Ty Tells You How each NBA Team can Win the Title: Raptors, Clippers, Celtics

Day 9 of my NBA countdown. These next 6 teams are the cream of the crop. The best of the best. Whatever you want to call them, they are the best teams in the NBA this season, in my opinion. They all have a legitimate shot at the title, but some, actually all, have some possibly fatal flaws. Anyway, lets get to it.

At number 6, I have the Toronto Raptors. This team was in the East Finals last year, and they return pretty much everyone from that team. The problem with this team though, they choke in the playoffs. They did beat the Cavs twice last season in the East Finals, but it did not matter, everyone knew that they were going to get beat in the next 2. I really like this team, as a regular season team. They have a loaded roster, but it just cannot take the next big step to being in the Finals. DeMar DeRozan shocked me, and most everyone else, when he re signed with the Raptors. I was certain, especially when he opted out, that he was going to sign with LA. He did not, and I like that. DeRozan is a very good scorer. He is an excellent slasher, can get the mid range shot and will score 25 a night. He is an okay defender, but not great. He also seems to be out of control sometimes when he has the ball in his hand. I like DeRozan a lot, but he seems destined to be a good scorer, but nothing more. Kyle Lowry is basically in a contract year. He had a great regular season last year, but tanked in the playoffs. He came into last season in shape, and it showed during the season. He was putting up good numbers and helping the Raptors win. But, something weird happened in the playoffs, and he was a complete no show. He looked okay in the Olympics, but I think he is going to explode this season. He is betting on himself, and I think he will have a great regular season. I think we all know what Jonas Valenciunas is now. He is a good rebounder, a good low post guy and an okay defender. He has trouble staying healthy, and has never lived up to the hype. He's good for about 12 points and 8 rebounds a night. He's fine, but he is not elite. Corey Joseph, with some extended playing time, looked pretty good last year. He is a heady point guard, finds the open guy and can make the open shot. He's a good defender too. Terrence Ross had an okay year last year. He is young and athletic, just inconsistent. Jared Sullinger coming on board is fine, but not a big deal. He is not a great scorer or defender. He is a very average NBA player. Patrick Patterson is a fine bench player. They drafted Jakob Poertl a bit too high, so I don't think he will play all that much this season anyway, unless Valenciunas gets hurt, which could happen. The Raptors will be the 2 or 3 seed in the East, and win about 51 or 52 games.

So Ty, how will the Raptors win the title? The Raptors could win the title if Valenciunas plays up to his hype, Lowry and DeRozan explode for 70 points a night and they beat the demons that have haunted them in every playoffs since Lowry and DeRozan have been there. The Raptors are like the Bengals. a great regular season team that chokes in the playoffs.

At number 5, I have the LA Clippers. Everybody knows how I feel about the Clippers, but my god, this roster is talented. At least 4 of their 5 starters are very good. Chris Paul, while being one of the dirtiest players in NBA history, is a great point guard. He controls that offense and is a great floor general. He is older, and starting to get hurt, but he is still great. Blake Griffin, while being a violent man child, is hyper athletic. He settles for too many jumpers and doesn't play as reckless as before, he's too busy using that energy to beat up Clippers staff members, but he is good. He is a below average defender and rebounder, but he can score. This may also be his last year in LA, so maybe he will focus a bit more. DeAndre Jordan is a one trick pony, but that one trick is unstoppable. He is a beast on the low post, and running the pick and roll and slamming home alley oops. I wish he were a better rebounder and defender, but he is great for some highlight reels. That doesn't necessarily make for a lot of wins though. Jordan did look okay in the Olympics though. He actually played better than Boogie, even though Boogie is way better than him. JJ Redick has redefined his game, but I think he is way overrated. He is not as good a defender as some people at ESPN will have you believe and he can't get to the rim, but he can shoot. He is deadly from three. He is one of the few Duke players that has had some success in the NBA. After those 4 guys though, this team is, dare I say, mediocre. The rest of the roster has players like Paul Pierce, once great, but so old and not durable anymore, Austin Rivers, completely overrated and overpaid, Jamal Crawford, who is a great scorer, but horrific defender, Luc Mbah a Moute, a ninth man on any team's bench at best, but a starter in LA, Wesley Johnson, average at best and Ray Felton, who was washed up in New York. There has to come a point when you realize that you will not get any better when you keep running it back. This team will win 56 or 57 games, but more than likely, they will get beat in the second round of the playoffs. They may actually blow it up after this season, if they don't get past the second round.

