NBA Finals: Scenarios Where Each Team Can Contend for a Championship

Right now, with nothing happening in the world of basketball and my round-ball addled mind having nothing to do but speculate and reason around things for each team, I have been going a bit insane.

It's just not August unless someone is overpaying for a guy coming off a contract year (Kris Humphries!) or David Kahn is out doing something stupid.

So, with the future of the NBA looking shaky and the upcoming season looking less and less likely to happen (good God what will I do for the next 11 months?) I have nothing to do but ask myself what teams can do to get better and just how each of those teams can get better.

With that, I thought I would just go ahead and take a bit of a step off the deep end and evaluate each team and see what they would have to do to reach the NBA Finals if we end up having a season this year.

Atlanta Hawks

The first thing the Atlanta Hawks need to do is see if Jeff Teague is capable of starting in the NBA.  He started for them in the series against the Bulls, and for the most part, he did a great job, scoring 21 points three times and really taking control of the game at times.  With a season full of experience as the starter, he could be something special.

If they want to win a title now, they need to pay Jamal Crawford to get him to stay, but if they want to be better set up down the road, then they should let him go.  Crawford will help them in the short run but could kill their cap in the long run.

Otherwise, they are going to have to hope that Joe Johnson doesn't continue to regress and the rest of their team comes together to realize that they are running out of chances to be a great team.

Boston Celtics

There are only two real problems with the Boston Celtics.  They are old, so they have the danger of getting hurt more than other teams, and they have no legitimate center.

With $72 million locked up in nine players (so long as they extend a qualifying offer to Jeff Green), one of them still being Rasheed Wallace (unless he was bought out at some point and I didn't realize it), they will have a hard time adding anyone of real value.

They could employ some crazy sign-and-trade scenario where they send Jeff Green and Rasheed's expiring contract for a risky or mid-level center, or they could just spend their mid-level exception on some mediocre big guy.

Then they just have to hope that everyone stays healthy.  That, and that more than anything else, will help them make it to the playoffs.

Charlotte Bobcats

The one and only thing that could propel the Charlotte Bobcats to the NBA Finals this year would be an all-out nuclear war.

I'm sure that Michael Jordan could get a bomb shelter prepared in time and, if he wanted to, save his team in case there is a Mad Max style world afterward, but they need to play basketball for gasoline and supremacy.

Chicago Bulls

Signing Carlos Boozer to a huge contract may have been a bit short-sighted.  He has had some injury issues that seem to make him care less on defense, plus his offensive game was not up to snuff last season.

If they can find a new home for Boozer, allowing Taj Gibson to start and get some kind of value in return then they should take it.

Next, they need to find some kind of shooting guard to either start over Keith Bogans or pair with him to give them a one-two punch.  Getting involved in a sign-and-trade for Jamal Crawford or J.R Smith would be an interesting option for the Bulls.

Cleveland Cavaliers

If ever there was a team in need of some Angels in the Outfield scenario, it would be the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The city has been without a championship for decades, the team was recently scorned in the worst way possible by the supposed savior of the city and they became the laughing stock of the league a year ago with their month-and-a-half long losing streak.

The only way Cleveland ends up with a chance to hoist the O'Brien Trophy at the end of the year is if their season turns into a Disney movie, and angels help their players while they are on the floor.

Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks were underestimated by nearly everyone in the media before their run to the title.

Countless people picked the Trail Blazers to upset them, still more picked the Lakers to end their season, people were about split when they played the Thunder and Miami was the team of choice for the finals.  Dallas won despite everything working against them, so why change it now?

The Mavericks have a slew of players becoming free agents and must re-sign most of them to get back to the finals (they could probably do without Peja Stojakovic).

Denver Nuggets

I really believe that the most important player for the Denver Nuggets after Carmelo Anthony was traded was Nene.  His stats didn't improve much, but he is a big center with the ability to run the floor with a gunslinging team like Denver was later in the year, while still giving them a good presence down low, so they need to keep him.

Otherwise, they have a slew of young players with tons of promise, they just need to hope that every last one of those players hit their improvement this season.

