L.A. Lakers and 4 NBA Teams with the Most to Prove in 2012-13
After trading for Dwight Howard and acquiring Steve Nash this offseason, the Lakers are suddenly the NBA's most popular pick to make it to the NBA Finals. They will also enter the 2012-13 season with the most to prove among the league's 30 franchises.
Elsewhere, the "core four" era has begun for New York's other franchise, a host of guys have new max contracts, and the best of the rest are still fighting to prove they don't need multiple superstars to be successful.
Expectations amongst the elite and the contenders will be high for the first full season after the abbreviated 66-game season in 2011012. Stepping up big will likely result in an extended playoff run for these five teams.
5. Brooklyn Nets
1 of 5A new logo and city, a coach that's only 46-102 in two seasons and one of the NBA's largest payrolls? No, that's not the Charlotte Bobcats anymore. It's the Brooklyn Nets.
After trading for Joe Johnson in the blockbuster deal earlier this summer, re-signing star Olympic gold medalist Deron Williams, Brook Lopez, Gerald Wallace and Kris Humphries and getting ready to move a franchise to Brooklyn for the first time this millennium, the expectations are not for the future, but right now.
The Nets gave up minimal talent to get Joe Johnson, but they opened up their pocketbooks to the tune of $72 million between the aforementioned players. Mikhail Prokhorov may be made of money, but the roster with this kind of salary is going to be expected to produce right away.
C.J. Watson is an under-the-radar signing that will help, and one of the league's brightest rookies last year in MarShon Brooks is still on the roster (somehow). Expectations will be high for Jay Z's team, but they have the talent to immediately be considered a playoff team in the East.
4. Minnesota Timberwolves
2 of 5Minnesota proved they were serious about providing Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love with more help this offseason. They signed Brandon Roy, Andrei Kirilenko, Greg Stiemsma and Alexey Shved. They also made a late push for Nicolas Batum before the Portland Trail Blazers matched a potential offer sheet.
Bottom line: This team is going for it now. It's hard to believe that during Kevin Garnett's time with the team, he didn't win a playoff series until 2004. It's almost equally surprising that they have a chance to top KG's plateau in the very near future.
After adding that kind of talent, watching the show Rubio put on in just his rookie season and Love expressing anger in the front office on the heels of his extension, it's clear that this is a playoff-or-bust year in Minnesota.
This will be great for a franchise that could have one of the best power forward-point guard combos for years to come.
3. Chicago Bulls
3 of 5Chicago might be a surprise entrant into the "most to prove" mix, but maybe not if you look at their success over the past two seasons. Finishing first in the Eastern Conference during the regular season is a benchmark few teams can match.
But history trumps good intentions in Chicago, and this team can thank Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen for that. Call it bad fortune with injury, poor matchups with the Heat or whatever else, but this team has to figure out a way to get past the Eastern Conference finals.
Factor in Derrick Rose's injury that will keep him sidelined to start the season, and we aren't sure what kind of team the Bulls will put on the court until he returns. Is Kirk Hinrich better than C.J. Watson? Is Marquis Teague better than John Lucas III?
Granted, if any other team lost their star like Chicago lost Rose, it would be hard to impose such high expectations to band together. But after consecutive seasons of regular-season dominance followed by playoff disappointment, the Bulls might have more to prove to themselves than they do anyone else.
2. Oklahoma City Thunder
4 of 5The Thunder are in the same position the Miami Heat found themselves in last summer. Coming off of an NBA Finals loss, how will they respond in the regular and postseason?
There is no doubt that the best young team in the West is still the Thunder. This year's Olympic Games proved that, when their current squad made up 25 percent of the 12-man Team USA outfit.
But the West will continue to be a jungle in 2012-13. San Antonio is still looking for Tim Duncan's ride into the sunset. The Clippers, Grizzlies and Nuggets all match up well with OKC. Sudden rival Dallas has re-tooled, and the Los Angeles Lakers are working on Super Team 2.0.
If anyone has the talent to respond to those doubts, it's the Thunder. But until they are hoisting the trophy, they will not be able to rid themselves of the letdown at the end of the 2011-12 season.
1. Los Angeles Lakers
5 of 5If the Lakers only added Steve Nash, it was going to be a great summer. Instead of being happy with adding another two-time MVP to their roster, they decided to flip Andrew Bynum for a three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner, too.
Oh, and they still have Pau Gasol on the roster.
And some guy named Bryant.
Salary cap be darned, this team is title-or-bust. Giving up Andrew Bynum is a risk, because he could potentially be better than Dwight Howard in a few years, but he also could have chosen to leave via free agency. At least the Lakers shipped him to the Eastern Conference.
L.A. is the sexy pick to face the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals this season. That kind of weight, coupled with the expectations of a veteran-crowded, hungry team, put the biggest target on the backs of the Lakers since Shaq and Kobe were still friends.
You don't add MVPs and defensive monsters to your team to be mediocre or even good, especially with Kobe trying to break MJ's title record and the two newcomers chasing their first ring. Night in and night out, the Lakers will get the best of what each team has to offer.
