2012 NBA Schedule: Projecting the 5 Biggest Surprises This Season
You can be sure the 2011-2012 NBA season will be chock full of of shocking surprises.
In a year shortened by the lockout, teams will be playing an intense 66-game schedule over a four-month span.
That means more games on consecutive nights and even some back-to-back-to-backs.
This short rest will crush veteran teams, and fewer games affords younger players a lesser amount of time to find a rhythm and get settled in.
There have also been a number of wild offseason acquisitions, such as the Knicks getting Tyson Chandler and the Clippers trading for Chris Paul.
These moves are going to certainly have an impact on how this season plays out.
Let’s take a look at five things that just might happen as a result of this crazy itinerary and mind-blowing player movement.
NBA MVP: Rajon Rondo
1 of 5Everyone is ready to hand this award to LeBron James or Kevin Durant this season, but don’t count out Rondo.
The Celtics point guard is going to be playing with a chip on his shoulder after Danny Ainge tried to trade him for Chris Paul.
Rondo had one of the greatest stretches of point guard play ever seen to start last season, and it’s possible he could get hot like that again for a few months.
Do not be surprised if he parlays his bitterness at being trade bait into a MVP-worthy season and pushes the Celtics to one last Finals run in the Big Three era.
Los Angeles Clippers Find Success
2 of 5The Los Angeles Clippers are perennial losers who consistently torture their fans with constant promise but disappointing results.
It seems that no matter who is on the roster, they cannot find success and have only made the playoffs seven times in franchise history, with three of those coming when the team was located in Buffalo during the 1970’s.
Things are finally going to change for the Clips this season.
They are poised to make the playoffs and do some damage when they get there because of their incredibly bold offseason moves.
They added Chris Paul to a lineup that now includes Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, along with the newly-added Chauncey Billups and Caron Butler.
This nucleus will make up a revitalized team that is poised to seize basketball dominance of the second-largest media market and the Staples Center from the Lakers.
Los Angeles Lakers Playing Lottery
3 of 5The Lakers inability to make a major offseason acquisition is going to cost them.
They will find themselves back in the lottery for the first time since 2004-2005 because of their failed bid for CP3 and Orlando’s reluctance to bail them out by sending Dwight Howard to LA.
Kobe Bryant is getting too old to continue carrying this team, Pau Gasol was nearly traded away and is too soft, Ron Artest went insane and changed his name to Metta World Peace, Lamar Odom was jettisoned to Dallas and Andrew Bynum probably won’t stay healthy yet again.
On top of all that, Phil Jackson retired after last season, and Mike Brown won’t be able to control the crazy group of personalities in his locker room.
Infighting and turmoil will mount as the team struggles, and 2011-2012 will be a very trying season for the Lakeshow.
Rookie of the Year: Kemba Walker
4 of 5Kemba Walker isn’t a favorite for the Rookie of the Year award, but he damn well should be.
After his performance in the Big East and NCAA tournaments last year, this proven winner will help turn around the Charlotte Bobcats and be honored as the top rook for his troubles.
Walker is positioned to become the leader of this young team and also will appease voters who only care about stats by putting up solid numbers in the points, threes, rebounds, assists, steals and shooting percentage categories.
It’s going to be a very nice start to a long, promising career for this former UConn Huskies star.
NBA Finals Victor: Oklahoma City Thunder
5 of 5No team in the league benefits more from the lockout-shortened season than the Oklahoma City Thunder.
This group of young superstars made it to the Western Conference Finals before falling to the grizzled, eventual Finals-winning Dallas Mavericks.
Now that they have sharpened their teeth with a much-needed deep playoff run, they will be hungry to get back there and beyond.
Kevin Durant leads a team that includes Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins and James Harden.
That starting five is arguably the best in the league, and the play off the bench in OKC is solid as well.
Look for them to lock up a No. 1 seed in the West by simply having fresher legs, and their youth will be essential to dominating an aging conference on short rest.
That gives them an easy road to the Finals, and they should be able to beat anyone the East sends at them, even a team loaded with superstars but thin at certain positions like the Miami Heat.
