Ty Ranks the 2023 - 2024 NBA Teams - Opening Band at the Local Dive Bar Division

The NBA season is right around the corner, so that means I am here to rank the teams from worst to best, in my own opinion. This is based on my knowledge of the game and how the teams changed in the offseason. When I did my initial rankings I found it kind of tough. The NBA has some really good teams, and even the teams that aren't very good, they have a bunch of fun players that I cannot wait to watch. I'll do five teams a day and finish up with a prediction blog. Without further ado, let's get started.

At 30 I have the Washington Wizards. They are finally going into full rebuild mode. It is about time. They let Bradley Beal go. They let Kristaps Porzingis go. They gave Kyle Kuzma money to keep the new core young. And they traded for Jordan Poole. Poole will score a lot and do not much else. Kyle Kuzma will have solid games from time to time, but counting on him to be one of your top players seems odd. Tyus Jones was a great pickup in a trade, but I would bet money that he will be on a contender really soon. I love the Bilal Coulibaly pick. He looks like he could be a steal. Deni Avdija is there and plays solid defense, but is a zero on offense. Then there is a major fall off. Johnny Davis hasn't figured it out. Landry Shamet keeps getting traded. Corey Kispert is a wash. Taj Gibson is still here. It is a real mishmash. But, I like that they are finally embracing a rebuild. Jordan Poole will score a ton, but this team will not win many games.

At number 29 I have the Detroit Pistons. I don't know how to gauge this team. They have some really good players, but those players are super young and wildly unproven. They cannot stay healthy either. If they get these guys on the court and some pop, they could be better than this. Cade Cunningham is awesome, when he plays. The dude can shoot and has a very high passing IQ. He is even a solid defender. He just has to stay on the court. Jaden Ivey is fast and looked like he was figuring it out near the end of last season. He is like a young Russell Westbrook. Jalen Duren is big and imposing. He is also only 20 years old right now. I love the Ausar Thompson pick. That kid looks legit. They took a flyer on James Wiseman, and maybe playing with no pressure will wake him up, a la Markelle Fultz. Bojan Bogdanovic is a great shooter and a hot trade asset. Joe Harris is here somehow. Isaiah Stewart is imposing, but not much else. Isaiah Livers has moments. And Marvin Bagley got paid and may get to show some stuff this season. But the team is too inexperienced and doesn't have any kind of continuity yet. Time will tell, but I don't think they have it figured out yet. Maybe in two or three years.

At 28 I have the San Antonio Spurs. I love what this team has done. They struck gold in the last lottery. They got Greg Poppovich to sign an extension and they can do a whole lot of stuff in the trade market if they choose. But this team is so very young and they will need a few years to be a perennial playoff team again. Victor Webayama is the future here. He was the lottery win. He is long, lean and blocks so many shots. He will put on weight and get tougher. But he is already a demon on defense, can rebound and he will stretch the floor. Just give him time. Keldon Johnson is a very good, very little known player. He is a perfect Spur. Jeremy Sochan is one of my new favorite players. This kid does all the dirty work and seems to enjoy it. He is a blast to watch. Malaki Branham is going to become a better known name this year. That was a steal in last year's draft. Devin Vassell just got paid and is their best, most pure scorer on the roster. Tre Jones is a serviceable point guard. Then they went out and acquired Reggie Bullock. They still have Zach Collins. Doug McDermott is still around. The Spurs have guys, too many right now. But this team is all about the youth. They will have growing pains, but this team is on the rise. Just not yet.

At number 27 I have the Portland Trailblazers. This team is rebuilding much like the Wizards, they just have better players. Scoot Henderson is the real deal. That kid is going to be amazing from day 1. I think he has a real shot to average 20 plus points a game, and win rookie of the year. Shadeon Sharpe is good as well. He has so much bounce, can rebound and his shot is improving. I love watching Sharpe play. Anfernee Simons is going to score a ton. He is the vet on this team and I think he will like the constant green light to shoot. Jerami Grant is around too, and he is going to really feed off the players on the roster now. I love that they got Deandre Ayton and Rob Williams in recent trades. Those two will make for a nice front court, with major health and will issues. I like both dudes, but Ayton isn't always engaged and Williams is constantly hurt. They have other vets like Malcom Brogdon and Matisse Thybulle, who are okay. And then they got this Toumani Camara rookie in a trade and people seem to love him. The Blazers will not win a ton, but they will be one of the most fun teams to watch all year. They should have massive highlights all year long.

The final team for the day, at 26 I have the Charlotte Hornets. LaMelo Ball is their dude. He looks good right now, but he still has a funky shot and cannot stay on the floor. He is so much fun to watch play, when he plays. He has kind of regressed into a ball hog a bit, but maybe that will change this season. Brandon Miller looks like a very good pick, but his fit is weird here. He will start because he is very talented, but I don't know how much he will help the team win. PJ Washington is around for a bit longer, and while he is solid, he doesn't get enough touches to tip the scale. Terry Rozier can score a lot if given enough shots, but he will do nothing else. After those guys the roster is bleak. Nick Richard is an okay backup center, but he might have to start here. Mark Williams is too raw. James Bouknight has never been solid enough to garner big minutes. Cody Martin is the second best Martin in his family. JT Thor, while having a dope name, is not the best big man in the league. The Hornets are not a very good basketball team. They have a star in LaMelo Ball, but he is not the massive, massive star they hoped they were getting. This team has some pieces to figure out on the roster. Maybe they will address some of that in next year's draft.

That is it for today. Come back tomorrow for the next five teams. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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Ty's 2022 - 2023 NBA Season Preview: Wizards, Trailblazers, Knicks

Welcome to day four of my 22-23 NBA countdown. We are at the teams who could, and should, be, at the very least, in the play in tournament.

At number 21 I have the Washington Wizards. Bradley Beal got paid this offseason. He, and the franchise for that matter, may end up regretting it in the long run. But he got his money and it should be all good for this season at the very least. He also happens to be an incredible scorer. He has declined a bit, let's hope it is not a trend, but he can still fill it up. I have been over Kristaps Porzingis for about five years now. Sure he is tall and can shoot, but he is not a good defender and he is soft as tissue paper. I like Kyle Kuzma. He has grown on me. He is also a good player on both ends of the floor. He seems to have found a nice spot for himself as well. Rui Hachimura needs to have a good season. He has either been hurt or underperformed since he has been in the league. He has to prove it this season. Deni Avdija has been okay, but he has not played like the lottery pick many thought he could. He is solid, but not great. Will Barton and Monte Morris are both decent enough NBA players. I don't think they are starters, but they are okay. Taj Gibson is a solid veteran presence. And Delon Wright is serviceable. The Wizards should be an above average team. They should win 42 or more games. They should be in the play in. But they need to stay healthy and play better defense. They also need some dudes to step up as well. We will see.

At number 20 I have the Portland Trailblazers. The Trailblazers are whole again. Damian Lillard is back. He is healthy. He has something to prove. The team is fully, FULLY his. They traded CJ McCollum and traded and signed some dudes that fit his playing style. Lillard is sticking around and he has never been the type to shy away from the spotlight. I expect him to have a big season. One of the guys they traded for is Jerami Grant. Grant is good. He may be a bit overrated now, but he is such a plugable player. He is going to fit very smoothly with Lillard. I love this move. They drafted Shaedon Sharpe. They love this kid. He didn't play a second of college ball, but he was a big time recruit and was a lottery pick. If he suits up and plays he could do some nice things for this team. They went out and gave Gary Payton II a big payday. He is going to bring defense and toughness to this squad. Anfernee Simons got a big payday as well, and he has improved every year he has been in the league. Josh Hart is just an overall solid player and dude. I like him a lot. Jusuf Nurkic brings size and strength to the front court. Nassir Little keeps getting better. The Trailblazers have dudes and scorers, they just have to play better on the defensive end and not get hurt so much.

The final team for the day, at 19 I have the New York Knicks. This is RD's squad. I had high hopes for them last season and boy oh boy did they not live up to it. Julius Randle fell off a cliff. I think he will be better, but he was a shell of himself. RJ Barrett got paid, and he keeps getting better. He is not the all star some thought, but he is honing his game well. I love the fact that they went out and got Jalen Brunson. They have a true point guard now. He is good. He is tough. And he can play. Derrick Rose looks pretty damn good this offseason. He seems to finally be 100 percent again. He is a nice bench player. They signed Isaiah Hartenstein, and he will be a nice role player off the bench. Obi Toppin looks incredible so far this preseason. He just needs real minutes. Cam Reddish will probably be traded soon. Mitchell Robinson is what he is at this point. I'm over trying to make this dude as good as he could be. They refused to trade Quentin Grimes. I want to see why this season. Evan Fournier is somehow still here and still starting. Immanuel Quickley is solid. This team has a nice mix of players, they just need to find a way to gel. I would also like to see Toppin and Quickley get more minutes. We will see.

That is it for today. Come back for the next three teams tomorrow.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

Ty's 2021-2022 NBA Preview: Trailblazers, Mavericks, Hawks, Clippers

Welcome to day five of my 2021 NBA countdown. All of these teams are playoff bound. They could even make noise if things go their way. I like some of these teams but I also dislike one team on my countdown today. You'll see when I discuss said team.

At 14 I have the Portland Trailblazers. This feels like the last chance they have to do anything with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. I think if they have another early playoff exit, Dame is gone. That being said, they do still have Dame for at least this season. And he is a killer. This dude is a beast on offense, can score from anywhere past half court and is a big game player. He has put teams out of the playoffs in his career. He is so awesome, loyal and has pushed this franchise as far as they have been since the early 90's. CJ McCollum is another really good scorer. He has gotten better each year he has been in the league. He is also a super fun social media follow. But he is who he is at this point. He's good, not great. I liked the Norman Powell addition at the deadline last year, and I thought it was smart to re-sign him. He adds more scoring and is a solid defender. Jusuf Nurkic, if he can stay on the floor, is a great big man for this team. He has also become a solid post scorer. He just needs to stay healthy. I love the addition of Larry Nance Jr. He is a better version of Derrick Jones Jr and he is a much better defender. The Cody Zeller signing was very blah. If Anfernee Simons is going to pop he needs time on the floor and this may be his last chance in Portland. Tony Snell is a sniper. Robert Covington has slipped, but he can still be a menace on defense. Nassir Little just hasn't gotten it yet. And guys like Marquesse Chriss and Patrick Paterson are toast. I like Portland, and if they make a push for a guy like Kevin Love that could really open things up. As for now they are a firm playoff team simply because Dame is so damn good at basketball. He is amazing.

At number 13 I have the Dallas Mavericks. I think the Mavericks might be the most overrated team in the NBA. They have not been out of the first round in two years yet some seem to think they are on the precipice of the Finals. I don't get it. I also do not get all the love for Luka Doncic. He is a very good offensive basketball player. He does very good stuff. But he is boring, and whiny and slow and not the super duper star that Zach Lowe or Bill Simmons have made him out to be. He is also atrocious defensively. He is a fine player, but he is not an MVP. Not even close. Kristaps Porzingis is the softest seven footer I have ever watched. He is also very whiny. He is also very brittle. And he thinks he is way better than he actually is. He is a seven foot shooter, and he is not named Dirk. Tim Hardaway Jr has turned out to be a sniper, but he is also a total defensive liability. He gets hunted by other teams. Maxi Kleber is not the defensive stalwart that ESPN has made him out to be. Kawhi destroyed him in the playoffs last year. Dwight Powell cannot stay on the floor. Willie Cauley Stein has bounced around the league and cannot seem to find a right fit. Boban is more of a personality than a player. Reggie Bullock was a solid signing who will bring some kind of defense to this team. Frank Ntilikina was brought in for defense alone. Jalen Brunson is very blah. And Dorian Finney Smith has not made the leap. The Mavericks are a playoff team, but I see them more of a 6 or play in type playoff team. They are not even close to a title contender.

At 12 I have the Atlanta Hawks. They had one hell of a ride last season. Now we will see if they are for real. I think they are. Trae Young is awesome. He played the role of villain so great. He is a great shooter and excellent passer. He rules. He has also gone further in the playoffs than Luka. John Collins showed out in the playoffs, got paid and I think he is due to make another leap. He is great. I love Clint Capela on this team. He is a perfect pick and roll partner with Young and he looks to be returning as a defensive stopper. Cam Reddish has shown flashes in his limited role, which is perfect for him. DeAndre Hunter is proving that the Hawks were right to take him so high in the lottery two years ago. Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kevin Huerter are great three point shooters and floor spreaders. Sharife Cooper will get to learn how to play point guard from Trae Young. Lou Williams is still a super hot scorer from the bench. Jahlil Okafor has fully bought into being a minimal role player and that suits him. And Gorgui Dieng is a great fit as a deep bench vet. The Hawks are back and it is good to see. This team is young and fun and will be around for a while.

