Which Team Will Improve The Most In 2013-14?

[Crotchrocker]

There were some significant moves in the offseason for teams trying to position themselves for a shot at the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Which team will improve the most in the regular season? Playoffs? Here are the teams I am referring to:

1) Brooklyn Nets - Although the price to acquire Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry was steep, Brooklyn is now in a position to challenge the Heat for the Eastern Conference crown. They are two-deep at every position.

C) Brook Lopez, Andray Blatche
PF) Kevin Garnett, Reggie Evans
SF) Paul Pierce, Andrei Kirilenko
SG) Joe Johnson, Jason Terry
PG) Deron Williams, Shaun Livingston

What this team lacks in athleticism, they more than make up for in basketball savvy.

2) Detroit Pistons - Out goes Brandon Knight who fell out of favor after two disappointing seasons. In comes the mercurial Brandon Jennings who will bring scoring firepower, Chauncey Billups who can play off of Rodney Stuckey and Jennings and Josh Smith who will make their frontcourt extremely big and athletic. I am not sure exactly how well Greg Monroe, Andre Drummond and Josh Smith will play together. There appears to be some spacing issues, but that aside, I think this team will take a quantum leap.

3) Cleveland Cavaliers - If Andrew Bynum is healthy and Anthony Bennett is not a bust, this team could be among the deepest in the league at the 4 and 5. Anderson Varejao and Tristan Thompson are still around. Add to that the signing of Earl Clark and Jarrett Jack and Cleveland could be on the verge of a huge season.

4) Indiana Pacers - Psycho T is gone but Danny Grainger is back and they also picked up CJ Watson to give them quality depth at point guard. They were also able to snag Luis Scola who will complement David West perfectly. Indiana is poised to take another step if the cards fall right.

5) Golden State Warriors - What a run. This is an inspirational team. They lost Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry in free agency but picked up Andre Igoudala. They also nabbed Toney Douglas on the cheap and he should be able to fill the void left by Jack. Let's hope this team can remain injury free. They are stacked.

6) Los Angeles Clippers - Their biggest change won't even be on the court. Doc Rivers will know exactly what to do with this roster. They may be shallow at the 3 which will be manned by Matt Barnes and Jared Dudley but picking up JJ Redick was no small feat. They won't sneak up on anybody but I can see some room for improvement in the regular season and the postseason.

7) Houston Rockets - I mean, they added the best center in basketball and are absolutely huge in the frontcourt. Anything less than the second round and this team is a failure. That's on the strength of their starting five alone. I suspect Chandler Parsons will take a step forward. This team's success, however, will hinge on Jeremy Lin. They can't afford to let James Harden run himself ragged pulling double duty while Lin goes back to Golden State Lin.

I could very well be missing a couple obvious teams. Feel free to add, comment, whatever you want. Word.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

There were some significant moves in the offseason for teams trying to position themselves for a shot at the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Which team will improve the most in the regular season? Playoffs? Here are the teams I am referring to:

1) Brooklyn Nets - Although the price to acquire Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry was steep, Brooklyn is now in a position to challenge the Heat for the Eastern Conference crown. They are two-deep at every position.

C) Brook Lopez, Andray Blatche
PF) Kevin Garnett, Reggie Evans
SF) Paul Pierce, Andrei Kirilenko
SG) Joe Johnson, Jason Terry
PG) Deron Williams, Shaun Livingston

What this team lacks in athleticism, they more than make up for in basketball savvy.

2) Detroit Pistons - Out goes Brandon Knight who fell out of favor after two disappointing seasons. In comes the mercurial Brandon Jennings who will bring scoring firepower, Chauncey Billups who can play off of Rodney Stuckey and Jennings and Josh Smith who will make their frontcourt extremely big and athletic. I am not sure exactly how well Greg Monroe, Andre Drummond and Josh Smith will play together. There appears to be some spacing issues, but that aside, I think this team will take a quantum leap.

3) Cleveland Cavaliers - If Andrew Bynum is healthy and Anthony Bennett is not a bust, this team could be among the deepest in the league at the 4 and 5. Anderson Varejao and Tristan Thompson are still around. Add to that the signing of Earl Clark and Jarrett Jack and Cleveland could be on the verge of a huge season.

4) Indiana Pacers - Psycho T is gone but Danny Grainger is back and they also picked up CJ Watson to give them quality depth at point guard. They were also able to snag Luis Scola who will complement David West perfectly. Indiana is poised to take another step if the cards fall right.

5) Golden State Warriors - What a run. This is an inspirational team. They lost Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry in free agency but picked up Andre Igoudala. They also nabbed Toney Douglas on the cheap and he should be able to fill the void left by Jack. Let's hope this team can remain injury free. They are stacked.

6) Los Angeles Clippers - Their biggest change won't even be on the court. Doc Rivers will know exactly what to do with this roster. They may be shallow at the 3 which will be manned by Matt Barnes and Jared Dudley but picking up JJ Redick was no small feat. They won't sneak up on anybody but I can see some room for improvement in the regular season and the postseason.

7) Houston Rockets - I mean, they added the best center in basketball and are absolutely huge in the frontcourt. Anything less than the second round and this team is a failure. That's on the strength of their starting five alone. I suspect Chandler Parsons will take a step forward. This team's success, however, will hinge on Jeremy Lin. They can't afford to let James Harden run himself ragged pulling double duty while Lin goes back to Golden State Lin.

I could very well be missing a couple obvious teams. Feel free to add, comment, whatever you want. Word.

Only 2 of the teams you named were not very good last year (Detroit, Cleveland), so as far as wins go, those would be the 2 teams that I think will most improve.

I think Detroit is the better of the 2 and has a legit shot to make the playoffs.

 

[BOTSLAYER]

I do not think the Nets got that much better in the grand scheme of things. They were about the 5th or 6th best team last year and now they are the 4th best.

Cavs I do not think they improved much because they had the talent it just wasn't healthy but in the grand scheme of things I think they will be greatly improved.

Pistons!!!! Most improved in from a wins standpoint.

 

[BOTSLAYER]

GSW not sure how much iguadola (sp? dont care it is firday!!!) helped but they and the Rockets will be top 4 teams this year.

I think you could argue that the Rockets have most improved and have the best chance (outside of healthy OKC) to make it to the finals.

You could also argue that with Andre the GSW may be a really tough matchup for OKC. Built the same way but their chucker hits at 40% from 3p range...while OKC's doesn't.

 

[Brahmsian]

The Celtics got the better of the trade they made with the Nets.

Pierce and Garnett are past their primes and Jason Terry was the DUMBEST player on the Celtics'
roster last season. JET's shot selection was never very good and his defense was very erratic.

Getting Olynyk for two past-their-prime types a player who never had the basketball smarts of either "The Truth" or "Big Ticket" was a major steal!

 

[LogicMan]

Nets in the short term got alot better

 

[_Xer0_]

Pistons.

Adding Josh Smith, finally adding a real point guard in Jennings, Billups to mentor him and spread the floor with his good jumpshooting with Monroe and Drummond in the front court.

The Pistons have the potential of being a dominant defense and rebounding team.

I think they will win around 45 games and finish 6th in the East.

 

[Crotchrocker]

I am very intrigued by Cleveland. I really hope Bynum is healthy this season. I picked him second overall in last year's fantasy draft and it could've cost me late in the season if I hadn't found a sucker to trade him to. Bynum, Varejao, Bennett, Waiters and Irving is the starting five I project and that makes the Cavs HUGE. Then they have Tristan Thompson, Earl Clark and Jarret Jack to come off the bench. Pretty decent 8-man rotation with Mike Brown back at the helm to preach defense. Word.