Timofey Mozgov needs to be a legit backup center, possibly turning into what Marcin Gortat was for the Magic a few years back, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari and Arron Afflalo need huge improvement and Ty Lawson needs to be a real starting point guard.

Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons have a good team...if we went back at least four years.

If Detroit were to stumble upon a time machine where you put in a basketball player on one side and on the other side he comes out at the peak of their career, then they would have a shot at a title.

That would give them Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva when they were actually good players, plus if they re-sign Ben Wallace, then they would have the best defensive player of the last decade anchoring them down in the middle.

Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors are an amazing offensive team, and they may very well be one of the best in the league, so the only way they could end up with a title is if everyone else had to play their style of basketball.

If the NBA decides that offense sells, and they will do anything to get more points changing the shot clock from 24 seconds down to 10 seconds then Golden State would have a shot.

They would just have to shoot the ball, they would have no need to worry about that pesky defense, and they would finally be allowed to take 100 shots a game without looking insane.

Houston Rockets

I am actually a big fan of the Houston Rockets and how they are built.  In fact, if they fill in a few holes and get deeper, they could have a nice underdog run in the playoffs.

The biggest improvements they need are at starting small forward and point guard depth.

Chase Budinger as your starting small forward is fine if you are getting extra points for whiteness, but if you are playing actual basketball then he is a bench player at best at this point in his career.  Caron Butler or even Tayshaun Prince, who could revitalize his career as the veteran leader of a scrappy young team.

A good option to back up Kyle Lowry at the point would come from just down the road in Dallas, as JJ Barea could be a spark off the bench and a great backup point guard.

Indiana Pacers

The Indiana Pacers have a lot of weapons.  Danny Granger and Darren Collison are capable of being great one and two options together, Roy Hibbert is nearly a very good center, Tyler Hansbrough, Paul George, Josh McRoberts and Brandon Rush is turning into a legitimate bench player.

The only thing that would propel them to the finals while still keeping them in a good position for down the road (meaning their not selling the farm to get Dwight Howard and Chris Paul for a half season) would be huge improvements and career years.

They would need career years from Granger Collison and Hibbert and huge improvements from everyone else.

Los Angeles Clippers

Dare I say that the Los Angeles Clippers are possibly a legitimate playoff team?  Screw it; they could make the playoffs!  (Blake Griffin just fell down a flight of stairs somewhere in Oklahoma)

To put them over the top, DeAndre Jordan would need to turn into that top-10 center that it seems they think he is, Griffin would need to continue to improve, along with the other young players on their team.

However, that probably wouldn't be enough for them.  The best trade I think they could make would be the rumored Chris Kaman for Andre Iguodala swap that has been making its rounds around the internet, giving them a real shooting guard or small forward (sorry Randy Foye, Eric Gordon, Jamario Moon and Ryan Gomes).

Finally, this would make Mo Williams more comfortable, as he would be the third option at best, and there would be far less pressure on him.

Los Angeles Lakers

There has been endless talk of the Lakers making a move for Dwight Howard, even possibly trading Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum for the big man, but that is a move for tomorrow, not for today.

The Lakers still have a team that is capable of winning a championship and may very well be set up perfectly to do it right now.

Los Angeles as a team was a bit of a pushover in the playoffs last season.  Carl Landry, Emeka Okafor, Shawn Marion and Tyson Chandler pushed around their big guys, namely Pau Gasol.

Mike Brown coming in to coach should give them some much needed toughness and improve their defense tremendously so long as they buy into his philosophy, putting them in great position to win a title.

Memphis Grizzlies

The few of you out there who read a lot of what I write know that I jumped on the Grizzlies bandwagon a few weeks before the playoffs, I picked them to beat the Spurs in the first round and watched them like a proud papa watching his recently adopted son grow up and fly away in just a few short weeks.

I still have all kinds of faith in them, but they need to handle things perfectly and have a bit of luck.  Re-signing Marc Gasol and Shane Battier are musts.  Marc Gasol became a top-five center in the playoffs and he should just continue to get better.

Then, there is the sub-plot of Rudy Gay being re-introduced to the lineup.  If he works back into the team in their new-ish system and plays defense as good as the rest of the team, then they could surprise the league again and be a top-four team in the West and even make a run to the finals.

