Triple Threat: Ranking the NBA's 30 Threesomes

8. Utah Jazz (Deron Williams, Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer)
The league's 2nd best point-big man duo needs a 3rd wheel. Their options? Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko. Thought so. AK47 is in the prime of his career and his 50% FG clip showed that this past year. His minutes are down from years past and that may reflect his dip in stats, but this defensive maniac can fill a stat sheet faster than you can say "The Raptors will be NBA champs in 2009".

7. Dallas Mavericks (Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Dirk Nowitzki)
Howard hasn't ceased to find ways to make Cuban think twice about keeping him on this Mavericks team. First he openly expresses his love of the ganja, and next he speeds his way through Texas like he's a state trooper. If the Mavericks fumble their way through the season like they did last year, Howard could be on his way out (along with Kidd). J-Kidd needs to find himself and get his youthful legs back while Dirk just needs to be Dirk. Super talented is this group, but controversy, age and injuries could break them apart.

6. New Orleans Hornets (Chris Paul, Peja Stojakovic, David West)
Tyson Chandler may be the best alley-oop finisher Chris Paul has on this Hornets team - and perhaps the best "oop" finisher in the league - but that still doesn't change the fact that he's not even close to Stojakovic and West in terms of pure talent. Chandler remains raw, aggressive and occupying that "defensive presence" role for New Orleans. Chris Paul emerged as the best point guard in the NBA by a good country mile this past year, Peja proved his worth in crunch time, and West asserted himself among the league's best power forwards with his first all-star birth.

5. Phoenix Suns (Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Shaquille O'Neal)
Don't be so hasty to call out Kerr's mistake on this blockbuster deal; a full training camp session with Shaquille O'Neal could prove wonders for this Suns team. On the flip side, injuries, age and a lack of passion could lead the Big Cactus to play downwards of 45 games this year. Steve Nash still has a couple blistering years left in his tank and Amare is just starting to show the NBA what he's capable of. I'd guess the sun will indeed rise in Phoenix this upcoming year.

4. Houston Rockets (Tracy McGrady, Ron Artest, Yao Ming)
Best defensive team in the league? They were right there with Boston last season, and now with Ron Artest added to an already potent defensive juggernaut, percentages can only decrease for the opposition. The big "if" around this team is injuries, like it has been since Yao & McGrady arrived. T-Mac always finds away to injure his back while his teammate Yao Ming finds ways to sit out half a season due to a sore foot. If they're going to be healthy, expect nothing short of brilliant from this group.

3. Los Angeles Lakers (Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol)
Almost Andrew, almost. Bynum's coming off big downtime, he's still young and immature, and the three players with more star power than him on this team are all going to be taking more shots. The bright side for Bynum is that Kobe made him one of his favorite targets this past year, seemingly finding him in every possible scenario - and going the extra distance to find the guy who he bad-mouthed in an LA parking lot just this past off-season.

2. San Antonio Spurs (Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan)
Parker's in his prime, that's the good news - but he only accounts for 33.3% of this trio and the other 66.6% are on the verge of succumbing to father time. Timmy D has noticeably decreased his production in recent years, going from a guaranteed 20/10/2 to an injury-prone big man whose found a way to miss more close range shots than Kwame Brown (or so it seems at times). Never the less, the Spurs have won 4 rings with Tim Duncan as "the guy", and there is no reason to think they can't make it 5 'ships before this day next year.

1. Boston Celtics (Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett)
I hate the Celtics and I hate Paul Pierce, but they are undoubtedly the most talented trio in the league. Garnett lit a fire under every Celtic (at least defensively) this past season, and it showed as they finished as one of the best defensive teams in history during the regular season. 66 wins and the greatest single-game comeback in NBA championship history earns them the number one spot on this list. Next year's list (which probably won't exist) will likely have a little Canadian content at #1, but until then, enjoy your short lived stay Beantown.

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