So Ty, how will the Clippers win the title? The Clippers can win the title if the 4 main guys play like they actually care about winning titles. Chris Paul will do that, but will Griffin, Redick and Jordan do the same? It hasn't happened yet, so why would it now. This is their last, best chance at a title, but if I were a betting man, I'd put a ton of money on them to get bounced in round 2.

At number 4, I have the Boston Celtics. This team has gotten so much better every year that Brad Stevens has been their head coach. He is a very, very good coach. The Celtics also don't have any super stars, but they have a great collection of players that know their role and play perfectly within the system. I also love the Al Horford signing. He is going to be a perfect fit. He is a good scorer, rebounder, defender and teammate. This was the best team for him to go to. Isiah Thomas is like the poor man's Allen Iverson. He is a great, small scorer. He can't play defense, but he can get buckets against anyone, any size. He's really, really good. Marcus Smart's offensive game hasn't gotten much better, but he is so damn good at defense. He is a lock down defender. Jae Crowder is a very underrated player. He is very good on both ends of the floor, and he is probably the heart and soul of this team. Avery Bradley is an even better defender than Smart, and his offensive game is way better. RJ Hunter and Gerald Green are bombers, that can hit a lot of threes. Kelly Olynk is very average, but he knows his role on this team. I love Jaylen Brown, their lottery pick. He is like this years version of Stanley Johnson. He is a tank, he's hyper athletic and he will do anything and everything for this team. He has also had some highlight dunks in preseason so far. I like him as much as I like Kris Dunn for best rookie. See, this team doesn't have many, if any, household names, but they are a damn good team. I could see them easily winning 57 games and being the 2 seed in the East.

So Ty, how will the Celtics win the title? The Celtics can win the title if they get to the East Finals against the Cavs, and LeBron gets shut down but either Smart, Bradley, Horford or Crowder. Or, all four of them take turns shutting him down. They also need Thomas to score 25 to 30 a night. This could all very well happen. The Celtics are the only team in the East, maybe the Pacers too, that can match up with the Cavs. The Celtics could very well find themselves back in the Finals this year, or next.

That's it for today. Come back tomorrow for the top three teams in the NBA.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Will his top three tomorrow look like his top three from 2015? Tune in tomorrow to find out. Follow Ty on instagram andtwitter.

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Ty tells you how each NBA team can win the title: Celtics, Raptors, & Wizards

I really like the NBA, but I love playoff caliber basketball.

A new week is upon us and that means we are back to my NBA countdown. We got our first playoff team at the end of last week, but this week, it's all playoff teams, ending on Friday with my number one overall team and my pick for the Finals, MVP of the season, Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year. Let's get on with numbers 15, 14 and 13.

Coming in at number 15, we have the team that surprised me the most last season, the Boston Celtics. I was shocked and impressed how well they played the second half of last season. They finished with one of the best, if not the best, record after the All Star break and made the playoffs. They got swept out of the first round by the Cavs, but the fact they made the playoffs was a big surprise. I really like their coach, Brad Stevens, and I think he's on his way to becoming one of the best coaches in all of basketball. Their roster leaves much to be desired, but it's playoff caliber, especially in the East. Isiah Thomas is a great player. I like how fiercely competitive he plays and he's a threat to put up 40 on any given night. His back court mates are good, not great, at one specific skill. Avery Bradley is an elite defender and guards the oppositions best scorer every game. He is not that good of an offensive player though. Marcus Smart is also a very good defender, he was exceptional in college, but he's also lacking on offense. That puts all the pressure on Thomas to score and while he may be up to it, it won't happen night after night. Drafting RJ Hunter was a good move by the Celtics because this kid can flat out score. I didn't know much of him until the NCAA tournament last season, but when I watched him play, he made shot after shot. He has the tools to be a good bench scorer in the NBA. Evan Turner is a bust in every sense of the word. He can't score, he can't rebound and he gets dunked on with consistency. He's not that good of an NBA player. The frontcourt is just okay. Jared Sullinger is fine, but he's too small to guard fives and too slow to guard fours. Kelly Olynyk plays out of control. He hasn't brought the three point shooter and post scoring he had in college to the NBA, and his play on Kevin Love in the first round of the playoffs was dirty. There's no middle ground on it, it was flat out dirty, he meant to hurt Love. Tyler Zeller may be a fine NBA player, but I don't know, not a big enough sampling. They signed Jae Crowder and traded for David Lee and Perry Jones this offseason. Jae Crowder is a good big man that does the dirty work in the NBA. He rebounds, plays post defense and doesn't care about stats, only wins. I like Crowder to supplant Olynyk in the starting lineup by midseason. David Lee was, at one point, an All Star. He definitely helped the Warriors win a title, but he hasn't been an impact player in the NBA in a couple of seasons. His best days are behind him. Perry Jones is an enigma. He has loads of potential, but he couldn't get off the bench in OKC, and when he did get playing time, he didn't produce. He may be good, and getting out of OKC will be best for him, but we will have to see how he does with an expanded role. The rest of the roster is young and unproven. The Celtics will win anywhere from 42 to 45 games and are a lock for the playoffs.

