A Hurricane of an Offseason: NBA Predictions (Part 2 of 2)

19. Hawks

The future looked so promising after they took the Celtics to seven games.

Joe Johnson showed that he was capable of donning the franchise tag with gusto, Josh Smith was terrific on both ends of the floor, while Al Horford showed great playoff poise and some of the winner's edge he developed in Florida. Their bench was a huge factor in the first-round against Boston, and now they've replaced Childress with Flip Murray and Maurice Evans.

The only unfortunate part of their offseason is that the other teams did a lot more, and got a lot better. A full season with Bibby at the point should benefit them, but it will take a lot more than 37 wins to be a part of the playoff battle this season.

Marvin Williams might be useful trade bait to help them get into the playoff discussion, though, since its clear he won't reach his potential with the heap of forwards on this roster.

Prediction: A decent team finally headed in the right direction, but a sub .500 season won't be enough this year. They are simply atrocious on the road, and as a result will likely be back to hoping the ping-pong balls bounce their way.

20. Pacers

Their roster would have made up a pretty good team a decade ago. They would have been able to run with the best of them with TJ Ford at the point and Granger and Dunleavy on the wings.

This year, though, with the league's competitiveness at its highest level ever, the Pacers will struggle to compete.

I expect TJ Ford to thrive in this situation. He plays with the swagger of being the best player on his team, and he is finally on a team where it is true. Granger and Dunleavy are great complements to his game, since they can both run, finish, and create for themselves when Ford runs out of his own options.

The Pacers are presumably still looking for takers for Jamaal Tinsley, and my guess is they will have to wait for Isiah Thomas to return to a GM posting for that to happen. Tinsley is the last "bad boy" Pacer remaining—and the sooner they can cut ties with him the better.

Prediction: Another wasted season, but trading away Jermaine O'Neal was the first step towards eventually regaining a spot amongst the elite. The question is how long will it take them to get there.

21. Bulls

After this summer belonged to the Redeem Team, could this season be the year of the "Redeemabulls"?

Common sense suggests that's unlikely. This is the same team as last season, except for the fact that Chris Duhon is out, and Derrick Rose is in.

Watching Rose with Memphis, its quite clear that he is destined to become an All-Star in this league.  He will have to be an All-Star this year if the Bulls are to return to the playoffs, or what most of this roster would probably rather call the Sweet 16.

Jim Paxson has tried to fill his roster with a variety of college players that come from winning programs, but this was done with the hope that one of them would become that elite-level superstar. It was supposed to be Luol Deng last season, but injuries held him back big time. Kirk Hinrich had a woeful time shooting the ball—and the less said about Joachim Noah's off-court antics the better.

Tyrus Thomas is a bundle of potential, but you can't help but wonder how much better this team would be if they stuck with LaMarcus Aldridge. With a rookie coach, this team seems destined to remain the Horribulls for at least one more year.

Prediction: The lack of a post presence will be hurt them hard again, and so will every tape they see of Gasol in a Lakers uniform. Will miss the playoffs by a mile and I expect more off-court issues as the losing wears them down once again. At least Bulls fans will have a Rookie of the Year campaign to keep tabs on.

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