The final team for today, at number 11 I have the LA Clippers. They are only here because of injury. They would be a lot higher if they had a healthy Kawhi. Without Kawhi, for probably the whole year, this team is going to have to dig deep to be a real playoff threat. Paul George was great last year. I do not care that a lot of people say nasty stuff about him, the dude is good at basketball. He more than showed up against the Suns. He put on a show. He is also one of the best defenders in the league. PG can play, and he proved that tenfold last year. Terrance Mann proved he belongs in the league. He had a very solid playoffs. Reggie Jackson seems to have found a home, and with Patrick Beverly gone, he is the starting point guard. Eric Beldsoe is not as gifted athletically anymore, but he brings veteran experience to this team. They're taking a flyer on Justise Winslow, and if he does any little thing, he will help this team. If Serge Ibaka can stay on the floor he can space it offensively, is still an okay rebounder and can still protect the rim. I think Keon Johnson will find minutes here and there and he will bring energy to this squad. Ivica Zubac is a very solid center. Luke Kennard is overpaid, but he can shoot. Marcus Morris Sr was also good in the playoffs and he is tough. And Nic Batum still has something he can add to this team. The Clippers are kind of in nowhere land with Kawhi being out. But they still have some guys on this team that will push them to the playoffs.

That is it for today. Come back tomorrow for the next four teams.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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Happy Retirement LaMarcus Aldridge

LaMarcus Aldridge retired from the NBA last week. I feel like I’m still processing this news. He looked to be finding his groove in Brooklyn. He was going to be a contributor, probably a starter, on one of the favorites from the East. He was putting up solid numbers. And he finally seemed to be healthy. Then, out of the blue, he retired due to an irregular heartbeat.

I read Aldridge’s statement after hearing the news, still in disbelief, and it was profound and perfect. The way he talked about teams giving him a chance, Portland drafting a skinny guy from Texas and letting him flourish, to San Antonio signing him when he was a prized free agent and letting him be him, to Brooklyn who was happy to have him, and very much needed him, it was so nice and so correct. When he talked about how he’s dedicated his life to basketball, putting things on the back burner to get better at honing his skills, to constantly working on his game, to now realizing what is important, his family and his health, that part made me tear up. And when he simply ended it with a very warm and gentle thank you, it was so true to the person he is, and was as a basketball player.

I did some digging and found out that he had a rough night a few nights back with his irregular heartbeat. He then felt better I guess, enough to play, but then it came back. That scared him. That would scare me. And then to come to this decision, to walk away with a chance at a ring, I respect the hell out of him for that. He chose family and health over fame. He wants to see his kids grow up. He wants to be with his partner. He wants to experience things all of us non professional athletes take for advantage. I’ve had the great pleasure seeing both my kids take their first steps, lose their teeth, scrape their knees and find out their limitations. LaMarcus Aldridge may have missed out on some, or all of those things. I can’t imagine missing that stuff. Now though, he doesn’t have to. I would love to say that I’d do the same, but I don’t know. Knowing LMA, his situation must have been very, very scary. He must’ve been worried for his life, to walk away. Again though, I respect it.

As for his career, I think he will go down as an underrated star. In Portland he grew as a young rookie into a reliable scoring threat from the high and low post. His jumper from the corner of the high post was one of the most reliable shots in the NBA. Every time he rose up to shoot I assumed it was going in. He parlayed that into a nice duo with Damian Lillard. Lillard and Aldridge formed a solid duo that helped Portland get back to respectability. They became a perennial playoff team. They were always a threat. They beat some good teams in early playoffs rounds. Then, at the height of his career, he was the free agent everyone wanted. He took meetings with any team he chose. He was the guy that teams thought could put them over the edge. As sad as I was to see him leave Portland and Dame, I was pleasantly surprised when he signed with the Spurs. He could’ve signed with either LA team, or joined a burgeoning super team, but he picked San Antonio. I think it was part Greg Poppovich, part the similarities in his game to Tim Duncan. And while he didn’t have the same success Duncan had, the Spurs stayed relevant and kept making the playoffs. Aldridge ushered in the post Tim Duncan era. He was a solid replacement for Duncan. He wasn’t Duncan, no one is, but Aldridge was serviceable. The past two seasons he slowed down a bit, but he was in the league for 15 years. He was an older vet, plain and simple. Then he asked out of San Antonio, as expected, they’re going super young, finally, and he signed with Brooklyn for the minimum. I was kind of surprised, but understood why. He was nearing the end of his career, and he saw an opportunity for a ring, but he wouldn’t have to compromise the player he was. And seeing him play in Brooklyn, he was fitting in just nice. He was getting starts, playing solid minutes and draining that corner jumper of his regularly. He looked to be another offensive weapon. Then the irregular heartbeat came up, and his career was over.

I do not want us to put LMA in some weird category. He doesn’t have a ring or an MVP or any of that, but LMA is an all time great big man. He was a great mold of old school and new school basketball. He was great in the post, but could also pull rim protectors out of the post with his jumper. He was a solid rebounder. And he played serviceable defense. To me his career is really no different than another player’s that was cut very short due to an unforeseen health issue, Chris Bosh. It’s a shame both of them didn’t get a full run in the NBA. But what they gave us was pretty memorable. I do think LMA is a hall of fame basketball player, and I agree with Dame that Portland should retire his number.

Enjoy retirement LaMarcus Aldridge, and stay healthy. You had a great NBA career, but now you get to be with your family and witness everything you’ve been wanting to see. You more than deserve it. Congrats on a wonderful career.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing. 

Ty's 2020-2021 NBA Preview: The One or Two Round Playoff Teams

Now we are getting to the good teams, the playoff teams. I would personally write these teams down in pen. Now, injuries, COVID positives and other random stuff can come up, and possibly will. But with the way these teams rosters are constructed now, it would have to be a major blow to move them out of the playoffs. They would have to lose star players for ample amounts of time. I don't think that will happen with these teams, and that is why I have them as "locks" for the playoffs.

At number 15 I have the Atlanta Hawks. Too high you say. Not enough defense you say. Won't mesh you say. I disagree with all of that. I also think Lloyd Pierce is going to prove how good of a head coach he is this year, and the Hawks will be back in the mix. Trae Young is great. No he is not Luka Doncic, and he can't shoot like Steph, but he has range for days, and he will find any way to score a bucket. His defense is lacking, and if he put some effort in it, a la Steph Curry, it would make a difference. But he is liable to go off for 30 plus any given night. I will take any day. I love John Collins. I do not want Atlanta to trade him either. I think he and Young are a good duo, and after admitting he didn't put in enough effort on D last year, he turned it around near the end of their season. He is also a bruiser in the paint. If Clint Capela can stay healthy, I don't see why he isn't the exact same player he was in Houston. Trae is a more willing passer than Harden, and Capela is going to get all the lob dunks he could ever want. He is also an okay enough rim protector. They ended up signing Bogdan Bogdanovic after the Milwaukee trade fell through. He adds even more space, and he is a solid shot creator. If DeAndre Hunter can play a little better defense, he is their version of Draymond or Kawhi. Kevin Huerter may lose minutes to Bogdanovic, but he is going to be instant offense off the bench, and I feel like he will light up second units. I could say the same for Cam Reddish. He lost some luster at Duke, but now he is being given the time and effort to do his own thing, and he is a very solid player, with room to grow. Rajon Rondo adds super intelligence and Danilo Gallinari is a very solid player when healthy. Kris Dunn is a bull dog on defense, and if that kid from USC they drafted is brought along slowly, he could be a solid bench guy. The Hawks went all in this offseason, and I applaud them for it. They will be in the playoffs this year.

At number 14 I have the Phoenix Suns. Here is another team that went all in, and it only took one guy to put them there. Getting Chris Paul was a humongous deal. After seeing what he did in OKC last year, while I may not like him as a player, I respect the hell out of his game. He is also going to be playing next to a younger, less ball hoggy version of James Harden, with Devin Booker. Booker is on the cusp of stardom. The kid can flat our score, he has improved his handles and he at least tries on defense. Booker wanted the Suns to make a push, and they certainly did when they traded for Paul. Deandre Ayton got better as the year went on, and was very good in the bubble. If he continues on this trajectory, he is going to fit in just fine with Booker and Paul. He is also a threat from outside, which is super useful for a 7 footer. Mikal Bridges had a very good rookie year, he can shoot and his arms are as long as any person's I have ever seen. He is going to be a very good NBA starter. Jalen Smith was a solid draft pick. He was a good big at Maryland, he is built and he hustles his ass off. Picking up Jae Crowder was quietly a great move. He adds shooting and defense, and an edge this team has lacked. Dario Saric seemingly refound his game in the bubble. And Elie Okobo might be ready to be a good bench contributor. The Suns had one of the better off seasons I can remember, and the sheer addition of Paul is enough for me to make them a playoff team, even with playing in the West.

At number 13 I have the Houston Rockets. Now, all of this depends on if they keep Harden, or what they get in trade. Houston is a mess, but Harden is the definition of a walking bucket, he is a perennial MVP candidate, and if he plays, Houston will find a way to make the playoffs. But if he is gone, they go way, way down on my list. Adding John Wall was puzzling, I wrote about that last week. He hasn't played in two years, seems like he is in okay shape, but I do not have any clue how he is going to look, and how he will coexist with Harden. PJ Tucker is awesome, I love watching him play, and he goes hard every night. But it seems like he wants out too, and losing him would really hurt this team. Eric Gordon is a very good three point shooter, and when he locks in on D he is good. But it seems like he may want out also. Singing Christian Wood was a good move. He was, lowkey, a very solid scorer in the post, and he can stretch defenders to the three. He fits in nice here. Tyson Chandler is on this team, but he rarely sees the floor. They signed Boogie Cousins, and while I love the reunion of him and Wall, Cousins is slow, and coming off two very brutal injuries himself. Gerald Green and Ben McLemore are fine bench guys, but they don't move the needle. And I like the addition of Thabo Sefolosha, but he isn't the lockdown defender he was in OKC. Houston's playoff hopes ride on Harden's shoulders. If he stays, and they don't have to trade him, they are in. But, if he leaves, if he gets traded, this will be a whole different conversation.

At number 12 I have the Portland Trailblazers. The Trailblazers are like the Magic, but they do have playoff success, just not as much as they would like. Damian Lillard is otherworldly. For me, he has surpassed Steph as the best pure scorer. He is Allen Iverson with a jumper. He is also a killer, which I love. Lillard is a star, and I will not hear otherwise. CJ McCollum is a perfect sidekick to Lillard. He is a great shooter, he can create, and he is a super smart player. He doesn't make any mistakes. Neither of them are great defenders, but they are so good offensively that it makes up for that. Jusuf Nurkic is back healthy, and he was a force in the bubble. I didn;t respect his game as much as I should, and that is on me. That dude is tenacious and solid and just a good NBA player. Carmelo re signed, and for as much flak as I might give him, he seemed to buy into being a bench guy and playing like "Olympic Carmelo". He can still put it up with the best of them. Getting Robert Covington helps with their defense, which is what this team lacks most. He can also space the floor, and will not allow teams to double Lillard or McCollum. I like Derrick Jone Jr too. He is probably the most athletic player in the league that you have never heard of, and he will do some highlight reel things for Portland. Zach Collins is coming off an injury, but if he is 75 percent of what he was prior to his injury, that is great for their second unit. Rodney Hood is also back after missing a year with injury. He is a good scorer and shot creator and should lead the second unit. Anfernee Simons is young, and coveted by other teams. I would keep him, but it is nice to have that in your back pocket. And adding Enes Kanter and Harry Giles makes them bigger and will give them a bit more flexibility. The Trailblazers will not be fighting for a playoff spot this year, they will firmly be in that 4, 5 or 6 range.

And at number 11 I have the Dallas Mavericks. Look, I am not a fan of this team. I think they whine and complain too much, and I do not like how major media outlets are so quick to point out their white savior in Luka Doncic. That being said, Doncic is awesome. He is a good shooter, a better passer and an excellent shot creator. He is as smart as advertised and the dude is legit. Kristaps Porzingis hasn't live up to the hype. But being the second or third guy seems to suit him just fine. He isn't a bruiser for how big he is, but he can sure shoot the ball. Tim Hardaway Jr has carved out a nice niche in the NBA for himself. He is a lockdown shooter, and I don't think he gets enough credit for his defense. Josh Richardson is another outside shooter for this team, and I think a change of scenery will certainly help. James Johnson is one of the baddest dudes in the league. He makes Jae Crowder look meek, and I think the Mavericks will like having him on their team. Boban is Boban. He is goofy, runs weird and was in "John Wick 3". But, you cannot teach height, and he is something like 7'6. Trey Burke seems to have found a home as a second unit scorer, and he fits in nicely. Willie Cauley Stein is a good pick and roll guy. And, if healthy, Dwight Powell adds depth. The Mavericks are a playoff lock now because of Doncic. He isn't as great as everyone says yet, but he is good enough to lead this team to the playoffs yearly.

That is it for today. Come back tomorrow for the next five teams.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing. 

Damian Lillard is the Better Version of Allen Iverson

Today since we are at the start of the playoffs, and the Trailblazers are playing in prime time, I want to talk about Damian Lillard.

Yesterday I said he is the modern day Allen Iverson, and I want to expand on that a bit more. Lillard is built like him, he’s an offensive force like him, he doesn’t care who’s in front trying to guard him, he’s ended playoff series, and if he wasn’t on a team in the West, he’d be a perennial MVP candidate. Lillard is the best scorer in the game right now. Take all the players in the league, even the injured guys, and I’d take Lillard if I needed one shot. He’s proven he can do that multiple times. He did it to the Rockets a few years back in a playoff series. He did it to the Thunder, with Paul George guarding him last year. He gets buckets and comes up big in the biggest moments. That all reminds me of AI. Iverson and Lillard are built the same too. They’re both barely 6 feet tall. Both strong, but skinny. Both point guards. And both are fearless. And just like Lillard, Iverson was the best pound for pound scorer when he was at his peak. He carried the 76ers teams he was on to Finals. He won a game over the vaunted Kobe and Shaq led Lakers in Staples Center. This is all akin to what Lillard is doing right now.

