Dear Santa: What Every NBA Team Wants for Christmas

Santa Claus is waiting just as patiently as the rest of us for the start of the NBA season, and I have to believe that as soon as he's done delivering presents on Christmas Eve he'll be going home, firing up his big-screen television and watching some NBA.

But, before he's able to do all of that, he's going to have to make his rounds and deliver all of his presents, including the presents to each of the NBA teams around the country.

So, what is it that each NBA team wants this Christmas?

Well, lucky for you guys I've come across each team's letter to Santa, asking him for its most desired gift this Christmas. Don't ask me how I came across these letters, just know that it happened, and as soon as I'm done putting them online I'm going to go ahead and forward them to the North Pole so he can collect these gifts and get them to their respective teams.

Atlanta Hawks: A True Center

Dear Santa,

We've been playing a few years now without a true starting center. For the entirety of his career here, Al Horford has been our starting center with the exception of a few games here and there covered by Zaza Pachulia and Jason Collins.

That doesn't bother us too much, because for the most part Al Horford has been a great player. You could even make the argument he was our best player last season. However, the way he plays makes him more suited for the power forward spot.

So, if you have room in your bag to put a wrapped-up seven-footer to put under our tree, we would be forever grateful. 

Sincerely,

The Atlanta Hawks

Boston Celtics: Some Muscle

Dear Santa,

We now realize we may have made a mistake when we traded away Kendrick Perkins last season for Jeff Green. Jeff Green could be valuable to giving Paul Pierce fewer minutes, but the loss of Perkins has hurt us.

Kevin Garnett is our only muscle down low and we seem to have lost some of our ferocity in the months since trading Perkins. 

We swapped Big Baby Davis for Brandon Bass, but quite frankly, they are very similar players and not much will change. We would love to see a man with some muscle under our tree to team up with Kevin Garnett.

Sincerely,

The Boston Celtics

Charlotte Bobcats: More Young Talent

Dear Santa,

We think Michael Jordan did the right thing last season, gutting our team to get us into a rebuilding stage, but we've basically been rebuilding so long there has been but one season where we weren't a laughing stock.

We have Kemba Walker and Bismack Biyombo, but other than that there isn't much on our roster that gives us hope for the future. So, if you could find it in your heart, add some young talent to our roster so we have some hope for the immediate future, rather than three or four years down the line.

Sincerely, 

The Charlotte Bobcats

Chicago Bulls: Carlos Boozer Finding His Way

Dear Santa, 

We've been pretty happy lately, and we don't have much to ask for.

We grabbed our biggest need a few days ago by signing Rip Hamilton, and otherwise we're pretty well built. With a deep squad and a great starting lineup, there's only one thing we can think to ask for.

It's pretty obvious now we may have overpaid Carlos Boozer, and the one thing we can think to want for Christmas is for him to live up to his contract as well as he can. He's probably not going to be worth the full $80 million we're giving him, but hopefully you can get him to just do the absolute best that he can.

Sincerely, 

The Chicago Bulls

Cleveland Cavaliers: Another Pick for 2012 and a Silent Owner

Dear Santa,

You'll notice this letter isn't written in Comic Sans. We the fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers have intercepted the initial letter that Dan Gilbert wrote to you to keep you from bringing us a lump of coal.

As the fans of the Cavs, there are actually two things we want.

First, we would love to have another draft pick this year. That would send us on our way to rebuilding quicker than anything else.

However, second, and possibly most importantly, we want our owner to be a silent powerhouse like some of the other guys in the league. We love his commitment to our city and our team, but sometimes we just don't want to see him put his foot in his mouth.

Sincerely, 

The Cleveland Cavaliers Fans

Dallas Mavericks: Confidence About the Season

Dear Santa,

You would think we, as the defending champions, have tons of confidence coming into the season, and we do. By all means, we still have Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion and the majority of our team we had last year, but we've also had to replace some guys.

He have faith in Brendan Haywood and Roddy Beaubois stepping up and filling bigger roles, but we also have some new guys. We just want the knowledge that Lamar Odom is going to play as well as he did for the Lakers last year, that Vince Carter still has gas left in his tank and that Delonte West can stay healthy for the season.

