Top 5 NBA Teams with the Brightest Futures

Over the last few seasons, we have not seen much parity in the NBA. It seems as though the same teams are always in the playoffs and there are really no surprises. And when there is a surprise, they are quickly ousted from the postseason and we won't hear from them again until the following season begins.

The Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls and a couple of others seem to be the best teams in the NBA, year in and year out. There are really no other real contenders. The Oklahoma City Thunder have made quite a bit of noise and it looks as though they will be contenders in the West as long as they keep their corps of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, and James Harden together.

I really don't see a team outside of the ones listed above winning the championship over the foreseeable future. But one can dream, right?

Even though we probably won't see a team such as the New Orleans Hornets or the Sacramento Kings win a championship anytime soon, there have been a number of teams that have surprised the NBA this year, but how they do in the playoffs remains to be seen.

Regardless, there is so much young talent in the NBA, and this year's draft class is expected to be one of the deepest of all-time. Needless to say, there will be some teams that come out of nowhere to return to superiority over the next few years.

In this slideshow, I will feature five teams that have amazingly bright futures and that could possibly do some damage in future postseasons.

Indiana Pacers

In my opinion, the Pacers have been the biggest team surprise this season. The team has played exceptionally well and they currently rank third in the Eastern Conference with a 22-12 record. The Chicago Bulls (30-8) and Miami Heat (28-8) are the only teams with better records.

The Pacers have done fairly well scouting talent over the last few years, drafting players such as Danny Granger in 2005, Tyler Hansbrough in 2009 and Paul George in 2010. Indiana also acquired the draft rights to All-Star Roy Hibbert on draft day in 2008 in a six-player deal that involved Jermaine O'Neal.

Last year, the franchise also dealt the 15th-overall selection (Kawhi Leonard) to San Antonio in exchange for combo guard George Hill, who has been a solid contributor to the team this season. Additionally, the Pacers acquired point guard Darren Collison before the start of the 2010-11 season, as part of a four-team mega-deal.

Adding in veterans such as David West and Dahntay Jones and the Pacers have a surprisingly good team.

With such a young, good corps of players and over $14 million in cap space, the Pacers have a solid shot at becoming contenders again at the professional level. The franchise has a legitimate shot at luring a marquee free agent in the offseason and maybe, just maybe, the team could challenge the Bulls and Heat for conference supremacy.

I can't see into the future, but I'm going to go ahead and predict that the Pacers will be tough to oust in the postseason. I can definitely see them giving teams fits, especially with the combination of Granger and Hibbert, both of whom have All-Star Game appearances.

Over the next few seasons, the Pacers will definitely be a team to be reckoned with. Maybe the corps of Granger, Hibbert, Collison, West and Hill can become their new version of Jermaine O'Neal, Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jamaal Tinsley and Reggie Miller.

We'll see what happens, but the team is undoubtedly on the right track.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Before the season started, if you would have told me that the Minnesota Timberwolves would be 18-19 at one point, I probably would have laughed in your face. Yes, I know the team is not at .500, but for the 'Wolves to be just one game back of that mark is quite an accomplishment.

The franchise made one of the best moves in the team's history this offseason when they hired Rick Adelman to become their new head coach. Adelman is one of the best coaches of all time in the NBA and they could not have made a better decision. I believe that's the main reason they are doing so well right now. As long as they keep Adelman, the team will be set.

To go along with Adelman, the team also has one of the brightest young rosters in the NBA. With players such as Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio, Wesley Johnson and Derrick Williams roaming the hardwood, the 'Wolves seem to be headed in the right direction. Also, Nikola Pekovic has quietly emerged into a solid center and has formed quite the duo with Love, who won the three-point shootout at All-Star Weekend.

Additionally, with role players such as Martell Webster, Luke Ridnour and Jose Barea, the team looks like they can do some damage in the near future -- by the way, I would have included Michael Beasley in the previous sentence, but it is certainly plausible that he won't be on the team for that much longer.

Currently, the 'Wolves have the second-youngest team in the NBA (24.74 years), which speaks volumes to how well they are playing right now. With a few more years of experience, the team will definitely be a force once the players fully develop.

The 'Wolves, after years and years of suffering, seem to be surging even though general manager David Kahn has caught an abundance of flack over the years. It appears as though Kahn was making good decisions after all, which is something I never thought I'd say.

Watch out NBA, the duo of Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio will be scary and exciting over the next few years.

Philadelphia 76ers

Like the Indiana Pacers, the Sixers have been a pleasant surprise this season.

The team, led by no-nonsense coach Doug Collins, currently sits in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with a 22-15 record. The Pacers, Bulls, and Heat are the only East teams that are ahead of them at this point.

The Sixers have one of the best young cores in the entire league, led by All-Star Andre Iguodala. With contributing players such as Jrue Holiday, Lou Williams, Thaddeus Young, Evan Turner and Jodie Meeks thrown in the mix, the Sixers could become contenders once again.

However, the team's one downfall is that they are currently paying Elton Brand a shade over $17 million this season -- unfortunately, there's also another year left on his deal when this season concludes. Brand is still an excellent role player, but he is not worth $17 million.

With one of the youngest rosters in the NBA, the team appears to be headed in the right direction. Even though they lost in five games to the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs last year, they gave the Eastern Conference Champions fits throughout the series.

Their roster provides a number of odd matchups that gives other teams troubles. It mainly begins with Iguodala, who is one of the best all-around players on both sides of the ball.

