5 NBA Teams on the Rise and 5 on the Decline for 2011-12 Season

In recent seasons, we have seen more and more people calling for greater parity in the NBA, and entering the 2011-12 campaign, it's possible that could begin to be achieved.

After a surprising postseason run from the Memphis Grizzlies last year, and a gritty fight from the Oklahoma City Thunder a season before that, a lot of fans are anxious to peg the next crop of teams that appear ready to breakout.

However, as we saw with the San Antonio Spurs, there are also some teams that have enjoyed prominence and now appear to be headed for a regression from atop the standings.

We're here to comb through five teams that are poised to rise heading into the future, and five that may have a tough time remaining in their typical spot in the standings.

Up: Washington Wizards

2010-11 Record: 23-59; 13th in the Eastern Conference

Although Flip Saunders' club amassed just 23 wins in his first season at the helm, most were expecting a rough season in his inaugural one considering the makeup of the roster.

The club received an impressive performance from the premier pick in the draft in John Wall, enjoyed a breakout campaign from Nick Young at the offensive end and saw Jordan Crawford unleash his potential as an integral piece of the future as the season wore down.

Washington also has an incredibly athletic center in JaVale McGee, and after an excellent draft that saw them land Jan Vesely, Chris Singleton and Shelvin Mack, the arrow is really pointing up for the Wizards.

Down: Atlanta Hawks

2010-11 Record: 44-38; fifth in the Eastern Conference

The curious case of the Atlanta Hawks is one that is somewhat troubling.

After the team has been stuck in the middle over the last few seasons, there hasn't been much progress made in their cohesive evolution.

The club scrapped through the regular season, finishing just six games over the .500 mark, and their biggest star, Joe Johnson, had a fairly disappointing campaign, which left many pointing to his maximum contract and questioning his ultimate worth.

They also played another season without a true center, forcing an undersized line of Josh Smith and Al Horford to battle against much bigger opponents beneath the rim.

Now, Jamal Crawford seems poised to move on in free agency, and the team is relying on Jeff Teague's potential at the point guard to carry them forward.

Up: Milwaukee Bucks

2010-11 Record: 35-47; ninth in the Eastern Conference

The Milwaukee Bucks suffered last season because although there was some legitimate talent on the roster, they didn't have the right complementary pieces paired with one another.

Prior to the draft, the team decided that a roster shake-up was indeed necessary, bringing in veteran Stephen Jackson to pair with Brandon Jennings in the backcourt, as well as Beno Udrih to provide insurance at the point guard position.

Jennings has looked stronger this offseason because of a boxing regimen he's undertaken, and with Andrew Bogut finally healthy after battling through a gruesome elbow injury, this is a Bucks squad that could finally live up to its "Fear the Deer" moniker and make some legitimate noise at the back end of the Eastern Conference.

Down: Phoenix Suns

2010-11 Record: 40-42; 10th in the Western Conference

Steve Nash may have found a new running mate in Marcin Gortat, but it's going to take a lot more than those two to turn around the fortunes of this Suns team.

Despite Gortat's addition, the departure of Jason Richardson really hurt the team at the shooting guard spot, where they relied on an aging Vince Carter to provide substantial production to the team.

Additionally, Josh Childress' signing proved to be one that hasn't worked out for Phoenix thus far, and the same can be said for reserve power forward Hakim Warrick.

With the Suns' best player being 37 years old, it may be time for the team to really give consideration to a full-fledged re-building effort that would allow them to become a competitor once again in a suddenly stacked Western Conference.

Up: Indiana Pacers

2010-11 Record: 37-45; eighth in the Eastern Conference

Indiana surprised a lot of people last season by sneaking into the postseason and giving the heavily favored Chicago Bulls a much bigger challenge than anyone was expecting.

The Pacers have one of the most intriguing group of core players in all of basketball with Danny Granger on the wing, Roy Hibbert patrolling the paint down low and Darren Collison facilitating the offense.

They also have a very promising prospect in Paul George, who looks like the starting shooting guard of the future, and executed a trade to land a very talented combo guard in George Hill from San Antonio.

