The time for the Golden State Warriors to defend their crown as NBA champions has come. Top contenders like the Warriors, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Los Angeles Clippers among other teams, are all expected to juke it out for the best regular season record starting this coming Tuesday, October 27, when the NBA rolls out the red carpet for the new season.
But let’s not forget the other teams, ones that are being considered by many as mere cannon fodder for the contenders. These are the teams which have the potential to surprise. With that said, let’s take at five of our choice underrated teams.
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[sc:NBAArticles ]2015-16 NBA Regular Season Sleeper Picks
New Orleans Pelicans
2014-2015 record: 45-37
[sc:NBA240banner ]Why they are a sleeper: You want to hear something scary other than J.R. Smith’s monstrosity of a shooting percentage in last season’s NBA Finals? Well, how about this: Anthony Davis is getting better.
Yes, despite putting up cartoonish numbers of 24.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game last season, Davis apparently hasn’t reached the ceiling of his godlike ability on the basketball court. He’ll come into the new season with a vastly improved outside shot, which makes him the nearest point of comparison to a video game player created by a heartless 13-year-old.
The Pelicans will have a tough season ahead, considering the conference and the division they’re playing in and the lack of punch in Davis’ supporting cast, but so long as they have the 22-year-old center, they’ll have a shot.
Toronto Raptors
2014-2015 record: 49-33
Why they are a sleeper: Yes, we know that the Raptors were kings of the Atlantic Division last season but when you bested teams that were borderline D-Leaguers in the New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Boston Celtics (Ok, maybe not the Celtics), it’s not really that much of an accomplishment.
Saying that the Raptors were the best team in the Atlantic last season was akin to thinking that Moe was the sanest of the Three Stooges. Furthermore, by getting swept in the first round of the playoffs following a 49-33 regular season, Toronto proved that it was more of a pretender and less of a contender.
A weakened public’s perception of the Raptors, of course, should only make them a sleeper, as not that many people now believe that Toronto would challenge Cleveland and Chicago in the Eastern Conference.
The addition of re Carroll, however, should make Toronto a more complete team. Carroll gives Coach Dwane Casey the defensive stopper the team was missing last season. Carroll’s size, range, and ability to move without the ball should fit in right with Toronto’s offense that averaged 104.0 points per game last season. Carroll, the still-improving Jonas Valanciunas, and the tandem of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan should make Toronto an even more dangerous team this coming 2015-16 season.
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Sacramento Kings
2014-2015 record: 29-53
Why they are a sleeper: Sacramento was a reality show in the offseason even if the Kings didn’t realize it. First, there’s head coach George Karl who wanted to trade the team’s biggest asset in DeMarcus Cousins just because he thought he could. Although the plan was mercifully vetoed by team owner Vivek Ranadive, Karl’s intention alone was enough to damage his relationship with Cousins of all people.
Whether Cousins can sustain his rapid ascent to the pantheon of NBA superstars in spite of Karl is something worth watching not only for its explosive voyeuristic potential but also because that could very much dictate where the Kings are headed this season. Cousins was a beast last season with averages of 24.1 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game but clearly didn’t get enough help. Rudy Gay was an interesting player to pair up in the frontline with Bogeyman, but we all know Gay can’t defend that well.
Hopefully for the Kings, having former Kentucky Wildcat Willie Cauley-Stein could solve this defensive conundrum and unlock the full offensive potential of Cousins, who had to work double time on defense—the Kings were 25th on defense last season with 105.0 points allowed per game. That and a strong bounce back campaign from Rajon Rondo, who’s eager to show that he still belongs in best point guard conversations, would be the ingredients to a surprise season from Sacramento.
Washington Wizards
2014-2015 record: 46-36
Why they are a sleeper: Like Toronto, the Wizards were exposed in the playoffs last season. They were deemed as a team that doesn’t have “it” to make it to the conference finals. They were a team that needed the heroics of an 800-year-old Paul Pierce to prolong their conference semifinals with the Atlanta Hawks. After Pierce left DC for LA, the Wizards now have to rely on Otto Porter, Jared Dudley, and Kelly Oubre Jr. to fill the void left by the now LA Clipper veteran.
Porter has been flirting with the bust label since being drafted third overall in 2013, but he has a full season ahead to reward Washington’s patience on him. Oubre was an inconsistent player in his one-year stay in Lawrence, but he has the tools to become a key player in the Wizards’ rotation.
All that being said, if Washington were to emerge as the top dog in the East, it would be largely because of arguably the best backcourt combo in the NBA in John Wall and Bradley Beal. Wall was clearly the team’s best player last season, when he averaged 17.6 points and 10.0 assists per game. Beal, however, is the team’s most lethal scorer. If Beal can avoid missing lots of games this season, Washington might just reach the 50-win plateau for the first time since 1970.
Milwaukee Bucks
2014-2015 record: 41-41
Why they are a sleeper: You realize that Jason Kidd has reached the playoffs in each of his first two seasons as a head coach, right? You‘re also aware that Kidd did this with the Bucks last season despite Jabari Parker’s season-ending knee injury, the Larry Sanders saga, and a frontcourt made up of the limited tandem of Zaza Pachulia and John Henson, aren’t you?
With a sparkling new big man in Greg Monroe ready to give the Bucks an imposing frontcourt piece they severely lacked last season plus the continuing growth of some of the team’s youngsters like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Michael Carter-Williams, the Bucks are poised to make some noise in the shallow Eastern Conference.
Writer’s Prediction
New Orleans Pelicans: fourth in Southwest
Toronto Raptors: first in Atlantic
Sacramento Kings: third in Pacific
Washington Wizards: second in Southeast
Milwaukee Bucks: third in Central
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