Five Teams That Could Seriously Exceed Expectations This Season

Its the time of year when every casual sports fan puts on his prediction hat and proclaims that x team is going win the NBA Championship. While it's understandable that most have picked the Celtics, Lakers, Spurs, Hornets or Cavaliers, a few elite teams are flying under the radar.

In the case of some, there is considerable doubt over how a major offseason move will play out, or there's a feeling that the team's window of opportunity has closed. Perhaps there is a young nucleus which seems a little ripe.

One formula I've sworn by for a very long time is the 3+3D formula—three stars, depth,  determination, and defense.

In this league, regardless of whether you have LeBron, Kobe, or Duncan, you need solid B and C options. You also need depth, solid role players, the determination to win, and a defensive identity.

The following five teams each boast a spectacular trio of star players surrounded by solid supporting casts. Each of these teams has a great shot at exceeding expectations, and each of them had a very disappointing end to the 2007-08 NBA season.

 

 

5.Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets boast one of the most imposing starting lineups in the NBA, which features one of the league's premier scorers, its best perimeter defender, and its biggest global icon. Between Artest, McGrady, and Yao, the Rockets have nearly as talented a trio as the Boston Celtics.

Role players like Rafer Alston, Shane Battier, Steve Francis, Brent Barry, Luis Scola, Carl Landry, Aaron Brooks, and Luther Head make the Rockets one of the deepest teams in the league.

They have one of the finest coaches in the NBA in Rick Adelman, and are coming off a season of injuries and disappointment. Look for the Rockets to get well past the first round this season. Even against the Lakers or Spurs, this team has a great chance.

4.Toronto Raptors

The Raptors shipped T.J. Ford and Rasho Nesterovic to Indiana for what they hope is a healthy, and rejuvenated Jermaine O'Neal. They put former first-overall pick Andrea Bargnani through a summer of weight training, surgery, pickup, games and overall development.

The Raptors have two spectacular players in Chris Bosh and Jose Calderon, who led them to the playoffs last season. When you add a healthy O'Neal, and a vastly-improved Bargnani to that mix, you're basically adding two star players to replace Nesterovic and last year's Bargnani—who was, to put it kindly, awful and unhealthy).

If a few role players like Kris Humphries, Anthony Parker, Jason Kapono, and Roko Ukic can play a little above their heads, this might be a squad that could be the last team standing in the East. 

The Raptors are relying on a lot of unknowns to materialize into positives. O'Neal's health, Parker and Jamario Moon's ability to contain opposing wings, and the fruits of Bargnani's offseason progress all have to turn in the Raptors' favor for Toronto to make noise in the East.

3.Miami Heat

If Michael Beasley is as good as advertised—and I'm going to assume for the sake of this analysis that he is—the Miami Heat have the chance to win over fifty games this season.

If Shawn Marion, Beasley, and a healthy Dwyane Wade can get some chemistry going early, they have the chance of becoming a three-headed monster like Washington's Arenas-Butler-Jamison trio.

However, Wade is the X-Factor. His play in the Olympics is a strong indication that he's back, and hungry for his second championship. While it's hard to imagine this team beating some of the best teams in the East, it's even harder to imagine a way anyone can stop them from scoring at will.

If Beasley's talks of being the MVP are to be taken seriously, he's going to have to average about twenty-eight points and grab eight rebounds on solid percentages. That's the only way he's going to beat out Wade.

2.Portland TrailBlazers

Welcome the future of the NBA—the Portland Trail Blazers. If you're a fan of a young team dreaming of championship banners over the next ten years, stop dreaming unless that team is Portland.

Barring some major health issues, this team is about as good as it gets when you're talking about quality youth.

They have one of the best young wing players in Roy, one of the best young  power-forwards in LaMarcus Aldridge, and a center who's been called the second coming of David Robinson in Oden.

When you add Martell Webster, Travis Outlaw, Jerryd Bayless, Ike Diogu, Channing Frye, and the electric Rudy Fernandez to the mix, you have a solid nucleus of players who have yet to even scratch the surface.

If these Blazers can grow up fast, and Oden can stay healthy, Portland could give some of the top teams fits this season.

1.Phoenix Suns

The best move of the offseason for the Suns was replacing Mike D'Antoni with former Bucks coach Terry Porter. Add to the mix the additions of Goran Dragić and Robin Lopez via the draft, and you have to give Steve Kerr an A-plus for his work this off-season.

In Porter's offense, Nash will play a less prominent role, and the Suns will run their offense through two of the most dominant players this league has ever seen—Shaquille O'Neal and Amare Stoudemire.

They have a solid supporting cast for their three All-Stars in Grant Hill, Boris Diaw, Matt Barnes, Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell, and the aforementioned rookies Lopez and Dragić.

Look for Dragic to be groomed as their point guard of the future, and Lopez will prove to be an absolute steal at 15, as defensive-minded seven-footers are a rare find.

The Suns have a great blend of youth and experience, which will be key to their success this season. Porter is looking to keep Shaq's minutes low, but his touches high.

One has to believe that a player of O'Neal's calibre wants one more ring before he hangs up his size 22s. When you look at their roster, coupled with their new coaching philosophy, you have to like his odds.

For what its worth, I don't think the Celtics would have a shot in hell of beating this team if Nash, Stoudemire, and O'Neal stay healthy.