Objectivly whats the order of the top 5 teams in the NBA

[celtxman]

LA Titletown, the reason I put the Cavs over the Lakers is because of the off season changes. You guys improved a little with Artest. Artest is a really good player. But so was Trevor and Trevor was still getting better.

The Cavs added Shaq basically for Ben Wallace. I would do that trade all day long. Shaq is still a very good player as long as his minutes are limited to about 25 minutes a game. The Cavs have that luxury of playing Shaq limited minutes to keep him fresh because they have Big Z. The Suns didn't have the same luxury.

Also the Cavs added to solid role players in Moon and Parker.

My biggest worry with the Cavs is not getting Shaq, but what will be available for them as both players have expiring contracts. For example does a team like Golden State look to dump Corey Maggette by mid-season and Ilgauskus' contract gets it done.
When I judged where each team is right now, it is not based on future assets for trades but on what they have right now. I agree that Anthony Parker is a nice player as is Moon. In playing the Cavs, the addition of Shaq means the subtraction of Z who was absolute money shooting against the Celtics. You can't play them together. Of the seven teams on the list, the Celtics and Spurs addressed the most glaring needs. The Cavs biggest need of a bone fide second fiddle player was not accomplished and the predicatability of there offense will continue to be a problem down the stretches of games in a playoff series.

[captain green]

lakers have : fisher, kobe ,artest,odom,gasol,bynum,walton, farmar, sasha, and josh powell.

cavs have : lebron, mo, shaq, big z, boobie, west, varejao, moon, parker, powe, and hickson.

orlando have: howard, lewis, nelson, carter, bass, barnes, gortat, pietrus, redick, anderson, white melted
chocalate.

san antone have: duncan manu, parker jefferson mcdyess, ratlif, mason, bonner, williams, haislip, finley, hill.

boston well we know what have.

based on paper the 1 lakers 2 spurs 3 boston 4 cavs 5 orlando.

[Spin Move]

Cavs
Celtics
Orlando
Portland
San Antonio

Now thats a guy who really hates LA

[Hilltop]

Objectively, between the Top 5 teams, all these rankings are the same. Any of the Top 5 have a good shot at it. I don't see any of them having a clear cut advantage. Not now at least.

[Bill Lumbergh]

Lakers
Cavs
Celtics
Spurs
Magic

Same rosters 3 years ago, I easily put the Celtics at the top of the list, but we are a really old team. Hope we've got enough left in the tank for one last championship.

[sutrick]

Top 5 playoff teams or top 5 regular season included? Boston has a real issue because there are 3 very good teams in the East. Only one team gets to play just one of them in the playoffs. Boston is too old to fight the whole season to get the #1 slot ands still have enough for the entire playoff run. Since this is the top 5 for the entire season and playoffs, Boston falls down on my list. In the West there are probably 6 very good teams so regular season standing is not as critical for the 5 non-Laker teams.

1. Lakers
2. Magic
3. Spurs
4. Cavs
5. Boston

Cavs defense has been their biggest asset besides LeBron. Shaq will hurt team defense and contribute to a slower pace which makes it much more difficult for LeBron against quality defenses and allows weaker defenses to focus more on stopping LeBron in the half court. I think they overachieved last year and that combined with weaker defense drops them to 4th.

[chakdaddy]

Orlando just throws a monkey wrench into any rankings, the way they destroyed Cleveland but barely showed up against us or against LA. All I can do is write that off as some kind of fluke based on matchups.

LA is definitely #1.

I think we have to be #2 assuming KG is healthy, since we had to collapse to lose to Orlando without him, and since Orlando killed Cleveland.

3/4/5 is tough. I think if we get the benefit of the doubt with KG's health, the Spurs should get some benefit of the doubt; on paper they're probably 3rd.

Cleveland would be 2 or 3 if they hadn't performed so pathetically against Orlando, #4.

I can't rank Orlando any higher than 5, since they barely could beat us minus KG.

What about the rest? I'd say Dallas 6, Denver 7, Portland 8 are the only other teams that matter. And frankly, Denver doesn't matter, doesn't have any chance to be better than the 6th best team. Portland will probably be worse than Denver, but at least they have potential to be a true contender that Denver doesn't, if things come together properly. I don't think Denver is capable of anything more than they (over)achieved last year.

The common thread in my rankings: patsies that manage to overachieve until they roll over for the Lakers. Like when a completely average Giants managed to beat the Vikings and let a slightly above average Ravens win the super bowl.

[bc legends]

Top 5 playoff teams or top 5 regular season included? Boston has a real issue because there are 3 very good teams in the East. Only one team gets to play just one of them in the playoffs. Boston is too old to fight the whole season to get the #1 slot ands still have enough for the entire playoff run.