Now, what I say next might be sacrilege, or bring a prisoner of the moment, but I actually think, overall, Lillard is a better basketball player. He does all the things that AI did, albeit in a softer NBA geared towards scorers, but he is lethal from outside. AI had the crossover and the ability to get to the rim with shocking ease, but his jumper was never the one thing the defense worried about. Lillard is the second best shooter in the league behind only Steph Curry. You have to guard Lillard the moment he steps across half court because he’s liable to pull up from the logo and drain it. That’s no offense to AI either, but he never had that in his game. Lillard is also as good at getting to the basket and getting free throws. He has the full arsenal. And while Iverson was a rocket to the hoop, had the crossover and played with reckless abandon, he never had the jumper that Lillard has. Lillard also attempts to play defense. He may not be the best, he may get hunted in pick and rolls, but he still goes on that end. He’s good at getting steaks and strips too. Iverson had to assert himself so much offensively, he didn’t always have the energy to play defense to the best of his ability. Lillard at least attempts to. And this isn’t to knock Iverson. He’s one of my all time favorite players. I grew up cheering for him as if he played for the Sonics. I love AI. He is one of the greats. But for me, for my money, if you’re asking me who is a better overall player, I’d take Lillard. It’s close. But the fact that he tries on defense, and that he has incredible range gives him the nod for me. AI is great, a hall of fame player, and well deserved. But in the end, when Lillard is done playing, I think he goes down as the better overall guy.

That’s just my opinion.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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Carmelo Anthony has Landed in Portland

Carmelo Anthony is back in the NBA.

Last night it was reported that he was going to sign a non guaranteed contract with the Portland Trailblazers. I think this is both good and bad. Anthony deserves to be on a NBA roster. He is still a really good scorer, he can hit the open shot and he has pedigree. He is better than a good 40 to 50 percent of players currently on most rosters. He should have been signed sooner, but still, he is getting what will most likely be his final shot. He is only going to bolster one of the better scoring back courts in the league. I know that he is technically a small forward, but lets be honest, he is a 2 guard in a forward's body. He has always been a shooter, and that will never change. Putting him on the floor with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum is going to be a rough matchup for most opponents. Teams will have one, maybe 2 guys to throw at them, but no team, not even the Clippers, have the guys to stop all three of them at once.

I also think, and I know that I have said this for his last 2 teams, we will finally get the Olympic Carmelo. I think he has been humbled by being cut by Houston, and then having to wait this long to get back in the league. I would hope that he would be willing to be the fourth or fifth option on this team. I would hope that he knows this is where he is in his career. He is at the end, and what he is best at is being a spot up shooter who sometimes will drive and kick. That is his skill set now. I want him to play like Vince Carter does now. That would be ideal.

Now, the bad. This threesome is going to be horrendous defensively. Lillard and McCollum are already known league wide as one of the worst defensive backcourts in the NBA. They make up for it as much as they can on the offensive end, but it doesn't always work out. I mean, Lillard went for 60 in a game earlier this season, and they Blazers got beat, fairly handily. McCollum has nights where he goes for 30 plus, but his guy cancels that out by matching his scoring most of the time. And Carmelo has never, ever been considered a top end defender. He is an okay rebounder, but he has never been a good defender. And he is only older now. He never had the best ability on that end of the floor, and he is only older and slower now. That is not a slight, it is the truth. I feel like even Carmelo would admit this much.

The Blazers are also in a bit of a mess right now. They are currently 4-8, and they play in the West. They need to start figuring stuff out real, real quick if they want to get back to the playoffs. So while Carmelo adds another scorer, he has a history of not being a great postseason player. He has also shown that he cannot lead a team. His best teams never made it further than the second round of the playoffs, and he never really showed up.

Another isssue, the Blazers also don't need more scoring. I just mentioned that Lillard and McCollum are scoring machines, but this team needs bigs that are good rebounders and defenders. They need Jusuf Nurkic back. They need Hassan Whiteside to show up, or to trade him for someone that will put in full effort. They need a solid veteran willing to push aside their own personal numbers and do what is best for the team. They need Terry Stotts to wake the hell up and become the good coach eh has proven to be so far in his career.

So while I am thrilled for Carmelo that he is back, I don't think this moves the needle, at all, for Portland. They have bigger fish to fry, and Carmelo doesn't really solve any of the big problems currently plaguing this team. I will say though, I am stoked to see Anthony, who is going to join the team on their upcoming road trip, play against the Rockets. I feel like he could explode on them. I just don't know if that will result in a win for them. They need to get some stops.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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Ty's 2019-2020 NBA Preview: Raptors, Pacers, Trailblazers, Warriors

Getting right into it on day 5 of my NBA countdown, I have the defending champs at number 14, the Toronto Raptors. I know they just won the title, and did it in pretty convincing fashion, but they lost the one guy that truly did it all for them. Kawhi Leonard was truly a one year rental, and he more than lived up to the price they paid to acquire him, and he brought them a title. Outside of Leonard, they have a good amount of talent, but it is only older, or won't be able to do what they did without Leonard there. I really, really like Pascal Siakim, and I think he can be an All Star, but it will be tougher for him with no Leonard. Yes, he will score and rebound and play solid defense, it will just be tougher because teams will now be targeting him solely on scouting reports. Fred Van Vleet was great in the conference and NBA finals, and he is a solid point guard. Kyle Lowry got a humongous one year deal, but it was smart for him and the team. Also, he is on the wrong side of 30, and without Leonard, he may go back to being the player he was before, which was good, but a playoff choker. Marc Gasol was great for them in the finals, but he is very old, and if stuff goes bad quick, he will want out. He only has a few years left. Serge Ibaka is okay, but he has kind of turned himself into strictly a mid range shooter, and the defense isn't what it used to be. OG Anounoby is going to come back, and while he was starting to come on, he missed more than half the season, and all of the playoffs. He has work to do. Norman Powell is a good three point shooter, but he is streaky. They acquired Stanley Johnson, but for a guy I thought was going to be good, he has been kind of a bust. They also signed Rondae Hollis Jefferson, and while he is okay, he was going to be pushed aside from Brooklyn regardless of who they signed this offseason. The Raptors will still be a playoff team, maybe even a 4 seed, but they will not find the same success as last year. It's tough to repeat anyway, and when you lose your main dude, it is made that much tougher.

At number 13 I have the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers are a solid playoff team, and they will win in the mid to high 40 games this year. But, I feel like that is all they will be as long as they keep this roster together. We still don't know when Victor Oladipo will be back, and they need him to be a true threat. Oladipo is great, and he can be the difference in a 6 seed or a 3 seed. The Pacers do still have solid players around him. Myles Turner is a great rim protector and rebounder and solid on switching defense. He is even getting better on offense. Domantas Sabonis is a good throwback big, but I feel like he is going to be trade bait all year long. That can mess with a player. Doug McDermott is an okay three point shooter, but he does literally nothing else. TJ Leaf showed zero in his rookie year. What the Pacers did do was go out and sign some quality vets. TJ Warren is a scoring machine, and I think he will fit in very well. The fact that they pulled off the Malcolm Brogdon deal is a big, big deal. Brogdon is such a solid pro, a good shooter and the Bucks will miss him. He was a great get for the Pacers. And Jeremy Lamb, while incredibly streaky and inconsistent, when he catches fire, he can light it up. The Pacers are a very solid team, but their success lies with Oladipo and when he will be back. They need him.

At number 12 I have the Portland Trailblazers. The Trailblazers have one of the best offensive back courts in the NBA. Damien Lillard is a killer, and he proved that in the playoffs until he ran out of steam. That dude is amazing. CJ McCollum proved that he can coexist with Lillard and had a monster year last year. He is a scoring machine as well. But, they don't play much defense at all. But they can, legit, average 50 to 60 points combined this year. No one knows when Jusuf Murkic will be back, and Portland needs him. For the time being, they took a flyer on Hassan Whiteside. Whiteside is a total wild card, but when he is locked in, he is one of the better defenders in the league, and a total beast on the block. Pau Gasol is there, but he is so old now, I feel like he is more there to help coach than to play. Who knows what they will get from Zach Collins, besides stupid fouls. He is a good player, but he needs to learn to control his temper. Rodney Hood is back, and I think he is in a perfect place for himself. He is free to create and score in Portland, and can destroy second units. As I wrote awhile back, I love the Nassir Little pick. I think he is going to be great, and will be out to prove 24 other teams wrong. Every wroter I read now is obsessed with Anfernee Simons, and right now in the preseason, he is showing out. I just don't know where he will find solid minutes. They also signed Kent Bazemore, and he is solid all around. I am probably too low on the Trailblazers, I always am, but their roster is weird and outside of McCollum and Lillard I just don't know yet.

My final team of the day, at number 11, I have the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors have been an easy number 1 for the past 5 years, but now, things are up in the air for them. Steph Curry is great and will be even greater this year. He is going to have so much offensive freedom, and I feel like he will put up historic numbers. D'Angelo Russell was an odd pickup for them, but I think he will be a good scorer next to Steph. He won't ease the loss of Klay Thompson, but he will do his best to fill the scoring void. Speaking of Thompson, he tore his ACL in the finals, and will not be back until after the All Star break. But, he got a huge contract and will be given ample time to recover from his injury. And when he comes back, there is no better catch and shoot player in the league, and he is an all NBA defender. Draymond Green might be the best overall defender in the league. And if he stays in shape all year, and brings it for 82 games, he could easily be an All Star. They drafted Jordan Poole in the first round, and I watched him for 2 years at Michigan. When he is hitting shots, he is great. But, that didn't happen as much his sophomore year as it did his freshman year. They signed Willie Cauley Stein, and while I like his pick and roll ability and his defense, how is he not JaVale McGee 2.0? Kevon Looney is back after having a very good playoffs, and I think that he is the definite starting center, he could get even better. Outside of that, the Warriors are a big time question mark for the first time in the past half decade. Steph is Steph, and he is great and will score tons, but they have a lot of questions after that. I'm very curious to see how they respond when they aren't the clear favorites. They don't have KD anymore, and Klay is going to miss a good chunk of the year. It is time to see how good the Warriors, and their staff, really are.

That is it for today. Come back next week when we break into the top 10.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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Ty's NBA Conference Finals Preview

Tonight is the start of the Eastern and Western Conference Finals in the NBA. I was going to talk about the Lakers, but that can wait until tomorrow. I want to touch on each final, give my prediction, and give you a few things that could happen that may shock some people.

I want to start with the East first. Milwaukee coasted to the East Finals. They ran rough shed over the Pistons, who just laid out and let the Bucks walk all over them. They then had a bad start to the next round, losing game one by double figures to the Celtics. A bunch of people said that the "Celtics were coming together", and "they figured it out", and "Kyrie was finally playing team ball". Well, the Bucks then proceeded to absolutely dismantle the Celtics. They destroyed the Celtics in the next four games. Giannis shed whatever "rust" he may have had and looked like the MVP in those four straight wins. He was unstoppable, and the Celtics looked terrible on and off the court.

The Raptors had a much tougher road to the East Finals. They lost game one to the Magic in round one, but coasted from there. Where it became rough was against Philadelphia. That series was hard fought, a slug fest, a rock fight, whatever cliché you want to say about a physical series. Each team took, and gave, tons of punches. Game 7 was epic too. It was back and forth, at one point Toronto looked in control, but then Philadelphia would make a run. Then we had that Kawhi shot. That was one of the most incredible, and lucky shots I have ever seen. It hit every inch of that rim, and somehow went in. That is a heartbreaking way for the 76ers to go out. But, Kawhi did exactly what the Raptors hoped he would do when they traded for him.

So we now have Milwaukee-Toronto. I think Milwaukee may come out flat in game one, the whole rust over rest theory, but I feel like they will coast from there. Milwaukee is deeper, they have the best player in the series, and they have home court advantage. I think Toronto will win 2 games, but I think Milwaukee wins in 6. I also think Giannis will further his case for MVP, and top three player in the NBA.

In the West we have Golden State-Portland. I love this matchup. Golden State was the presumed team from the start of the season. They have it all. They have one of the best starting fives I've ever seen, and they are the 2 time defending champs. They let the Clippers get 2 games from them, but easily won from there. Then we had the big showdown with Houston. After taking the first 2 games, Houston rallied back for 2 very impressive wins to tie the series. In game 5 it looked like the Warriors were going to run away, but Houston came all the way back to take the lead. Then KD hit a shot to go ahead, and his non contact injury that I touched on happened. I, much like almost everyone else, assumed that the Rockets would take advantage of this. They did not. They choked it away like they always do. They couldn't get a lead in the first half of game 5, even with no KD and Steph scoring zero points and picking up three fouls. Then Steph got hot, Klay started playing incredible defense, Draymond ran the offense exquisitely, and the Warriors bench got a chance to shine. And, the Rockets blew it. I will say, Harden did his part scoring 12 in the quarter. But, he also had 4 turnovers. Also, Chris Paul was a ghost, PJ Tucker got no looks, Gerald Green play an inexplicable amount of minutes in the game, Austin Rivers was awful and Clint Capela was neutralized. This is what the Rockets do, and I don't know why I thought this year was different. Golden State pulled away late and closed the series out in 6 games.