Currently, the team is mediocre when it comes to scoring, as they average about 94 points per game. However, they make up for it with their solid and extraordinary defensive play, as they only give up a league-best 87 points per contest.

The team is also very smart with the basketball, as they only turn it over 10.6 times per contest, by far the least amount in the NBA. The next closest team is the Spurs with 13.6. Needless to say, the Sixers have been playing great basketball and if they can continue to do that, they will make some noise in the postseason.

Philadelphia definitely has a bright future and as long as they keep the roster intact, the Sixers could be on the verge of something great.

Memphis Grizzlies

The Memphis Grizzlies shocked the NBA world last year when the team, as the No. 8 seed, upset the first-seeded San Antonio Spurs in six games in the first-round of the playoffs. The Grizzlies were also just one game away from advancing to the Western Conference Finals, but they just couldn't seal the deal against the Oklahoma City Thunder. And they did all of it without Rudy Gay.

Excitement crowded Memphis this year, as many thought the Grizzlies would be a top-tier team. Unfortunately, they lost Zach Randolph for an extended amount of time after their fourth game. Prior to the start of the season, they also lost key contributor Darrell Arthur for the season.

But somehow, the Grizzlies have managed to play great basketball without two key players, as they currently sit in fifth place in the Western Conference They are just four games out of the second-place San Antonio Spurs.

If they had Randolph and Arthur, who knows what they'd be doing right now.

Despite making questionable draft day acquisitions in Hasheem Thabeet and Xavier Henry, the Grizzlies have somehow been able to keep themselves in the playoff picture.

With a young corps that features Rudy Gay, Mike Conley, O.J. Mayo and All-Star Marc Gasol, the Grizzlies have seemingly abandoned their old losing ways and have transformed themselves into contenders. With Tony Allen's defensive presence and Marreese Speights' stellar play, the Grizzlies have played exceptionally well without the player affectionately known as "Z-Bo".

Once the Grizzlies get Randolph back, the Grizzlies will be a tough team to beat. And they can only get better as times rolls on, as their players acquire more and more experience.

The Grizzlies have one of the brightest futures in the NBA, without a doubt. And with one of the deepest drafts in NBA history, the Grizzlies could nab themselves a nice sleeper in the later part of the first round.

We'll see what happens.

Sacramento Kings

The Kings, albeit their poor 12-24 record, have a solid shot at becoming a great team.

As of right now, their main problem is their experience. The Kings currently have the youngest roster in the NBA, as just two players are over thirty years old -- Francisco Garcia is 31 and John Salmons is 32. The next oldest player is the 28-year-old, under-sized Chuck Hayes.

The Kings are young, but they have plenty of time to figure it out. It especially helps that the team knows they will remain in Sacramento for the foreseeable future.

The team definitely has some great up-and-coming players, especially Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins, both of whom are on the cusp of stardom. Marcus Thornton, the starting shooting guard, is a great shooter, even though that's about all he does. The former LSU star is currently averaging about 18 points per game for the Kings.

The Kings also acquired power forward J.J. Hickson during the offseason in exchange for Omri Casspi. Hickson has not put up great numbers this season (4.9 points, 5.1 rebounds), but he is also registering about 18 minutes per contest.

Additionally, the front office used their most recent first-round selection on center Bismack Biymobo, but immediately dealt him for college star Jimmer Fredette, as part of a three-team trade. Sacramento also held the last pick of the entire draft, using it on point guard Isaiah Thomas, who has been one of the biggest surprises of the season. Thomas recently collected Rookie of the Month honors for the Western Conference, as he led all West rookies in scoring (12.2) and was second in assists (4.4 per game).

With a roster that features Evans (22), Cousins (21), Thornton (24), Hickson (23), Thomas (23), Fredette (23) and Jason Thompson (25), the Kings appear to be headed in the right direction as long as the players fully develop.

I really like the team's chances of succeeding and hopefully returning to the days of when Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Vlade Divac and Doug Christie were on the team. Now that the team knows they'll remain in Sacramento, maybe the players can solely focus on winning games, instead of wondering about other possibilities.

But as of right now, the Kings have a legitimate shot at returning to the spotlight. And it all rests on the shoulders of their franchise players, Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins.

But Don't Rule Out...

Don't rule out the New Orleans Hornets either. They have struggled all season long after dealing away franchise player Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers.

But luckily, they were able to get players in return for Paul and that's what could make them a good team in the future. The Hornets acquired shooting guard Eric Gordon, small forward Al-Farouq Aminu and center Chris Kaman in the deal.

The team also acquired shooting guard Xavier Henry and point guard Greivis Vasquez from the Grizzlies at some point, as well. The injury-prone Henry is coming off a 19-point effort against the Mavericks, as he played 24 minutes, a season high. Vasquez has been a pleasant surprise for the Hornets, as his play recently earned him the starting nod over veteran Jarrett Jack.

Prior to the season's start, the team also signed the 26-year-old Gustavo Ayon, who had never played in an official NBA game. Ayon has been another surprise, as he receives almost nineteen minutes per game, while averaging 6.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest.

The rest of the team features key role players such as Emeka Okafor, Marco Belinelli, Carl Landry and Trevor Ariza, all of whom are younger than 30 years old.

With one of the youngest rosters in the NBA and players that ooze potential, the Hornets could return to greatness over the next few seasons.