With a good chance to land a solid starting power forward (David West could be a fit) through free agency, the future of the Pacers is looking really good. This is one club that nobody should be sleeping on in the future.

Down: Orlando Magic

2010-11 Record: 52-30; fourth in the Eastern Conference

General manager Otis Smith is having a tough time gaining support from the public after disappointing endings to the season over the last few campaigns.

With Dwight Howard set to enter unrestricted free agency following the upcoming season, it's going to be the most critical season for the Magic in a long time. Unfortunately for the team, the roster isn't even as talented as it was during 2010-11.

Jason Richardson seems like a remote possibility to be re-signed after the team extended J.J. Redick at a lucrative salary, and with the overly-bloated contracts of Gilbert Arenas and Hedo Turkoglu soaking up a ton of payroll, it's going to be a challenge to achieve financial flexibility.

I just don't see a lot of reason for optimism in Orlando as a legitimate championship contender when Miami, Boston and Chicago all reside in the same conference.

Up: Philadelphia 76ers

2010-11 Record: 41-41; seventh in the Eastern Conference

Similar to the Pacers, the Philadelphia 76ers surprised a lot of critics last season when they achieved more success in the team's first season under Doug Collins than most were expecting to see.

A major reason for the team's step forward was point guard Jrue Holiday, who really put his best foot forward in asserting himself as the team's unquestioned floor general last season.

Although they need to upgrade at shooting guard so Jodie Meeks can return to the second unit and provide them with a much needed scoring threat, the Sixers have a nice crop of talent they can bank on for major minutes moving forward.

To continue to climb up the standings, it is imperative that Philadelphia re-signs restricted free agent Thaddeus Young and add some depth along the front line, but the Sixers are still one team that is primed to enjoy further success moving forward.

Down: New Orleans Hornets

2010-11 Record: 46-36; seventh in the Western Conference

Chris Paul couldn't have been happy about the potential of the Hornets for the upcoming season when David West opted out of the final year of his contract to become an unrestricted free agent.

Although New Orleans remains a possibility for West, I have a hard time believing that he would leave a guaranteed $7.5 million on the table following reconstructive knee surgery if he was planning to return to the team.

Emeka Okafor has proven that he can't be relied upon for consistent offensive production, and Trevor Ariza is terribly miscast as a top scoring threat in any offense.

With the Hornets having so many holes in the roster, very little depth and CP3's contract expiring after the season, I can't find a reason to remain optimistic about New Orleans holding off some of the rising teams in the Western Conference for a postseason spot.

Up: Los Angeles Clippers

2010-11 Record: 32-50; 13th in the Western Conference

The Clippers scored a franchise face in an emphatic manner when they landed Blake Griffin, and despite having to wait a full season for him to debut, it was clear that it was worth every second of the wait.

Griffin came in and immediately found success, establishing himself as one of the best power forwards in the NBA during his rookie season.

Although the walking highlight-reel received the majority of the attention from the media, shooting guard Eric Gordon has an enormous amount of talent and was enjoying a breakout campaign prior to sustaining a wrist injury that ended his season early.

With Gordon and Griffin leading the way, the Clippers also received some promising indications from DeAndre Jordan and his ability to be the center of the future. As long as Al-Farouq Aminu continues to develop, the "other" Los Angeles team could quickly have the most athletic front line in the entire league.

Down: San Antonio Spurs

2010-11 Record: 61-21; first in the Western Conference

The Spurs dominated the regular season despite almost nobody predicting them to finish at the very top of the Western Conference, but their age was quick to show as soon as the postseason began.

Tim Duncan's knees seem like ticking time bombs at this point in his career, Manu Ginobili is already pondering retirement and the team was shopping a freshly extended Tony Parker leading up to the draft in an effort to land in the lottery.

The team also doesn't have a lot of depth that it can turn to to usher in a new era of basketball in San Antonio, and they're about to be faced with a very intriguing challenge about how to turn the page from an era of greatness for the team.

While they're not going to suddenly fall off the face of the conference, I don't see another first-place finish in store for this club in the works any time soon.