5 NBA Teams Who Are 1 Good Rookie Away from a Deep Playoff Run
The 2012 NBA draft is a perfect opportunity for teams who fell just short of making a playoff run to improve their squads.
Several teams that qualified for the playoffs last season were lacking something to put them over the top. These teams were all very talented, yet were without just that one piece.
Most of these teams will remain mostly intact by the time the draft begins on Thursday, so it'll only be a matter of making the right selection to get them to where they want to be.
There are several prospects in the draft that have the potential to make that kind of an impact. Even though this draft may lack an abundance of superstar talents, it is a deep class with plenty of talent from No. 1 to No. 60.
Selecting a talented player won't be a problem, but making the right selection for a team in contention could prove to be a bit more difficult.
Philadelphia 76ers
1 of 5The Philadelphia 76ers finished 35-31 last season, good enough for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
They surprised the basketball world by defeating the No. 1 seeded Chicago Bulls in six games, but unfortunately fell in the next round to the Boston Celtics in seven games.
The 76ers are just one good rookie away from making an even deeper push, although there's no guarantee that the team will be the same heading into next season.
According to Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle, Iguodala could potentially be part of a deal that would send him to Golden State.
Lou Williams on the other hand, has already opted out of his contract.
Should Iguodala remain with the team, the 76ers will be looking at an explosive rookie to play in the backcourt with Jrue Holiday.
While both Evan Turner and Jodie Meeks are talented players, there are better options available at shooting guard with the team's No. 15 pick.
Austin Rivers is one prospect that would likely be a good fit, as his explosive scoring ability on the floor could open up more opportunities for Iguodala, Holiday and Elton Brand.
A lineup consisting of Holiday, Rivers, Iguodala (at small forward), Brand, Spencer Hawes, Turner, Meeks, Sam Young and Nikola Vucevic would make this team ready for a run at the NBA Finals.
Dallas Mavericks
2 of 5The Dallas Mavericks were a major disappointment this season, failing to win a game in the first round of the playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder after winning the NBA Finals last year.
Jason Kidd was a big part of that championship team, but he underwent a dramatic regression this season. Now there's almost no chance he returns to the Mavericks. According to a report via Newsday, Kidd has expressed interest in joining the Knicks and the Nets.
The Mavericks are a team that's getting old fast, and the window to compete may not be open for much longer. It's unknown as to how many more seasons Dirk Nowitzki can be dominant. Vince Carter, Jason Terry, Shawn Marion and Brendan Haywood are all on the wrong side of 30.
Assuming Kidd is the only player that doesn't return next season out of the team's starting five, the Mavericks will likely look at a point guard with their No. 17 overall pick.
Kendall Marshall from the University of North Carolina would be a fantastic option. His court vision and innate passing ability would be important to setting up Nowitzki and Marion for open jumpers. If Terry returns, he'll reap the benefits of having Marshall as well.
With a young, talented point guard running the show, the Mavericks could leap right back into the beasts of the Western Conference.
This pick could be affected by the Mavericks' pursuit of Deron Williams. The addition of Williams would make Marshall unnecessary and would also propel the Mavericks to the top of the conference.
Denver Nuggets
3 of 5The Denver Nuggets were the sixth seed in the Western Conference for the 2012 playoffs, but were ousted by the No. 3 seeded Los Angeles Lakers in seven games in the opening round.
The Nuggets have an extremely talented backcourt with Ty Lawson and Arron Afflalo handling point guard and shooting guard, respectively. Danilo Gallinari proved last season that he was capable of handling a full-time role, averaging 14.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game at small forward.
The area where the Nuggets need the most help is in their frontcourt.
Kenneth Faried and JaVale McGee were Denver's lone rebounding threats, with 7.7 and 7.8 per game respectively. Al Harrington was mostly used as an offensive weapon, and Timofey Mozgov was pedestrian at best.
With the No. 20 overall pick, the Nuggets need to look for a difference-making big man. Royce White from Iowa State fits that mold.
He may be just 6' 8", but his strength and strong rebounding ability would make him an option at center for Denver in the future. His ball-handling and passing abilities would also contribute to Denver's high-scoring offense.
His height will be the wild card though. Before committing to him as a starter, the Nuggets will have to see how he performs with his shorter stature.
White would also help to solve Denver's defensive woes, as they allowed 101.2 points per game, a mark that placed them 13th in the Western Conference.
With White and Faried in the frontcourt for defense and Afflalo, Lawson and Galinari handling most of the scoring duties, the Nuggets could be mentioned with the best teams in the West next season.
Phoenix Suns
4 of 5The Phoenix Suns finished at 33-33 last season, mostly because of the outstanding play they received from Steve Nash and Marcin Gortat.
Nash may not even return, but let's assume for this slideshow's purposes that he does.
Even at 38, Nash is still capable of running an NBA offense. He's an important piece to any success that the Suns may have next season.
Gortat is another important piece, as his dominant play on both offense and defense provided the Suns with a huge spark.
Now that those two players are in place, Phoenix has some work to do in surrounding them with talent. Jared Dudley and Channing Frye are capable options at the forward positions, but Shannon Brown is not who the Suns should go with at shooting guard.
They'll have to address that issue in the draft.
If Jeremy Lamb falls to Phoenix at No. 13, he'd be a great pick. That being said, it's much more likely that Dion Waiters, a shooting guard from Syracuse, would be available at that point in the draft.
Either one of those players could help the Suns even if Nash doesn't return. The Suns lack a shot-creator, and that's what both players have the potential to give them.
With Waiters on board, and some improvement from Frye and Dudley, the Suns could be a surprise team in the Western Conference next season.
Houston Rockets
5 of 5ESPN's Chad Ford and Marc Stein report that the Rockets are serious players for Dwight Howard, and they already took a step in that direction on Tuesday according to Yahoo Sports Adrian Wojnarowski, trading Chase Budinger to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for the No. 18 overall pick in the draft.
Depending on how much Houston give up in exchange for for Howard in terms of NBA players, the Rockets could be propelled to the top of the Western Conference.
With Howard, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin and Kyle Lowry on the roster, the only hole left to fill would be at small forward.
Chandler Parsons played well in just over 28 minutes per game, but the Rockets may look for a more dynamic offensive player with one of their picks.
They now possess the No. 14, No. 16 and No. 18 picks in the draft, but it's unknown as to which ones would be headed to Orlando in exchange for Howard.
If it doesn't take all of them, then the Rockets could target St. John's forward Moe Harkless in the middle of the first round.
He is athletic and a solid scorer, making him a candidate to be a solid wingman with the Rockets for years to come.
