NBA: 5 Perennial Doormats with Bright Futures

There have always been teams in the NBA that just seemed unbeatable. The Celtics and Lakers of the 1980s, the Bulls of the 1990s, the Spurs and Lakers of the 2000s.

On the flip side, there have always been those teams that are just plain bad. Lottery pick after lottery pick, and still these teams cannot improve. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel for at least five of these teams, who have managed to collect enough good pieces to perhaps move into contention within the next few years.

Charlotte Bobcats

The Bobcats are only seven years old, and they have made just one playoff appearance in this time. After trading away the only All-Star in franchise history, Gerald Wallace, it was clear that they had entered into a rebuilding mode.

This was especially evident during the course of the 2011 NBA Draft, where they traded leading scorer Stephen Jackson to the Bucks in return for athletic small forward Corey Maggette. They walked away from the draft with Maggette, as well as the captain and leading scorer from the NCAA-champion UConn Huskies, Kemba Walker; and the 6'9" defensive specialist Bismack Biyombo from the Congo.

Adding these pieces to rising point guard DJ Augustin and defensive-minded power forward Tyrus Thomas gives the Bobcats a solid young core of athletic players who care about defense. If all goes right, the Bobcats could end up being this year's Grizzlies, a fairytale team who could capture the eighth seed in a weak Eastern Conference.

New Jersey Nets

The future is certainly looking up for the Nets, who, just two seasons ago finished with a record of 12-70. They are just a year away from taking residence in their new arena in Brooklyn.

Center Brook Lopez, just 23 years old, is becoming an offensive force, and may see his name on an All-Star roster if he can learn to rebound and play a bit better defense. Draft night was kind to the Nets as well, as they acquired versatile shooting guard Marshon Brooks and talented scorer Jordan Williams.

The team made their biggest, and perhaps most important move at the trade deadline this past season, when they pulled the trigger on a trade that netted (no pun intended) them All-Star point guard Deron Williams. With the seemingly bottomless pockets of owner Mikhail Prokhorov behind them, the Nets are well positioned for a rise back to prominence.

Golden State Warriors

The Warriors are in an interesting place right now. Their best player, Monta Ellis, seems to be the subject of new trade rumors every day. They are just four years removed from their improbable first-round victory over the top-seeded Mavericks, yet they have not made the playoffs since then.

I think that the best thing for them to do would be to trade Ellis for either a small forward or a center, so as to shore up their starting rotation. Ellis is far too similar to point guard Stephen Curry for them to coexist with any sort of success.

Trading Ellis would then free Curry to become the star that he has shown he can be. He possesses a sweet shot, and can distribute the ball fairly well.

The additions of draft picks Klay Thompson and Jeremy Tyler should help to fill the void left by Ellis, and the signing of Mark Jackson as head coach will hopefully convince them to play defense. The young core of Curry, Thompson and Tyler, along with veterans David Lee, Andris Biedrins and whoever is acquired for Ellis, will prove to be a combination that will see the Warriors playing into May once again.

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Timberwolves have been perhaps the most hapless franchise in the NBA since Kevin Garnett was traded. They have been disappointing in nearly every facet of the game. The blame lies not so much with the players (although most have been mediocre at best) but more with the management. David Kahn has proven himself to be exceptionally inadequate, and their record reflects this. However, all of a sudden, the T-Wolves are looking as though they could make some serious noise down the road.

The natural leader of the team is Kevin Love, a rebounding machine who was the first T-Wolves All-Star in the post-KG era. He is only 22, and is the main building block of this team. Following their selection of Derrick Williams with the second pick in the draft, many are speculating that the team will trade combo forward Michael Beasley, especially in light of his recent legal troubles.I think that they should indeed send Beasley away, in the hopes that they can acquire either a veteran shooting guard or a quality starter at the 5.

With Spanish import Ricky Rubio finally deciding to play for the team that drafted him two years ago, the future in Minnesota seems set. Their team will be built around Rubio, Williams, Love, swingman Wes Johnson and someone that they get for Beasley. This could be one of the more entertaining teams in the league. Love is a fantastic rebounder and outlet passer, so he could fuel the fast breaks, while Rubio offers up delicious passes to Williams or Johnson. The Wolves should take their team in a faster direction, looking to take advantage of their strengths.

Los Angeles Clippers

No team is better poised to make the jump to contention in the next couple seasons than the Los Angeles Clippers. No other team has been a part of more lotteries since the league was founded, and that will soon change for LA's other club.

Behind the ferocious dunks of Rookie of the Year Blake Griffin, the Clips should soon be actually relevant for the first time in their long history. Griffin's offensive game, which now relies on his brute strength and athleticism, will become more and more refined as he matures, as will his defense. He is that rare mix of speed and strength that is extremely conducive to being a quality defender, he just has to have the right coaching and training.

Griffin's running mate will be Eric Gordon, a 2-guard with a great shooting touch. Gordon, like many other players, benefited greatly from his time playing for the United States in the FIBA tournament. He battled injuries for much of last season, but while he was on the floor, he proved he could be a genuine 25-30 PPG guy. Gordon plays solid man-to-man defense, and is a pretty good thief.

The scariest part of this tandem is that they are both just 22 years old, making their potential off the charts. Add in All-Star center Chris Kaman, rising defensive stud DeAndre Jordan, versatile defensive presence Al-Farouq Aminu and speedy, athletic point guard Eric Bledsoe, and this Clippers team could be in playoff contention as early as this season.