2009-2010 NBA Season: The (t5!) Preview

(t5!) Top 5 Rookie of the Year Candidates

5. Brandon Jennings

From what I’ve read, the last person that had his handles was Iverson. But from what I’ve read, the last person that had his IQ (or lack thereof was Ricky Davis). An interesting concoction, to say the least.

4. Jrue Holiday

He’ll probably split the minutes with Lou Williams at the beginning of the season but by the second half of the year, he’ll get starter point guard minutes for a team that has the athleticism of Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young, and the rejuvenation of Elton Brand. And I don’t think I have the linguistic capability to pronounce that name.

3. Jonny Flynn

The guy he’s wrestling minutes against is Ramon Sessions, the guy not even good enough to wrestle minutes against Luke Ridnour. But he still won’t be as close to what a Ricky Rubio season would’ve looked like.

2. Tyreke Evans

This season's rookie leader of "point guard/shooting guard" discussion. They say he’s the next Dwyane Wade. But he didn't lead his college team to the Final Four like Wade did. He’ll play for a team that won’t care if a rookie gets franchise minutes though.

1. Blake Griffin

This draft year has the promise of the 2001 draft, and Blake Griffin could be the next Kenyon Martin. We’ll never know how good someone can really be until we see it on the court. What will work in his favor though is that he doesn’t have to worry about anything but rebound, run the floor, and finish; the James Worthy to Baron Davis’ Magic Johnson.

(t5!) Top 5 Players that Spit on the Face of the Sophomore Jinx

5. Eric Gordon
4. Anthony Randolph
3. Brook Lopez
2. Russell Westbrook
1. Derrick Rose

(t5!) Top 5 NBA Most Improved Player Candidates

5. Andrew Bynum

Because Phil Jackson is determined to plan for the future so he’ll expose him immensely, even though he has proved that he doesn’t even want to be anywhere near his potential.

4. Gerald Wallace

Sometimes, I don’t understand the reasoning behind this award. Danny Granger won it last year, and I thought he was already good. If we’re using the same line of thought from ’09, Gerald Wallace fits the bill. I thought he was already good; it’s just that people will actually pay attention this year when the Bobcats are vying for an Eastern Conference playoff spot.

3. Emeka Okafor

There’s a reason why people thought Orlando should’ve drafted him over Dwight Howard in ’04. Now, he has an all-world point guard with him, an established post scorer, and formidable three point shooters in New Orleans. It’ll result in a tremendous amount garbage points inside.

2. Greg Oden

People usually improve from Year 1 to Year 2 (technically, Year 2 to Year 3 but he didn’t play Year 1), so I don’t know if this really counts. (Although Gilbert Arenas and Monta Ellis won it reasonly during their soph year). But voters like his personality so much that they’ll give him any award even if he half deserves it. If there’s a Mr. Congeniality award in the NBA, he wins it bar none.

1. Aaron Brooks

With Tracy McGrady’s degradation, the indefinite return of Yao Ming from injury, and the one-year Ron Artest experiment failing, who’s going to score in Houston? Defensive virtuoso, Shane Battier? Newly acquired offensive inexpert, Trevor Ariza? Undersized Carl Landry? It’s up to Luis Scola and this Chris Rock lookalike to carry the load.

(t5!) Top 5 Sixth Man of the Year Award Candidates

5. Paul Millsap

In other NBA teams, he’d probably be the starting power forward. But he’s stuck playing behind Carlos Boozer and his Alaskan chest hair.

4. Jamal Crawford

A sneaky awesome trade for Atlanta to bring him over from the Golden State nightmare. Anytime you be your number one scoring option and can run the offense when your second unit is on the floor, even if dribbles way too much for his own good.

3. Rudy Fernandez

He can heat up as quick as a Spanish microwave. He made 159 three’s as a rookie off the bench, can he hit over 200 this year?

2. Rasheed Wallace

He’s happy to spell both Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins in Boston for a chance to get a second ring. But Doc Rivers will going to play him fourth quarter minutes over Perk and he’s going to be cautious with KG’s minutes to save him for the playoffs. So he’ll probably get starter minutes and starter numbers even if he comes off the bench.

1. Manu Ginobili

Newsflash: Manu’s healthy. The last time he was healthy, he was 19.5 points in 31 minutes. Math can attest that means he can score 30.2 points if he played all 48 minutes. In related news, he also won the Sixth Man of the Year Award that year.

(t5!) Top 5 Defensive Player of the Year Candidates

5. Shane Battier

Because the voters read the NBA version of “Moneyball”, and they liked it.

4. Rajon Rondo

He sure is the best defensive point guard since Gary Payton. But I don’t know exactly how he’d react after the swirling trade rumors and the disregarded contract extensions. But if he plays nice and help KG and his raggedy knees get another ring, he should be considered.

3. Kobe Bryant

A guy determined to mimic everything about Jordan, including his credentials. He has achieved everything he feels like he needs to achieve as an offensive player. So his thinking now is that if Jordan won a Moncrief, he needs to win a Moncrief, and voters will help him.

2. Joakim Noah

He’ll be the defensive anchor of a young up-and-coming team that, because of what the Bulls did during last year’s playoffs, will have a ton of nationally broadcasted games. He’ll impersonate Marcus Camby’s defensive player of the year run.

1. Dwight Howard

Noah is my personal prediction, if I know the league at all, Dwight Howard will have the defensive stats that award voters orgasm over.


(t5!) Top 5 Coach of the Year Award Candidates

5. Phil Jackson

Because the yellow Malcolm X hat says he has 10 rings, but he only has one Auerbach’s.

4. Flip Saunders

Because the injury bite them for second straight years, I hope.

3. Scott Brooks

Thanks to Kevin Durant’s freaky shooting range.

