Looking Back at the End of Last Year
It seems like it was just a couple days ago that Lebron James came out of nowhere, leaped at the perfect moment and successfully created his most icon play of his career. All who watched game 7 of The Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers will forever remember "The Block." Up until this point in his career Lebron James didn't have a signature moment. After "The Block" he finally will have a signature play that will be played along with other plays such as Magic's skyhook in The Finals, Bird stealing the ball to seal the win against the Pistons, and Michael's game 6 shot over Bryon Russell and the Utah Jazz (I'm still claiming he pushed off, but I may be a little biased.)
It's been just over 4 months since Lebron's signature play and now we have another NBA season upon us. To say this NBA season is going to be an exciting one would be an understatement. So much happened this off-season that some of it is actually hard to believe. Let's take a quick look at some of the headlines that happened this off-season.
The Off-season
Super-team
First off, just to get it out of the way, Kevin Durant went to the Warriors. If you're a Warriors fan (which you've probably only been for the past 2-3 years) you should be very excited about this. If you're not a Warriors fan you should be afraid, very afraid. The warriors now have Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant. I would argue that those three guys are the three best shooters in the league. It was amazing that the past couple of years the Warriors had Curry and Thompson on the same team. Now they add Durant that can make shots from anywhere on the floor. Literally anywhere on the floor. There are some players that are very good shooters but are especially great shooters from a certain spot on the floor. Shane Battier has made a career from being a great 3 point shooter from the corner. Kevin Durant is a great shooter from the corner, the wing, the top of the key, baseline and pretty much anywhere you can think of. Combine this shooting ability with Curry, who it surprises you more when he misses a 30 footer, and Thompson, who when he gets on a hot streak there is no stopping him, and you have probably the best shooting team the league has ever seen. Oh and they still have a guy named Draymond Green. This Warriors team is going to be one of the most fun teams to watch of all time and I'm just taking a wild guess that there games will be aired nationally quite often so you'll have plenty of opportunities to watch them.
Cash Money
The second craziest thing that happened to Durant going to the Warriors is that NBA players got paid this year. The salary cap went up for every team and players got to cash in. This is the only way the Warriors were able to get Durant. People were upset that the Warriors created a super team and many former players came out saying they would have never done something like that. Here's the thing, if the salary cap hadn't gone up, the Warriors wouldn't have had the cap space to sign Durant. Former players wouldn't have done this because they didn't have the option unless they took a significant pay cut. Something like this will probably never happen again unless the salary cap makes another big jump, and I'm sure the league will do all they can to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Some of the NBA contracts we saw were surprising and left us dumbfounded. There was one that wasn't that surprising. Lebron James finally became the highest paid player in the NBA. Oh and he is still being under paid. Lebron is going to make $30 million this year but he should be making twice that much. With all of his endorsements he does make twice as much but because he plays in a salary cap sport he is underpaid on his NBA salary. If there was no salary cap he would probably make somewhere around $75 million and still might be under paid.
Mike Conley also got paid and is making $26 million this year. Bradley Beal is making $22 million this year. Demar Derozan will make $24 million. Oh and let's not forget that Stephen Curry is going to make $11 million this year.
What I learned this off-season is that I am in the wrong profession and I should have worked on my jump shot and defense when I was younger.
What we get to look forward to?
Finals Prediction
In the history of the NBA Finals there has never been two teams that played each other three years in a row. That is going to change this year. The Cavs and Warriors are going to meet again and make history by playing in three straight finals against the same team. The East is getting better but they aren't getting better at the top. The Cavs are going to cruise through the East and Lebron will go to an astonishing seven straight finals. The Warriors are going to have a tougher road to the finals but because they have the three best shooters in the league and 4 of the best 12 players in the league on one team, they get back to the finals. There are two other teams that have a shot to being title contenders, the Spurs and the Clippers. The Spurs will continue to be the Spurs that they have been for the past 19 years. They still have Gregg Poppovich, one of the top four coaches of all time, Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker, Lamarcus Aldridge and they added Pau Gasol. The Clippers are the one team that when you look at what they have on paper they should have at least one championship, but because of injuries and other circumstances they haven't been able to capture a title. If they can stay healthy this year then they can give the Warriors a good fight in the playoffs.
Russell Westbrook
Oscar Robertson one year averaged a triple double for an entire season. Russell Westbrook might match that amazing feat this year. With Kevin Duran'ts departure Russell Westbrook becomes the man for the Thunder. We all know Westbrook isn't happy about Durant leaving and he is going to be playing like a man on a mission this year. It is amazing watching Westbrook play at the speed and ferocity he plays at. It seems like he is always in 5th gear in every game, every quarter and on every play. I feel bad for any player who has to guard him this year and for every rim that he dunks on.
Home-Court Advantage
It wouldn't be Petey's NBA preview without a look into Swat Lake City at the up and coming Utah Jazz. The very first Jazz game I remember watching was when John Stockton hit a three to send the Utah Jazz to the NBA finals in 1997. Ever since that moment I have loved the Utah Jazz. I was able to enjoy some great years watching John Stockton and Karl Malone running the pick and roll to perfection. The post Stockton and Malone years were rough but we had a great run in 2007 with D-Will, Boozer, and fan favorite Mehmot "Money Man" Okur. Eventually D-Will couldn't control his attitude pretty much forcing Jerry Sloan into retirement and leading Jazz fans into a sad state of rebuilding the past 5 years.
2016 has given Jazz fans hope. Our young core we have been talking about the past 3 years has matured and improved and we added veteran pieces. The Jazz have needed a veteran starting point guard since D-Will left and they finally added a solid starter in George Hill. (Mo Williams thought he did a good job while he was here but come on, let's be real) The additions of Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw aren't the flashiest pickups but it is the veteran presence and depth the Jazz have needed to take a step into making a playoffs run.
Many people are going to think that Gordon Hayward is going to be the leading scorer on the Jazz but I'm going to go with Rodney Hood as the leading scorer for the Jazz. Hood is entering his 3rd year in the league and I predict he will make a big leap in his offensive game. The paint will be protected by the French Rejection and Officer Favors (Bolerjack really needs to come up with a new nickname for Favors but we'll have to use this one for now). If Rudy can stay healthy this year and play in 65 plus games he will be a top candidate for DPOY and he is going to play to win it.
NBA it's time to look out for Utah and Take Note.
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