2012-2013 NBA Season Preview: Red, White, and Blue

The moment you’ve been waiting for, right? Sure it is. A preview including the Philadelphia 76ers, the NBA kings of Pennsylvania. Also starring the Clippers (you read about them already), Pistons, Hawks, and Wizards. The Nets used to be a part of this group but then they went all Spurs on us and are now black, white, and gray and just gloomy.

Any-hoo, we’re trying to figure out who the best team is when the colors are red, white, and blue. Last season, I pretty much gave that title to the Clippers. All season, my power rankings were a grand battle between the Clippers and Sixers but the Sixers had their late season collapse and it cost them. But this season is shaping up to be another grand battle between the two teams.

I’m leaning to the Clippers again though. I feel like they’re better than the Sixers but it’s not going to be easy. Sixers will be dangerous if Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner have a breakout season. I was one of those guys who thought Iguodala’s role held back Jrue and Evan’s chance to take charge. Now, they’ll be the primary ball handlers so they have no excuse for failing. And if they do breakout, Sixers could be contending in just about 2-3 years assuming Bynum does stick around. Still need a consistent perimeter scorer but having an elite Center that can score goes a long way.

We already talked about the Clippers in the California post so I won’t get too deep on them here. But Chris Paul and the overrated Blake Griffin will put up a fight for RWB supremacy. Jamal Crawford is quite the addition for this team. And really, back to Griffin. He needs to improve on defense. Also, his offensive “game” needs more work. Some post up moves would be nice. He has a nice jumper so that’s good. Less and less big men post up though so if he could really develop that skill, he’ll be a force. I’m sure he can pull it off.

Ok, so now for the other 3 teams. Hawks trading Joe Johnson takes them back. Playoffs might still be an option but they’ll need some time before they’re back to the decent team we’ve seen the past few years. They got their hands on Lou Williams (good luck with that!) and Kyle Korver so you know they want some Sixers magic. Out of the Pistons, Wizards, and Hawks, Hawks win out. Right now they’re stuck in what I like to call, “Sixers Land”. Not good enough to do anything but not bad enough to get some potential stars in draft. Sixers fans know this too well. Hopefully Bynum changes that (no pressure. Just a lot of pressure).

In a battle for the best of the worst, I have to give it to the Wizards. Wizards have improved their team but are a long way to contending. They’ve been making moves and showing they’re building around John Wall. I thought grabbing Nene was cool. They got Emeka Okafor. So…yeah. While the Wizards may be the better team, I would prefer to have the Pistons’ roster. Brandon Knight, Greg Monroe, Andre Drummond, Austin Daye, I mean Pistons have a core that, in a few years, could be deadly. They’ll be ok. But I feel that thier youth would keep them from being better than the somewhat more experienced Wizards.

So here’s the rankings I anticipate:

Clippers
Sixers
Hawks
Wizards
Pistons

If the Nets were still around, it would look like this:

Clippers
Sixers
Nets
Hawks
Wizards
Pistons

Now obviously, I want the Sixers to win this thing. But, I have some feelings about this season and it’s not sitting well with me. Maybe because years of mediocrity took away any hope of a championship away from my heart and now that the Sixers have actually moved in the right direction, I’m in complete shock. Plus, the roster has so many new guys that I don’t know about so I’m not sure how the team will play together.

It doesn’t mean I’m not excited though. Go Sixers.