2014-15 sleepers

[hege53190]

Call me a homer but I like the Bucks as a sleeper.

Sanders should be back and focused; They have a number of good young players that could take a step (Giannis, Middleton, Knight, Henson, Wolters, Marshall); They have a rookie that fills their biggest need (Parker); And they have a number of young veterans that if they return to 2013 form could be really good (Ersan, Dudley, Mayo).

Mix their players with a terrible eastern conference and I wouldn't be surprised if the Bucks win 40+ games. That should be enough to make the playoffs.

[dlts20]

Call me a homer but I like the Bucks as a sleeper.

Sanders should be back and focused; They have a number of good young players that could take a step (Giannis, Middleton, Knight, Henson, Wolters, Marshall); They have a rookie that fills their biggest need (Parker); And they have a number of young veterans that if they return to 2013 form could be really good (Ersan, Dudley, Mayo).

Mix their players with a terrible eastern conference and I wouldn't be surprised if the Bucks win 40+ games. That should be enough to make the playoffs.

that is not a 40 win roster

[Liver_Pooty]

NO makes the playoffs.

Lin plays well if given the minutes, and gets the west coast Asians excited about basketball.

Charlotte makes a large jump because of Stephenson's scoring punch. They almost looked pitiful at times last year offensively. Now they will have an inside and outside punch. Plus good defense. They will be the third seed and will give the Bulls and Cavs a small scare.

Both NY teams are sleepers to me. "On average", I see them both missing the playoffs. But if things go well, either could surprise by quite a bit.

CHA is going to give CLE a small scare ?

Here is the sleeper story. Kryie is going to bust out. Everyone is looking at LeBron and Love. Well, watch Kyrie. You think Love is under rated because of no playoff appearances in a tough West, well Kyrie has been on a terrible team.

CHA...No.. they are not going to give CLE a scare. Zeller and Noah is not good enough at PF and MKG and Marvin is not scaring anyone at SF.

Losing Ramon Sessions, Josh McRoberts and Chris Douglas-Roberts doesn't help that team.

Adding Lance and moving Henderson to the bench isn't that much of an upgrade. It might be a nice move to build on, but it doesn't do enough this year.

They aren't better then BRK. They aren't better then WAS. They aren't even better then MIA

CHA, if they are lucky, will end up about where they did last year. A late playoff team.

Lol. They are definitely better than Brooklyn. Losing CDR is basically nothing, and Sessions has been gone since the trade deadline. Really didn't want to lose McRoberts, but there just wasnt room for him.

[hands11]

Call me a homer but I like the Bucks as a sleeper.

Sanders should be back and focused; They have a number of good young players that could take a step (Giannis, Middleton, Knight, Henson, Wolters, Marshall); They have a rookie that fills their biggest need (Parker); And they have a number of young veterans that if they return to 2013 form could be really good (Ersan, Dudley, Mayo).

Mix their players with a terrible eastern conference and I wouldn't be surprised if the Bucks win 40+ games. That should be enough to make the playoffs.

Ok Homer.

They hit bottom and should be bouncing back.

If things click with them, no telling how many wins they could get. They have some depth. If Parker works out the way many expect, he could be rolling right away.

Great sleeper pick.

Utah deserves a similar mention but a notch below. MIL still need more vet swag so they are still going to be near the bottom.

The West playoff teams should remain mostly the same except with HOU as a wild card. They can still make it but they will drop.

[Bankai]

New Orleans and Brooklyn have the potential to surprise people this season since I feel they are being overlooked.

[NaturalBuns]

I think people are sleeping on the suns "AGAIN"

Most ppl have them missing out as a 9th seed.
Except I think if Bledsoe returns they can be like the blazers or last year and be a top 4
If Bledsoe returns...

The win/loss with him is way better then a 8th seed

Problem is the comp is so great thats the thing. I think if anybody misses out from last year it's Houston.