How the Celtics can win it all.

The Celtics will win the title if, Thomas becomes an All Star, that may happen, RJ Hunter becomes a 20 point per game scorer, that won't happen and the frontcourt plays way beyond expectations. The Celtics are getting back to good basketball, but they still need a couple of years before they are on the same level with the elite teams from the East.

My number 14 team is the Toronto Raptors. this team is sliding back. They're still good enough to be the fifth or sixth team in the East, but they seem to get a little worse every year. Their roster is full of talent, but it doesn't seem to come together to put this team in the top of the East. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan are two of the best young guards in the league, but DeRozan can't seem to stay healthy for a full season, and Lowry finally showed up this offseason in shape, but that should've happened last year when he signed his big extension. Jonas Valanciunas has been an okay player, but he hasn't lived up to the hype surrounding him when he was drafted. He looks afraid to take big shots or come up with big rebounds of defensive plays. He shies away from the big moment. James Johnson and Patrick Patterson are fine players, but they're nothing to write home about. They don't really affect the game too much. They did a lot this offseason, but it seems like too much and a bit desperate. DeMarre Carroll is a pretty decent NBA player, he proved that last year with the Hawks, but he's not worth the money the Raptors gave him. Corey Joseph finally gets his shot to play after spending his first couple of seasons on the Spurs bench, and he's looked good in the preseason, but is that smoke and mirrors, or a sign of things to come? Also, will he really steal minutes from DeRozan and Lowry? I don't think so. They signed Anthony Bennett after the Timberwolves bought him out, and while it may be nice for him to play in his home town, he's from Toronto, we are talking about one of the biggest, if not the biggest, busts of all time in the draft. I really like their pick of Delon Wright in the most recent draft. In fact, I think that was their best offseason move. The Raptors have gotten better every year under DeWayne Casey, but they seem to fall apart at critical and crucial times. Toronto seems like a 45 or 46 win team to me, good for the sixth spot in the East.

How the Raptors can win  it all.

The Raptors will win the title if DeRozan can stay healthy all season and play at an extremely high rate, Lowry and Valanciunas play to the level of their contract, DeMarre Carroll proves he's not a one season wonder and the supporting cast plays much, much better than expected. The Raptors stink of a team that will start hot, fade late and shit the bed in the playoffs, basically what they've done the past two years.

My number 13 team is also from the East, the Washington Wizards. I really like the Wizards, but I just don't think they have enough talent on their roster to be better than fourth or fifth in the East, probably fifth. Now, the starters are where all the talent lies. John Wall is one of the best point guards in all of basketball (what would Colin Cowherd say?). He's the fastest basketball player I've ever seen, he lays really good defense, finds the open man all the time and is becoming a pretty good shooter. Bradley Beal is one of the best young scorers. Otto Porter JR is going to have a huge season. He's been on the verge of breaking out, and I think that happens this season. He will finally live up to being the third overall pick. Nene Hilario is one of my favorite players to watch. He's a throwback in every season of the word. He plays awesome defense, rebounds at a very high rate, has excellent post moves and does all the dirty work. Marcin Gortat is a good scorer, and he pairs well with Nene in the frontcourt. Gortat is a scorer and Nene does everything else. The bench is the problem for me. First of all, they lost Paul Pierce. While he's a million years old, he hit big shot after big shot and gave this team a swagger they didn't have before. The Wizards will miss him. The bench has guys like Drew Gooden, DaJuan Blair, Kris Humphries and Ramon Sessions. Not world beaters and past their primes, if they had one. I do like their pick of Kelly Oubre JR. He's another one and done, and who knows with these kids, but being on a veteran team and not having to have an immediate impact will benefit him. He's going to be good. The Wizards will win close to 50 games, probably 48 and be the fifth seed in the East.

How the Wizards can win it all.

The Wizards will win the title if the starters can play all 48 minutes in every regular season game and playoff game and not have to rely on their bench. The starters are great, but the bench is very weak and will be their undoing. Another second round exit is in the cards for the Wizards.

So, there's my 15, 14 and 13 ranked teams. Tomorrow we get into the top 10 and things will become very interesting.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. His NBA League Pass is mostly for the OKC Thunder, but he enjoys some low tier eastern conference playoff teams. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik