4 NBA Contenders Who Will Not Win a Championship in the 2011-12 Season

For fans of the NBA everywhere, the season is almost here. While that sounds great to say after an extended lockout, how do you think your team will fare?

With many teams rising into the spotlight and others stacked with talent and licking their chops at the thought of championship glory, many teams are one or two pieces away from a title or are fading away.

The NBA is filled with storied title runs that many didn't expect—for example the Dallas Mavericks last year—but this year has some legitimate contenders to play for the chance to be called champions.

Don't count these teams out based on my opinion, but it doesn't look like they will make a gigantic run this season.

Los Angeles Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers made by far the biggest impact of the NBA offseason by bringing in possibly the best floor general in the league in Chris Paul. Along with that, they also picked up a veteran with championship experience in Chauncey Billups. That being said, will those two make the key difference in seeing the Clippers rise to an instant contender?

While Los Angeles did have to part ways with rising star Eric Gordon to acquire Paul, it's safe to say it is a major upgrade for the development of Blake Griffin. CP3 is a dime-dropper with the ability to make his surrounding players that much better, yet he has never played with someone with Griffin's talent.

Speaking of Griffin, could he take the throne this year as the best power forward in the NBA?

With so many of the elite power forwards aging and declining talent-wise, Griffin will lead the next generation of physical forwards into the spotlight.

However, he and his Clippers are on the brink of contention, but they're not there just yet.

For the most part, this is a young Los Angeles team that is truly relevant for the first time in many years. While they have a lot of capable starting point guards at the NBA level, they don't possess much depth when it comes to the shooting guard and small forward positions.

The signing of Caron Butler is very significant, but could backfire if not he's healthy, leaving the Clippers in even more of a bind.

Don't be surprised to see this team be the talk of Los Angeles, but they are not ready to bring home a trophy.

San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs are done. Go ahead and put a fork in them.

A cluttered 66-game season will not do justice to the health of San Antonio or help them gain home court advantage after the playoffs. After a promising regular season in 2010-11, it's apparent that the Spurs' dynasty could be over.

Facts are facts, and it looks like Tim Duncan is becoming a shell of what he once was. After never failing to average less than a double-double in his NBA career, Duncan had a major drop off in a season where he only averaged 13.4 points and 8.9 rebounds a game. While he is one of the true gentlemen to ever play in the league, the Big Fundamental could be about done.

As for the rest of the team, they don't have much up-look either. Their best player, Manu Ginobili, comes off the bench, and they also refuse to rid themselves of the dreadful Richard Jefferson. Throw in the fact that Tony Parker is becoming a middle-of-the-pack point guard in the league and there isn't much for Spurs' fans to cheer about.

I've been wrong before, but this is one that looks to have a lot of merit.

New York Knicks

Although the New York Knicks brought in a very good center in Tyson Chandler, that will not be enough to knock off the other powerhouse teams in the Eastern Conference. After being swept by the Boston Celtics in last year's NBA playoffs, it's clear they need a great surrounding cast, not just one key player.

New York has also brought in two point guards who are past their respective primes. Mike Bibby looked terrible in his time with Miami last season, failing to come up big when necessary, while Baron Davis is already out for an extended period due to injury.

The Knicks have a solid shooting guard in Landry Fields, who has plenty of potential to breakout, along with Iman Shumpert, who could be groomed into a future starter. However, besides that, New York doesn't have the depth or defense for a long playoff run to the NBA Finals.

Expect the Knicks to be an offensive juggernaut with Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony leading the way, but those two alone do not match up to plenty of the other duos currently in the NBA.

Los Angeles Lakers

Are the Los Angeles Lakers the biggest losers of the NBA offseason?

While it's not totally their fault, the answer remains yes.

Let's start off by saying it is utterly atrocious that the Lakers were denied the potential trade that would land Chris Paul in purple and gold, but that's now history. Perhaps even more destructive than that is that it really caused them to lose one of the best role players in the NBA in Lamar Odom due to the botched trade.

The Lakers know they need to make a franchise-changing move, hence the interest in both Paul and Dwight Howard, but they might not be willing to move both Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum to do so. While it seemed that Los Angeles could move both Pau and Odom together, well, that possibility no longer exists.

Don't expect the Lakers to remain silent for long, and for sure, don't count out a big season from Kobe Bryant. Still, it doesn't look like Los Angeles can keep up with many of the rising squads and star-studded teams in the league.

Not many names stand out that can alter the Lakers' outlook besides Dwight Howard, but that doesn't seem likely to happen right away.

If not, this could be the end of Kobe's historic run with Los Angeles, as well as some changes to the franchise.