Allen Iverson open to playing in China

JORDAN CP3.VI: Cut Through L.A.

2012-13 NBA Sleepers: Toronto Raptors

(left: Landry Fields, Genreral Manager Bryan Colangelo and Kyle Lowry)

1. Toronto Raptors (Atlantic Divison)

Divisions Rivals: Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks and Philidelphia 76ers

Nope, that’s not a typo and I am not going crazy. I truly believe the Toronto Raptors are the number one sleepers for the 2012-13 NBA season, a team that ended in the 11^th spot of the Eastern Conference with a 23-43 record. General Manager Bryan Colangelo has openly admitted to the team being in a rebuilding phase over the past few years, a rebuilding phase, which I believe, is as complete as it’s going to get short of an established superstar joining the roster.  If the Raptors can’t make the post season this year I’m not sure what more they can do, however I think of all 7 teams that missed the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, Toronto, Brooklyn and Milwaukee have the best chance of making it this time around.

Hopes have been resting on the shoulders of the 7’0ft Andrea Bargnani as they often do with all 1^st overall picks, and ever since draft day and even before Chris Bosh left for the Miami Heat, a lot was expected of him. Scoring for Bargnani has never been a problem with him averaging a little under 20 points per game, it has been his rebounding which has often come under fire, as well as his ability to take over games late in the 4^th quarter. The good sign is that he has improved statistically every year, which lends itself to optimism.

DeMar Derozan is another high draft pick from 2009 who went 9^th overall and who also has a lot pressure from high expectations. Slowly coming into his own over the last 3 years, he has shown signs that he can in fact lead this team, although his reserved and humble character may make that difficult. It’s still worth noting that he averages 16.7 points per game shooting 45% while having to guard and be guarded by the best players in the league at the Small Forward and Shooting Guard positions.

Former Houston Rocket Kyle Lowry (14 ppg and 6 ast), former New York Knick Landry Fields (8 ppg shooting 48%) and Lithuanian hopeful Jonas Valanciunas whose overseas performance to date has been outstanding, are all going to play a major part of this teams resurgence. Add to that Point Guard Jose Calderon’s 10 ppg and 8 assists per game, Ed Davis and a healthy Linas Kleiza, the Raptors are a team that can and should move the ball often to allow sharp shooters an opportunity to score or the big men to score down low in the paint. Although their reliance on mid range jump shots and three pointers have been the reason for their wins as well as most of their losses, the hope is that with Jonas on the inside, the ball will be scored a lot more from inside the paint as much as it will be from the outside.

I did consider having Minnesota at the number one spot, but with two of their starters and primary options, Ricky Rubio and Brandon Roy both experiencing recent season ending injuries, I chose the Raptors for the top spot. They may not have had much luck in the wins columns over the past few years, but they have definitely been able to avoid the injury bug compared to other teams, which I think will give them an advantage and a chance at making the post season.

2012-13 NBA Sleepers: Minnesota Timberwolves

(Kevin Love, Minnesota Timberwolves)

2. Minnesota Timberwolves (Northwest Division

Division Rivals: Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trailblazers and Utah Jazz

If I’m going to talk about the possible success of the Minnesota Timberwolves, I have to discuss who I feel is a top 5 power forward and a top 10 player in the NBA, Kevin Love. Love, who was the 5^th overall pick in 2008, has improved his scoring every year from 11 to 26 points and 13 rebounds per game also earning himself the Most Improved Player award as well as an All-Star game appearance. The Timberwolves success lies primarily on his shoulders, however unlike the other teams I reviewed throughout my NBA Sleepers posts, Minnesota has what could be one of the best supporting casts of all.

Point guard Ricky Rubio proved he could compete at the NBA level after coming over from Europe and lived up to expectations by playing some great basketball before falling to a season ending injury. Rubio’s backup Luke Ridnour also averages 10 points and half as many assists as Rubio with 4.

Then there is Nikola Pekovic. Relatively unknown to most, but this Center made a huge jump in production going from 5 points and 3 rebounds to 13 points and 7 rebounds per game over his 2-year NBA career. At 6’11 and 290lbs, Pekovic is a force some opposing Centers will have a hard time dealing with, although he will have to be careful about picking up fouls against some of the elite Centers in the league.

At the Small Forward position there’s 13 year veteran Andrei Kirilenko.  A career 47% shooter who has found success due to the fact he plays smart basketball by knowing what he can and can’t do and has never strayed away from that mentality his entire career.

Brandon Roy’s retirement from the NBA and Portland Trailblazers due to injury was short lived, and he has returned a year later as one of the Minnesota Timberwolves go to players. Brandon Roy had a huge drop in scoring from 21 to 12 points per game prior to his retirement with both his rebounding and assists numbers falling as well.

It’s no secret that in sports remaining healthy is in most cases the most important key to success, and like the Chicago Bulls learned when Derrick Rose exited the playoffs with a season ending injury last season, some teams are only 1 injury away from complete failure.

With a solid starting five of Love, Rubio, Roy, Kirilenko and Pekovic, the Timberwolves might be able to remain successful with a few bumps and bruises throughout the season. If Love were to go out for an extended period of time, I have a hard time seeing Minnesota winning enough games for a solid chance at making the playoffs. However, if things work out as I’m sure Minnesota hopes they will and everyone stays healthy, they have one of the best chances of making it to the post season out the teams that missed out last year.