Portland took a much more dramatic path to the West Finals. Yes, they beat OKC in 5, but those games were all close. If not for Lillard going supernova, and hitting shots from the logo, I think that series might have went 7. But, it didn't. Portland closed it out. They then had to deal with Denver. Both teams traded blows. Both teams took a game from each at their home court. And it looked like Denver was going to close it out early in game 7, building a 17 point lead. But, with Lillard looking exhausted, CJ McCollum absolutely took over. He was amazing, and it made me rethink trading him this offseason. He was awesome. He hit all the big shots. He was the man that lead the full comeback to get Portland back to the West Finals for the first time since 2000.

All that is gravy for Portland. Unfortunately for them, as soon as KD gets back, I think the games will be fun, but the Warriors will end up winning the series, most likely in 5 games. I think the series will be a delight for lovers of offense, and the scores will be high, but the Warriors are a better team. They have so much more talent. They also have multiple guys that they can throw at CJ and Dame. If they thought Denver was tough, just wait for what the Warriors will bring at them. Game one is going to show me how prepared and ready Portland is, but I think the Warriors are too good. They might not have KD for the first 2 games, but I don't think it matters. Portland will get one at home, but that is it. The Warriors are just too good.

I'm very excited for the games to start tonight. These are the 4 most deserving teams left. I'm glad it worked out this way. Lets get to it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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Ty's 2018-2019 NBA Preview: Pacers, Trailblazers, Jazz

As move to day 8 of my countdown we are in the cream of the crop. It kind of started yesterday, with the Nuggets starting out the top 10. But from here on out, all these teams have a shot to play the Warriors in the Finals. And by all these teams, I mean the teams in the East. The West teams are still good, possibly great, but lets not get it twisted, the Warriors are still the leaders. Lets get to it.

At number 9 I have the Indiana Pacers. Some writers have asked if last year was an anomaly, or if this is the new norm. I feel like this is the new norm for the Pacers. They have a star. They have a top 20, maybe even top 10 guy, in Victor Oladipo. He can create his own shot. He has a solid jumper. He is one of the best defenders in the league. He really came into his own last year, and all I see is his growth from here on out. He is a really, really good basketball player. He has some weapons around him too. I still think Myles Turner is going to break out. He is a true modern big man. He can protect the rim, he can rebound, he is enormous, and his jump shot is starting to fall. If he stays healthy, I feel like, second only to Brandon Ingram, he will have the biggest breakthrough. Domantas Sabonis showed those flashes that made him a lottery pick 2 years ago. While he doesn't pass like his dad, he is still a solid passer. He can also shoot the three. And, according to offseason reports, he has really bulked up, in a good way. He looks like a real threat as the third option on a perennial playoff team. I love that they got Tyreke Evans. He finally seemed to figure it out last year, and he became an instant offense guy. That is exactly what the Pacers need. Oh, and he actually tried on defense last year and he was okay. Evans was a low key great signing. They have Thad Young, and he is a perfectly capable backup big. Bojan Bogdanovic is another outside shooting threat. Darren Collison is a true point guard, and he is in a great situation for him as a player. Corey Joseph is a good backup at point guard. He has also played in many an important game. Doug McDermott is there, but he has been very blah as a pro. He has stuck around, but he has a real Jimmer Fredette feel to me. I really like Aaron Holiday as the point guard of the future. He is quick, shifty and is pass first. I loved that pick. I think this current iteration of the Pacers is going to be a headache for the East, and they will build on their success from last year. The Pacers are back.

At number 8 I have the Portland Trailblazers. This is, most likely, the last go round with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. They are a lethal, lethal back court scoring duo. They can put up tons and tons of points. Lillard is a legit super star. McCollum is a legit Robin. But, as the playoffs showed us last year, they are horrific defenders. They got owned by Jrue Holiday in the first round. They really need to work on that. But, both guys are good enough to outscore opponents, even in the West, and I think they will hover right around 50 wins. The rest of the roster is solid enough to work around their 2 stars. Evan Turner has never been the player many projected when he left college, but he is okay. He has a bit of a too high opinion of himself, and if he passed a bit more, that would be great. Meyers Leonard keeps getting in better and better shape, but he is still soft and cannot really stay on the court. He also doesn't have much of a jumper. I really like Al Faroq Aminu. He is a do it all player and I don't think he gets the credit he deserves. He is very important to this team. I'm still on the fence with Jusuf Nurkic. At times he looks great, then he looks slow and disinterested. They need him to fully engage. There was a time that he was considered more important than Nikola Jokic to the Nuggets. That guy needs to show up. Zach Collins looked like a possible bust early, but then he started to really play quality basketball. He is still super young, but he is talented, and I think he will only get better. They drafted Anfernee Simons, and while he is a project, I think a year or 2 playing behind and learning from Lillard will do him wonders. They signed both Seth Curry and Nik Stauskas for some outside shooting. Stauskas is a bust, I hate saying it because of Michigan, but he has not been a good pro. Curry is fine, but he is so often injured, you just cannot count on him. These signings were odd. And Mo Harkless is solid. The Trailblazers know what they have to do to win, and as long as Lillard and McCollum are cooking, which they are a lot, they will win 50 games as I said before.

My final team for the day, coming in at number 7, I have the Utah Jazz. I almost, almost put this team in my top 5. I love this team. I never thought that I would say that about the Jazz, but they are fun to watch. Donovan Mitchell is tremendous. He is already, very early in his career, a top 15 player, and he will soon be a top 10 guy. He is hyper athletic, can shoot, can create, plays defense and always wants to get better. He is an amazing basketball player. The Jazz got a gift when he fell to them at 13 in the draft last year. Rudy Gobert is the best defensive player in the NBA. He is nearly impossible to score on. He does pretty decent at switching. He is a tremendous rebounder. He is a great finisher. He can't shoot, but he doesn't have to. I hope he stays healthy all year. Ricky Rubio has finally found a great place to play. He isn't needed to score, he can spread the ball out and he can get under other point guard's skin. It is nice to see him having fun and playing free and loose. I didn't think Joe Ingles would be able to sustain his solid play, but he proved me very wrong. He is a great three point shooter and a very solid defender. Jae Crowder got away from Cleveland, and landing in Utah was exactly what he needed. Guys like Rubio can find him for the open three, Gobert opens the paint for him and Mitchell takes the defense's focus away from him. Thabo Sefolosha is there for his defense, and that is a good thing. Derrick Favors can still get buckets. Dante Exum, while never living up to the hype, is a serviceable back up point guard, if healthy. Alec Burks is a pure scorer. The only thing I dislike about this team is Grayson freaking Allen. That kid is a punk, and I am so mad that a team I enjoy watching drafted him. He won't play any meaning minutes, but that won't stop ESPN from talking about him. This is Donovan Mitchell's team, and that is so wonderful. The Jazz are a good and fun team to watch, and the West should be afraid of this team. They are coming and they are young and they are good.

That's it for today. Come back next week. That is the best of the best.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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The Portland Trailblazers Cannot Win it All with Both Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum

The Pelicans swept the Trailblazers out of the playoffs on Saturday night. Now, I picked the Pelicans to win, but not in the way they did. They absolutely owned the Blazers. No game was close except the first. Anthony Davis did whatever he wanted to whoever he wanted. Jrue Holiday was dominant on both ends of the floor. Nikola Mirotic was raining threes and even playing a little defense. Hell, even their bench was solid. The Pelicans dominated.

And, as someone who picked them, I am still a little shocked at how badly the Blazers got beat. I like both these teams, but I expected more of a fight from Portland. I’m a big time fan of Damian Lillard’s, but he was so bad in this series. I’ve come around on CJ McCollum, but he was nowhere to be found. Jusuf Nurkic looked like he could be there third guy, but Davis abused him in the series. In fact, the only guy that did anything for Portland was Mo Harkless, and no disrespect to him, but you aren’t going to win any playoff games when he’s your best guy. Also, imagine if Boogie Cousins was healthy and in this series. It would’ve been an even bigger blowout. It would have gotten even uglier.

Since the sweep, I’ve heard a lot of grumblings about player development, poor coaching and needing a deeper bench. But, the one thing I keep hearing, thinking about and agreeing with, I think the Blazers have done all they can with a backcourt of McCollum and Lillard. I like both these guys as individual players, but they each have flaws, and when teamed up, those flaws are glaring. Neither is very good at defense, and it showed in this series. Holiday cooked them. E’twaun Moore smoked them. Pretty much any guard the Pelicans put out there, they succeeded offensively. Also, Lillard is “the guy” in Portland, but I don’t think CJ McCollum has bought into that yet. He’s a great scorer, but Lillard is better. Lillard can beat you multiple ways, but he’s not getting his full shot because McCollum needs looks too. And, when McCollum isn’t hitting shots, that puts the onus on Lillard to do so much more than he should have to be.

After watching most of those games, I agree that they need to pick one guy. They need to pick Lillard. He’s been there longer and he’s actually won playoff series. He’s made big shots. He seems to genuinely enjoy Portland. McCollum is a great offensive player, but I don’t think he’s ready to be “the guy”. He’s so much better as a second option. He’s much more lethal in that situation. I don’t think you can win a title with McCollum as your number one guy. I do think you can win with Lillard as the number one option.

The question that follows, what can the Blazers get for McCollum, and also would help right now? I’m sure they can get a high draft pick, but is that what they want? I’m sure a team like Dallas or Memphis or maybe even the Knicks would give up their pick for him, but there’s nothing much that they could add that would sweeten the pot. Sure, the Grizzlies could offer a pick and maybe Marc Gasol, but I’d rather have Nurkic right now. The Knicks have nothing of real value except Porzingis or Frank Ntilikina, and I don’t see them giving up either of them for McCollum. Dallas makes the most sense, but is Harrison Barnes really an upgrade? I don’t think so. They will have a high pick, but they offer nothing else of real value in a veteran player. The best fits and trade partners would be an already established team.

I’d love to see McCollum go to a team like the Spurs. Trade him straight up for Kawhi Leonard, and I think both teams benefit. Or, what about a team like Minnesota? They’ll have a mid teen pick, then add Andrew Wiggins, I think that would be great. Another option could be the team that just throttled them, the Pelicans. I’d trade anyone and their pick to get McCollum, with three exceptions. Those three, Davis, Holiday and Cousins. Everyone else I would make available. Put McCollum back there with Holiday and a front court of Cousins and Davis, they would be one hell of a team.

This first round series showed me that the Blazers need to trade one of these guys if they want to achieve any real success, and I think that person should be CJ McCollum. He’s had a good run, but Lillard needs to be the focal point once again. That is how the Blazers will get back to being real threats.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on all the internet.

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The SeedSing 2018 NBA Playoff Preview

The NBA playoffs are set, and the games kick off on Saturday. I'm am here today for my annual playoff preview. I'll go through the East and the West, pick a winner for each series all the way down to the finals. I will give my finals matchup, the winner and the MVP of the series. Tomorrow I will do all my awards, but today is strictly for just the playoffs. Alright, here we go.

In the East the seeding is as follows, Toronto is 1, Celtics 2, 76ers 3, Cavs 4, Pacers 5, Heat 6, Bucks 7 and Wizards 8. So, that gives us first round series of Toronto-Washington, Boston-Milwaukee, Philadelphia-Miami and Cleveland-Indiana. Truth be told, these are some good series. In the Toronto-Washington matchup, I am going with Toronto, but it will be tough. I know Washington is dysfunctional, everyone on that team seems to dislike John Wall, they have limped to the playoffs, they don't play great defense, but they will make it tough on Toronto. They have always struggled with this team because Wall and Beal give Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan all they can handle on both ends. But, I think the mixture of Toronto's bench and the mess that is the Wizards right now will give the Raptors the series in 6 games. They will be 6 tough games though.

In the Boston-Milwaukee series, it would be so much easier to pick if Kyrie Irving was still healthy. I'm still going with Boston, but Milwaukee, mostly Giannis Antentekoumpo, will make it hard. Giannis is a beast. He is an upper echelon star now. And, with Irving out, he is, far and away, the best player in this series. He can single handily win 3 games. The fourth one will be the problem. Also, Boston has Brad Stevens as head coach, Al Horford is still out there, Jaylen Brown is playing good basketball and Jayson Tatum seems to have gotten past the rookie wall. Boston will win, but it will take 7 games.

I love the 3-6 matchup of Philly and Miami. Miami can matchup with Philadelphia everywhere. Miami can play any style of basketball needed to win. Miami has more playoff experience. Miami has the much, much better coach. And, Joel Embiid may not play in the first round. But, Ben Simmons is on a whole other level right now. He doesn't seem like he is going to be taken down by the moment. He might be forced to shoot jumpers, but the dude can get out of that by driving and kicking. And, the shooters around him are hitting shots at the right time. Again, this will be a long, hard fought series, but I have fully bought into the 76ers hype, and I have them in 7 games, 6 if Embiid plays at all in the series.

Finally in the East's first round we have Cleveland-Indiana. This series could go a number of different ways. Cleveland can steam roll them. Indiana can muddy it up and make it a slog. Cleveland could decide to not play defense. Cleveland is almost as dysfunctional as Washington. Indiana was not even supposed to be here. They are young. They have surprised everyone this year. Now, I like the Cavs simply because of playoff LeBron. He will not allow his team to lose in the first round. If they do, he is gone. But, he will not let that happen, and I have the Cavs in 5. LeBron is just too good and he is great in the playoffs.