Otherwise, we're pretty happy with our team.

Sincerely,

The Dallas Mavericks

Denver Nuggets: Some Guys Back from China

Dear Santa,

I'm sure there are kids in China who are enjoying seeing J.R. Smith, Kenyon Martin and Wilson Chandler stuck in China, but they are all important parts to this team.

I know they signed the contracts, and they knew the rules going into the country, but if you could convince the CBA to let us buy out our guys so they can be home by Christmas it would help us a lot, possibly even help us make the playoffs.

Sincerely,

The Denver Nuggets

Detroit Pistons: A Real Future

Dear Santa,

We have had a miserable few years here as fans of the Detroit Pistons. It seems like our front office guys have no clue what they are doing.

After screwing up the first rebuilding process by blowing $90 million on Barlie Gordonueva, they've gone and started it all again by re-signing Tayshaun Prince to a multi-year deal. We love Tayshaun, but he's on the wrong side of 30 and there's not much he can do for us down the road.

All we ask for is a real future, and not this fake one that our front office is trying to forge.

Sincerely,

Detroit's Fans

Golden State Warriors: Defense

Dear Santa, 

We have given our fans some exciting basketball over the past few years. Since 2007 we have had a top-10 offense in the league and our fans have loved it. We even had that remarkable upset of the Mavericks back in 2007 because of that offense.

However, after three years of sub-.500 seasons, we are ready to have a winning basketball team. We know that to get ourselves a winning basketball team we need a lot more on the defensive side of the ball.

We brought in Mark Jackson to instill some defense into our team, but we'll need more than that to teach defense to this bunch. Just bring us some defense for Christmas, Santa, and we'll be a happy bunch.

Sincerely,

The Golden State Warriors

Houston Rockets: A Center

Dear Santa,

After our bid to grab Pau Gasol fell through, we were really hurt. The thought around town was we could grab Pau Gasol, put him at the power forward spot and then team him up with a good center like Nene or Tyson Chandler.

Well, now Nene and Chandler have been gobbled up, the Grizzlies matched our offer for Marc Gasol and the Kings grabbed our old center, Chuck Hayes, and Yao Ming isn't coming back anytime soon.

All we ask for, Santa, is a big man this year, otherwise we'll have to start Hasheem Thabeet at some point this season, and nobody wants to see that.

Sincerely,

The Houston Rockets

Indiana Pacers: Their Pieces Fit

Dear Santa,

These are exciting times here in Indiana. We have a great team together, we're adding David West to our roster and we still have cap space, especially after waiving James Posey, so we will probably end up adding even more players.

All we ask is that the pieces we have fit together and we end up being a dangerous team this season.

Sincerely,

The Indiana Pacers

Los Angeles Clippers: Christmas to Come Sooner

Dear Santa,

After an excruciating couple of days of trying to wrench Chris Paul away from the New Orleans Hornets, we finally did it. Sure, we had to ship away both Eric Gordon and Minnesota's first-round pick, but we go the best point guard in the league in return.

As of right now, we got everything we want for Christmas, so just make Christmas Day come faster so we can play with our new toys, Santa.

Sincerely,

The Los Angeles Clippers

Los Angeles Lakers: A Point Guard

Dear Santa,

Derek Fisher is getting old and Steve Blake isn't a legitimate point guard, which would be fine if we were running the Triangle Offense. However, now that we have Mike Brown taking control of our team, we're going to be out of the Triangle and we'll need a point guard.

There aren't many out there, but there are a few guys we could trade for.

So, Santa, if you could put a point guard under our tree this Christmas, we'll take care of the rest and get Dwight Howard to come out to L.A.

Sincerely, 

The Los Angeles Lakers

Memphis Grizzlies: Knowing This Season Will Build from Last Year's Playoffs

Dear Santa,

Last season was the best year the Grizzlies have ever had, either in Memphis or Vancouver. The only thing we want is to know that this year will continue to build off last season.