2012-13 NBA Sleepers: Golden State Warriros

(top left clockwise: Andrew Bogut, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and David Lee)

3. Golden State Warriors (Pacific Division)

Division Rivals: Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns 

and Sacramento Kings

The Golden State Warriors ended last season with a record of 23-43 and earned the 13^th spot in the much tougher Western Conference.  That didn’t happen because they couldn’t score, because they did. It happened because they couldn’t stop their opponents from scoring either. Averaging just under 100 points per game, the Golden State Warriors were one of the most enjoyable of the lower ranked teams to watch last season, and even though you sat back and enjoyed highlight after highlight, when the buzzer sounded you had to come to terms with the fact that they had just lost and accept that all the effort went unrewarded. With 6 players scoring an average of 10 or more points coupled with a combined 22 assists per game, it would have been nothing short of infuriating for fans of this team from the beginning to the end of the shortened season. I've added a video at the bottom of this post showcasing the Golden State Warriors' top 10 plays from 2012 to help better explain my point.

With the departure of Monta Ellis to the Milwaukee Bucks, point guard Stephen Curry can now conduct the team as originally intended since he was drafted back in 2009 as the 7^th overall pick. This however has been an issue thus far for two reasons; one Monta Ellis often required the ball to shoot them back into games, and two; Stephen Curry was often injured. If he can stay healthy, I expect his 14 points and 5 assists per game to increase, not only because of how much more time he will have with the ball in his hands, but who he has surrounding him to help alleviate pressure and do their part.

David Lee, simply put, is a top 10 power forward in the NBA. If you think I’m crazy you might need to watch more Warriors games. Regularly scoring 20 points with about 10 rebounds in 30 minutes of floor time is impressive, considering 5 other players still score an average of 10 or more points by his side. His new partner in crime and former Milwaukee Buck Andrew Bogut will be right at home in the center position hopefully maintaining or improving on his 12 points and 9 rebound average. Stephen Curry will have a great time having to pick between these two giants on offense, and opposing defenses will struggle to keep a pair of defenders on the floor capable matching Lee and Bogut when on the floor at the same time.

In his second year, Klay Thompson, who had his coming out party of sorts off the bench towards the end of last season, will get more minutes as he will likely be a starter this time around.  He will no doubt score more than his 12-point average and increase his shooting percentage, which was a ridiculously good 44% as a rookie in 24 minutes of game time.

To be fair, outside of Carl Landry and his consistent 12 points and 5 rebounds the rest of the team suffers from a quick drop off in terms of production. The reason I think this team can sneak its way no higher than the 8^th seed is because the Oklahoma City Thunder have taught us that if each player on a young team accepts their role on offense and defense, single star lead teams will have a tough time dealing with them.

With Utah and Houston likely having worse seasons then they did last year, I foresee opportunities for Phoenix, Portland, Minnesota and Golden State to fight each other for the 8^th spot in the Western Conference playoffs.  With Portland and Minnesota in the Northwest Division and having to deal with Denver, Oklahoma and each other, Golden State will be content with dueling it out with Phoenix in the Pacific Division if push comes to shove. Then again, Golden State share the Pacific with the Clippers and the Lakers as well, teams they will need to perform well against for any chance of my prediction coming true.

2012-13 NBA Sleepers: Milwaukee Bucks

(Left: Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis)

4. Milwaukee Bucks (Central Division)

Division Rivals: Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons, and Cleveland Cavaliers

After listing both the Houston Rockets and Washington Wizards as sleeper teams I thought would not make the playoffs, we’ve finally come to the top 4 that I believe do in fact have a chance at making the postseason, starting with the Milwaukee Bucks.

For a small market team like Milwaukee which received next to no attention last year, they were only 4 games behind the 8^th seeded Philadelphia 76ers who went on to beat the 1^st place Chicago Bulls in a first round upset of the 2012 playoffs, only to lose later on to the Boston Celtics. With the loss of Andre Igoudala, the 76ers are sure to lose a step, however if you consider the acquisition of Andrew Bynum who will be surrounded by Nick Young, Jrue Holdiay, Thadeus Young and veteran Jason Richardson all combining for an average of 60 points per game, the Bucks will have to take that 8^th spot by force and with a little luck.

Even though the Bucks have lost big man Andrew Bogut, they still have a cast of characters, although seemingly just thrown together; they are still a pretty decent team. Mike Dunleavey, Ersan Ilyasova and Brandon Jennings are all career double-digit scorers. Longtime personal favorite Monta Ellis who was traded from the Golden State Warriors, will have no problem putting up points, and may rely primarily on transition baskets like he did in Golden State as opposed to half court strategies that worked well with Bogut in the Milwaukee.

The best chance this team has for success is also its biggest chance for failure. Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis both average about 20 points per 35 minutes a game, with both players needing the ball in their hands often for their style of play. As chliche as that sounds it’s true. Both can go on long scoring runs without involving other teammates and the results can vary. Watching how coach Scott Skiles decides to manage their minutes, both players ability to share the ball when needed and decide who will be the one to take over a game in a close 4^th quarter will be nothing short of interesting. If both stars can agree on who is Batman and who is Robin much like Miami has, who knows, a 1^st round playoff upset could be in their future. This being based on my belief that teams like Orlando and Chicago will fall from grace with the loss of Dwight Howard and an injured Derrick Rose.