Top 5 Teams To Watch Next Year

1. Houston Rockets
Why you should watch them:This could be one of the best defensive teams of all-time or arguably even the best team of all-time, looking at there rosters about every single player they have are great defenders and great players, They have 3 stars in Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest. If all of the players on this Houston Rocket team are healthy, they are clearly title contenders as Ron Artest said before, Anything less than a championship this upcoming season will be considered a failure season. Ron Artest was probably not a thought at all if Yao Ming the best center in the NBA right now was healthy in the playoffs, They would've clearly gotten past the 1st round.

-This Houston Rocket team will cause match-up problems for nearly every single team in the league, There are not many teams that have 2 wings who are excellent on D and also a great interior defender and are capable of shutting this Rocket team down. The best team that can match-up with this team is the Lakers, but arguably that is still debatable whether or not they can even defend Ron Artest, Tracy McGrady or Yao Ming. Jeff Van Gundy had said that you will not be able to put a weak defender on Artest, because Artest would school him all night long, and if you put a weak defender on McGrady, you are flat out crazy and must think T-Mac sucks, also even if you do have 2 good wing defenders you forgot the man in the middle Yao Ming, the best center in the league, He draws double teams in a night to night basis, and he can find the open man and let him hit the open shot, I don't see a team that can stop this team when they are all healthy.

- Shane Battier will have the James Posey role he had with the Celtics, playing solid D in the bench and shooting 3's when he needs too, Kobe Bryant will be weared out once he faces Ron Artest one time and Shane Battier once Artest gets his break. Yao Ming will also be a force on the interior defense like he always is and is clearly one of the better interior defenders in the league and the Rockets are clearly the best defensive team in the NBA at this point, for the fact that James Posey left the Boston Celtics. Getting Ron Artest was a now or never move, the Rockets had traded Donte Greene and 1st round picks to Get Ron Artest, The only thing that can stop this team from winning is durability.

2. Los Angeles Lakers
Why you should watch them: The LA Lakers had finished as runner up on the NBA Finals, but most people must have forgotten that Andrew Bynum was out, the young stud center who was having an amazing year before he went out with the knee injury, Andrew Bynum is also a force on the interior Defense just as much as he is on the low-post on the offensive end, Bynum is also a fantastic finisher that might help the Lakers get easier buckets and more boards throughout the game, The Lakers were not that good defensively throughout the season, but that's probably going to change with Andrew Bynum coming back.

-Another reason why this team will be interesting to watch next year is that Kobe Bryant has just came out of the Olympics and he has been dominating so far on the defensive end and that everybody knows he still has that defensive talent he had during his 3-peat years in him. Gasol and Bynum will also be an interesting low-post duo and with Lamar Odom in the high post this team is very strong and can be one of the top rebounding teams in the league. The triangle offense is perfect for Gasol and Kobe, etc...

-The Lakers will need to win the title this year, although trading Gasol was not a now or never move because he is still relatively young, it was a move for the future as well. The only weakness i see for this team is that can they be consistent and can they stay healthy, Lamar Odom is a very inconsistent player but that might change simply because he is moving back to his natural position the Small Forward. I see this team still competing for the title, I don't think not winning it all is a failure season as much as it is for the Houston Rockets.

3. New Orleans Hornets
Why you should watch them: The Hornets were 1 game away to get to the Western Conference Finals, and they lost to the Spurs. One of the main reasons why I think they lost to them is the fact that they were not experienced enough, the only player that has been through those situations was Peja, I really think last year they have learned more about themsleves and now have more experience in the playoffs and can be dark-horses once again on the Western Conference.

-I think the addition of James Posey will help the Hornets very much, What the Hornets lacked last year was a defensive wing player or even a wing player in general who isn't one-dimensional like Peja. James Posey also helps guarding the best defender on the opposing team like the Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Carmelo Anthony, etc... I think the Hornets were exposed to that last year, they were very dominant on the offensive end and on the interior of the defensive end but they really lacked at the wing position. James Posey adds much more depth to this team and will only make them better.

-The Hornets are still a young team and these upcoming seasons will only make them better and prepare them for the future when they are truly ready to win the title and get to that level, Tyson Chandler, Chris Paul and David West are all young players, but I'm not sold on the Hornets getting into the Finals next season they still have some many holes to fill, but I am sold they can at the very least make it to the 2nd round and get to the WCF. Chris Paul was fantastic last year and he was without a doubt the best Point guard in the league last year. Look out for the Hornets next season to make some noise in the Western Conference.

4. Philadelphia 76ers
Why you should watch them: After signing Elton Brand during the off-season, I said the 76ers are going to be a scary team to play against, they pretty much have everything they need to win a title, The only thing the 76ers need is a deeper bench and much better shooters, the 76ers are very good defensively with Andre Iguodala, Elton Brand and Samuel Dalembert, very talented on that end and I expected the 76ers to be one of the best defensive teams on the Eastern Conference.

-The 76ers will probably take time before they become very good because of the addition of Elton Brand might take time, because the 76ers never really had a possible 1st option post up guy in Elton Brand, there best player before was Samuel Dalembert but he is more of a defensive stud. The 76ers were dark-horses last year in the playoffs and they were very good, they can only get better with the newest addition superstar of Elton Brand, a guy who averaged 20/10 before his injury last year, Elton Brand is also hungry to get to the Finals as well as Andre Miller probably is, Elton Brand is also still young so this signing deal might take a while before they become serious title contenders

-I see the 76ers finishing at the 2nd-5th seed, They are good enough to be in the 2nd seed if they are dominant and consistent enough, I see Andre Iguodala becoming only better as well with less double teams and Andre Miller being better as a playmaker even though he is in his prime, I see him getting more assists with Elton Brand on his team.

5. Phoenix Suns
Why you should watch them: This is going to be the 1st year this Phoenix Suns team will get to play an entire year this time with Shaquille O'Neal and with the new coach of Terry Porter. I think Shaquille O'Neal as D. Wade had mention before when he was on TNT, that he was under-utilized, I don't think they used Shaq to often on offense as they could have, Shaq is old and declining but I still believe Shaq still has a good amount of an offensive game in him. Having Terry Porter as a coach will probably improve there defense, the Suns are still going to be an exciting fast break high up tempo team, but the Suns are probably better with Porter instead of Mike D.

-With the growth of Amare Stoudemire's offensive game when Shaq arrived, I think Amare will be competing for the MVP this year, Nash had said later in the season that Amare is the real MVP, I think the Suns can be very dominant as a team, and they are still title contenders with Shaq, but they need to have another defensive wing player, that is what they are lacking at, The suns were destroyed by the Spurs pick n roll with Tony Parker and Tim Duncan, Shaq was a good addition for the Suns defense, but they still need another good defensive wing player.

-My prediction of where the suns will go is the 2nd round at least, I see the Suns at the very least getting that far, they are very talented and they are a very good offensive and now defensive team, I expect Amare Stoudemire to continue on last year's performance in the regular season.