With the 2011-12 NBA season ready to start next Sunday, I have decided to take a look at how I see things working out.  Here is how I see things:

EASTERN CONFERENCE:

ATLANTIC DIVISION:

1. New York Knicks - The Knicks did a great job in pulling off a sign and trade deal to add center Tyson Chandler to their front line.  The frontcourt of Chandler, Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony is going to be one of the best the NBA has to offer this year.  Therefore, I like the Knicks to win the Atlantic Division.

2. Philadelphia 76ers - The 76ers brought back center Spencer Hawes and Thaddeus Young, who were both restricted free agents.  The Sixers are a team on the rise and they have a very deep roster which should suit them well with all the back to back games they are going to have to play this year.

3. Boston Celtics - The Celtics are getting old and they don’t have a very deep roster.  This schedule is going to kill the Celtics this year.  They will still be good enough to win a lot of games, when they are rested.

4. New Jersey Nets - The Nets have been trying to make a big deal for Dwight Howard, but they are getting nowhere.  By waiting for that deal, a lot of free agents have signed elsewhere.  They look like a lottery team to me right now.

5. Toronto Raptors - The Raptors added Rasual Butler, Aaron Gray and Gary Forbes.  They are all decent backup type players, but the Raptors are the worst team in the Atlantic Division right now.

CENTRAL DIVISION:

1. Chicago Bulls - The Bulls’ only weakness last year was at shooting guard where they were starting Keith Bogans.  Well, the certainly fixed that by signing old nemesis Richard Hamilton to a 3-year deal.  The Bulls are going to be one of the teams to beat in the Eastern Conference when it’s all said and done.

2. Indiana Pacers - The Pacers have added George Hill and David West to a very solid nucleus.  That is going to spell trouble for the rest of the Central Division, as they are going to be pretty darn good in 2011-12.

3. Milwaukee Bucks - The Bucks added Stephen Jackson, Mike Dunleavy, Beno Udrih and Shaun Livingston in the off-season.  This should really give the Bucks a jumpstart offensively in 2011-12.  I like them to just miss the playoffs this year.

4. Cleveland Cavaliers - The Cavaliers aren’t going to be the worst team in the division this year.  That’s because Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson are going to make the Cavs look good for drafting them.  The Cavs will be on their way back to respectability starting this year.

5. Detroit Pistons - Instead of bringing in new talent, the Pistons re-signed a bunch of players from the lousy team last year.  They hope that first round pick Brandon Knight will give them the same kind of spark that Greg Monroe did last year.

SOUTHEAST:

1. Miami Heat - The Heat have brought most of their guys back for 2011-12.  Eddy Curry and Shane Battier are the only additions and I don’t see them taking the Heat to the next level.

2. Orlando Magic - The Magic have re-signed Jason Richardson and they dealt for Glen “Big Baby” Davis, so they could be better this year.  Look for Dwight Howard to carry this team on his back all the way to the NBA Finals.

3. Atlanta Hawks - The Hawks lost Jamal Crawford to the Blazers and that’s going to hurt.  The Hawks have signed Tracy McGrady, Jerry Stackhouse and Vladimir Radmanovic…..but none of those guys strike any fear in the competition.

4. Washington Wizards - The Wizards brought in Ronny Turiaf and Roger Mason in the off-season to teach the kids how to play.  The Wizards have a lot of good, young talent on the roster….but they aren’t ready to win consistently in the NFL quite yet.

5. Charlotte Bobcats -  The Bobcats are going to be really small with Boris Diaw likely starting at center.  They will have to score a lot of points to win as they are very undersized.

WESTERN CONFERENCE:

NORTHWEST:

1. Oklahoma City Thunder - The Thunder didn’t add much talent wise in the off-season, but they didn’t had to.  Having Kendrick Perkins and Nazr Mohammed at center all year is really going to help them.  This is going to be the Thunder’s year, as I have them winning the NBA Title.

2. Portland Trailblazers - The Blazers have brought in free agents Jamal Crawford, Craig Smith and Kurt Thomas as well as dealing for Raymond Felton.  The Trailblazers’ roster is absolutely loaded for this year as they are set up to make a good playoff run.

3. Utah Jazz - The Jazz are way too talented to finish where they did last year.  I look for them to improve in 2011-12.

4. Denver Nuggets - Despite re-signing Nene’, the Nuggets are not going to be better than they were last year.  They have the look of a lottery team to me right now.

