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21. New York 26.22
22. L.A. Lakers 25.90
23. Memphis 25.87
24. Philadelphia 25.73
25. Chicago 25.72
26. Utah 25.61
27. Atlanta 25.48
28. Golden State 25.42
29. Seattle 25.35
30. Portland 24.06

I'm sure these numbers are skewed and inaccurate in some ways (for example, benches may be a lot younger than the starting 5s) so you can make the case for your team if they aren't included. Who's going to be the best in 3 years? 5 years?

I think Portland is the obvious answer... some of the players they have are bound to work out, and they already have one legit star in Roy. Obviously Utah/LA are good NOW, so I would bet that in 3 years they'll still be good.

Yeah the Blazers have all the potential tools to be a great team - potential franchise big man, star wing, good scoring options, young, athletic, good bench depth.

Aside from the obvious, I think the Bulls, NOH and Utah are as good bets as any. NOH and Utah have good foundations built around their star PG and the Bulls have excellent depth and also a potentially great PG.

I can see the Blazers being the best in 5. In 3, i think they may be a few teams that are ahead of the Blazers' curve.

he wants us to say Lakers..

btw the Current Nets roster is younger then the Blazers roster if you exclude Keith van Horn who's not a player anymore anyway.

Im really scared about portlands future, people are saying they could even compete for the NW Division title THIS year and being a jazz fan, there is no reason why i shouldnt be scared in 3-5 years

Serpo wrote:btw the Current Nets roster is younger then the Blazers roster if you exclude Keith van Horn who's not a player anymore anyway.

Heck if your going that route chop Reaf off the blazers he's not much of a player either.

HarlemHeat37 wrote:he wants us to say Lakers..

Be my guest if you want to say NO or ORL or UTA or any of the other teams. You not I, mentioned the Lakers. Admit it, you're just as obsessed with Kobe/Lakers as their fans are.

Milkdud wrote:

Serpo wrote:btw the Current Nets roster is younger then the Blazers roster if you exclude Keith van Horn who's not a player anymore anyway.

Heck if your going that route chop Reaf off the blazers he's not much of a player either.

Well Raefs going to be on the Blazers roster next year if they don't trade him . But there's no chance in hell Keith van Horn will be in the Nets roster . The Nets FO will not pick up his option in October ...

edfmx86 wrote:Im really scared about portlands future, people are saying they could even compete for the NW Division title THIS year and being a jazz fan, there is no reason why i shouldnt be scared in 3-5 years

At the same time, the Jazz are a Mehmet Okur trade away (you guys should be calling your GM everyday to get Okafor) from being right up there with them. Jazz have bench depth, a great 1-2 punch, a defensive swing (every team needs this with wade/lebron/kobe/pp/jj/etc.). Its the PG era budding and you guys have a top 3 PG.

In fact, what about the Heat?

Chalmers-Wade-Marion-Beasles, all they need is a 5 (every team needs to throw money at okafor, IMO).

eatyourchildren wrote:In fact, what about the Heat?

Chalmers-Wade-Marion-Beasles, all they need is a 5 (every team needs to throw money at okafor, IMO).

Marion might not even be a Heat in 3 years, and Chalmers, although i do like him, is just a second rounder who's never played yet at the moment. Again, Beasley hasnt proven anything yet.

if Wade is back to his old form, and both Chalmers and Beasley work out, they are centainly among the best though.

Portland is the scariest looking team for 5 years from now and I'd say the Lakers and Jazz are the scariest looking 3 years from now. Gotta remember that Utah is getting NY's 1st round pick in 2010 and if they remain crappy could potentially be a top 5 pick added to a potentially elite team.

The Bobcats can match any offer, so I'm not sure how much anybody even CAN give him... not the Heat, for instance, since they're right at the cap, and I don't forsee the Sixers or Warriors giving him over 10m. Okafor's not going anywhere unless it's a sign-and-trade.

The Nets are young, but also terrible. Am I supposed to be excited about Josh Boone? Lopez? I like Devin Harris, but Carter's probably on his way out the door anyway. The team is going to be a doormat next season, intentionally. Now, maybe in 5 years, when they have LeBron and have spent some cash to get him some friends...

Portland is the obvious choice, but Philadelphia could be a darkhorse if they land Josh Smith.

Young foundation:
Josh Smith (22 years old)
Andre Igoudala (24 years old)
Thaddeus Young (20 years old)
Lou Williams (21 years old)

That's a pretty solid group to build around, not quite Portland territory, but still impressive with a couple of other young bigs on the roster who could contribute (Speights, Smith).

gags1288 wrote:Portland is the obvious choice, but Philadelphia could be a darkhorse if they land Josh Smith.

Young foundation:
Josh Smith (22 years old)
Andre Igoudala (24 years old)
Thaddeus Young (20 years old)
Lou Williams (21 years old)

That's a pretty solid group to build around, not quite Portland territory, but still impressive with a couple of other young bigs on the roster who could contribute (Speights, Smith).

Another slept on Center teams could use is Bogut aka Kaman 2.0.
Clips can be something if Thornton keeps growing the right way and Gordon turns out well.


And as you said if the Sixers get Josh Smith that's a team that could easily catapult into the top 5 in the East if not higher (anticipating a pistons team breaking up)

Whatever team LeBron is on

I'll take the Lakers core over any team in the league. Kobe and Gasol are proven all-star/all-nba (kobe) performers and I'll take that over the "potential" teams like Portland, Minnesota, Philly, etc. Add Bynum to that and you fill one of the biggest positions of need in the entire NBA, the C position.

Orlando. Dwight Howard + Courtney Lee + Marcin Gortat = Dynasty!