Miami Heat

The biggest problem with the Miami Heat is their lack of a center; that is a given.  Their hole at point guard is noticeable, but what would really be wrong with putting LeBron James on the point and playing a hybrid offense?

Picking up a center is going to be difficult, as all they have other than the ability to sign veteran minimum players is the mid-level exception, and that probably won't be enough money to sign any of the good centers out there this year.

The only other thing that they need to pick up, that I wrote in length about on Saturday is a clubhouse guy, also known as Brain Scalabrine.

Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks have a nice base for a team with Andrew Bogut and Brandon Jennnings, and they have potential for a nice player at shooting guard this year if Stephen Jackson comes to play, but they are far off from contending for a championship.

They will need a small forward who isn't Carlos Delfino starting for them, so signing someone along the lines of Caron Butler and then a good bench player like Shane Battier to back up the two and three spot would be necessary.

Even then, they are going to need more, and if they improve that small forward spot, then I think they could be one of those teams in the mix to trade for Josh Smith.  That would give them a legitimate starter at each position.

However, they would still need improvement from Bogut and definitely Jennings, plus a better year out of their bench to grab a shot at a ring.

Minnesota Timberwolves

The only way the Minnesota Timberwolves end up playing as one of the final two teams in the league at the end of this season is if we see two of the best rookie seasons in the history of the NBA happen on the same team in the same year.

Rickey Rubio would have to turn out to be Pistol Pete reincarnated mixed with a little bit of Allen Iverson, while Derrick Williams would have to end up being Kevin Durant.

Even then they would need David Kahn to refrain from doing something completely idiotic, which is probably the most far-fetched of the three.

New Jersey Nets

The New Jersey Nets have Deron Williams and Brook Lopez as a nice base for a team, but no number of moves and free-agency signings could turn them into a contender this year.

What would give them a shot at making the finals would be the incapacitation of the rest of the Eastern Conference.

So, if the bird flu finally materializes and ends up making everyone east of the Mississippi River sick for months only to find out that Deron Williams has some kind of immunity, then, and only then could the Nets end up in the finals.

New Orleans Hornets

For all the turmoil going on in the New Orleans front office, the Hornets aren't that far off from being a great team.

Their first move should be to find a good shooting guard, as Marco Belinelli is a bench player at this point in his career—a hole that Jamal Crawford could fill quite well.

Then they would need to re-sign David West, who should be had at a cheaper price than once thought, as he is coming off knee surgery.  As long as he is healthy then they have a very good starting five of Chris Paul, Crawford Trevor Ariza, West and Emeka Okafor with Carl Landry, Belinelli and Willie Green coming off the bench.

That's not a bad front eight, especially if Ariza realizes that he doesn't have to be relied upon that heavily and reverts back to the productivity that he showed in his Lakers days.

New York Knicks

The duo of Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire seems to be a pretty good pairing at this point, and they should only get better for the foreseeable future, but that wouldn't be enough to get them to the finals at the end of this season.

The only way I see them making it there would be if they were able to finagle some sort of trade for Chris Paul, giving up Chauncey Billups' expiring contract, Landry Fields, Iman Shumpert and their next two available first-round draft picks.

I think that trio, along with whatever stiffs they could throw in a uniform to put around them from the D-League and beyond, would have a shot at the finals.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Oklahoma City is one of the only teams out there who just has to go about their business and let the finals come to them.

The only free-agent signing they have to worry about is whether or not they want to retain Daequon Cook, and they don't even have to worry that much there, as he is a restricted free agent.

As long as they don't have any injuries or any clubhouse problems, they should be right in the mix this year.

Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic are on the brink of falling apart, but they can be saved.

For the long run, I don't really think Dwight Howard is going to walk in free agency.  There isn't a big-market team out there that could afford him without the help of a sign-and-trade from the Magic, so they should let him test the market and wait to see if he comes back.

It's risky, I know, but I'm pretty sure it would work.  Do you really think Howard wants to sign with the Phoenix Suns or Cleveland Cavaliers?