2. Rick Carlisle

Thanks to Jason Kidd’s ability to freelance on offense.

1. Gregg Popovich

Thanks to Tim Duncan and his drive for another ring

(t5!) Top 5 MVP Candidates

5. Carmelo Anthony

He stepped his game up and became a superduperstar during last year’s playoffs. He scores with such ease (more easily than Kobe, Lebron, and Wade) that he should be part of the discussion again as one of the upper echelon guys.

4. Kobe Bryant

Now that he’s won a Shaq-less ring, what motivates him this time around exactly? The same number of rings and MVP trophies as MJ, maybe?

3. Kevin Durant

He’ll win the scoring title with 30 and some points per game; he’ll shoot 50 from the field, 40 from three, 90 from the line; he’ll catch the public’s eye; he’ll start the all-star game for the West; but he’ll fall short in the voting because he doesn’t play for a contender.

2. Chris Paul

Sure he lost his alley-oop partner Tyson Chandler but Okafor is a better offensive player. So Chris Paul should see an easier game. He was robbed in the MVP ballots two years ago when he was dishing off to healthy players; now he has better players to dish off to, so he should be in the running again.

1. Lebron James

We saw how terrific he was last year, but how close were the '09 MVP season to his pinnacle? If we’re talking about a guy who has the body of Karl Malone, the first step of Iverson, and the explosiveness of Shawn Kemp, his potential should still be on the horizon. If he added a midrange jumpshot, a jumphook from the post, or a turnaround fadeaway, he’d be literally unstoppable. If he has the Jordan gene in him, the internal switch that sets you off after being bounced by the Magic last season, he’d be in FU mode and steamroll the competition this year. But what if this is all we’re going to get? What if we’re going to see the 2009 Lebron from here on out until he fades away? Sure, last year’s Lebron would still win this year’s MVP easily. But if this is it, we’re looking at a disappointment.

(t5!) Top 5 Teams that Improve their Win Total from Last Year

1. Oklahoma City Thunder

Complete team. You get Kevin Durant making the leap as an imposing scorer; they surrounded him with future all-stars with Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green; rookie James Harden has the capabilities of becoming a small Paul Pierce; Thabo Sefolosha is a legit defensive stopper; and coach Scott Brooks is a superb coach, which is a rare breed nowadays. They make the run for the playoffs this year, maybe obtaining the 8th spot. It’s a patient climb to the top, but it’ll be all worth it once they get there and stay there for an extended period of time in the future.

2. Chicago Bulls

Last year, during the best first round playoff series in NBA history, they showed that their collective athleticism and testicular immensity can equal, even exceed the contenders’. Now they prove it all season long with a Derrick Rose now knowing how to run an NBA team.

3. Los Angels Clippers

As bad a coach as Mike Dunleavy, as a GM though he was pretty decent. The cursed Clippers made all the right moves during the offseason, drafting Blake Griffin 1st (as if they could’ve screwed that up), turning the mountainous Zach Randolph into Quentin Richardson’s expiring contract, turning Q into Bassy Telfair and Craig Smith, and getting athletic swingman Rasual Butler for free. Also, this year Eric Gordon is a year smarter and Baron Davis looks like a chiseled Kimbo Slice. And they have enough expiring contracts to make room for LeBron in 2010. Things are looking up for the sorriest franchise in NBA history.


4. Washington Wizards

The only reason why they missed the playoffs is because of a barrage of injuries. Now all the injured players are back and, instead of picking 5th, they added more veteran scoring by means of Randy Foye and Mike Miller. However, if they didn’t trade that pick they could’ve gotten Ricky Rubio and Wizards would have rained buckets on any team in the association.

5. Toronto Raptors

I actually think that Hedo Turkoglu is a formidable acquisition for this season, finally fulfilling their aspirations to copy the template of a European team. I just think they shot themselves on the foot, putting their salary cap on jeopardy for years to come.

(t5!) Top 5 Contenders to the Title

5. Orlando
It all hinges on how great Vince Carter is supposed to be. There’s a reason why he’s supposed to be great, I guess—rookie of the year, Olympic gold medalist, champion of the greatest slam dunk competition since Jordan/Dominique dunk off, performed the best in-game dunk ever (the leapfrog over a 7’2” Fred Weis). But his teams have never really done anything in the playoffs, he hasn’t been in an all-NBA team since ’01, he’s played in a total of 42 games in 11 seasons, he has a phobia of driving to the basket.

Orlando threw away their sensationally unorthodox lineup by refusing to pay Turkoglu during the offseason. By signing Carter, not only are they banking on a player that is perceived to be great once, they’re back to being orthodox again and, thus, easier to defend. But this is also the best team Carter has been in. He wasn’t remarkable when he’s the main offensive option; maybe he’s more effective as a second banana. If Vinsanity shuts down, the Magic should still be great enough to smell the championship trophy. If he actually is great, they may actually win the whole thing.

4. LA Lakers

In a word: deep. In two words: Kobe Bryant. In three words: West’s best record. In four words: lose in conference finals. In five words: won’t be defending their title.

3. Cleveland

Of course, as long as you have a preeminent freak of nature like Lebron, you’ll be in contention. So what does that say about Cleveland when they don’t have him anymore next season?

2. Boston

They’re complete, albeit a little doddery. It all hinges on KG’s leg hinges when the post-season gets here. They can make the playoffs in the East with reduced KG minutes, so if I were Doc Rivers, I’d only put ample mileage on him during the regular season.

1. San Antonio

You got Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili healthy and rested for a long while, you got Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess coming in, you got a workhorse like DeJuan Blair playing the Malik Rose role from their past rings, , you got Tony Parker dropping floaters and Mrs. Tony Parker, Eva Longoria, cheering from the stands, you got Gregg Popovich and the most efficient defense in the league, you got the 2010 champs!