Absolutely awful justification as to why Boston should be ranked #5. Age means experience, and I think your counting that out big time. This is the same team that got off to that amazing start just a season ago with pretty much the same roster, and have only gotten even deeper. The team was unfortunately derailed towards the end of the season because our best player in KG went out. With the new additions in Sheed and Daniels the starters will be a lot fresher towards the end of the season as opposed to the last. Saying Boston is too old to compete with the other top tier teams is just ignorant.

[Spin Move]

Top 5 playoff teams or top 5 regular season included? Boston has a real issue because there are 3 very good teams in the East. Only one team gets to play just one of them in the playoffs. Boston is too old to fight the whole season to get the #1 slot ands still have enough for the entire playoff run.

Absolutely awful justification as to why Boston should be ranked #5. Age means experience, and I think your counting that out big time. This is the same team that got off to that amazing start just a season ago with pretty much the same roster, and have only gotten even deeper. The team was unfortunately derailed towards the end of the season because our best player in KG went out. With the new additions in Sheed and Daniels the starters will be a lot fresher towards the end of the season as opposed to the last. Saying Boston is too old to compete with the other top tier teams is just ignorant.

Age also means loss of speed, greater likelihood of injuries and in the case of people who have already acomplished alot possible less fire. If we could un age KG paul Sheed and Ray 4 years this team could win 75 games, we might be able to win 65 with them at this age, but the likleyhood of none of them going down on the way to the finals or having a significant drop off from past performance (as KG was experiencing before the injury last year). Age is our biggest enemy, I think we can win, but a few things have to for that to happen and 2 of those are nobody gets injured badly and our older guys havent slowed to much and those are 2 huge question marks that are directly related to ago.

[sutrick]

Top 5 playoff teams or top 5 regular season included? Boston has a real issue because there are 3 very good teams in the East. Only one team gets to play just one of them in the playoffs. Boston is too old to fight the whole season to get the #1 slot ands still have enough for the entire playoff run.

Absolutely awful justification as to why Boston should be ranked #5. Age means experience, and I think your counting that out big time. This is the same team that got off to that amazing start just a season ago with pretty much the same roster, and have only gotten even deeper. The team was unfortunately derailed towards the end of the season because our best player in KG went out. With the new additions in Sheed and Daniels the starters will be a lot fresher towards the end of the season as opposed to the last. Saying Boston is too old to compete with the other top tier teams is just ignorant.

There are very legitimate questions about each of the top 4 players and three are due to age.

1. Pierce was dominant in the playoffs during the championship run. He certainly didn't look that last year in either series. He had good games and bad games which is the problem with age, consistent high level performance.
2. Which Allen appears? He was terrible in the first two series 2 years ago and then turned it around. He was great against the Bulls but average at best versus the Magic. Again age and consistency.
3. Will KG be the old KG or someone that is good to very good but not great?
4. Have the Celtics put the fear of God into Rondo this summer? He is best in a fast paced offense. That is not how the Celtics can play for long stretches.

Two years can be a long time. The Celtics were the best team then but they are only third best in the East.

[bc legends]

Top 5 playoff teams or top 5 regular season included? Boston has a real issue because there are 3 very good teams in the East. Only one team gets to play just one of them in the playoffs. Boston is too old to fight the whole season to get the #1 slot ands still have enough for the entire playoff run.

Absolutely awful justification as to why Boston should be ranked #5. Age means experience, and I think your counting that out big time. This is the same team that got off to that amazing start just a season ago with pretty much the same roster, and have only gotten even deeper. The team was unfortunately derailed towards the end of the season because our best player in KG went out. With the new additions in Sheed and Daniels the starters will be a lot fresher towards the end of the season as opposed to the last. Saying Boston is too old to compete with the other top tier teams is just ignorant.

There are very legitimate questions about each of the top 4 players and three are due to age.

1. Pierce was dominant in the playoffs during the championship run. He certainly didn't look that last year in either series. He had good games and bad games which is the problem with age, consistent high level performance.
2. Which Allen appears? He was terrible in the first two series 2 years ago and then turned it around. He was great against the Bulls but average at best versus the Magic. Again age and consistency.
3. Will KG be the old KG or someone that is good to very good but not great?
4. Have the Celtics put the fear of God into Rondo this summer? He is best in a fast paced offense. That is not how the Celtics can play for long stretches.

Two years can be a long time. The Celtics were the best team then but they are only third best in the East.

