5 Teams Destined to Crash the 2014 NBA Playoffs

When the Cleveland Cavaliers won the No. 1 pick in the 2013 NBA draft, they made one thing clear: They don't plan on returning to the lottery anytime soon.

The Cavs aren't the only 2013 lottery team that should have their sights set on crashing the 2014 playoffs. While playoff parity doesn't rule the NBA like it does in the NFL, we're bound to have a few lottery teams forcing their way into next year's postseason.

At the moment, the Eastern Conference appears more ripe for turnover than the Western Conference. Depending on what happens in 2013 free agency, the wheels could come off for both the Milwaukee Bucks (if Brandon Jennings, Monta Ellis and J.J. Redick all leave) and the Atlanta Hawks (if Josh Smith departs).

The Boston Celtics, meanwhile, could dig their own grave by buying out Paul Pierce for $5 million by June 30. If they do, Kevin Garnett would likely also be headed out of Boston, whether via retirement or a trade.

In the West, the Los Angeles Lakers are an obvious candidate to miss the 2014 playoffs if they fail to re-sign Dwight Howard. Beyond that, injuries appear to be the biggest threat to derailing a 2013 playoff team in the West, such as the Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets or Memphis Grizzlies.

For this exercise, let's assume that the Hawks, Celtics and Bucks all fall out of the East's 2014 playoff race while the Lakers and one of the Nuggets/Warriors/Grizzlies trio fail to qualify for the 2014 postseason out West.

That leaves five open playoff spots in 2014 ready to be claimed.

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers might be the most obvious candidate to make the leap from lottery team in 2013 to playoff team in 2014.

The team's struggles in the 2012-13 season largely boiled down to two factors: injuries and youth.

Kyrie Irving, the Cavs' star point guard, missed nearly three weeks of action early in the season due to a broken pinky finger, then missed an additional eight games in March after spraining his left shoulder. Starting center Anderson Varejao only played in 25 games before tearing the quadriceps muscle in his right leg and later developing a blood clot in his right lung.

Even when healthy, the Cavaliers trotted out one of the younger lineups in the league during 2012-13. Four of the team's top five players. in terms of minutes played, were either sophomores (Irving and Tristan Thompson) or rookies (Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller).

With at least one year of experience under their belts, all four should continue to improve heading into the 2013-14 season. If new coach Mike Brown can improve a defense that ranked toward the bottom of the league in 2012-13, the Cavaliers should be considerably more competitive on a nightly basis.

Holding the No. 1 pick in the 2013 draft certainly won't hurt the Cavaliers' playoff prospects either. No matter what the team ends up doing with the pick, there's plenty of reason for Cleveland fans to hold out hope for a berth in the 2014 postseason.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Before the start of the 2012-13 season, the Minnesota Timberwolves were the trendy pick for a team ready to make the lottery-to-playoffs leap.

That was before the injury bug reared its ugly head and derailed the Timberwolves' postseason hopes.

After a breakout season in 2011-12, Kevin Love appeared poised to make the leap into superstardom. Instead, he broke his right hand twice—once right before the start of the season, then again in early January—before seeing his season end prematurely due to arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in April.

Point guard Ricky Rubio, meanwhile, had to deal with his own complications after returning in mid-December from a torn ACL. It took the Spaniard until February to rediscover his groove, and his production tailed off significantly toward the end of the season.

If Love and Rubio can stay relatively healthy throughout the 2013-14 season, the Timberwolves will improve by default. Minnesota also desperately needs to add a few long-range shooters after finishing the 2012-13 season with the worst three-point shooting percentage (.305) in the league.

The restricted free agency of Nikola Pekovic could pose problems for Minnesota, as the big man is bound to receive handsome offers from other suitors. If the T'Wolves can re-sign Pekovic, however, it's not difficult to fathom them adding 15-20 wins to their 2012-13 season total of 31.  

Portland Trail Blazers

Remember the doubts about whether Damian Lillard could hold his own in the NBA?

Yeah, about that.

The Weber State product faced skepticism heading into the 2012 draft, but quickly put his critics to rest during his rookie season. He led the NBA in minutes played despite only being a rookie, and his per-game averages of 19.0 points, 6.5 assists and 3.1 rebounds helped him secure the 2012-13 NBA Rookie of the Year award.

If Lillard can maintain his level of play throughout the 2013-14 season, the Portland Trail Blazers should be able to battle for one of the final spots in the Western Conference playoffs. They'll just need to address a few questions about their frontcourt in order to become true playoff contenders.

Unrestricted free agent J.J. Hickson likely won't be back in Portland for the 2013-14 season, leaving the Blazers without a starting center. Rising sophomore Meyers Leonard stands out as the most likely replacement, but the Blazers could always take a swing at someone like Al Jefferson or Nikola Pekovic in free agency, too.

If Portland landed a bruiser like Pekovic to man the middle, it should only help LaMarcus Aldridge dominate opposing power forwards. He doesn't quite have consistent three-point range, but he's already deadly on mid-range pick-and-pop jumpers.  

The Blazers won't have a huge wealth of cap space to spend on 2013 free agents, but one impact addition should be enough to get them over the playoff hump.

Toronto Raptors

Say what you want about Rudy Gay, but there's no denying that the Toronto Raptors became feistier after trading for him in the middle of the 2012-13 season.

Gay became the Raptors' quintessential wing scorer, albeit one whose shooting efficiency leaves much to be desired. Toronto could rely on Gay as their "closer," even if ""hero ball" at the end of games is far less efficient than the "any random open player" method.

Now that he'll have a full offseason and training camp with Toronto, he and the Raptors should only grow more comfortable with one another in 2013-14. The Raps can go into the season with a clear offensive pecking order.

While Gay will be the team's No. 1 offensive option, DeMar DeRozan and Terrence Ross should provide additional firepower from the wings. It's the frontcourt that will be more of a question for Toronto.

Forward Andrea Bargnani will almost assuredly be dangled as trade bait throughout the offseason, but it's difficult to imagine the Raptors finding a willing trade partner. No matter what happens with Bargnani, sophomore center Jonas Valanciunas appears poised for a breakout season.

If the Raptors played in the Western Conference, they'd likely still be on the outside looking in during the 2014 postseason. However, since they play in the depleted Eastern Conference, they should be able to squeak in as one of the last few playoff teams.

Washington Wizards

The Washington Wizards were a laughingstock for the first two months of the 2012-13 season.

Once John Wall returned from a broken hand, however, they suddenly looked like a legitimate playoff team.

The Wizards started off with a 5-28 record in their first 33 games, all but submarining their playoff hopes by early January. In Wall's absence, rookie Bradley Beal struggled with being the backcourt's main offensive threat, both as a scorer and a creator.

When Wall returned on Jan. 12, the Wizards' fortunes immediately began to change. Beal started playing off-ball significantly more, enabling him to break out of his shooting funk and emerge as the sharpshooting threat the Wizards hoped he'd become.

Injuries will be the biggest obstacle between the Wizards and the 2014 playoffs. Between Wall, Beal, Nene and Emeka Okafor, the Wizards' starting lineup would be plenty respectable if they can all stay healthy.

Assuming the Wizards select either Otto Porter or Anthony Bennett with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft, their starting five should pack enough firepower to get them into the 2014 playoffs. Playing in a weakened Eastern Conference should only aid their postseason push.