Bulls, Knicks, Heat: Five Reasons to Look Beyond a Lingering NBA Lockout
As most professional sports pundits gaze ominously towards the off-season’s rumored lockouts, some fans can afford to cling a little more optimistically to their season tickets.
While half-filled stands might be all too commonplace at Conseco Fieldhouse or the Bradley Center, a shortened (or cancelled) season could stall the momentum of the most exciting prospects in the NBA.
Here are five things to look forward to in season 2011-12.
5. the Heatles Start Smoking
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It took seven years for the Fab Four to give us Sgt. Pepper’s.
We don’t need LeBron or D-Wade to tell us that their South Beach project is a work in progress.
But we’ve seen enough to know that when they’re good—they’re really good.
Doc Rivers might fancy his chances this May, but if the Heat go road-trippin’ like they did in December, they could shake a few post-season feathers.
And they’re 2-0 against Kobe’s Lakers. Just sayin’.
4. Aggressive Trading
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If anything, the looming expiration of the collective bargaining agreement had GMs reluctant to show their hand at the trade table.
It also made long-term contracts harder to secure.
Just ask Melo.
Don’t expect anyone to have to spend All-Star Weekend lying through their teeth at Orlando next year.
3. the Pressure-Cooker in New York
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Who will they be chanting for “MVP” at The Garden next year?
When you secure a perennial All-Star to front your franchise and then trade, well, your whole roster for two more, you need to win.
You have to win.
After more than a decade of mediocrity, the Knicks need to be a post-season threat in the East—or heads will roll.
2. Last-Chance Rings
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While the likes of Kobe and Doc Rivers’ Dad’s Army might enjoy a shorter season, it may well stall the youthful momentum gathering in Oklahoma and well, maybe not New Jersey.
Some of the game’s most decorated stars are bound to be on the way out, but perhaps not without a last ditch charge for a ring.
Could Nash or Kidd be a role-player on a Championship team?
Will Kobe level, or even surpass Jordan?
Could Iverson return to Philly? Again? Ok, too far.
1. Looking Rosey from the Top
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How good is Derrick Rose? MVP good, probably. At only 22.
With an outside game growing deadlier by the month and an uncanny ability to get to the cup, this guy is almost impossible to guard.
Take him out of the game and you have Boozer to run an offense through and Noah hustling on the glass.
That’s right, the last thing Tom Thibodeau needs right now is a lockout.
These Bulls will be battling the Heat for home court for the next five years and if this season’s series is anything to go by, they already have their measure.
