NBA Players Guaranteed To Underperform in the 2011-2012 Season

The NBA lockout is over, well sort of.  

The players union and owners are almost certain that the new labor agreement will be passed when it is voted on, but there are a few players who hope it doesn't get passed.

These players don't want the agreement to be approved because they are doomed to perform below expectations in the shortened 2011-2012 NBA season.  Some of the players on the list are young and have a loads of upside, while others on this list are nearing the end of their NBA tenures.

The one thing that all of these player have in common is that their respective teams have failed to bring in high quality talent to support them.  The lack of talent around these players will result in their 2011-2012 demise.       

Awaiting you is a list of players who are praying that somehow the new labor agreement won't be approved so that they can skip the 2011-2012 NBA season.  

6. Cleveland Cavaliers PG Baron Davis

First of all, the No. 85 should be outlawed in the NBA.  Seriously who wears a number that high as a point guard?  It should be reserved for massively oversized centers, like Shawn Bradley or Greg Ostertag.

Now that that has been said, let's get to the real point.  Cavaliers PG Baron Davis is going to have a terrible year with the Cleveland Cavaliers.  

Davis' production has steadily declined in his post Hornets and Warriors years.  Last year with the Cavaliers Davis averaged only 13.9 points per game and 6.1 assists per game.  While those numbers weren't career lows, they weren't nearly enough to help the Cavaliers and his numbers in 2011-2012 will be the same.  

The main reason why Davis' production will drop drastically this year is the fact that the Cavaliers drafted fellow point guard Kyrie Irving.

If the Cavaliers want to be successful in the future they need to play Irving as often as they can and that will ultimately mean the demise of Baron Davis. 

5. Los Angeles Clippers PF Blake Griffin

Blake Griffin averaged a double-double, 22.5 points per game and 12.1 rebounds per game, in the 2010-2011 NBA season.  Unfortunately for Grffin, the 2011-2012 NBA season won't be as kind to him.  

Blake Griffin is an incredible athlete, probably one of the best pure athletes that the NBA has ever seen. Griffin's athleticism will only take him so far, and that is why 2011-2012 will show a dip in production for Griffin.

Until Griffin develops a solid mid-range shot and a solidified set of post moves he will not produce like he did in his rookie season, and here's why.  The Clippers did a terrible job of adding talent to their roster in the draft, and that puts more pressure on Griffin to produce.  Defenses will force him into double teams, because they know the talent around him can't get the job done without him.

Here's hoping, for Griffin's sake, that the Clippers pick up some talent like SG Jason Richardson or SG MIchael Redd when free agency begins on December 9th.  If they don't, Blake Griffin will struggle and so will the Clippers.  

4. Indianapolis Pacers SG/SF Danny Granger

Danny Granger had a career year in 2008-2009, averaging 25.8 points per game.  Unfortunately for Granger his career production has steadily declined ever since.  

Danny Granger is a player that has only one-dimension to his game.  He is a small forward who likes to shoot jump shots, and that is his primary problem.  Granger, ever since entering the NBA, has never worked to develop any other aspects of his game.  

Once Granger proved to opponents that he could play more like a guard than a forward, defenses have been able to slow down his performance.  At 6'8" and only 228 pounds, Granger is put into mismatched situations consistently that are not in his favor, and without a post game or even a solid set of post moves that will not change.  

Granger is weak in the paint, and until that changes his production will continue to decline.  

Oh did I forget to mention the Pacers did nothing to help their team in the offseason aside from acquiring over valued SG George Hill?

2011-2012 will look very similar to the 2010-2011 NBA season for the Pacers, with only one difference, a decline in performance from Danny Granger     

3. New Jersey Nets PG Deron Williams

Deron Williams and the New Jersey Nets are in for a long, long year.  The Nets will be lucky if they surpass last year's win total of 24, and not even Deron Williams can change that.  

The problem here is that the New Jersey Nets are looking to Deron Williams to revitalize their franchise, and that is not the kind of player Williams is.  Williams is a good role player who can facilitate and create opportunities for other players.  The problem for Williams is that he has no real talent around him to facilitate the game to.

Deron Williams was having a career best year with the Jazz last year and that all changed when he was traded to the Nets.  William's production dropped from averaging 21.3 points per game with the Jazz to 15.0 points per game with the Nets, and that drop in production will carry over into the 2011-2012 season.

The reason for that drop in production is the lack of talent that is around him in New Jersey.  

Deron Williams will not be able to handle the pressure of being "the man" in New Jersey and that will be evidenced by his lack of production in 2011-2012.   

2. Boston Celtics Big Three: PF Kevin Garnet, SG Ray Allen and SF Paul Pierce

Celtic's SF Paul Pierce (34), PF Kevin Garnett (35) and SG Ray Allen (36) aren't getting any younger, and that fact will be put on display this upcoming NBA season more than any other.  

Last year the Celtics ended their season by losing to the Miami Heat in the second round of the NBA playoffs.  I'll be surprised if the Celtics even make it that far this year, mainly because the Celtics have very average talent on their roster aside from the big three.  

When the Celtics traded Kendrick Perkins to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Jeff Green they sealed their fate for not only that season but also for the next few seasons to come.  The reason for that is because with Perkins gone the Celtics lack a strong interior post presence, which forces Garnett into the paint, a place where he is not incredibly comfortable.  

Instead of the Celtics drafting a Perkins-like center, they drafted athletic but undersized forward JaJuan Johnson and streaky shooting guard E'Twaun Moore.  I'm sure the Celtics plan on using Johnson and Moore as replacements for Garnett and Allen, but that will not happen this year.  

Developing talent takes time, and time is not a commodity that the Celtics have.  Age will catch up to the Celtics and the big three this year, which will ultimately result in a significant decrease in performance from every member of the big three.  

1. Kevin Love and Every Other Player on the Minnesota Timberwolves Roster

The Minnesota Timberwolves ended the 2010-2011 NBA season with the leagues worst record at 17-65.

The good news for the Timberwolves is that they probably won't get to 65 losses again, only because the 2011-2012 season will only be 66 games long.  The bad news for the Timberwolves is that they are still going to end up with the leagues worst record at the end of the season.  Even the play of their best player PF Kevin Love won't change that.  

Kevin Love ended last year averaging a double double per game with 20.2 points per game and 15.2 rebounds per game.  Those stats earned him a trip to the all-star game and the 2011 most improved player award.  All of that is great, but it isn't going to happen again this year because he will not get the same amount of touches or focus in the T-wolves offense this season. 

The Timberwolves have newcomers PG Ricky Rubio and PF Derrick Williams to please and to incorporate into their offense.  The T-wolves offense will be centered around those player this year rather than being centered around Kevin Love, and that is bad news for the T-wolves.

Ricky Rubio will prove to be one of the biggest NBA busts in recent memory and Derrick Williams will not play as well as expected because he needs time to mature and develop him game.  

The Timberwolves are in for a very rough year, and even Kevin Love won't be able to escape that.