The Phoenix Suns continue their excellence under the Kevin Love regime. Marking just their 2nd time in the Finals, the Suns once again have a team built to win the championship just as they did in the 2009-2010 season: shoot lots of 3s. With the core of Kevin Love, the defending playoffs MVP James Harden, and Ryan Anderson, they definitely have the star power to do just that.
Both of these teams are about to square off for another championship to add to their trophy case, but which team next season could potentially replicate the success of the 76ers and Suns?
#1. Utah Jazz
The Jazz haven't been serious contenders since maybe the 2014 season, when GM digiskunk took over for cprej and inherited a team of Paul George, Ricky Rubio, and Andrew Bogut. Over the last few seasons, digi has torn the team down and has built the Jazz into the team he can call his own. They may not have finished with a winning record, but they did make the playoffs this season. The average age of the Jazz's starting lineup in the playoffs (without Smith who was injured) was 23.8 years old. That's not including 20 year old JR Johnson, whom the Jazz are easing into playing time as he develops. The Jazz remind me of the 76ers with the amount of young talent they have. The issue for the Jazz is some of their guys are not yet close to hitting their potential, and they don't have a guy like Gordon Hayward who the 76ers built the team around. The Jazz will need to pay Alton Towers, but they will have plenty of cap space to go out and sign or possibly trade for an established veteran like Gordon Hayward.
Or, better yet, rumors are swirling that Hayward will need a new home. Could Hayward call the West home?
#2. Detroit Pistons
Before you have a heart attack, this article isn't about dark horse teams, and the Detroit Pistons have the ability to do what the Suns did: put a star next to an OP. The Pistons will enter the offseason with only about $31,000,000 in salary committed, thanks to Davis, Stephenson and Bynum's contract falling off. The #1 plan this season is to bring Davis back, of course, but the Pistons should start thinking about adding an established veteran around Davis. They did this two seasons ago when they signed Stephenson initially, before he fell off due to age. Over the last few offseasons, the Pistons added Keitt, Kimbrough and O'Connor as young guys with potential to grow, but at some point the team needs to stop cultivating and start harvesting. The Suns went from a good team to the favorite in the West after adding Harden and they didn't disappoint. Rudy Gay is still servicable, but if the Pistons could add someone with some star power with the cap space they have available, the Pistons could return to form and make another run for the Finals.
#3. Milwaukee Bucks
I mean, sooner or later this team will start winning. Or at least need to start. The roster is stacked with young and talented prospects, and Damion McNary was deservedly the MIP this season after being placed in the 3rd Team All PBSL. The question going into the offseason with a potential top 3 pick is if the potential player fits with the core of McNary, Ronald Small and DeSean Hawkins. The best bet the Bucks have in becoming a favorite over the offseason is to begin selling off their plentiful green potential players into players in their prime. I'm not sure this will happen, but a team cannot hold onto this much youth for long before RFA begins to chip away at the sustainability. Although this upcoming draft is weak, a top pick and plenty of good players make the Bucks my favorite to make that blockbuster trade to start the draft we always seem to get.
#4. Boston Celtics
The Celtics currently have a good mix of a prime veteran with young potential stars. Rudy Gobert is elite at what he's good at, and that's being an interior presence on the boards and on defense. Don't expect him to score, because his usage rating is very low, but who needs him to score when you have Karl-Anthony Towns, Tyler Ulis, Julio De La Rosa and Jaylen Brown to put around Gobert? This team is almost exploding with talent with those four guys being top 6 picks in their drafts (and of course Towns and Rosa being the #1 overall), and maybe next season it gets better for the Celtics. Towns has been quiet, and honestly his performance is a disappointment. He doesn't have the excuse of being raw because he's nearing or is already in some key attribute potential bands for his currents, so why is he only averaging 14 points per game? The unexpected rising star Tyler Ulis will be the saving grace of this franchise, but he still has some potential to grow. The main squad is coming back under contract next season with a projected $15,000,000 to spend in free agency. A strong free agency and training camp could potentially shoot the Celtics from bottom-dweller to preseason-division-favorite quickly.
#5. Sacramento Kings
Shameless plug, and no one likes to read the felating of the writer's own team. And I wanted to see the old logo again. They were perfect.
This section is categorized as the Bitch Tits category. They are the ones who should have relatively the same amount of success, more or less, compared to this season going into next.
#1. Denver Nuggets
Yeah they should make the playoffs again.