5. Minnesota Timberwolves - New Head Coach Rick Adelman is going to get the most out of his players in 2011-12, but they’re still going to finish in the basement in the Northwest Division.

SOUTHWEST:

1. Dallas Mavericks - A lot of names have changed since the Mavericks won the NBA Championship.  I still think they’re going to be really good, but they have a huge hole at center.   They are really going to miss Tyson Chandler in the playoffs.

2. Memphis Grizzlies - The Grizzlies are now at the big boy’s table.  They re-signed Marc Gasol and they have one of the best starting fives in the entire NBA.  They are a team to be reckoned with.

3. San Antonio Spurs - The Spurs are going to need to go deeper on the bench this year with all of the back to back games.  I think that is really going to hurt them this year.

4. New Orleans Hornets - The Hornets might have lost Chris Paul, but they still have a nice roster.  I really like the Chris Kaman and Emeka Okafor combo and power forward and center as the Hornets are going to win the rebounding battles quite a bit in 2011-12.

5. Houston Rockets - The Rockets are once again going to be the best team that doesn’t make the playoffs.  Put the Rockets in the Eastern Conference and they would be a playoff team.

PACIFIC:

1. Los Angeles Clippers - The Clippers are absolutely loaded right now.  A starting lineup of Chris Paul, Chauncey Billups, Caron Butler, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan is one of the best starting units in the NBA.  They also have a solid bench.  I don’t know how this happened so quickly, but the Clippers are now the King of L.A. basketball wise.

2. Los Angeles Lakers - The Lakers are still going to be really good, but they are really going to miss Lamar Odom and Phil Jackson.  They will take a step back in 2011-12.

3. Phoenix Suns - The Suns have improved in the off-season, but they still aren’t a playoff team.  Having Marcin Gortat all season is going to be huge for the Suns as he is the only really physical player on the roster.

4. Sacramento Kings -The Kings have really loaded up for this year.  J.J. Hickson, Chuck Hayes, Travis Outlaw, John Salmons and Jimmer Frerdette have really improved the talent on the Kings’ roster this year.  The Kings problem is that they are in the Western Conference.  Keep an eye on them though as they are going to be exciting to watch.

5. Golden State Warriors - The Warriors have a solid roster, but they didn’t improve it as much as the other teams in the division.  The Warriors will be fun to watch, but in the end….they will be in the lottery once again next June.

PLAYOFFS:

EASTERN CONFERENCE ROUND 1:

Miami Heat over the Boston Celtics in five games

Chicago Bulls over the Philaldelphia 76ers in six games

New York Knicks over the Indiana Pacers in seven games

Orlando Magic over the Atlanta Hawks in six games

ROUND II:

Orlando Magic over the Miami Heat in seven games

Chicago Bulls over the New York Knicks in seven games

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS:

Orlando Magic over the Chicago Bulls in seven games

WESTERN CONFERENCE:

Oklahoma City Thunder over the New Orleans Hornets in five games

Los Angeles Clippers over the San Antonio Spurs in seven games

Dallas Mavericks over the Portland Trailblazers in seven games

Memphis Grizzlies over the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games

ROUND II:

Oklahoma City Thunder over the Memphis Grizzlies in seven games

Los Angeles Clippers over the Dallas Mavericks in seven games

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS:

Oklahoma City Thunder over the Los Angeles Clippers in six games

NBA FINALS:

Oklahoma City Thunder over the Orlando Magic in seven games

The NBA blocked a trade last Friday that would have sent point guard Chris Paul from the Hornets to the Lakers.  The Lakers would have sent Pau Gasol to the Rockets and Lamar Odom to the Hornets as part of this deal.  The Rockets were to send shooting guard Kevin Martin, point guard Goran Dragic, power forward Luis Scola and a first round pick in 2012 to the Hornets.  Here is a look at what this trade would have done for the teams involved:

Los Angeles Lakers - The Lakers would have gotten an elite point guard to team with Kobe Bryant.  Paul played in 80 games (all starts) for the Hornets last year and he averaged 36.0 minutes, 15.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 9.8 assists and 2.4 steals per game.  Paul has now played in 425 games (all starts) for the Hornets in his NBA career and he is averaging 37.1 minutes, 18.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, 9.9 assists and 2.4 steals per game.  The Lakers would have had to replace Odom and Gasol, who have really been solid players for them.

