs more retooling than C-3PO in “The Empire Strikes Back.”

Washington Wizards (26-56)

The Hope: Young center Adray Blatche turned out to be pretty good (21-8-4 as a starter). They have enough money to sign a max contract player, but they’re more likely to use that cash to pick up as much help as possible this summer since their core is beyond depleted. In addition to their own lottery pick, they own Cleveland’s 30th selection at the end of the first round.

But Don’t Forget: The Wizards are an absolute mess after a truly bizarre series of self-imploding events unfolded during the season. They still haven’t indicated that they’ll use Gilbert Arenas’ legal issues to rid themselves of their $80 million obligation to him over the next four years. He definitely is not who any GM would want to build a franchise around, and their next best talent (Blatche) turned out to be kinda crazy.

Zachariah Blott cannot recommend Rick Telander’s “Heaven Is A Playground” enough.

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