2. Cleveland Cavaliers
3. Los Angeles Clippers
4. Memphis Grizzlies
5. Atlanta Hawks
6. Indiana Pacers
With the departure of Jeff Teague and Al Horford, the Atlanta Hawks are going to look like a different team in the upcoming season. Dennis Schröder is going to be running the point, and Dwight Howard is going to be starting at the 5.
Now I know with a lot of key roster moves its probably going to take time for the team to gel, but there are still reasons to be optimistic for next season
But ultimately, the team’s success is going to come down to one of the best players on the roster, Dwight Howard. If Mike Budenholzer can find a way to get him to play to his strengths, it will go a long ways making the upcoming season a success.On the Houston Rockets, 30.5 percent of Dwight Howard’s offense came off post ups, and he only scored 0.82 points per possession. That’s not ideal, especially when considering he scored 1.38 points per possession as a cutter, and 1.10 points per possession as the screener on pick and rolls. Yet, for some reason, Dwight insists on playing through the post. He isn’t a bad option to dump the ball down low too, but that’s not his strength as a player. He needs to stick to what get’s him easy baskets, and then he can do some of the other flashy things offensively.
Whatever the case may be, one thing’s for sure, the Atlanta Hawks are going to be a team to lookout for next season. They have the talent to challenge the Cleveland Cavaliers, but continuity and the play of Dwight Howard will show if they’re up to the task.
http://www.foxsports.com/nba/story/nba-six-hopeful-title-contenders-for-the-2016-17-season-090516
