Thunder vs. Heat Rematch in 2013? Not So Fast!!!

The Nets have traveled across two rivers to settle into The Borough of
Brooklyn and like most Brooklynites they are walking with a big stick.
The first order of business for Nets general manager Billy King was to
retain the services of All-Star point guard Deron Williams. The Nets
acquired Williams in a shocking trade in 2011 from The Utah Jazz and all
signs were leading to Williams leaving The Metropolitan Area this
summer. The Nets proceeded to put on the full court press to keep
Williams which saw the team park a truck in front of Williams’ home with
a billboard acknowledging the point guard’s recent birthday. Recently,
Nets head coach Avery Johnson was also rubbing elbows with Williams at
his birthday party in New York as he was doing his part to keep Williams
in Brooklyn. If this didn’t convince Williams to stay in Brooklyn, the
next step might have seen Nets part owner Jay-Z dedicate his next album
to D-Will.

The Nets sweetened the pot for Williams and their chances in The Eastern
Conference by acquiring All-Star shooting guard Joe Johnson from The
Atlanta Hawks. Johnson’s trade was enough to entice Williams to agree to
a five-year, $98.5 million extension with The Nets to play his home
games at Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues. Now King and The Nets have their
eyes set on All-Star center Dwight Howard. Howard has had an on-again,
off-again relationship with his current employer, The Orlando Magic.
Howard has informed The Magic’s front office that he will only sign his
extension if he is traded to Brooklyn. Now The Nets are on the verge of
having the next “super team” in The NBA.

The original super team of this era, The Boston Celtics are showing
everyone that they are not ready to be written off. The Celtics were
saddened by All-Star guard Ray Allen’s decision to depart Beantown after
five seasons in Celtic green in favor of South Beach and The Heat, but
The Celtics are more than just Allen. The Celtics have boasted one of
the deepest teams in basketball recently and they will once again stake
that claim for the 2012-13 season. Celtics general manager Danny Ainge
was able to convince All-Star power forward/center Kevin Garnett not to
retire. Garnett will more than likely finish his career in Boston after
agreeing to a three-year, $34 million deal. Celtics head coach Doc
Rivers still has forward Paul Pierce who is one the best clutch players
of this era. Day-by-day, point guard Rajon Rondo is improving his game
as he is unquestionably on the best point guards in the game. The
Celtics bench will once again be deep after the team drafted forwards
Jared Sullinger and Kris Joseph along with Center Fab Melo.

The Celtics gave The Heat all that they could handle in The Eastern
Conference Finals before bowing out in seven games. The Celtics were so
depleted due to injuries that I expected Rivers to rip off his suit and
give Boston 20 minutes a game. Now Boston feels that they have enough to
get past The Heat and get championship number 18.

The New York Knicks are hoping that the 18-year NBA experience of point
guard Jason Kidd can help them achieve success. Kidd is a winner as he
took The Nets to two consecutive NBA Finals appearances in 2002 and 2003
when the team called New Jersey home. Kidd also helped The Dallas
Mavericks win their first NBA Championship in 2011. Kidd flirted with
the notion of being a backup point guard to Deron Williams depending
where the point guard chose to play. Now Kidd is charged with helping
point guard Jeremy Lin become better while forwards Carmelo Anthony and
Amare Stoudemire hopefully learn to co-exist on the basketball court.

Out West, The Thunder will once again have to worry about The Los
Angeles Lakers. The Lakers were throttled by The Thunder in five games
in The Western Conference Semifinals last season and it appeared to be a
changing of the guard as The Thunder roared back from an 0-2 hole to
defeat The San Antonio Spurs in six games in The Western Conference
Finals.

The Lakers knew that they had a glaring weakness at the point guard
position and to keep Kobe Bryant happy, Lakers general manager Mitch
Kupchak was able to secure a sign-and-trade deal to get point guard
Steve Nash from The Phoenix Suns. Now Bryant is once again all smiles,
but will it be enough to get past The Thunder and Durant?

The Thunder are a young team with the core players on the team all under
the age of 25. Players such as Durant are willing to stay in the
smaller market of Oklahoma City because they know how close that they
are to winning a championship. Even with the acquisition of Nash, I do
not think that The Lakers have enough in the arsenal to get past The
Thunder in a seven-game playoff series.

In The East, even if The Nets get Howard, they will still have to fill
out a roster and develop team chemistry. We saw how important team
chemistry was in year one of James, Wade, and Chris Bosh with The Heat.
Miami struggled early, but they were able to make The NBA Finals before
losing to Dallas. The Nets will be in the playoffs, but they won’t be
able to fully challenge The Heat as of yet. The Knicks must find a way
under new head coach Mike Woodson to have better ball movement when
Anthony is on the floor. The best players don’t win championships, but
the best teams do. The Knick franchise must also realize that winning
one playoff game is not a reason to drop confetti from the rafters of
Madison Square Garden; especially when you are trailing three games to
one to the eventual NBA Champion Miami Heat in the first round. The
Celtics were so close last year and you wonder what could have been in
the weren’t derailed by injuries. The Celtics aren’t afraid of The Heat
and with Garnett in the middle they won’t be afraid to hit Miami right
in the mouth.

The Chicago Bulls are a team that gets lost in the shuffle. The Bulls
entered the playoffs last season with the best record in The Eastern
Conference for the second consecutive season. Title hopes went out of
the window in their first playoff game when All-Star point guard Derrick
Rose to his ACL against The Philadelphia 76ers. The Bulls would go on
to lose that series in six games. The Bulls hope to have Rose back next
season and with a core of Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng, and Joakim Noah,
they will once again be in the thick of things in The Eastern
Conference.