The second round will pit Toronto against Cleveland and Boston against Philly. Toronto is stuck with another team that they struggle with. Cleveland owns Toronto, and I don't see that changing now. Again, LeBron will impose his will, and the Cavs will outscore Toronto on their way to a fourth straight Eastern Conference finals appearance.

In Philly-Boston, I have to say, I love the 76ers. Irving is out, as previously mentioned. Embiid will be back 100 percent. No one on Boston can guard Ben Simmons. Philadelphia's shooters will be open. The Celtics just don't have the guys to compete this year. I have Philly in 6 in this series.

So that would pit the 76ers against the Cavs in the East Finals. The 76ers are way ahead of schedule, but this is where all the hype ends. Cleveland has LeBron, and LeBron will not allow his team to get beat by such a young team. These 2 teams played a great regular season game a couple weeks ago, but it was regular season. The game didn't really matter. LeBron will once again be in the Finals. That would make it 8 straight.

Now, the West. The seeding in the West is as follows, Houston 1, Golden State 2, Portland 3, OKC 4, Utah 5, New Orleans 6, San Antonio 7 and Minnesota 8. The matchups are Houston-Minnesota, Golden State-San Antonio, Portland-New Orleans and OKC-Utah. Houston will beat Minnesota, but it will be tougher than expected. I guarantee they wanted Denver because of their lack of defense. While Minnesota isn't much better, they do at least try on that end. Also, Towns is much better than Clint Capela. Jimmy Butler can give James Harden fits. But, Chris Paul will be there to help out Harden, Eric Gordon and Trevor Ariza will hit threes and the discrepancy in talent on the rosters is widely in Houston's favor. They are also having a "magical" year. The Rockets will win in 6 games, but it will be a bloodbath.

Golden State is going to blow the doors off the Spurs, and I love the Spurs. But, no Kawhi is going to kill them against he Warriors. And I know that Steph isn't playing in the first round, but KD, Klay and Draymond are all there. I also think the Warriors are playing possum right now, and I think they are going to come into the playoffs with their heads on fire. I have the Warriors in a sweep.

Portland-New Orleans is going to be a good series, with very high scoring games. The Pelicans have no one that can stop Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, but who do the Trailblazers have that can stop Anthony Davis? No one. He is going to EXPLODE in the playoffs. I'm so excited to watch him play. I'm excited to see Lillard and McCollum too. This is going to be the best first round series in my opinion, and I think the Pelicans will win in 7 simply because Anthony Davis is playing on a whole other level right now.

OKC-Utah is the second best series. These 2 teams couldn't be more different, and it will make for a fun matchup. Russell Westbrook is playing pretty great right now. But, he will find it hard to get open looks at the rim with Rudy Gobert down low. Donovan Mitchell has had an amazing season, but he will have to beat Paul George on defense. Steven Adams can stop Gobert down low, but Gobert can do the same to him. Carmelo has been dreadful this year, but maybe he turns it on for the playoffs. He hasn't been in awhile too. This is going to be a fun series, and I have OKC grinding out a 7 game series victory. Westbrook is too good, and Paul George is one of the better defenders in the league. I love Mitchell and Gobert, but they aren't ready just yet.

That gives us a second round of Houston-OKC and Golden State-New Orleans. Houston-OKC will be fun. OKC gets up for the better teams in the league, and they just beat Houston in a game, but Houston trounced them in the playoffs last year, and the Rockets didn't have Chris Paul last year. Also, Adams is way too slow to keep up with Capela, and Carmelo will be torched on defense. Chris Paul will finally make his first trip to a conference final in his career, as the Rockets will win in 6.

Golden State is again, much like their first round matchup, going to squash the Pelicans. Sure, AD will go off, but who is going to stop KD, Klay and Steph, who will be back? Oh, and Draymond too. This series will be a wash. Golden State in a sweep once again.

These outcomes will give us the much anticipated Houston-Golden State West Finals. And we all know how poorly Harden, Paul and Mike D'Antoni play and coach in the most important series. The Rockets will choke. Everyone wants to pick them. Everyone says they are finally ready to take the throne from the Warriors. Everyone seems to think that D'Antoni is doing a better job than Kerr. Well, D'Antoni's recent remarks, the whole "winning a title does not define how good this season was" said all I needed to hear. He is already bracing himself for when his team gets beat. Golden State will take their first 2 playoff losses, but I have them winning the series in 6.

This gives us a fourth straight Cleveland-Golden State finals. And, much like last year, Golden State is going to smoke them. I think they will sweep them out this year, and it won't even be that close. Golden State is so much better, they play defense, they will care and they will crush the Cavs to win their third title in 4 years. As far as the Finals MVP, I will go with Steph. It is his turn.

There you have it, my 2018 NBA playoff preview. I love this time of year.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on all the internet.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty's 2017-2018 NBA Preview: Playoffs and Award Predictions

With the 2017-18 NBA season kicking off tonight, god am I excited, I have one final preseason piece for everyone. As I promised yesterday, today I have all of my predictions. This will include my playoff teams from each conference, plus the playoff teams if they went with the 16 best records, the conference finals, the NBA finals, and all the award winners, including finals MVP. Anyway, lets get to it.

First off, I want to do the playoff teams from each conference. I will write them in order, counting from 1-8. I'll start with the East because it is so much easier than the West. The East is a joke. It was so damn easy to pick the 8 teams. So, I have Cleveland, Boston, Washington, Milwaukee, Toronto, Miami, Charlotte and Detroit ever so slightly over the 76ers. I have no faith in Detroit, I believe they were in the 20's in my countdown, but they are a better bet for the playoffs, in my opinion, this year than Philadelphia. But, it doesn't really matter. It is going to be Cleveland going to the finals. They will face either Boston or Washington in the East finals, but do not count out Milwaukee. I really feel like Giannis Antentekoumpo can will this team to some playoff wins, and I would not be totally shocked if the Bucks make the East finals. But, again, Cleveland will win the East with relative ease. They may have gotten older, but they have a better roster than any other team in the East, and they still have LeBron James. All that dude does is go to finals, and sometimes win them.

As far as the West, the 4 teams at the top were easy, but then it gets really difficult. There are about 7 teams vying for the 4 final spots in the West. As far as the seeds go, I have Golden State, OKC, Houston, San Antonio, Denver, Minnesota, New Orleans and Portland. This leaves out Memphis and the Clippers. Both teams have the talent to get to the playoffs, but I see too many things getting in their way. Memphis has no one outside of Mike Conley Jr and Marc Gasol. The Clippers best players are bound to get hurt. Danilo Gallinari is already hurt. Blake Griffin will get hurt. Patrick Beverly is bound to miss time. It always happens to the Clippers, so I do not see that changing at all this year. And while I think the Utah Jazz will play great defense, and really push for a playoff spot, the West is too good and they will miss out barely. As frustrating as it is to write, the Warriors will easily get to the Finals for a fourth straight time. They may go undefeated again on their way back to the Finals. As far as their Western Conference Finals opponent, I have them facing OKC. I am not too sure why, maybe I just want the Thunder to face KD, but I feel like, once the Thunder's big three figure it out, they are going to be very, very good. Chris Paul and James Harden will choke, they always do. The Spurs do not have enough behind Kawhi and LaMarcus Aldridge to really push. And the four other teams, the Warriors would dominate.

So we will have the inevitable Cleveland-Golden State finals for the fourth straight year. The funny thing too, even with my top 16 teams, which I will get to in a moment, I'd still have the Cavs and Warriors in the Finals. As far as just getting the top 16 teams in the playoffs, leaving the conferences and division winners and all that nonsense out, just flat out taking the 16 teams with the best records, I'd have, in order, Golden State, Boston, OKC, Houston, San Antonio, Cleveland, Washington, Denver, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Toronto, Miami, New Orleans, Portland, Utah and Charlotte. So, that gives 9 West teams and 7 East teams. I really struggled with figuring out who the 16th seed would have been. I went with Charlotte, but I really thought long and hard about the Clippers, again, I remembered their poor health and lack of any kind of solid guards, and Memphis, but I remembered they only have 2 great players, and a bunch of mediocre role players. But again, even with Cleveland being the team with the 6th best record, they would still face off with Golden State in the Finals. Both outcomes reveal the same result for me.

So, as far as the champ, it is the Warriors. They are going to easily win the Finals once again. They are too good and too loaded. They could even take some injuries to key guys, and they'd still walk to the title. The Warriors are too god damn good to be beaten. If they do not win the Finals I'd be shocked. They are that great. In fact, I think the Warriors will win 70 plus games during the season, and go undefeated in the playoffs and completely sweep their way to a title. The Warriors will be your 2018 NBA champs.

As far as award winners goes, lets start with the smaller ones first. For sixth man of the year, I'll go with Tristan Thompson. He has totally embraced his move to the bench, and I think he is going to be great off the bench for the Cavs. He is a perfect energy guy, and I think he will destroy second unit centers. I suppose 6th man of the year is probably the "smallest" award the NBA has. Now for the "big" ones. For coach of the year I have Jason Kidd. I love what the Bucks have going, and much to my surprise, a lot of that has to do with Kidd's direction. He has turned himself into a solid NBA coach, and with the way the Bucks are rising, I see Kidd getting another award to add to his trophy case. For rookie of the year I have Dennis Smith Jr. I love everything that Smith Jr has going for him. He is hyper athletic, he has great teammates, he will run the pick and roll to perfection with guys like Nerlens Noel and Dirk Nowitzki, and he is going to put up gaudy numbers because he will given the keys to the Mavericks offense. He is in an ideal situation for a rookie, and he has something to prove after "dropping" to 9th in the draft. For defensive player of the year I have Rudy Gobert. There is no better rim protector in the NBA, and he will be the best defender on one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. For Finals MVP I have Steph Curry finally getting his. He has won 2 regular season MVP's and 2 titles, but he hasn't gotten that Finals MVP yet. That changes this year. It is his turn after Andre Iguodala winning the first, and KD winning last year. And the final, and most important award, the regular season MVP, I have Kevin Durant. He is going to go off this year, and with a full season, a title and a finals MVP under his belt, he is going to win his second regular season MVP. I was going to go with LeBron, but I just feel like KD is going to tear the league apart this year. Hopefully this doesn't spell doom for him, seeing as David Johnson and Deondre Francois, my preseason NFL MVP and preseason Heisman winner, both went down with season ending injuries in week one of the NFL and college football seasons. I don't think anything bad will happen to KD though. He has suffered through enough injuries.

Anyway, I am so excited to watch the NBA kick off tonight. This is my favorite time of the year because now I have college football, the NFL and now, the NBA. There will always be some kind of sports event that I love on during almost every day of the week. What a great time to be a sports fan. Enjoy the NBA season everyone, and thanks for reading my preseason countdown and picks. I'm sure I'll have many pieces during and after the season, but this is how I see everything just a few hours before the actual season tips off. I cannot wait.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty's 2017-2018 NBA Preview: Grizzlies, Clippers, Trailblazers

Two quick hits before I get back into my 2017-18 NBA countdown today.

First, I was going to write a whole article about how I am embarrassed to be a Michigan Wolverines football fan, but I slept on it, and I am not. I'm embarrassed how they played this past Saturday, and they need to not be so god damn predictable on offense, but I have come to the realization, with the youth and John O'Korn at QB, they will be worse than mediocre on offense all season. They were horrendous on Saturday night, and I feel like that will continue to be the case the rest of the season. I'll hit more on it when I do my mid season checkup. But, instead of sitting here and airing out frustrations about the Wolverines, I had an epiphany watching them. While they are great on defense, they are going to struggle the rest of the year because their offense is so far behind. I picked them to win 10 games this year, they look more like a 7 or 8 win team. And this talk of Harbaugh being a poor coach or bolting for the NFL is getting real annoying. If he wants to leave, fine. If he wants to stay, great. But every year I am sick of hearing all the "experts" say that, "this is the year Harbaugh bolts for the NFL". Give it a rest until he does leave. Enough Wolverines football talk.

The other quick thing I mentioned, I saw "Blade Runner 2049" last Friday and it is amazing. I'm not going to spoil anything because this is a movie that everyone needs to see in the theaters. With that being said, it lived up to my very high expectations. The tone, the visuals, the music, the writing, directing and acting, the graphics, everything about this movie is perfection. Please do yourselves a favor and go see this exceptional movie. It may be almost 3 hours long, but it never felt like it was. Go now and see "Blade Runner 2049".

Okay, the quick hits are out of the way, lets get back to the NBA preview. We will finally get a playoff ready squad today.