The truth is you have like 11 teams that can make it in the west.
Spurs
Thunder
Clippers
Grizzlies
Blazers
Warriors
Dallas
Houston
Suns
Nuggets
Pelicans


Suns,Nuggets,Pelicans,grizzlies all had guys miss significant time.
Bledsoe, Jrue Holliday, Marc Gasol and whole Nuggets roster.

I wouldn't even consider the Suns,Pelicans or Nuggets sleepers.
None of them should be picked to win 16-25 games.

Last year PHX was literally picked to be have no more then 23 wins. That's a real sleeper.
I don't think you'll see the jazz or wolves make it but if they did that would be considered a sleeper IMO.

Out of those 3 teams though I think phx could actually get passed a opening round.
They play all the top teams really well. It will be interesting just like last year I think the bottom half playoff seeds will all be determined on who can stay the healthy.

Seeds 6-11 IMO up for grabs.

[NBAfan3024]

I think people are sleeping on the suns "AGAIN"

Most ppl have them missing out as a 9th seed.
Except I think if Bledsoe returns they can be like the blazers or last year and be a top 4
If Bledsoe returns...

The win/loss with him is way better then a 8th seed

Problem is the comp is so great thats the thing. I think if anybody misses out from last year it's Houston.

The truth is you have like 11 teams that can make it in the west.
Spurs
Thunder
Clippers
Grizzlies
Blazers
Warriors
Dallas
Houston
Suns
Nuggets
Pelicans


Suns,Nuggets,Pelicans,grizzlies all had guys miss significant time.
Bledsoe, Jrue Holliday, Marc Gasol and whole Nuggets roster.

I wouldn't even consider the Suns,Pelicans or Nuggets sleepers.
None of them should be picked to win 16-25 games.

Last year PHX was literally picked to be have no more then 23 wins. That's a real sleeper.
I don't think you'll see the jazz or wolves make it but if they did that would be considered a sleeper IMO.

Out of those 3 teams though I think phx could actually get passed a opening round.
They play all the top teams really well. It will be interesting just like last year I think the bottom half playoff seeds will all be determined on who can stay the healthy.

Seeds 6-11 IMO up for grabs.

Agreed, can see 50 win team missing the playoffs which really is nuts.

[volk_bart]

Pretty much every team out east is overrated.

Oh yeah, because Utah would be setting records up the ying yang if they were in the east...

they were ranked dead last in their conference, 25th offensively, 29th defensively, 12-18 vs Eastern teams...

Outside of Favors (I'm a fan and I like the contract) and Exum, they have Hayward (overpaid/overrated you decide), Kanter (potential bust factor), Burke (decent player but nothing special),and spare parts.

They dont have the prospects in comparison to the other tankings teams in the league (former Cavs, Philly, Bucks, Wolves, Pelicans) they aren't a hot FA destination, and dont have any blue chip prospects with superstar potential.

Not a bad record for a team thats dead last in the west.

[TaylorMonkey]

I think everyone is sleeping on the Pelicans, the addition of Asik, improvement of Davis and improved chemistry with Evans and Holiday in their second year is big.

My long shot pick is all 5 teams from the Southwest make the playoffs, with the Thunder, Clippers and one of Warriors/Blazers.

I think both Blazers and Warriors make it. Rockets might drop out behind one of the upstarts though.

[hands11]

Problem is the comp is so great thats the thing. I think if anybody misses out from last year it's Houston.

The truth is you have like 11 teams that can make it in the west.
Spurs
Thunder
Clippers
Grizzlies
Blazers
Warriors
Dallas
Houston
Suns
Nuggets
Pelicans


Suns,Nuggets,Pelicans,grizzlies all had guys miss significant time.
Bledsoe, Jrue Holliday, Marc Gasol and whole Nuggets roster.

I wouldn't even consider the Suns,Pelicans or Nuggets sleepers.
None of them should be picked to win 16-25 games.

Last year PHX was literally picked to be have no more then 23 wins. That's a real sleeper.
I don't think you'll see the jazz or wolves make it but if they did that would be considered a sleeper IMO.