We have Rudy Gay coming in off an injury and are losing out on Shane Battier, but we have the same team otherwise.

So long as we don't have a huge downfall in production this season, we'll be a happy bunch.

Sincerely,

The Memphis Grizzlies

Miami Heat: Fourth-Quarter Confidence

Dear Santa,

Nobody has been as happy with the recent collective bargaining agreement as we have been.

We've been able to add one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA in Shane Battier and we have a less-fat Eddy Curry, which is exciting, but there is still something that we'd like from you this year.

I'm sure you watched the Finals last season, and I'm sure you saw us crumble late in games. What we want this year is confidence in high-pressure situations. 

Sincerely, 

The Miami Heat

Milwaukee Bucks: Consistency on Offense

Dear Santa,

For the past two seasons, we here in Milwaukee have been a decent team, but really, it's been pretty up-and-down for us.

Brandon Jennings is really up-and-down, we have a streaky offense and the only real reliable player we have is Andrew Bogut. 

All we want this season is some kind of consistency on offense so we can at least have a good chance at the playoffs this season.

Sincerely, 

The Milwaukee Bucks

Minnesota Timberwolves: A New General Manager

Dear Santa,

KAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNN!

Need we say more?

Sincerely,

The Minnesota Timberwolves

New Jersey Nets: A Big Guy Named Dwight

Dear Santa,

We here in New Jersey haven't had a hard-nosed, tenacious center since Jayson Williams. Brook Lopez is fine, but he has no ferocity to his game.

The only thing we ask for this Christmas is for you to help us get this big guy named Dwight. You may have heard of him playing down in Orlando, and he's been a pretty good player for the Magic.

So, here's what we're going to do for you. You take any bit of our team you want except for Deron Williams and swap whomever you want for Dwight Howard.

Sincerely,

The New Jersey Nets

New Orleans Hornets: An Owner

Dear Santa,

Well, here we are. Chris Paul is gone, a fact that we accepted was bound to happen weeks ago. Sure, we held onto hope, but it was staring us in the eyes as plain as the beard on your face.

So, I guess there's only one thing we really need now, big guy, and that's an owner. Having David Stern being the de facto owner of our team is terrible, we need a real owner.

Sincerely, 

The New Orleans Hornets Fans

New York Knicks: A Point Guard

Dear Santa,

We've had a great offseason, and it looks like it could get better if Jamal Crawford decides to take a pay cut to join us. With him we will have a great team from the two spot through the five spot, but he have a glaring hole at point guard.

Sure, we signed Mike Bibby a few days back, but nobody wants to see his corpse staggering around the court, jacking up four threes a game.

Just bring us a point guard, Santa, that's the only thing we need. We'll fill out the rest of our roster ourselves.

Sincerely,

The New York Knicks

Oklahoma City Thunder: Coexisting Superstars

Dear Santa,

We have a great young team, there's no doubting that. 

However, there is a bit of a storm cloud looming on the horizon that could rain on our parade. All we ask is that you divert that cloud another direction.

Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant played great last year, but then they clashed a bit in the playoffs, with Westbrook taking control of the game late and Durant not being involved very much late.

Just make sure these two guys coexist and play well together all year, including the playoffs.

Sincerely,

The Oklahoma City Thunder

Orlando Magic: An Idea About the Future

Dear Santa,

The biggest problem with the whole Dwight Howard Saga over the past few months is that we have no clue what's going on with the future of our franchise.

One second it sounds like there's no way in hell Howard is coming back to play with us, then there's a glimmer of hope Howard may come back to play with us.

It would be great to see him come back, but really, we just want to know what next season is going to look like. The uncertainty is the hardest part.

Sincerely, 

The Orlando Magic

Philadelphia 76ers: Growth

Dear Santa,

We had a bit of an unexpected season last year. Sure, we were hoping for our team to play well, but when we made the playoffs without great play from last year's first-round draft pick Evan Turner, it was a bit surprising.

We got great play from six guys aged 25 years old or less and watched our older guys like Elton Brand turn back the clock again.

