NBA Season Preview 2013-14: Washington Wizards

2012-2013 Regular Season Record: 29-53

Key Additions:  F: Otto Porter Jr. (Rd 1, Pick 3), Glen Rice Jr. (Rd 2, Pick 35 via 76ers) Eric Maynor (2 yrs, 4.12 mil, all guaranteed), G John Wall (Contract Extension 5 yrs, 80 million, all guaranteed)

Key Losses: None

Projected Starting Lineup: PG: John Wall SG: Bradley Beal SF: Otto Porter Jr. PF: Nene C: Emeka Okafor

Key Backups: F Trevor Ariza, G/F Martell Webster, F/C Kevin Seraphin, F Trevor Booker, G Eric Maynor, F Jan Vesely

Move over Barack Obama, John Wall is now the big man in Washington DC! Just a few days ago from today, John Wall signed a maximum contract as shown above keeping him to 2018. Of course with a big contract comes big expectations, expectations that John Wall can not do alone. And that expectation is to lead the Washington Wizards to glory something former maximum contract signee Gilbert Hibachi Arenas(or whatever you call him these days) could not do.

John Wall recently stated that this contract will motivate him to another level and if the Wizards are able to take the next step, it has to. John Wall started last season with a left knee injury that kept him sidelined to January 12 where he made his impressive debut against that Hawks that saw an upset Wizard win 93-83 in which Wall scored 14 points in 21 minutes. Wall kept this impressive play up for the remainder of the season and transformed the Wizards from bottom feeder(5-28 without Wall) to a team that was not going to be pushed around(24-25 with Wall). To note, John Wall was also getting better as the season went on, his pre All-Star break stats were 14.7 PPG, 7.3 AST and 3.2 RPG on 43 percent shooting over 28.8 minutes. Wall then exploded post All-Star break with 20.7 PPG, 7.8 AST and 4.5 RPG on 45 percent shooting over 34.9 minutes. The major difference in the numbers indicates he was still getting back to fitness pre All-Star and his post All-Star numbers will be more of the norm this upcoming season.

John Wall's game is a hybrid of Russell Westbrook and Rajon Rondo. He is similar to Russell Westbrook in that he is usually the fastest man on the court and arguably the fastest player in the NBA right now who is seemingly unstoppable on a fast break. Wall is also similar to Rondo in that he plays with a pass first mentality and displays tremendous court vision. Defenses also give him the Rondo treatment forcing him to shoot the ball by playing off of him as far as they can while trying to block all passing lanes. Which like Rondo, shooting especially the three point shot is John Wall's Achilles' heel. Despite showing an improvement in his three point shot with a 34 percent clip post All-Star, Wall still only took one a game. In today's NBA, no matter how athletic you are or court savvy, it is almost imperative for a point guard to develop at least a serviceable three point shot playing at the top of the key. And in John Wall's case he will become practically unguardable if he develops a three point shot that he is confident with. To show just how deadly his offensive potential is, against the Memphis Grizzlies, Wall exploded for a stat line of 47 points with 7 rebounds and assists while making 2 out of 4 from the three point line. His defensive potential is enormous as well, gaining the reputation as one of the best shot blocking point guards and also chipping in a steal per game. His on the ball defense is good as well and will only get better due to his athletic ability. This year could see the evolution of John Wall but in order to take the Wizards into the next level, he will require help from the other young prospects.

Bradley Beal was drafted 3rd overall in the 2012 NBA draft for the main reason of being John Wall's Robin. Beal compliments Wall's game well, he is a prototypical two guard that can catch and shoot as well as shoot off the dribble. John Wall's early injury also had an impact on his rookie play, shooting around 35 percent without Wall and shooting around 46 percent with Wall. His season unfortunately got cut short to a right fibula injury and only played 56 games in the season that also cut him short of working with the USA team. Bradley Beal just got cleared yesterday for contact and just in time before training camp, Beal's shooting ability stretches the floor for John Wall to penetrate opposing defenses and vice versa.

The other piece to the puzzle is a bigger question mark, Otto Porter Jr. drafted 3rd overall, Otto Porter was seen by many as a "safe" pick that he will be able to make an impact on the NBA court from day one. His Vegas Summer League play proved otherwise, the Georgetown product scored 6.3 PPG on 30 percent shooting, 3.7 RPG and only 1 assist per game through 3 games before ending his summer league play to injury. One of the main problems for Porter's struggles is his lack of strength, Porter has a lanky frame of 6'9 205 and guarding the LeBron James and Carmelo Anthonys of the world will pose serious problems for him. There are many things that Porter does well but he does not really stand out in a particular skill set. He shot 42 percent from three in college but can he get his shot off against the NBA caliber talent? Can he make his lanky frame work ala Tayshawn Prince and become a terror on the defensive end or will he have similar struggles ala Wesley Johnson?