At number 18 I have the Memphis Grizzlies. I pored and pored over where to put this team. They have been really good to great for the majority of my twenties and early 30's. But, they lost a ton of key players this offseason. Tony Allen, Zach Randolph and Vince Carter are all gone. I know those guys are old, but they were some of the most important glue guys to the "grit and grind" style they play. They do still have Mike Conley Jr and Marc Gasol though. Conley Jr has turned himself into a premiere point guard. It was so hard for me to see this, because of where he played college ball, but damn is he good. He gets the big guys involved, he runs the offense perfectly and he has turned himself into quite the scorer. Marc Gasol is one of the better big guys in the league too. He is an exceptional passer and can fill it up too. He is also underrated as a defender in my opinion. But, after those guys, it gets murky and that is why I don't see them as a playoff team this year. Chandler Parsons will get hurt. He always does. His contract is dreadful for this team too. Ben McLemore is going to love being away from Sacramento, and I even wrote how I liked the signing, but he is what he is in the NBA. He is wildly inconsistent. Andrew Harrison could be good, but he hasn't shown it yet. JayMychal Green has the makings of a decent player, and with more playing time, he could get there. Mario Chalmers is back, but he is toast, especially after tearing his ACL. Tyreke Evans is too much of a ball stopper and not good enough of a shooter to do that. They drafted Dillon Brooks and Ivan Rabb, but I don't see how they get much time with the other guys on this roster. I feel bad for Conley Jr and Gasol. They are good, but if things start out rough I could see the Grizzlies blowing it up and trying to trade them to contenders. I still like this team, but they need an entire new identity, and that will be tough to find.

At number 17, just outside of my playoff teams, I have the Los Angeles Clippers. I do not get the hype surrounding this team. They lost a ton from a group of players that never really achieved much of anything anyway. They lost Jamal Crawford, JJ Redick and, most importantly, Chris Paul. That is brutal. How is DeAndre Jordan going to fair without Paul? I think it will be disastrous for him. I know Crawford is most likely done, but who will be his replacement for instant offense? Lou Williams? Isn't he the same player? Wesley Johnson? He isn't that good of a pro. Danilo Gallinari? How long until he gets hurt? Oh, that's right, he punched a guy in a Euro League game, and he is already hurt. What about Redick's replacement? I think he is pretty overrated, but Austin Rivers as his replacement, bull shit. Rivers might be a solid defender, but he is a horrid shooter and an all around bad offensive player. Blake Griffin is the point forward, and the face of the franchise now. But, he isn't one tenth the guy that the Clippers think he is, LeBron James. Griffin is incredibly overrated, and how long until he gets hurt? He will miss time again this year. You can bet on that. I do not like Patrick Beverly's fit on this team. I like Beverly's game, but he will not thrive off the ball, and Griffin is going to be the primary ball handler on this team. Sam Dekker is of no consequence in the NBA, and the same can be said for him on the Clippers. Jawun Evans and Sindarius Thornwell were good picks, but will Doc Rivers even play them? He didn't play Brice Johnson hardly at all last year, and he is a full year behind the rookies from his class. I do not see this team staying healthy, and even if they do, I do not see them being a 44 or 45 win team like some others do. They are, at best, a .500 team.

The final team for today, the first "playoff" team, is the Portland Trailblazers. The Trailblazers play no defense at all. They are really bad on that end of the floor. But, when you have Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, you can outscore enough teams to win enough games to push to the playoffs. Hell, they made it last year with those 2 as their only threats. Where the Trailblazers struggle is the front court. I love how well Jusuf Nurkic played after he was traded, but he needs to do that for a full year before I fully buy in. He also suffered a rough injury in their first round playoff appearance. Meyers Leonard is trash. Why this dude is still in the league, and not in the G League or overseas, is baffling to me. Al Faroq Aminu is a pretty good player, and if you forget about him on offense he can score. He is not a horrible third option. Evan Turner just doesn't fit with this team. He had a good thing going in Boston, but he got a big contract, and I can't fault him for taking the cash. He just is way too ball dominant, and that doesn't work on a team with Lillard and McCollum. Noah Vonleh is a bust. He was all hype and has been no production. Maurice Harkless is a fine 8th or 9th guy, but he plays too many minutes on this team. Zach Collins was a so so pick. I do not like that they took him that high when he really didn't prove himself until tournament time. I do like the Caleb Swanigan pick though. That kid has had to work extra hard for everything in his life, and his work ethic is unparalleled. He will be a great grinder in the NBA. The Trailblazers are not great by any stretch of the imagination, but they won 41 last year, and Lillard and McCollum will only get better. I could see them winning 43 or 44 games this year to just get in to the playoffs and get swept by the Warriors.

That's it for today. Come back tomorrow for the next 3 teams. Nothing but playoff level teams from here on out.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

LeBron and Carmelo are Once Again the Talk of the NBA Offseason, and it is Not Good

Today I want to talk about 2 NBA players. I know that Summer League is over, free agency is over and all the biggest trades have already happened, but for some reason, these 2 guys have kept my interest in the NBA offseason. I'm always interested in all things basketball, but this is usually a dead period. Well, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James will not let it stay too quiet.

Lets first talk about LeBron. This seems to be the time of year, especially since he went back to the Cavs, when he perks up and complains about "the lack of moves" by the front office. I feel like this is just a way to keep his name at, or near, the top of the list when talking about NBA players. But, this constant whining has got to stop. First off, he constructed this team. I saw a bunch of people saying on Twitter and NBA message boards yesterday that he constructed this team, and it is true. What assets do they have that they can give up for a big time star? What young players do they have that they can throw into crucial games at crucial times so they get experience? No one, and I mean NO ONE, wants Kevin Love. So, I ask again, why is LeBron whining once again? He is currently the best player in the world, and if he stays in the East, he will go to the Finals again, and lose to the Warriors again. There is no way the Cavs could have signed any big time free agent. They gave a boat load of money to Love per James' request after winning the title last year. They are going to have to pay Kyrie if they want to continue to stay relevant. They inexplicably gave Kyle Korver a decent sized contract this offseason. They paid JR Smith a bundle after last year. The season before, they maxed out Tristan Thompson. They have also signed a few foreign players. So, what do they have that the Bulls would have wanted for Butler, or how much could they have given Gordon Hayward or how about KD or Steph who were both free agents? What could they have given Indiana for Paul George? There are too many questions with no real answers. I have read and heard that Love was in all these deals,  but no team wants him. He is now damaged goods. So for James to come out and complain about the front office, stop it. He constructed this team. He chose to have them trade for Korver. He wanted his buddy Thompson to get the max. He told the front office to pay Love after last year. He had them go out and sign Deron Williams, James Jones and Mike Dunleavy Jr. These are his buddies, but they are old and well past their prime. Also, no one wants those players for stars. They want assets or another star. And I'm sorry, but Love for Butler or George would have been almost as bad as what the Pacers got for George from OKC.

One final thought on James also, why does he care or feel the need to comment on this? Dan Gilbert gave him an out when he, out of nowhere, fired David Griffin. This was a terrible move by Gilbert, one of many, and now James can leave and not be the scapegoat. He won them a title, and Gilbert made a horrific front office choice. James can go anywhere next year and his jersey won't get burned and he won't get booed when he comes back to play in Cleveland. All his whining just needs to stop.

Lets look at Carmelo now. By all accounts, he wants to go to Houston. I hope this happens so I can snicker at how ridiculous that offense would look if he played there. I have already been on record saying that I think the Chris Paul-James Harden pairing is going to be a nightmare. Throw Carmelo into that mix, man it would be a disaster.  First off, both Carmelo and Mike D'Antoni have a mutual hatred of each other. D'Antoni went on a radio show 2 years ago and said as much. Do you really think that he wants to coach him again? Also, do you think that Carmelo really wants to play for D'Antoni? Carmelo likes to slow things down and go one on one. D'Antoni likes to run, run, run. This would also make their defense worse. Harden doesn't play any defense, neither does Carmelo. Ariza used to be a good defender, but he is not what he once was on that end of the floor. Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson don't even try on defense. That is not why they are there. Chris Paul is the only good defender, and he got outplayed by George Hill in the playoffs last year, and he is older. They lost their best defender when they traded away Patrick Beverly for Paul. Carmelo to the Rockets is a terrible idea.

Carmelo to the Cavs, almost as bad. It would be a similar situation in Cleveland like Houston. There are already 2 ball dominant guys, Kyrie and LeBron, and while they play more half court offense, does Carmelo really do anything more, or different, than Kevin Love does for them? Love is just as bad on defense, but he is a much better rebounder and throws excellent outlet passes. Carmelo doesn't do either of those. Also, Cleveland is already dreadful on defense, so throwing Anthony in the mix only makes them worse. Portland has been the other team mentioned, and while I like that fit best, it doesn't really matter, they will be lucky to be the 7th or 8th seed in the West next year.

Look, I do like both these guys. I know I'm being hard on them, but LeBron is clearly the best player in the world, and I used to love watching Carmelo play when he was in Denver. But, all this recent news has gotten under my skin. LeBron continues to whine, even though he is forever playing basketball into late June, and Carmelo is toast as an elite player. I'm thankful for the summer NBA news, but I'm just bummed about the particular noise that is being made.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty Tells You Who Will Win the NBA Finals and All the Other Awards

Lots of game balls to give out

I finished my 10 day NBA preseason countdown yesterday, so today, I will give you my finals prediction, award predictions and some surprises, be they good or bad, that I think will happen this upcoming season.

Let's start with the finals.

I don't see how this is not part three of Cavs-Warriors. They are both the superior teams in their respective conferences. They have no real challengers. Some will say the Cavs will be pushed by the Raptors, Celtics or Pacers. The Raptors are perpetual underachievers. The Celtics don't have a super star, ball dominant, get you the tough points when you need them type of guy. The Pacers have no one that can defend both LeBron and Kyrie Irving. The Cavs are just so much better than any team in the East. The Warriors have no one, and I mean no one, that should slow them down one bit. They have the 3 of the 4 best players in the league in their starting five. They have scorers and playmakers all over the floor. As far as the Spurs being a threat, Kawhi Leonard can only guard one of those guys. The Clippers can't stop a pick and roll to save their lives, and the Warriors own them. OKC lost KD, and Westbrook will not be able to beat them alone, even though he will certainly try. The Trailblazers are just not on their level. The Warriors have such an easy path, it's ridiculous.

As stated, we will have a third straight rematch. The Warriors should win this title in no less than 5 games. LeBron will get one, he always does, but the Warriors are absolutely stacked, and anything less than a title would be deemed a disappointment. They will try and talk down the high expectations, but with a team like this, they should be huge, huge favorites.

As far as MVP goes, I mean, LeBron should probably win every year, but he won't this season, unless he wants to. All he has to do is try and play hard every night, and he could walk away with it. But, he has a ton of mileage on his legs, so I don't think he will play as many games this year that would be needed to win the MVP. As far as other contenders, Steph and KD and Klay will all cancel each other out. Those three on the same team will be lethal, but none will separate themselves as MVP. James Harden will score a ton, but he will play no defense, so that will not get him many votes. Russell Westbrook may put up ridiculous numbers, but he will play out of control a lot, shoot too many shots and that will cost him the MVP. He will be fun to watch, but I bet very infuriating at times as well. All these guys are great, but I think that Kawhi Leonard will take the next step and win the MVP this year. The Spurs are now his team, I think he will take that next step offensively and he is the best defender in the league. It may sound crazy, but I think Kawhi is going to become that superstar that we all expect him to be.

Coach of the year is going to go to Tom Thibodeau, unless the T'Wolves fall flat on their faces. Everyone has already penciled him in, so the award is his to lose. The T'Wolves have looked really good in the preseason, and if they finish above .500, he is a shoe in for the award.

I think Kawhi Leonard will double down and not only win the MVP, but also defensive player of the year. As I have said too much the past two days, he is the best defender, hands down, in the NBA. There is no equal.

Rookie of the year is going to go to Kris Dunn. He will usurp Ricky Rubio as the starter in Minnesota, and he looks ready to play right now. I do like Buddy Hield, he will score a ton, Joel Embiid, he has looked unstoppable in preseason and Brandon Ingram will get looks, but he is too skinny and needs to toughen up. But, Dunn will pass all these guys and play important minutes on a team that could possibly push for the playoffs, and he will play well.

As far as some surprises, I think OKC will struggle, but still get in the playoffs. Losing a player like KD is going to hurt a hell of a lot more than they are letting on. Westbrook will play like a man on fire, but he needs help from guys that haven't had this much on their plates in their NBA careers. The Celtics will be the third best team in the East. A lot of people have them as the surefire 2 seed, behind the Cavs, but I think the Pacers will snatch that 2 seed from them. The Pacers have scoring all over the floor, and with Nate McMillan as their new head coach, they will run up and down the court and score tons of points, while playing high level defense. The dunk contest won't be as good as last year, but it is starting to become must watch TV for NBA fans again. The dunk contest was in the toilet for almost a decade, but last year was one of, if not the, best dunk contests ever. I also love that Vince Carter is saying that he might enter this year. I'd love that.

And one last thing, the NBA is so watered down, I would suggest to everyone out there, only watch the Cavs, Spurs and Warriors, as well as your team. There is no point, if you are not a fan of either of these teams, to watch a midseason game between the Nets and Hornets. Neither of those teams will make any difference in the final outcome, so who cares. There are only 3 really good teams, then the rest. Get ready for a third straight rematch, and a lot of the same stuff we have seen for the last few years.

That's it for the NBA. Thanks for reading, and tomorrow, I will have my NCAA men's basketball preview. I will also have my "Eric Andre Show" and "Bar Rescue" recaps next week for everyone, I have just been hyper focused on basketball, since the season is right around the corner. It's very exciting.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The NBA may be watered down, but Ty believes in drinking plenty of water. Make sure you get the good stuff. The Warriors would be like the Fiji of bottled water. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Ty Tells You How each NBA Team Can Win the Title: Rockets, Trailblazers, and the Jazz

Day 7 of my NBA countdown has us finally getting to the top 10. It will be team number 10, but we are on our way to the elite. The best of the best. What separates the teams from being elite today are any number of things. Some don't think defense is important. Others are a bit too young, and don't have the necessary experience to go any further than round 2. Some are just one or two players away from being truly competitive. These teams are good, and may make some noise, but none will go any further than round 2 of the playoffs this year. Here we go.