Out of those 3 teams though I think phx could actually get passed a opening round.
They play all the top teams really well. It will be interesting just like last year I think the bottom half playoff seeds will all be determined on who can stay the healthy.

Seeds 6-11 IMO up for grabs.

Agreed, can see 50 win team missing the playoffs which really is nuts.

Yeah. It is nuts because its not going to happen. Has that ever happened ?

[TaylorMonkey]

Memphis is a legitimate contender
Denver is very good
I can see Brooklyn having a better year than expected

Don't see how constantly overrated teams like Golden State is a sleeper

How is Golden State overrated when they were within minutes of beating the Clippers without their center, with a coach that ran benchmob and had limited playcalling ability?

I'd say there might have been some overrating at the beginning of the season but it's still a very good team. It's not a sleeper team though-- unless the new coaching staff is that good compared to the old one.

[KD35Brah]

Reggie Jackson
Jeremy Lamb
Giannis

[NBAfan3024]

The truth is you have like 11 teams that can make it in the west.
Spurs
Thunder
Clippers
Grizzlies
Blazers
Warriors
Dallas
Houston
Suns
Nuggets
Pelicans


Suns,Nuggets,Pelicans,grizzlies all had guys miss significant time.
Bledsoe, Jrue Holliday, Marc Gasol and whole Nuggets roster.

I wouldn't even consider the Suns,Pelicans or Nuggets sleepers.
None of them should be picked to win 16-25 games.

Last year PHX was literally picked to be have no more then 23 wins. That's a real sleeper.
I don't think you'll see the jazz or wolves make it but if they did that would be considered a sleeper IMO.

Out of those 3 teams though I think phx could actually get passed a opening round.
They play all the top teams really well. It will be interesting just like last year I think the bottom half playoff seeds will all be determined on who can stay the healthy.

Seeds 6-11 IMO up for grabs.

Agreed, can see 50 win team missing the playoffs which really is nuts.

Yeah. It is nuts because its not going to happen. Has that ever happened ?

nearly did last year

Suns won 48

[EvanZ]

The Nuggets are THE sleeper. Look at that roster if it stays healthy. And they're the deepest team in the league. I think they're contenders if they're healthy.

They need Jimmer to really vault them into contention.

[EvanZ]

Call me a homer but I like the Bucks as a sleeper.

[Yuri Vaultin]

Kanter or Gobert; One of these guys has got to break out.

[Hans Embiid]

The Nuggets are THE sleeper. Look at that roster if it stays healthy. And they're the deepest team in the league. I think they're contenders if they're healthy.

They need Jimmer to really vault them into contention.

Jimmer? NOP!!!

[Kings2013]

Reggie Jackson
Jeremy Lamb
Giannis

Is Giannis a sleeper? This kid better end up good in a few years as much as I hear about him

[SniperHawk10]

Memphis
Don't rmb their exact record, but they were competing for the top few spots in the west when Gasol wasn't injured

[RapHippy]

Teams

NO Hornets - The addition of Lance doesn't seem like a lot, but in reality they're finally adding a second-ball handler to take pressure away from Kemba. Lance was easily the 2nd best player on Indiana ( West was declining & Hibbert busted out) and they were a top 2 team in the East, he can bring the Hornets into the next tier in the East who are the Raptors & Wizards.

DEN Nuggets - Forgetting this team? They were well on the way to being a annual play-off force but there were more than too many injuries last season and losing Karl didn't help. I think they contend for a spot this year, especially with Faried gaining experience with Team USA

Players
Tobias Harris/ Nikola Vucevic - Even Orlando fans have just been raving about our new rookies and Oladipo, but people are forgetting that along with Oladipo, Tobias has to be a leader this year. Also Vucevic was one of the better offensive Cs in the league already, with development he'll be amazing.

Paul Millsap - Hawks made it into the play-offs despite losing Horford, why? Millsap, coming off his first All-star seasons he'll put it work this season.