Big men Nene and Emeka Okafor are getting up there in age, both 30 years old. Can Nene stay healthy and provide the inside scoring he was known for 11 years in the NBA? Can Emeka Okafor provide the defensive presence necessary to compete with the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks of his division? They will also be backed by young promising bigs; Kevin Seraphin and Trevor Booker. The Frenchman Kevin Seraphin is similar to Nene in regard he knows how to score in the paint using his 275 pound frame to average 9.1 PPG in 21.8 minutes of play. Trevor Booker also provides energy off the bench grabbing 5 rebounds a game in 18.5 minutes of play. The bench also provides athletic utility man Trevor Ariza and the sharpshooting Martell Webster. Eric Maynor will look to forget his horrible Portland stint being over a year removed from his ACL injury, Jan Vesley has been disappointing so far in the NBA and this will be his make or break year and Glen Rice Jr. will look to crack the rotation after an excellent showing in the D-League.

Head Coach Randy Wittman is on the hot seat this year, and a playoff birth could prove to be all the difference to keep his job. The Wizards should be able to improve their total points per game that was ranked 28th in the league with 93.2 with a healthy John Wall, Beal and Nene. Their strength was in rebounding(43.2) and defense(95.8 allowed) that had them 8th and 9th in the league respectively and should be able to maintain their output. Everything I said about Kyrie Irving is the same with John Wall, I expect him to take his game to the next level. I had a tough time with this prediction, but the Wizards will just make the playoffs next season if Wall, Beal and Nene can stay healthy and if Porter can put his summer league play behind him.

Projected All Stars: John Wall

Season Projection: Playoff Contention(8th place if healthy)

NBA Season Preview 13-14: Orlando Magic

2012-2013 Regular Season Record: 20-62

Key Additions: G Victor Oladipo (Rd 1, Pick 2), F Jason Maxiell (2 yrs, 5 mil, 2.5 mil guaranteed) , G Ronnie Price (2 yrs, 2.58 mil, 1.27 mil guaranteed), F Romero Osby (Rd 2, Pick 51)

Key Losses: None

Projected Starting Lineup: PG: Jameer Nelson SG: Arron Affalo SF: Maurice Harkless PF: Tobias Harris C: Nikola Vucevic

Key Backups: G Victor Oladipo, F/C Glen "Big Baby" Davis, F Andrew Nicholson, F Jason Maxiell, G Beno Udrih

Well there is one thing Orlando Magic fans can be happy about, they are now the clear cut winners of the Dwight Howard trade. It was always seemingly inevitable Dwight Howard would leave the Orlando Magic and unlike the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Magic managed to get pieces out of the trade in the form of Arron Afflalo, Maurice Harkless and Nikola Vucevic. What has also been the cause and effect was a huge rebuilding year, one that netted them the 2nd pick of the NBA draft in which the Magic choose Victor Oladipo.

Enter Victor Oladipo, part of the Indiana Hoosier resurgence alongside current Bobcat Cody Zeller, leads the current new look Orlando Magic. Oladipo is an intriguing prospect, blessed with excellent athleticism and good defensive qualitiesthat I found at first puzzling the Magic drafted him although having a playing style similar to the aforementioned Arron Afflalo. After watching the Orlando Summer League, Oladipo has left doubters including me speechless.

Orlando Head Coach Jacque Vaughn, tasked the Nigerian descent two guard of running the point guard position, one that doubters including me questioned with his presumed lack of ball handling and playmaking skills. Victor Oladipo put all those doubters including me on hush as he was the only other rookie not named Kelly Olynyk to make the first team of the Orlando Summer League scoring 19 points, grabbing 4.3 rebounds, five assists and picked off 3 steals through four games. Oladipo shown surprisingly good ball handling skills, a knack for hitting the big shot and blazing speed to cover both areas of the court in a matter of seconds. This summer league showing has him drawn to comparisons of Russell Westbrook, a player who also was almost exclusively a two guard in college playing at UCLA. While it is quick to put such a heavy ceiling on him, I expect after this summer league showing he will be used primarily as a point guard, and with learning under former point guard Jacque Vaughn and an experience point in Jameer Nelson, the sky is the limit on his presumed limited potential.

The free agent signings the Orlando Magic have made are not too much to note although Jason Maxiell and Ronnie Price adds some veteran presence in a young locker room. Maxiell was a high energy guy during eight seasons with the Pistons and Ronnie Price is an explosive combo guard who has seen stints with Sacramento, Utah, Phoenix and Portland. This team is obviously not expected to land a big star at this stage of development but are solid short term signings for a rebuilding team.