At number 12, I have the Houston Rockets. Man, did this team underachieve last year. They were a year removed from the West finals, and they went out of the playoffs last year with barely a whimper. They did finally get rid of Dwight Howard, but I don't think he was the sole problem. This team does not care about defense at all, and it all starts with their star player, James Harden. Harden is one of the best scorers in the league right now. He can make shots from anywhere. He is deadly from down town. He gets to the free throw line regularly and he will always have the ball in his hands. The problem, he simply thinks that defense is optional. Harden is a horrendous defender. He doesn't even try, which makes it worse. Sure, he can go for 30 any given night, but the guy he is guarding is just as capable of putting up 30. The hiring of Mike Dantoni won't help out his, or the team's defense for that matter. Dantoni is an offensive wizard, but he, much like Harden, thinks defense is optional. This team will score a ton, but they will give up a ton of points too. There are some other decent pieces on this roster. Patrick Beverly is a pesky defender and okay point guard. He may be the only guy on this team that tries on the defensive end. But, when you have Harden as your point guard, having Beverly is kind of pointless. He won't do all that much for the Rockets this year, except annoy their opponents. The Donatas Montejunas hype is over. He is never healthy. He can't score like projected, and he, like most of the roster, could care less about stopping his man. Montejunas is kind of a waste. They signed Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon this offseason. Both are good offensive players. Anderson is a great shooter, but he is just as bad on defense as Harden is. Gordon, when healthy, is a very good, all star caliber player, but he can't stay healthy, and he too thinks defense is optional. They signed Nene, who will bring some toughness to this team, but he looked a step slow in the Olympics. Montrez Harrell will try and take the Nene slack, but he is very inconsistent. Trevor Ariza is a good shooter, but he has lost a step or two, and he doesn't attack like the rim like he used to. He also plays no defense. Clint Capela is the new big man, with Howard gone, but I don't think he is ready to be a starter in the NBA just yet. This team is going to score a ton of points. They may average between 115 and 120 points per game. But, they will give up 110 to 115 points a game. That will net them 43 or 44 wins, but no more. Unfortunately for the Rockets, defense is a very important thing in the NBA.

So Ty, how will the Rockets win the title? The Rockets could win the title if they average about 140 points per game. The only way they can win is if they outscore every other team. That will not happen.

At number 11, I have the Portland Trailblazers. This team surprised everyone last year, including me. They were supposed to be rebuilding, yet they made the second round last year. Damien Lillard is one of the 10 best players in the league. He is clutch, can score from anywhere and is the man on this team. He could be a little better on defense, but man oh man is he elite on offense. CJ McCollum is about to become a perennial all star. He is a great, clutch shooter as well. He also has a very calming demeanor. He is never flustered and plays well within his limitations. This is one of the better backcourts in all the NBA. Allen Crabbe proved to be a decent shooter and a good defender last year. Who knew. Meyers Leonard has been a waste. He is too big and talented to be this mediocre, but he is just average. He also gets hurt way too often. I did not like the Evan Turner signing, but I don't think it will hurt them. He is an okay player, but when you have Lillard and McCollum, I see no reason for Turner. Al Faroq-Aminnu has proven that he is a good enough scorer and defender. He stretches the floor and plays heady defense. Maurice Harkless seemingly came out of nowhere to be a pretty reliable player last year. He doesn't do one thing exceptional, but he seems to do everything pretty well. He's a good basketball player. Mason Plumlee is an average big man, They have a big discrepancy when it comes to big men. Noah Vonleh has also been relegated to bench duties. The lack of a true big will hurt them. This team is so much better than anyone thought they would be. They will continue to win between 44 and 47 games because they have an excellent back court. I love Damien Lillard and CJ McCollum.

So Ty, how will the Blazers win the title? The Blazers will win the title if, much like their first round series last year, every team they run into in the playoffs has a star player get injured. They won't get lucky like that again, but this team is good. Don't sleep on the Trailblazers.

At number 10, I have the Utah Jazz. I know that I have them in my top ten, but I'm not as high as some other people are on them. I think they will be good, but they will go no further than the first round this year. But, they do play some incredibly good defense. I love teams that play good defense. Gordon Hayward is a good NBA player, but I don't think he is as good as others. Some people seem to think he is all star caliber, I don't. I think he is a fine NBA player. He can get you 16 points a night, and he will play some good defense. I do however love Rudy Gobert. He is an excellent big man. His offensive game is coming along quite nicely and he is already a great rim protector and rebounder. Gobert is an all star caliber player. I also really like Derrick Favors. He doesn't jump off the page, but he is consistent and reliable. He is a good low post player. Getting George Hill will be huge for this team. He is a solid point guard and he does everything the right way. This was a great pick up. I also like the addition of Boris Diaw. Sure, he is older and looks a bit out of shape, but he will make open shots and he will find the open man. He is an excellent passer. Joe Johnson was a fine addition too. He doesn't play much defense, but he will be instant offense for a team that needs some instant offense. Alec Burks is a good young player, he is just a but inconsistent. He can fix that. Trey Lyles seems to be coming along just fine. He is a big that can go inside and out. He needs some more time, he is very young, but he looks like he will be a solid NBA player. Rodney Hood has gotten better every year, and I think now is his chance to break through. He's a good shooter and a good defender. This Jazz team is good, and they are on their way back to being a regular in the playoffs. They will win 46 or 47 games this year, about good enough for the 5 or 6 seed.

So Ty, how will the Jazz win the title? The Jazz can win the title if they, much like the Blazers, strike injury luck with their opponents and a star gets hurt on every team they face. They also need Hayward to be more assertive and Gobert's offensive game to drastically improve. They aren't there yet, but they are going to be good for awhile if they all stick together.

That's it for today, come back next week when it is all elite teams that all have a legitimate shot at the title.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The Head Editor can not get behind the Jazz and Quinn Snyder's pass the ball thirty times and miss a three type of offense. Hey, Ty knows more about these things. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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Mid Season Checkup on Ty's NBA Predictions.

Ty's picks are actually in better shape than the hoop.

Now that we have made it to the All Star break in the NBA, I want to go back and look at my giant, 10 day NBA preview I did before the season and see how it looks now. I did get some things wrong, we all do, and I will address those first, but I feel like I picked the top teams pretty well, with one exception.

So, before I pat myself on the back, let's get to the stuff I was off base on. First of all, I was way off on the New Orleans Pelicans, the Dallas Mavericks, the Portland Trailblazers, the Houston Rockets, the Washington Wizards and the Milwaukee Bucks. In the case of the Pelicans, I thought they'd be much, much better than they've shown this season. Sure, they've suffered a plethora of injuries, but they just don't look like that good of a team right now. I watched them play the OKC Thunder last night and they got blown out. The game wasn't even competitive mid way through the third quarter. Sure, they didn't have Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans, but they still have Anthony Davis, my preseason MVP and Defensive Player of the Year winner. Davis has looked good, but he was supposed to look great. He was supposed to be the new face of the NBA. He hasn't shown that he is ready to take the next step, but he still has time. This is a lost year for the Pelicans. Too many injuries and a terrible start doomed them. They should blow it up and try to get a decent pick to add next to Davis.

I also thought that the Bucks would be a much better team than they are right now. They haven't really had to deal with any injuries, they just can't play competent defense and they have no go to scorer. Giannis Antentekoumpo has not taken the leap he was expected to take, becoming kind of a nuisance. Jabari Parker has not lived up to the hype that he can be a top tier scorer and he plays no defense whatsoever. The Greg Monroe signing has been an absolute disaster and their back court is mediocre at best. They have looked pretty awful this year. They already had their highlight of their season, when they ended Golden State's perfect start.

The Washington Wizards can't stay healthy and they can't get John Wall any kind of significant help. Wall is a star. He is one of, if not the, top point guard in the NBA, but he has no help at all. Bradley Beal was supposed to be his wingman, but he can't stay healthy and when he is in there, he's been ice cold from the field. Marcin Gortat looks slow and is not scoring like he did a year ago. Nene looks disinterested and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets traded. Otto Porter Jr has been hit or miss and other than those guys, they have very average NBA players. But, it all really boils down to piss poor coaching from Randy Whitman. The fact he still has a job is ridiculous. He is the one wasting John Wall's talent. I feel bad for John Wall because he's a really great basketball player.

The Houston Rockets have been a mess from the start of preseason. James Harden decided he'd rather party than stay in shape. Dwight Howard can't get touches, but he also mopes and complains more than any NBA player I've ever watched. The trade for Ty Lawson, which I loved, has been a complete disaster. And this team, as a whole, plays absolutely no defense. The offense they run is equally terrible. I swear, they tell Harden to dribble for 20 seconds, then either shoot a 3 or try to drive to draw a foul. It's atrocious. They fired their coach after 11 games, but they haven't been any better since letting McHale go. As was reported last night, this is truly "a broken team".

Now, to get away from teams I thought would be good that aren't so good to teams that I expected to take a step back, but are playing much better than I thought. First, the Trailblazers. They traded away 4/5 of their starting lineup and made some interesting offseason moves, but damn it if it isn't kind of working for them. They lost LaMarcus Aldridge, Robin Lopez, Wes Matthews and Nic Batum, but still find themselves in the playoff race. If they do end up making the playoffs, it will be as an eight seed and they will get crushed by Golden State, but I thought there was no way they'd win more than 25 games this year. Damien Lillard really is that good.

The other team that I kind of crapped on, thought they were too old and that they missed out on some key free agency moves, the Dallas Mavericks, have been very competitive. Dirk is still Dirk. He is still getting 18 to 20 points per game and his jump shot is still unguardable. Wes Matthews, their only free agent signing after the DeAndre Jordan fiasco, has been great, coming off a torn ACL. He has actually looked really good, considering his injury. Chandler Parsons has been okay, he just does what he does, and that's enough for this team. But, Deron Williams has been rejuvenated by his move to Dallas. He was done in Brooklyn. His career seemed to be over, but he has played some pretty good basketball since joining the Mavericks, much to mine, and everyone else's surprise. He looks like a decent NBA point guard again. You have also got to give a lot of love to Rick Carlisle for the job he's doing with this team. He is a top of the line NBA coach. .

Now, let's get to the stuff I was on the mark with in my preseason preview. Golden State and San Antonio have been great. Golden State, whom I've written about a couple of times already, has been historically great. They are the most fun to watch NBA team that I've ever seen. Steph Curry is the best player in the NBA, no questions about it, and they also have Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut and Andre Igoudala, and I could name a lot more. They are so, so good.

The Spurs are right there as well. The Aldridge signing has been great and Aldridge has taken very easily to playing the "Spurs Way". David West, who they signed for the veterans minimum, has been a great addition as well. Then they still have Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli. I know Ginobli just recently got hurt, but they can plug Patty Mills, Danny Green, or anyone on their bench to take over until Ginobli returns. Sure, they got blown out by the Warriors recently, but the Spurs save their best for the playoffs. I still really like the Spurs to compete for the title this year.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been pretty good as well, yet no one is really talking about them. They won their 40th game last night and Kevin Durant looks like he is 100 percent back. To go along with Durant, Russell Westbrook is still doing all the great and reckless things he does on the court, but he's found a way for it to help his team this year. Serge Ibaka is still one of the top rim protector and he has increased his range all the way out to the three point line. Steven Adams is the new Bill Laimbeer and the rest of the team knows their place. Andre Roberson is a lock down defender, DJ Augustin and Cameron Payne are strictly there to give Westbrook short breaks. Enes Kanter is instant offense off the bench and Dion Waiters, when he is on, can score in bunches. OKC is lurking and I wouldn't want to play them in the playoffs if I were either San Antonio or Golden State.

In the East, there are two teams and that is it. The Cavs, another team I've written plenty about, is the best team in the East, but they have a problem with their roster and since they fired David Blatt, Tyronn Lue hasn't really set the NBA coaching world on fire. I wouldn't be surprised if they make some moves, trading guys like Kevin Love, Timofey Mozgov and/or Tristan Thompson or Anderson Varajo and bringing in more shooters, but it won't matter, they will still lose in the Finals. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving are great, but then you have guys like JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, Matthew Dellavedova and James Jones that are playing critical minutes in the playoffs. LeBron the GM needs to make better player personnel decisions and sign good NBA players, not his buddies.

The other team from the East that is setting the world on fire completely took me by surprise. I thought the Toronto Raptors would be good, but not this good. DeMr DeRozan and Kyle Lowry are playing All Star level basketball, although Lowry is the only one that made the team. Jonas Valenciunas is becoming that rebounder and low post scorer that they need him to be. Corey Joseph has been awesome since he signed there this offseason, scoring points and playing good defense. DeMarre Carroll, who's been out with an injury, looked just as good as he did last year in Atlanta, playing lock down defense and hitting open shots. The Raptors have been a whole hell of a lot better than I thought they would be, especially after their rough finish in the playoffs last year, and they look like a real threat to the Cavs. I would love if the Raptors faced the Cavs in the East Finals, swept them and then get crushed by either OKC, Golden State or San Antonio. That would be hilarious to me because it would freak out David Silver and make the fans in Cleveland that much more miserable. I really, really like Toronto.

