Are These NBA Teams Legit? Part 1

With the All Star break concluding, its back to reality for these teams in an NBA that is in the era of the super team. Some NBA teams are doing better than expected, while others are dropping off. Here, in part one, we look through a few NBA teams who actually have a legitimate shot to make a playoff run. Tune in next week to read “Are These NBA Teams Legit? Part 2.”

Toronto Raptors

This team has been playing fantastic basketball behind its All-Star guards, Kyle Lowry and Demar Derozan. People knew this team would be good, but not many imagined they’d be this good. The Raptors are now first in the East, ahead of the Celtics and the Cavs. The coaching from Dwane Casey has been phenomenal, and the performance from his players has proved even better. Demar Derozan is a huge underdog MVP candidate that everybody is looking past. His scoring is slightly down, but many facets of his game have improved. His field goal percentage is solid and he’s starting to do something he could never do before in his whole career: shoot the three. In an NBA where seven footers are spotting up on the three point line, in order to be a star, you need to be able to hit threes. He’s taking 3 and a half three-pointers a game and hitting 1.2 a night, which doesn’t seem like much, but both mark career highs. He is hitting 33% of them, which again isn’t great, but that marks his 2nd highest percentage in his career. Either way, Demar is elevating his game every year and it is showing off on this Raptors team’s record. However, despite all this I do not see the Raptors making it further than the Eastern Conference Finals. They will finish great in the regular season, most likely finishing top 3 in the East, but like years past this team will fall in the playoffs. I’m predicting a 2nd round boot in 6 to the Celtics.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Finally!! Everybody was waiting for this team to finally break out. They had the potential, they had the coaching, they had the players, and they are finally doing well. Karl-Anthony Towns is proving to be one of the most unstoppable big men in the NBA. Andrew Wiggins is doing less than he has in the past, but he’s still pretty dominant. Jimmy Butler is playing solid just like he always does. Jeff Teague is doing exactly what he was signed to do on this team… be an average starting point guard. Even Taj Gibson is having a debatably career year. This team is finally gelling and as a basketball fan it feels good. Despite this talent can this team win a title this season? Probably not. However, can they make a decent playoff run and make it exciting in the second round versus the Warriors or Rockets? Absolutely. This team is fun to watch and they are good. I’m calling a crazy 7 game series versus the Rockets where James Harden and CP3 go off in game 7 to end the Wolves season. However, this team will end this season with a fire under them and look to come back next year even better.

Boston Celtics

Now this team is in one of the more interesting positions in the NBA. In the East the only team that ever has a shot is a team with LeBron James on it. If we are looking at history, the last team to actually make the finals from the East without LeBron James on it was the Boston Celtics way back in 2010. If a team is going to take down the Cavs this year, it’s the Celtics. They have the talent. They have the leader. The only thing they’re missing is experience, as they are one of the youngest teams in the NBA. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will both become All- Stars in the future, but are they good enough right now to win a championship? I’m not so sure. Kyrie has proven he can win and show up on the big stage when he needs to. This team may finish as the one seed in the regular season, but I do not see them winning the title. This team will bring it in the Playoffs and give the Cavs a run for everything they’ve got. However, LeBron will show up in Game 7 with some crazy stat line. I’m calling some controversial finish in this game that will be talked about for years to come.

Written by Casey Spilka