This rebuilding team has some nice rebuilding pieces. Despite Glen Davis being the designated starter of the Magic during the 2012-2013 season before being sidelined by a left ankle injury, I expect him to start the season on the bench after the tremendous showing of duo forwards; Maurice Harkless and Tobias Harris. Harkless struggled in the first half of the season when he was thrown into the starting spot after Hedo Turkgolu went down, but in the second half of the season, he averaged 13.4 PPG while rebounding at a clip of 5.3 in 35.7 minutes of play. The former St. John's man is versatile and athletic able of playing both forward spots and with further improvement on his shooting could be a player to watch for the Magic. Tobias Harris is also a player to keep an eye on and who would of thought the Magic came out with a rising star out of the trade of J.J. Redick. Tobias Harris averaged 17.5 PPG, grabbed 8.5 boards, chipped in 2.1 assists and also added a block post-trade playing the power forward position. At the age of 21, Tobias Harris already has a game mature beyond his years that will only improve with time.

Nikola Vucevic also surprised quite a few this season averaging 13.9 PPG and 11.9 rebounds even breaking Shaq's longstanding record of rebounds in a single game with 29 against the Miami Heat. In a league where it is rare to find talented seven-footers, the 76ers are wishing they had him back. Arron Afflalo had a heavy offensive workload last season scoring 16.5 PPG at a 44 percent clip. Same can be said for Jameer Nelson who scored 14.4 PPG and 7.4 assists before his season ended due to injury. Beno Udrih one of the more underrated guards in the NBA stepped in well scoring 8.2 PPG while power forward Andrew Nicholson shown promise scoring 7.8 PPG in 16.7 minutes and could be in line for more playing time this season.

This upcoming season is only expected to be a slight improvement upon last season's 20-62 record. Jacque Vaughn is the right coach for the job with his leadership and his relationship to players as a former one himself, this team will grow as he grows. Unfortunately for this upcoming season they do not have much offensive firepower to compete in the Eastern Conference. This team is still in rebuilding mode and with the rising young talent they have, expect the Orlando Magic to make some noise a few years down the road.

Projected All-Stars: None

Season Projection: Bottom of the Eastern Conference

NBA Season Preview 13-14: Cleveland Cavaliers

2012-2013 Regular Season Record: 24-58

Key Additions: G Jarrett Jack (4 yrs 25 mil, 19.4 mil guaranteed ), F Earl Clark (2 yrs 9 mil, 4.5 mil guaranteed), C Andrew Bynum (2 yrs 24.75 mil, 6 mil guaranteed) Anthony Bennett  (Rd 1, Pick 1) , G/F Sergey Karasev (Rd 1, Pick 19), Head Coach Mike Brown

Key Losses: Head Coach Byron Scott

Projected Starting Lineup: PG: Kyrie Irving SG: Dion Waiters SF: Earl Clark PF: Tristan Thompson C: Andrew Bynum

Key Backups: C/F Anderson Varejao,G Jarrett Jack, F Anthony Bennett

After the infamous ESPN Special, "The Decision" in  July 8, 2010, the Cleveland Cavaliers immediately became a bottom tier team in the NBA in which I felt would never recover. Looking at the team three years later, the Cavaliers are set to make push towards the Eastern Conference's top eight. A huge reason for the come-up is third year guard Kyrie Irving, who has took all the pressure of being the post-LeBron franchise player and exceeded expectations with no sweat at all.

This former Duke guard operates the floor with undeniable confidence, has an incredible handle of the ball and creates a good image for the league being a huge difference from the Allen Iversons and Latrell Sprewells of the NBA. As a rookie, Irving posted stats of 18.5 PPG , 5.4 AST and a .47 field goal percentage playing 30.5 MPG. He followed up that season scoring 22.5 PPG, 5.9 AST with a .45 FG percentage  at 34.7 MPG. On top of these stats he also displayed deadly three point shooting with just over 39 percent for those first two seasons. While Kyrie is dynamic and dangerous on the offensive end, his defense could use some improvement. Over the past two years, Irving has been statistically one of the worst defensive point guards in the NBA. Despite that, he has made an improvement from his rookie year where he was abysmal on that side on the floor and will only improve with defensive minded Mike Brown as coach. If you take a look at the assists stats and consecutive seasons with over three turnovers per game, some can may take those outputs as alarming but for Kyrie's credit, he did not have much to work with and the ball had to be in his hands for his team to get a chance to win. With a plethora of new acquisitions at Kyrie's disposal, Irving is set to take the league by storm and is expected to battle Chris Paul and Derrick Rose as the best PG in the NBA.

Speaking on new acquisitions, Andrew Bynum, Earl Clark, Jarrett Jack and rookie Anthony Bennett adds much needed depth in the thin Cleveland Cavaliers. Arguably the biggest risk-reward in the free agency, Andrew Bynum known for having glass knees and being temperamental, was formerly the best post playing center in the NBA during his Los Angeles Lakers tenure averaging 18.7 PPG, grabbing 11.8 rebounds with almost 2 blocks and shooting 56 percent in the 2011-2012 season. You can also take into account that Bynum had to play with the high usage Kobe Bryant and a closer to prime Pau Gasol. If Andrew Bynum can even produce of semblance of that season, it will be a major improvement over what Cleveland had last year and at only 6 million guaranteed in his incentive laden contract, could prove to be a bargain.