As far as award predictions, Steph Curry is the MVP. I picked Anthony Davis, but it's Curry. Emmanuel Mudiay, my preseason rookie of the year, has been hurt and can't shoot, so I will now go with Karl Anthony Towns. He is a star in the making. Kawhi Leonard is hands down the Defensive Player of the Year and Gregg Popovich has to be coach of the year. You can't give it to Steve Kerr, and Adam Silver doesn't have the cojanes to give it to Luke Walton, so it's Poppovich.

To close it all out, at the All Star break, my finals prediction is going to be Golden State and Cleveland. I know I picked San Antonio and Cleveland, and that could still happen, but Golden State is something special this year. Not only will Golden State repeat, probably sweeping the Cavs out of the Finals, but I think they will break the single season record of wins. In 1996 the Bulls finished 72-10 and I think the Warriors will finish this season at 74-8, besting them by two games. The Warriors are that good and they will finish their historic season with a second straight NBA title.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He really wanted an all Canada final of the Raptors and the Grizzlies, but then he realized that Memphis is not in Canada. He also realized their are no Grizzlies in Tennessee, no lakes in LA, and definitely no Jazz in Salt Lake City. The NBA is weird. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty tells you how each NBA team can win the title: 76ers, Lakers, & Trailblazers

I love the NBA.

So, for the next two weeks, I'm going to do an NBA season preview. There's 30 teams in the NBA and I will select three teams a day and point out why they won't win the title, and why they just might. I will rank these teams from worst to best, in my personal opinion. Not to worry, I will keep up with some other blogs, like Greatest American Bands and Irrational Hatred for Sports Teams, but this NBA preview will be my prime focus for the next two weeks. I'm also going to be a dad for the second time in two days, so these blogs may seem a little bit shorter, but they'll be packed with pertinent information. Everything will be as informative as before, but the NBA will take up the majority of my time, as well as the new baby, and will be the focus of my blogs. So, on with teams 30, 29, 28.

First, number 30. They've been the worst team in the NBA for the past three years, you may have read my previous blog about how they're the worst run franchise in all of professional sports, the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers roster reads like the exact difference of a who's who. They do have some players that could be decent, but this is a team of "potential". I put that in quotes because, when they get a player that looks like a decent NBA player with potential, a la KJ McDaniels or Michael Carter Williams, they trade him for "assets". That means draft picks. They've had top three picks the last couple of years and taken players like Nerlens Noel, he looks like he can be decent, but only on the defensive side of the ball, he plays zero offense unless it's a put back dunk. Two years ago they took Joel Embiid, and he has yet to play a single NBA game due to two different foot surgeries. This past season they drafted Jahlil Okafor and while he's a beast on offense, he doesn't play defense, so far as to not even hustle back because he's out of shape. Other potential starters include Tony Wroten, Nik Stauskas and Isaiah Canaan. Wroten is okay, but he's a bowling ball that looks out of control 90% of the time. Stauskas cannot play defense on the NBA level, and he hasn't shown his ability to drive to the basket like he did in college, he's relegated himself to being a corner three shooter. And Canaan is a great fantasy pickup only because he shoots almost 25 times a game. He puts up useless points for a team that's going nowhere. The rest of the roster is filled with has beens and never was players. This team is going to be bad once again. They'll be lucky to win 20 games.

How the 76ers will win it all.

I did say I'd give a reason that each team could win the title, so here goes for the 76ers. They will win the title if Daryl Dawkins and Moses Malone rise up from their graves and Charles Barkley goes back in time to his twenties, and they'd still be hard pressed to make the playoffs, let alone win the title. The 76ers are an embarrassment to the NBA and basketball in general. They stink.

My number 29 team is the Los Angeles Lakers. This is a team that thinks it's still the early 2000's. They don't shoot the three because their coach says it won't win games, they play no defense because they want to be a fast break team, but they don't have the horses to run fast breaks, and they're still led by Kobe Bryant. Sure, he's one of the greatest scorers of all time, but he doesn't pass the ball, he plays no defense, and instead of helping this young roster, what a veteran of his caliber should do, he berates them and calls them soft. His contract has crippled this team too. Not only that, but his attitude as well. They tried and tried to lure big time free agents, most notably LaMarcus Aldridge, but they all balked at the Lakers offer because they didn't like the "direction" of the team. They also questioned their leadership. If that's not attacking Bryant, I don't know what is. You may say, but they signed Lou Williams and traded for Roy Hibbert and Brandon Bass. So what is my response to that. First of all, there's only one basketball being used during game play and they have three guys that want to shoot 30 times each in Kobe Bryant, Nick Young and Lou Williams. Roy Hibbert hasn't been good in three years. The Lakers got him five years too late. And Brandon Bass, he couldn't crack the Celtics starting five. They have a really good, young player in Jordan Clarkson, but until Bryant either retires or goes to another team, he won't be able to develop his game, Bryant won't allow that. Julius Randle can become a very good player, but he won't get enough touches in the post, and he's coming off a horrific leg injury. D'Angelo Russell may end up being a good point guard, but he only played one year of college basketball and he disappeared at times. He didn't look too great in the summer league games either. But, he's young and will grow after Bryant leaves. The rest of the roster is either young, or veterans with little NBA playing time or experience. Until Kobe Bryant leaves, the Lakers will be, at best, a 25 win team.

How the Lakers will win it all

The only way this team has a shot at the Finals or even the playoffs is if everyone on every team in the West gets hurt and they have to bring in players from the developmental league. The Lakers are only slightly better than the 76ers and I never thought that two of the NBA's most distinguished franchises would be this bad this early in the 21st century. Like I said, Kobe is crippling this team with his contract, his need to shoot the ball and his unwillingness to help out the younger players. They will be bad until Kobe leaves.

My number 28 team is the Portland Trail Blazers. This team may have had the worst offseason of any team in recent NBA history. First, the night before the draft, they traded Nic Batum to the Hornets for two young, inexperienced players. Then, Wes Matthews and Brook Lopez signed with different teams, Matthews to the Mavericks and Lopez to the Knicks. They did some good in retaining Damien Lillard with a max contract, but their efforts to retain LaMarcus Aldridge were not good. No one expected him to resign with Portland, and of course, he didn't. I'll talk about his new team at some point next week. The Trail Blazers lost four of their five starters from a playoff team. That's brutal. They did retain Lillard, like I said, and he's a really good offensive player. He's unguardable at times and can put up close to 50 points any night. His weakness lies on defense. His weakness is, he doesn't care to play defense. He shows no effort and they didn't need him to with guys like Lopez and Aldridge clogging the lane. Now though, he's the franchise, and they need him to do All Star work on both offense and defense. A lot will be asked of Lillard, and while he may live up to expectations, who else do they have? Guys like Meyers Leonard, Mason Plumlee and Noah Vonleh don't make up the greatest front court in basketball. Meyers Leonard is an okay offensive player, but for a 7 footer, he's a pretty crummy defender and rebounder. Plumlee is sub par at offense and defense. The fact that this guy made a USA basketball team is laughable. And is he supposed to be Brook Lopez's replacement? I'd take Lopez any day over Plumlee, any day. Vonleh may be good, but he's a young, unproven player. One year of college basketball and one year spent mostly injured or on the bench in Charlotte does not make for a good start to your professional basketball career. Time will tell with Vonleh. The new back court consists of Lillard and younger, unproven players. Guys like CJ McCollum and Phil Pressey and Gerald Henderson will try to help Lillard out, but it won't work. Phil Pressey had little to nothing to do with the Celtics run to the playoffs last year, and he just doesn't seem like an NBA player to me. Gerald Henderson is a great dunker, a decent shooter and an average three point shooter, but he doesn't play defense. Damien Lillard is the better version of Henderson. I don't understand the signing of Henderson since he's a worse version of Lillard, but I'm not a GM. CJ McCollum has the tools to be a good NBA player, but he needs more time to develop and he won't help this team that much right now. In three years a back court of Lillard and McCollum could be great, but will the Trail Blazers have the patience? I don't think so. They did sign Al Farouq-Aminu, in what might be quietly one of the better offseason signings, but he seems to only thrive when he's a role player. We will see how well he plays as a starter.

How the Trailblazers will win it all.

As I said before, every other player is too young or past their prime. It was a very, very rough offseason for Portland. The only way they win the Finals is if Damien Lillard averages close to 60 points a game, McCollum becomes an elite point guard in one season, and the front court of Aminu/Leonard/Plumlee/Vonleh all become All Stars. Does that sound totally possible? It doesn't? No duh. Portland should go into full rebuild mode and try to get this team ready to be good again in about three years. They did the right thing in locking up Lillard, but they didn't put up much of a fight for Aldridge and lost three other starters and didn't get much to replace them. Portland seems like a 25 to 30 win team at best.

So, those are the first three NBA teams. Come back tomorrow for numbers 27, 26 and 25.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He is looking forward to watching some west coast basketball this season while he is up with a crying baby. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty remembers the greatness of Moses Malone

Another legend lost

Last week I wrote about the surprise passing of NBA legend Daryl Dawkins, AKA "Chocolate Thunder". Today, I come bearing more bad news on the NBA legend front.

As most of you know by now, Moses Malone unexpectedly passed away yesterday at the age of 60. This one hit me just as hard as Daryl Dawkins. I even mentioned Moses Malone in my article about Dawkins. If you remember, Malone was who the 76ers traded Dawkins for, and they won the title that year. Moses Malone was the first professional basketball player to make the jump from high school to the pros. He led his high school team to two straight, undefeated championship seasons. He signed to play at the University of Maryland, but gave up his college career when he was drafted in the third round by the Utah Stars of the ABA. He signed a five year contract, but spent only three seasons in the ABA. The Utah Stars folded after his rookie season and he caught on with the St. Louis Spirits for the next two years. He put up pretty good numbers while playing in the ABA, averaging 17 points and grabbing 13 rebounds a game. When the ABA and NBA merged, Malone was drafted by the Portland Trailblazers, but never played a regular season game for them. He was traded to the Buffalo Braves, but only played two games with the team. He finally found a semi permanent home after being traded to the Houston Rockets.

During Moses Malone's first full season in the NBA, he put up decent numbers again. Malone averaged 13 points a game, but where he shined was rebounding, and more specifically, offensive rebounding. He finished third in the league in total rebounding at 13 a game, but he set a new offensive rebounding record, grabbing 437 total offensive boards. He would later break that record. He was also a stalwart on the defensive side of the court, blocking almost three shots a game. Malone led the Rockets to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Rockets were once in the East, only to lose to his eventual team, the 76ers in six games. During that playoff, Malone set a record with 15 offensive rebounds in one game. The 78-79 season was peak Moses Malone. He averaged 24 points and 17 rebounds a game on his way to winning the league MVP at the tender age of 23. This was the season he broke his own offensive rebounding record, grabbing 587 of them. Once again though, the Rockets were swept in the Eastern Conference Finals, this time by the Boston Celtics. Malone and the Rockets couldn't seem to get over the hump. The Rockets finally made the NBA Finals in 1981, Malone coming off another MVP season, but they were beat by the Sonics.

During the 1983 season, Malone was traded to the 76ers for Daryl Dawkins, as I mentioned before. New ownership wanted new players and Malone fit in perfectly with what the 76ers wanted to do. During the 83 season, Malone led the league in rebounding for the third straight season, collecting 15 boards a game. He also averaged 25 points per game as well. During the 83 playoffs, the 76ers only lost one game and swept the Lakers in the Finals. Malone won NBA Finals MVP and got his first, and only, NBA title. A couple more seasons and a couple more runs in the playoffs with the 76ers followed, but in the 85-86 season, the 76ers traded Malone to the Washington Bullets. His first season with the Bullets had Malone making the All Star team for the tenth consecutive season and putting up 24 points and 11 rebounds. Ultimately though, despite Malone's big numbers, the Bullets were swept in the first round by the Pistons. The same thing happened the very next season. Malone put up big numbers, but the Bullets were swept again by the Pistons in the first round.

Moses Malone played for three more teams, the Buck, Spurs and the Hawks. He put up okay numbers, but he was starting to get hurt more and he played a lot of basketball by this time in his life. He was even brought back by the 76ers to help tutor Shawn Bradley. He had a long, successful NBA career. He was such a good rebounder, he was dubbed "Chairman of the Boards" by his fellow players.

What drew me to Moses Malone was his tenacity and love for basketball. Sure, he was a great scorer, but he seemed to love playing defense and his rebounding is unmatched. He took more pride in rebounding than anything else. As a kid, I wanted to be Michael Jordan or Charles Barkley. As a I got older, into my twenties, I studied players like Daryl Dawkins and Moses Malone, and that's who I try to model my game after. Yes, I like to put the ball in the hoop, but I'd rather start a fast break with a defensive rebound, or get an offensive rebound for a put back. That's more satisfying for me.

It's a shame that Moses Malone passed away yesterday. In the past two weeks, we've lost two basketball legends that a lot of my generation, the Millenials, have little to no knowledge of. That's depressing to me. Instead of watching Blake Griffin or Kevin Love and saying that they're some of the best big men rebounders(they are not), go watch old games of Moses Malone. He's the best rebounder of all time. You will be missed "Chairman of the Boards". I hope you and Daryl Dawkins are playing one on one wherever you are now.

Rest in Peace.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and co-host of the X Millennial Man podcast. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.