For the short run, I think picking up Josh Smith would solve many problems for them that could potentially help them get over the hump and get back to the finals.

Philadelphia 76ers

Spencer Hawes and Marreese Speights are not legitimate starting centers in the NBA unless you have a guy like LeBron James or Kevin Durant leading your team, so the biggest hole the Sixers need to fill is their biggest position.

They should go out and make an offer to Nene, as they may just be able to afford him when the new salary cap comes out if it is a hard cap (as that should make it higher).

From there they just have to hope that their players make huge jumps.  Evan Turner needs to play like a No. 2 pick is expected to, Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams need to continue to improve and Elton Brand would need to go back to his Clippers days to give them any shot at a trip to the finals.

Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns need some help from their new immigration law if they're going to want to compete for the title this year, and that's going to take some bribing of the police.

Every time a new team comes to town, they are going to have to have the police pull over their best three or four players, demand they prove that they are citizens and arrest them on the spot if they don't have a birth certificate.  They need to take the law into their own hands for the good of their basketball team.

Now, with half of the league dealing with immigration issues after being deported to Peru, Phoenix would be in prime position to swoop in and take a stab at the title.

Portland Trail Blazers

Portland needs one thing and one thing only to be a championship contending team.  They need health.

So they should pray to whoever they want to, have some local Native American tribes perform some sort of dance for them, employ a witch doctor, pay for the best medical staff money can buy, fly in Dr. House and then just hope.

If Greg Oden and Brandon Roy can have a perfectly healthy year, then the Blazers are going to be a dangerous team, and they could easily compete for a title.

Sacramento Kings

The Sacramento Kings are currently employing more basketball black holes than any other team in the league.  John Salmons and Tyreke Evans are notorious "shoot first, ask questions later" types of guys. 

DeMarcus Cousins was the same way last year, and I would be lying to you if I said that I think Jimmer Fredette is going to be any different.

Because of that, they are going to need to shoot a ridiculous percentage, because they aren't going to be getting many high-quality shots.

Aside from that, they are going to need the Maloof brothers to find a few billion dollars while the rest of the league's owners go bankrupt so they can fritter away all of the talent in the free-agent market while the other teams see uprisings by their players who aren't receiving a paycheck.

San Antonio Spurs

San Antonio needs to put everything on cruise control until there is about two weeks left in the regular season.

They should be able to be a top-five team even playing at two-thirds speed, and they will be able to stay healthy and fresh doing that.

Then they will need to kick it in gear with a few weeks to go so they aren't sluggish in the playoffs, and hopefully will be on a roll going in.

That all should help them stay healthy and help the old fellows on their team avoid feeling pooped at the end of the season.

Toronto Raptors

There is one way, and one way only, that the Toronto Raptors end up as NBA champions at the end of this season.

First, America would have to be taken over by some outside force, preferably another country rather than just a dictatorial group.  That group would then have to go on to instill a series of laws attempting to snuff out any and all types of American culture, thereby outlawing baseball, basketball, football and NASCAR (rednecks would overthrow this new leadership before they finished the speech outlawing their beloved sport).

That would leave Toronto to pick up the scraps and claim basketball victory for Canada.

Utah Jazz

A combination of vast improvements by all of their young players, the return of Mehmet Okur at an even higher level, the re-signing of Andrei Kirilenko and improvements from him and Al Jefferson would be a nice start for Utah.

However, those improvements from guys like Devin Harris, Paul Millsap, Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward would have to be huge.

Then they would need Enes Kanter to come in and be the second coming of Arvydas Sabonis, only in his days in Russia before he came to the NBA broken down and beaten up by the horrific schedule of playing in the USSR.

Washington Wizards

There is one thing that I cannot refute, the Washington Wizards are going to be an exciting team this season.

They have one of the most exciting young point guards with a years worth of experience under his belt, the most exciting guy from this year's dunk contest and one of the tallest, most athletic small forwards you will ever see come out of Europe.

John Wall is going to be throwing alleys to his teammates oops with startling frequency, and it's going to be fun.

However, the only way they get anywhere near the NBA Finals this season is if a rule change makes it so those alley-oops are worth 12 points apiece.