Houston Rockets - The Rockets seem to have been willing to give up a lot to get 31-year old power forward Pau Gasol.  Gasol played in 82 games (all starts) for the Lakers last year and he averaged 37.0 minutes, 18.8 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game.  He has now played in 731 games (725 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 35.9 minutes, 18.8 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game.  Gasol would have replaced Luis Scola in the starting lineup and that would have been a nice upgrade, but, they would have also lost Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic and a first round pick in 2012.

New Orleans Hornets - The Hornets would have cleaned up in this deal, so I’m not so sure why the league didn’t allow it to go through.  Kevin Martin is a solid shooting guard.  He played in 80 games (all starts) for the Rockets last year and he averaged 32.5 minutes, 23.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  Martin played in 435 games (347 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 31.2 minutes, 18.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  Martin would have filled a huge need at shooting guard for the Hornets.  Luis Scola would have replaced David West in the starting lineup.  Scola played in 74 games (all starts) for the Rockets last year and he averaged 32.6 minutes, 18.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.  He has now played in 320 games (277 starts) in his first four years in the NBA and he is averaging 30.0 minutes, 14.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.  32-year old forward Lamar Odom would have likely bumped Trevor Ariza to the bench.  Odom played in 82 games (35 starts) for the Lakers last year and he averaged 32.2 minutes, 14.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.  He has now played in 829 games (678 starts) so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 35.6 minutes, 14.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1 blocked shot per game.  Goran Dragic would have likely shared the point guard slot with Jarrett Jack.  Dragic played in 70 games (5 starts) for the Suns & Rockets last year and he averaged 17.6 minutes, 7.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.  He has now played in 205 games (8 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 16.6 minutes, 6.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.  The Hornets would have also gotten a 1st round pick from the Rockets in 2012.

In summation, I think the Hornets got screwed by David Stern and his cronies vetoing this deal.  I think all three teams would have benefitted to it from some degree, but the Hornets aren’t going to get a better deal than this one.

When you think about the Utah Jazz, John Stockton and Karl Malone’s names usually come to mind first.  Center Mark Eaton played for the Jazz from 1982-1993 and he did the dirty work, so that Stockton & Malone didn’t have to worry about it much.  Eaton played in 875 games (815 starts) in his 11 years with the Jazz and he averaged 28.8 minutes, 6.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 3.5 blocked shots per game.  Eaton is #4 in NBA history in blocked shots with 3,064 of them.  He led the NBA in blocked shots four times in his career with the Jazz.  Eaton was the last line of defense for the Jazz when they were in their heyday and he deserves his credit for that.

Restricted free agents rarely leave the teams they are on.  I think it will be different this time though when the lockout is lifted.  This is where I see the top restricted free agents playing in 2011-12 in the NBA:

POINT GUARDS:

Rodney Stuckey - Detroit Pistons - I have a feeling that the Pistons are going to bring back Rodney Stuckey despite drafting Kemba Walker last June.

Aaron Brooks - Phoenix Suns - There isn’t a opening for Aaron Brooks as a starter anywhere, so I see him returning to the Suns.

Mario Chalmers - Miami Heat - The Heat will try to improve at point guard, but they will settle for bringing back Mario Chalmers in the end.

SHOOTING GUARD:

Marcus Thornton - Sacramento Kings - The Kings need to match any offer Thornton gets, and I think they will.

Arron Afflalo - Denver Nuggets - The Nuggets stole Afflalo in a deal a couple of years ago with the Pistons, and I don’t see them letting him go.

Nick Young - Washington Wizards - The Wizards are going to want to keep their young core together, so I don’t see them letting Young leave.

Marco Belinelli - New York Knicks - The Knicks want to use Landry Fields off the bench in 2011-12, so signing Belinelli makes some sense.

Chris Douglas-Roberts - Boston Celtics - The Boston Celtics need to replenish the bench and Douglas-Roberts would definitely help them with that.

SMALL FORWARD:

Jeff Green - Phoenix Suns - The Suns need to add some more offensive thump and Green would fill a huge hole at small forward.

Reggie Williams - Golden State Warriors - The Warriors will luck out that their isn’t any “Moneyball” teams in basketball, as he will continue to give them instant offense off the bench.

Sam Young - Toronto Raptors - The Raptors need a tough guy like Sam Young coming off the bench in 2011-12.