Without a doubt, Andre Iguodala will have another good season, but we ask for our young guys to continue to grow so that we could possibly be a dangerous team in the East this season.

Sincerely,

The Philadelphia 76ers 

Phoenix Suns: Rebuilding Commencement

Dear Santa,

We, the fans of the Phoenix Suns, have to be realistic at this point. This is not a great team. Beyond that, this is a mediocre team led entirely by two guys much closer to retirement than any of us feel comfortable with.

Steve Nash isn't long for this league, and with him, Grant Hill follows, meaning the two emotional, offensive and defensive leaders on our team have a foot-and-a-half out the door.

What we really want, more than anything else, is a legitimate step toward the future. It's great to see Steve Nash play the game, and we would like nothing more than to see him retire with Phoenix, but we would at least like to see the franchise take the next step forward for the sake of our team after he retires.

Sincerely,

The Phoenix Suns Fans

Portland Trail Blazers: Health

Dear Santa,

It's no secret we have a problem staying healthy.

Brandon Roy has now retired for the fear that he could end up not being able to walk if he continues to play basketball and Greg Oden's knees are now a mythical place only dreamed about.

Please, Santa, bring us a miracle-working training staff like they have down in Phoenix. They glued Shaq together long enough and made Amar'e Stoudemire's knees work well enough after injuries to make them seem more efficient than your elves, and that's all we ask for in a medical staff.

Sincerely,

The Portland Trail Blazers

Sacramento Kings: A City to Live in

Dear Santa,

The Maloof Brothers were planning on sending you a letter asking for you to bring us some glue to hold this team together, but they hocked the pen they were writing with, recycled the piece of paper and couldn't afford the stamp to mail it.

So, instead of that, we the fans have taken over the responsibility of writing to you, Santa, only we're asking for something a bit different.

The only thing we want right now is for our team to stay in our town. It's obvious we're great fans, as evidenced by the playoff series from the early 2000s, but we've had some of the worst teams to come out and watch since then, anybody would be fed up. Just keep our Kings in Sacramento, Santa.

Sincerely,

The Sacramento Kings Fans

San Antonio Spurs: Youth

Dear Santa,

Tim Duncan is on his last legs, and will probably retire the best power forward of all time in a few seasons, Manu Ginobili is on the wrong side of 30 and Tony Parker is about to hit the big three-oh.

What we really need, Santa, is a new young star. Whether you turn our new draftee, Kawhi Leonard, into a star or just wrap one up and put it under our tree is up to you, we'll be happy either way.

Sincerely,

The San Antonio Spurs

Toronto Raptors: Young Players Coming Together

Dear Santa,

We have an interesting number of young players here on the Toronto Raptors, with more countries represented than at a UN meeting. As you can imagine, these players coming together to form a cohesive unit is a concern.

So, Santa, what we ask of you is for all of our players to come together and easily form their playing styles into one cohesive unit to make us look like a team out there on the floor.

Sincerely,

The Toronto Raptors 

Utah Jazz: Early Improvement

Dear Santa,

It seems like we have a great future lined up for us. Hell, we might even have a great present, only time will tell.

We have four big fellows under the age of 26 that would have a legitimate shot at starting on any team in the league and a few young guards that look impressive in their own right.

What we ask of you, Santa, is that you help these young guys we have out there on the court get better, faster, to speed up our rebuilding era and help us continue making the playoffs like we've done in 24 of the past 28 seasons.

Sincerely,

The Utah Jazz

Washington Wizards: A Fast-Forward Button

Dear Santa,

We can tell that we have some great young players on this team, but they are all very raw with the exception of John Wall.

Both Jordan Crawford and Nick Young have a lot of room to grow, JaVale McGee is still learning the subtle nuances of the game and rookie Jan Vesely is going to have a lot of growing pains.

There's no doubt in our minds these guys can deliver us an impressive starting five down the road, but this season is going to be a struggle to win games. So if you can just get us a fast-forward button that allows our guys to develop faster for Christmas this year, we would greatly appreciate it.

Sincerely,

The Washington Wizards

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