 Jarrett Jack was one of the better point guards in the NBA let alone as a sixth man and should make a similar impact spotting Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters as he did with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. Shooting 40 pct from the 3 point line would combine for a similar two 3 point guard tandem as he did with his former teammates and had really stepped up his game in the postseason scoring 17.2 PPG on an superb 50 percent field goal shooting in 35 minutes per game. Jarrett Jack could play either guard position and with a high basketball IQ and much needed playoff experience, Jack could be a team leader and possibly one of the top sixth man candidates for this young side.

Earl Clark is a versatile forward and fills the small forward position which was clearly the biggest hole on the team. The 25 year old has worked hard from being a fringe but promising NBA player to an established one gaining over 22 minutes for the Lakers last season and will have all to prove as a starter for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The surprise first pick Anthony Bennett will have to prove many doubters wrong to justify his draft status. Standing at 6 foot 8, will he be more of the lines of a Paul Millsap or Elton Brand or will he struggle with being an undersized tweener 4 just like more recent draftees; Michael Beasley or Derrick Williams? Other first round pick Sergey Karasev had questions on whether he would come to the NBA or remain in Russia for the upcoming season but with reports that he is indeed coming over could prove to be a good pick for the Cavs as his draft stock would have been higher.

As far as the other returning players on the team, Anderson Varejao is coming back off a life threatening injury with a blood clot. The good news is that Varejao is ready to return. Varejao was arguably the top center in the Eastern Conference before the blood clot averaging 14.1 PPG and 14.4 RPG on 48 percent shooting. I would expect Mike Brown to incorporate Varejao in the rotation by playing him at the power forward spot but for now I see him spelling Bynum and working with the second team. The current starting power forward Tristan Thompson has made strides in improvement and is a solid starter in the NBA. Given his two years of starting experience and is still developing I also expect Thompson to start over Bennett for the beginning of the season. Dion Waiters has shown flashes and even took over games for the Cavs when Kyrie Irving went down to injury. Shot selection and defense were a problem for him but on the offensive end when he is hot, he is on fire.

Even when Anderson Varejao was playing, the Cavaliers were still one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA. The Cavaliers were sixth in the NBA in points allowed giving up 101.2 PPG, a near five point difference in what they scored which was 96.5 PPG. This is expected to be addressed with the hiring of Mike Brown for his second stint with the team. In his previous tenure, the Cavs were among the top defensive teams in the NBA for multiple years and made the Lakers formidable in defense before the Dwight Howard saga. Mike Brown has also coached Andrew Bynum during his best year which probably influenced Bynum's move to Cleveland. Although Mike Brown can bring defense, former coach Byron Scott has been very influential in the development of Kyrie Irving just like he was with Chris Paul in his early years and is surely not to blame for their losing records and is a better coach than given credit for.

Nonetheless, the Cavaliers have built a playoff contending team in the Eastern Conference and even though Dan Gilbert failed on promising fans they will win a title before LeBron, has surprised alot of people with the quick rebuild of his team. Kyrie Irving in my opinion will emerge as a top point guard and could prove to be an all star starter. Uncle Drew is a positive influence in the new generation of the NBA and is a good role model for children and the post aftermath of LeBron James for fans in Ohio.

Projected All-Stars: Kyrie Irving, Andrew Bynum(If healthy)

Season Projection: Playoff Contention

The Season Preview: NBA

It is always heartbreaking when a season ends. You start to wonder what sport you are going to watch next. For avid sports fans, the end of a grueling season can mean only one thing, the offseason begins. Where the most unpredictable, unthinkable and plain questionable transactions and business decisions can occur.  Of course the shrewd business moves are also made in the offseason and can be the difference between your team becoming the Miami Heat or becoming the Charlotte Bobcats. Either way in the offseason you are rebuilding the team from the ground up, gathering assets to increase revenue or just flat out building a contender.

This NBA offseason has arguably been the most active since The Decision. The 76ers trades Jrue Holiday and places their freshman on two rookies, the Cavs continue to rebuild the post-LeBron era by drafting a curve ball with the 1st pick of the NBA Draft and signing an incredibly talented yet troubled bigman, the era of the Celtics Big 3 is finally no more and oh Dwight Howard moves again.  This NBA offseason has created a power play for teams such as the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors while the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and possibly the Los Angeles Lakers.

In this season preview, we will take a look on how NBA teams dared during their offseason, all the way down to the contracts, projected starting lineup and how will the acquisitions will affect the team chemistry and the franchise moving forward.