POWER FORWARD:

Thaddeus Young - Philadelphia 76ers - The Sixers want to build off of last year and to do that, they need to bring Young back.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute - Dallas Mavericks - Mbah a Moute is the kind of tough guy the Mavericks could really use off the bench at both forward slots.

Jonas Jerebko - Detroit Pistons - The Pistons will likely match any offer for Jerebko, as long as it makes sense.

Dante Cunningham - Charlotte Bobcats - The Bobcats like what they saw of Cunningham last year.

Yi Jianlian - Boston Celtics - Yi Jianlian will give the Celtics another active big man off the bench.

CENTER:

Marc Gasol - Memphis Grizzlies - The Grizzlies won’t let Gasol go, but they are going to have to ante’ up big time to keep him.

DeAndre Jordan - Los Angeles Clippers - The Clippers have stated that Jordan isn’t going anywhere, so I will take their word on that.

Spencer Hawes - Philadelphia 76ers - The Sixers will probably keep Hawes around.

Greg Oden - Portland Trailblazers - The Blazers can’t afford to let Oden go after passing on Kevin Durant to take him.

I don’t think the players are going to hold out much longer in the NBA Lockout.  With that in mind, here is where I see the top unrestricted free agents landing when the lockout is lifted:

POINT GUARDS:

J.J. Barea - Dallas Mavericks - With Jason Kidd running on fumes, the Mavericks can’t afford to let J.J. Barea leave.

Mike Bibby - Sacramento Kings - Mike Bibby signs a team friendly contract to return to where he had his best years to finish his NBA career.

T.J. Ford - Boston Celtics - The Celtics could use a decent backup for Rajon Rondo, and Ford fits the bill.

SHOOTING GUARDS:

Jason Richardson - New Orleans Hornets - The Hornets need another legit scorer and Richardson will come cheaper than re-signing power forward David West.

Jamal Crawford - Cleveland Cavaliers - The Cavaliers are in dire need of an offense first player at shooting guard.  Crawford would be a perfect fit.

Anthony Parker - San Antonio Spurs - The Spurs like guys like Parker, who is a defense first player with a nice three point shot.

Delonte West - Los Angeles Lakers - The Lakers could really use a combo guard like Delonte West off the bench, plus he played under head coach Mike Brown in Cleveland.

DeShawn Stevenson - Charlotte Bobcats - The Bobcats could use a versatile player like Stevenson off the bench.

Shannon Brown - Utah Jazz - Shannon Brown decides to decline his player option with the Lakers and he signs with the Jazz and gets 20+ minutes per night.

SMALL FORWARD:

Tayshaun Prince - Denver Nuggets - The Nuggets are desperate for a small forward and Prince will give them the all around type of player they are looking for.

Caron Butler - Houston Rockets - The Rockets take a chance on Butler being healthy and he fills a huge hole at small forward.

Andrei Kirilenko - New Jersey Nets - The Russian owner can’t resist and signs Kirilenko to start at small forward.

Mike Dunleavy - Utah Jazz - Dunleavy is a perfect fit for the Utah Jazz.

Grant Hill - Detroit Pistons - The Pistons need someone to help them sell tickets, and a return from Grant Hill would be good for business.

Shane Battier - Boston Celtics - The Celtics need help off the bench and Battier can swing between SG and SF and get 25-30 minutes per night.

POWER FORWARDS:

David West - Indiana Pacers - The Pacers have wanted West for a long time and he would help them be a playoff team once again in 2011-12, but with a higher seed.

Kris Humphries - New Jersey Nets - The Nets won’t let Humphries leave as he would be very hard to replace.  Plus, he’s a very popular guy right now.

Carl Landry - Atlanta Hawks - The Hawks could use an offensive player like Landry to help lessen the blow if Jamal Crawford leaves (which is very likely).

Glen “Big Baby” Davis - New Orleans Hornets - Big Baby replaces David West as the Hornets’ starting power forward.

CENTERS:

Nene Hilario - Houston Rockets - Nene’ would be a great replacement for Yao Ming.  The Rockets get back to the playoffs if they can sign Nene’.

Samuel Dalembert - New York Knicks - The Knicks actually get Dalembert to take less money than he can get on the open market.  That is because of his thrist to play for a NBA Championship.

Tyson Chandler - Dallas Mavericks - The Mavericks can’t let Chandler leave as he was a big reason for them being the NBA Champions.

Kwame Brown - Charlotte Bobcats - Michael Jordan has a man crush on Kwame Brown, so he won’t let him leave.