The NBA season is getting ready to begin and with a number of great games coming up to start the season on Tuesday and Wednesday, some bold predictions to start the year includes that Omer Asik will get traded, the New York Knicks will make it to the Eastern conference finals, while the Golden State Warriors will get a chance to win out west.
The Houston Rockets will hold tight, but once they see that Omer Asik and Dwight Howard do not fit, they will make a trade. The team will have suitors for him and he already has been mentioned in trade rumors and with him already putting up All-Star numbers last season and asking for a trade previously, it will be going down. Sure, it might not, but keep an eye on him and the Asik name during the trade deadline.
This season there are a number of teams that are looking to make runs to the NBA finals and two that could do it in the eastern and western conferences are the New York Knicks and the Golden State Warriors., as both made some very solid roster improvement this offseason and have the potential to be two of the most improved teams in the NBA. While I'm not predicting championships or finals appearances by any stretch, there's no reason why these two teams can't make postseason runs.
The warriors nearly pulled one off last season after beating the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs and since Golden State had to win on the road at the Pepsi Center, a place where the home team lost less than five times, it was considered a big upset. The team held their own for the most part in the next round and while they lost to the San Antonio Spurs, the experience for the team and head coach Mark Jackson is exactly what they need to build into this season.
The team has heaps of young talent with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes and now that they have added Andre Iguodala to the mix, the roster has solid depth all over. Andrew Bogut and David Lee are above average players on the front line and even with the west being tougher than the east, the Warriors still could go on a run, as they proved to be a great home team with an extremely loyal and loud fan base. The west will be tough with teams like the Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies and Spurs all contending, but the Warriors should be the best of that middle bunch in the conference.
Knicks fans have been pining for a deep playoff run since Carmelo Anthony came to town and this season they could get it, as the east is top heavy with the Chicago Bulls, Pacers and Brooklyn Nets as well as the Miami Heat, while the rest is not so great. The Knicks made enough additions to improve and they bring back a top 10 scoring defense and that will be the key for them, as will the play of Anthony.
