The NBA season is getting closer and closer to starting and with training camps and the preseason coming next month, the good folks at Sports Illustrated put together a list of the best players in the league and some notable ones that did not make the cut include Jeremy Lin, Andrea Bargnani, Iman Shumpert, DeAndre Jordan and Andrew Bogut as well as a number of other solid names.
The list is filled with the obvious superstars, but SI opted to leave Lin off the list for now and while he may not be in the top 100 in their eyes, another season in the league and his first chance to play with Dwight Howard should only help. Last season Lin was very solid while averaging 13 points and over six assists and he teamed with James Harden to help lead the Rockets to playoffs as the number eight seed.
The team lost to the Thunder and Lin was injured in the process, but he still was able to get his first taste of playoff basketball after being injured while with the Knicks the season before. The Rockets feel that this season they have the makeup to be a champion and one of the biggest parts of that will be Lin, as he is developing in his second year and will be running the point for the offense. Lin obviously broke onto the scene with the Knicks and while he did not play as well as he did during that run last season, he should be a valuable piece for the Rockets going forward.
The Rockets signed Marcus Camby to go along with Howard as well as Francisco Garcia and Omri Casspi and that adds to a roster that already has Chandler Parsons, Omer Asik and Patrick Beverley. The bench is deep and if the team can figure out the right way to use Asik and Howard at the same time effectively, they could make a deep run as one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. Asik averaged a double-double last season in 82 games and while he was upset that he won't be the primary starter and asked for a trade, that appears to not be going down and now Kevin McHale will figure out how to use them both.
Andrea Bargnani, Iman Shumpert and Ray Felton were three Knicks players to make the list along with Metta World Peace and the team is hoping that Carmelo Anthony can lead the franchise to its first finals appearance in years. The addition of Bargnani was a bold one, but it's a move that could pay off in the long run, as he is a capable scorer that dealt with pressure and injuries in Toronto and now he has the chance to remake his career.
So wait, he'll be better in NY rather than Toronto because of less pressure? Fair point, but look at it this way. Yes there is pressure in NYC, but not like there was for him in Toronto as the number one overall pick. He is not expected to be "the man" with the Knicks and after the team added a number so players to bench like Kenyon Martin and Peace, Melo may have the supporting cast to make a run.