Pierce along with Ray had an increased load on carrying the offense once the roster began to become depleted due to injuries. As a result, their regular season minutes were increased along with the rest of the starters and they were unable to get the rest they needed for the playoffs. Ray was facing a hamstring injury throughout the Orlando series. They suffered absolutely no consistency woes last post-season, it was just injuries on the rest of the team that caught up with them while they were trying to maintain the offensive efficiency and scoring.
Statements have been made about KG that he's back to 100% so we'll just have to wait and see.
Rondo has proved the ability to be just as good in a slower paced offense even though he does thrive at times on a quicker tempo. I can't honestly see how this is counterproductive to the Celtics no matter what age their players are as long as their in excellent physical condition. So why won't the Celtics be able to maintain a fast paced offense for long stretches?

[Prolific Scorer]

Los Angeles
Orlando
Cleveland
Boston
San Antonio
_______

Denver
Portland
_______

Rest of the NBA

[sutrick]

[q




Pierce along with Ray had an increased load on carrying the offense once the roster began to become depleted due to injuries. As a result, their regular season minutes were increased along with the rest of the starters and they were unable to get the rest they needed for the playoffs. Ray was facing a hamstring injury throughout the Orlando series. They suffered absolutely no consistency woes last post-season, it was just injuries on the rest of the team that caught up with them while they were trying to maintain the offensive efficiency and scoring.
Statements have been made about KG that he's back to 100% so we'll just have to wait and see.
Rondo has proved the ability to be just as good in a slower paced offense even though he does thrive at times on a quicker tempo. I can't honestly see how this is counterproductive to the Celtics no matter what age their players are as long as their in excellent physical condition. So why won't the Celtics be able to maintain a fast paced offense for long stretches?[/quote]

Injuries happen with increasing frequency with age so I don't think you should count that as an excuse that is not repeatable. Allen is getting more inconsistent. Both pierce and Allen are still very good. My point is they are not as dependable due to age and it shows. I agree KG is a question and he could be physically OK but he has a lot of miles on him. Rasheed will help a lot and Boston should keep KG's minutes as close to 25 as possible. I thought Rondo looked pretty ordinary against Orlando. He looked great against the Bulls. I assume that is the pace of the game but it could be the Bulls terrible defense.

I'm trying to lower expectations to a more realistic level. Can the Celtics win it all next year? Absolutely, but it will take a lot of luck ( injuries) and strong play from the household names. The Big 3 are human and one shouldn't picture them as 2-4 years younger than they really are. I think other teams are more likely to win it all in 2009/2010.

[SeizeCoup]

1a) Celtics

1b) Lakers

3) Spurs

4) Cavs

5) Magic

assuming health, or no major injuries at least.

The Spurs come back strong every other year. Even with Artest I don't know if the Lakers are tough enough. That will be a great series.

In the east the Cavs and the Celtics do it again. No doubt Lebron scares me more than any other dude in the L. My thing about the Cavs though is that I don't think they are going to be much better than last season. They moved some things around - but I just don't see it happening.

Even though the Celtics and the Spurs are the two most likely squads to have problems with injuries, those types of things can happen to any team. What really hurts though is when you have two guys who play similar positions going down with an injury. Then you've got a third string, tenth guy off the bench starting instead. That isn't super likely to happen that often. But with that said, even if it (godforbid) does happen both of these teams prepared themselves better this offseason. Rjefferson is a borderline allstar as is Wallace. Mcdyss and Mcquis are just a level below that. They can each easily step in and produce.

I don't think the Lakers or Cavs are deep enough. The Lakers they have a lot of talent the top 6 guys, but after that? Meh.

[Parasite]

Wow, it's a bad sign when the Celtics board doesn't even see the Celtics as the best team. Looks like this ship has sailed.

[AlCelticFan]

Nah. I think we're just maturing as a fanbase a little. Just a few years ago we were all deluded into thinking Gerald Green was Tracy McGrady. Celtics fans become level-headed. WE KNOW we're the best, but we also KNOW there are some other GREAT teams out there. I mean, the Lakers are STACKED. And then we've got the Cavs who had a amazing record last year, who lost verylittle and picke dup Shaq.

I think I put the top three at Celtics, Cavs Lakers no particular order.

[basketballnj21]

1. Lakers- Defending champs until beaten.
2. Celtics- added much needed front court depth and Daniels, bring back healthy KG, makes them favorites in east.
3. Cavs- Lebron automatically makes them a top team, Shaq will help but also may clog Lebrons lanes.
4. Spurs- great offseason, Jefferson should make a big impact
5. Magic- I actually think they got worse with VC. Not as many match-up problems and i don't know if pietrus will be great in a starting role.

[TonyMontana]

Lakers
Celtics
Magic
Cavs
Spurs

All I can say is its the Lakers and the Cs in first and FTR.