The NBA is often one of the most predictable leagues in professional sports. Everyone knows, barring a major injury, the most likely teams to make the Finals are the Cavs and the Warriors. However, these 3 up and coming teams might surprise people by making the playoffs this coming season.
1. Minnesota Timberwolves - After years of being on the outside looking in, this year's Wolves finally look like a legitimate playoff team. Karl-Anthony Towns is the best young player in the NBA, and is everything you would want in a Center for todays game. Towns is extremely athletic, protects the rim, and has a beautiful shooting stroke that takes most bigmen years to develop. As a rookie, Towns already looked like one of the best Centers in the league, and his sophomore season should be even better. Beyond Towns, the Wolves are looking for SG/SF Andrew Wiggins to take the next step. Wiggins has been pretty good so far, but hasn't necessarily lived up to the high expectations of being "the Next LeBron", or the number one pick. Wiggins is a great slasher and still flashes huge potential on defense, but he needs to improve his shot and become more consistent for the Wolves to flourish.
Towns and Wiggins could become the next dynamic duo in the NBA, but the Wolves have done a great job surrounding them with a supporting cast. PG Kris Dunn was one of my favorite players in the draft and brings a nasty, physical play style the Wolves have been lacking. Adding Dunn with Ricky Rubio gives the Wolves a great one-two punch at PG. Rubio is still a very solid player and is now a veteran presence on this young team. Combo guard Zach Lavine has been known for his spectacular dunking, but really showed strides in his second year. Lavine has really improved his 3PT shooting and playmaking, but still needs to work on consistency, especially on defense. Rounding out the starting 5, Gorgui Dieng is a solid defender who can takes some pressure off of Towns.
There are 2 areas Minnesota could improve on: the Power Forward position and their bench. While Dieng is a fine player, he will not scare opposing teams and neither bench F/C Jordan Hill. Rubio might be a trade piece if the Wolves wanted to improve this position, but Rubio will most likely be the 6th man. The only other player on the bench who has shown he can be above average is Shabazz Muhammad. Muhammad was a very highly touted player coming out of high school, but has struggled to live up to the hype at UCLA and Minnesota. He flashed a lot of potential in his second season in limited time, but last year was pretty underwhelming.
As long as this team can stay healthy, this will be the most exciting young team in the NBA. Even with a rugged Western Conference, the Wolves will compete for a 6th, 7th or 8th seed this year.
2. Los Angeles Lakers - The Lakers have been one of the worst teams in the league the past few seasons, but finally getting a competent coach in Luke Walton, makes the future bright for Lakers fans. Walton was a great hire by the Lakers front office, and it will be interesting to see what he can do with the young talent on this team. PG D'Angelo Russell will benefit the most from Luke Walton. Russell had a solid rookie year but his talents were limited by an old-school coach in Byron Scott and off the court distractions kept him from fully realizing his potential. Coming out of college, Russell flashed excellent shooting and playmaking ability, which is exactly what Walton wants out of his floor general. I fully expect Russell to make a huge leap this season, and could see him averaging around 20 PPG. Russell isn't the only young talent the Lakers have to offer, SF Brandon Ingram is poised to be a star in the making. Ingram is probably the most talented rookie now that Ben Simmons season is in question. While the Lakers insist that Ingram will be coming off the bench to start the year, there is only a matter of time before he cracks the starting line-up. Russell and Ingram should be a lot of fun to watch the next few seasons.
PF Julius Randle is another player to keep an eye on. Randle missed his entire rookie season due to injury, so last year was his first full season. While he doesn't look like a superstar player, the talent is certainly there. Randle has a good skill set offensively and is already a double-double machine. PG/SG Jordan Clarkson is also a very solid player with a lot of versatility. Clarkson would've been an excellent fit with the Warriors, so Walton should be very happy with him.
Since Pau Gasol left and Andrew Bynum disappeared from the face of the earth, the Center position has been a revolving door for the Lakers. With uninspiring play from Dwight Howard, Roy Hibbert, Robert Sacre and Tarik Black, this has been a position of need for a while.So obviously giving 64 Million dollars to Timofey Mozgov is the move of the century right? While Timofey is an easy target for jokes, he was a pretty solid player 2 years ago on a team that almost won a championship. He'll play hard, defend, and be just good enough on offense to justify a starting position.
Beyond the young talent and Timofey Mozgov, the Lakers have assembled a great bench if the year was 2010. Lou Williams is legendary for getting buckets, having 2 girlfriends and shoutouts from Drake, Swaggy P is Swaggy P, Luol Deng is somehow still solid, and they also have Metta World Peace, Jose Calderon and Yi Jianlan. The last paragraph or 2 has slowly talked me out of the Lakers, but I'm still bullish enough on their young talent.
The 2016-17 Lakers could win 25 games this year or they could win 45. If they play like the same old Lakers of the past 3 seasons, it may be another long year, but having Luke Walton coaching D'Angelo Russell and Brandon Ingram, I could see this team sneaking into an 8th seed.
3. Miami Heat - I can imagine that Pat Riley has been a very angry old man the past few years. Both LeBron and Dwayne Wade left him and Chris Bosh's career is in question with medical issues. However, Riley has quietly put together a very good young team. Hassan Whiteside went from someone who was your 15th man on a 2K franchise, to one of the best Centers in the NBA. Whiteside is talented offensively, and is a premiere rim protector. I also really enjoy Justice Winslow's game. Winslow was stuck behind Luol Deng and Dwayne Wade last season, but the SF/SG should have every chance to shine this year. Winslow is already an elite perimeter defender and if he can improve his offensive game, there is no reason why he can't become a Jimmy Butler type player in the near future.
Riley has also struck gold with SG Josh Richardson and combo guard Tyler Johnson. Richardson in particular was very impressive winning Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month last March. Richardson is a deadly 3PT shooter and capable defender. Tyler Johnson played well enough in his 2 seasons with the Heat, that the Brooklyn Nets offered him a 50 million dollar contract, which Pat Riley matched. While neither player is a household name, Riley has shown time and time again that he knows how to find contributors on winning teams.
A forgotten man on this Heat team is PG Goran Dragic. Dragic has been a good NBA player wherever he's gone. So far with the Heat his hasn't been able to recapture his 2013-14 form where he averaged 20 PPG. Dragic is ready for a bounce back year and will be relied on more offensively without Dwayne Wade.
Even with question marks with the Heat, I can't see them missing the playoffs, Pat Riley knows what he is doing. Erik Spoelstra is one of the best coaches in the NBA, and this team is hungry to prove that they don't need a big 3 to succeed. If Chris Bosh is able to play at least half a season, I see the Heat hovering right around 50 wins, if not they might drop to the lower end of the Eastern playoff picture. Either way this is a team that will be better than most people would think.
Stay tuned for an NBA Preview Podcast coming soon from The 6th Men. In the mean time check out
our latest episode here.
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