10 Most Exciting NBA Teams to Watch During the 2011-2012 Season

There are 30 teams in the NBA but not every one is exciting. 

These are the 10 teams that you should make a concerted effort to watch. If they're playing on TV in your local market, make sure you get the remote control from whomever else has their paws on it and flip the channel over. 

You'll see highlight plays, great performances and a lot of wins (for the most part). 

You'll see alley-oops, blazing coast-to-coast finishes and deadly three-pointers. 

You'll see the excitement. 

Remember, the NBA is where amazing happens. These 10 teams are where most of that amazing happens though. 

10. Sacramento Kings

This may be an interesting choice for No. 10 on the list, but I truly am excited to watch the Sacramento Kings. 

I want to see how well Tyreke Evans can run the team in his third season. It's now or never if he's going to prove that he was the star in his first season and not the mediocre floor general he was in the second. 

I want to see if DeMarcus Cousins can keep his head screwed on straight and dominate for a full season. If he lives up to his tremendous potential, he could be a borderline All-Star and average nearly 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. 

But more than anything else, I want to see if Jimmer Fredette can be successful at the NBA level. As good as he is at shooting, I feel pretty confident that he can at least avoid the bust label. 

There aren't going to be many more boom or bust teams on any given night than the Kings. 

9. Dallas Mavericks

I would be remiss if I didn't include the reigning NBA champions on this list. 

The Dallas Mavericks might not be the most exciting team in the NBA, but they are damn good and worth watching just to see them play at a consistently high level. After 11 straight seasons with 50 or more wins, the only thing standing in their way of a 12th consecutive season, breaking the 50-win barrier, is the fact that they have 16 games less to do so.

Plus, unless you're a Miami Heat fan, you've got to love Dirk Nowitzki's flamingo shot. 

8. Golden State Warriors

Even if it's not necessarily more important, offense is undeniably more exciting to watch than defense. There's a reason that we see three-pointers and slam dunks showed as highlights and not smothering off-ball defense and players pressuring their opponents into ill-advised bricks. 

No team recognizes this contrast more than the Golden State Warriors. 

With David Lee, Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis all on the roster, the Warriors like to score points in bunches...and...allow points in bunches. I've called their offense a video game offense quite a few times in the past and there's a reason for that. 

Why do we play video games again? 

Oh yeah. It's because they're exciting. 

7. Washington Wizards

No, the Washington Wizards are probably not going to make the playoffs one season removed from a 23-59 campaign that saw them end up with the fourth-worst record in the NBA. In fact, they may not even have a single All-Star on their roster. 

John Wall has the potential to change the latter statement even if it's probably a little bit too soon for him to change the former one. Thanks to his blazing speed and game-changing abilities, the second-year point guard single-handedly boosts this team's excitement factor into the top 10. 

Throw in JaVale "Pierre" McGee, the unpredictability of Andray Blatche, intriguing young players in Jordan Crawford and Nick Young (if he returns to the Wizards) and Jan Vesely, the incoming rookie who's so exciting that he's already earned the monikers "Dunking Ninja" and "European Blake Griffin." Then you truly have a team worth watching for sheer entertainment factors. 

6. Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers wouldn't be exciting if it weren't for two major reasons. 

First of all, they're really good. It's always fun to watch people do what they do best and it's usually hard to find a more impressive brand of basketball than the one played by those wearing purple and gold jerseys. 

If Darius Morris (or whoever the Lakers pick up in the free agency period) excels at point guard, the Lakers are going to be contenders once more. 

Secondly, Kobe Bryant is incredible. You'd be hard pressed to find many better players in the league and we all know that Bryant can explode offensively on any given night. 

After the disappointing sweep the Lakers endured last season, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Kobe come back with a vengeance and have his best statistical season in years. 

5. New York Knicks

Do I really need to give you reasons for this one? 

Carmelo Anthony by himself is one of the most exciting players in the NBA. Amar'e Stoudemire by himself is one of the most exciting players in the NBA. Mike D'Antoni is quite gifted when it comes to making people exciting. 

It's going to be impossible to resist turning on the TV whenever New York Knicks broadcasts are on. Even if they don't play defense, there is too much talent on this squad to avoid watching. 

4. Toronto Raptors

Just kidding. 

4 (For Real). Chicago Bulls

Unless you're the San Antonio Spurs and led by the most boring superstar in basketball history, Tim Duncan, you're guaranteed to be on this list if you post the best record in your conference. 

The Chicago Bulls are poised to repeat in the Eastern Conference, especially if Taj Gibson continues to improve, Carlos Boozer stays healthy (yeah right) and the Bulls find a shooting guard to add to their lineup. 

But even that isn't what makes them exciting. 

It's all about Derrick Rose in The Windy City. The point guard is just breathtaking to watch.  

3. Los Angeles Clippers

Any team with Blake Griffin on it automatically qualifies as exciting. The man is a dunking machine and will provide just as many sensational YouTube videos for our viewing enjoyment this season as he did as a rookie last year. In fact, he may provide even more. 

In addition to Griffin, the Los Angeles Clippers also boast the services of tremendous athletes in the forms of Jamario Moon and Travis Leslie, the best athlete in the incoming rookie class. 

Eric Gordon is another player worth watching as the Clippers continue their quest towards both the playoffs and supremacy in the Staples Center. The shooting guard is already playing nearly as well as the best players at his position in the league and will be a household name at the end of the 2011-2012 season. 

With Eric Bledsoe set to take over from Mo Williams sooner rather than later and DeAndre Jordan waiting in the wings at center, the Clippers are going to be very young and very exciting this season. 

2. Oklahoma City Thunder

For the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team poised to become a true title contender, all I need to do here is list the things about the team that are going to be exciting. Even though these are numbered, they are in no particular order. 

1. Kevin Durant

2. Kevin Durant's chase of a third consecutive scoring title 

3. Russell Westbrook 

4. Russell Westbrook's relationship with Kevin Durant

5. James Harden

6. James Harden's beard

See, you know that these weren't in order because there's no way James Harden's beard belongs at the bottom of that list. 

1. Miami Heat

Don't you just want to tune in to Miami Heat broadcasts now just to see what other faces Dwyane Wade can make? 

There is no more compelling team in the NBA than the Heat. After LeBron James famously took his talents to South Beach to join Wade and Chris Bosh, the expectations were through the roof. The hatred took over and everyone was so obsessed with how the team was doing that every little move was scrutinized. Hell, ESPN even created "The Heat Index."

But it's simply not possible to be that compelling without some serious talent to back it up. In my opinion, LeBron and Wade are the two best players in the entire NBA. 

If that in itself isn't exciting enough, well then, I guess I'm sorry that the NBA agreed to hold games and you have to be subjected to it?