Last time on The New Millennium, the Toronto Raptors made a big move, trading away their third overall pick to acquire Kyrie Irving, while another star guard in John Wall got a massive contract to join the basement dwelling Wizards. In trades before the season, the Miami Heat blew everything up, trading away their franchise point guard Derrick Rose to the New Jersey Nets, while Zach LaVine was sent to Dallas. The Hawks got J.R. Smith from Utah, while the Bulls picked up forward Jack Jamison from Cleveland for Andre Igoudala. The Bulls also sent away veteran Damien Baxter to San Antonio, the Knicks got some extra scoring in Willis Hammonds from Philly and the SuperSonics sent DeMar DeRozan to New Orleans for DeAndre Jordan. How will all of these changes affect the 2016-2017 season?
Western Conference
1. San Antonio Spurs(60-22)
2. Denver Nuggets(55-27)
3. Portland Trail Blazers(48-34)
4. Golden State Warriors(47-35)
5. Utah Jazz(47-35)
6. Phoenix Suns(45-37)
7. Dallas Mavericks(43-39)
8. Houston Rockets(41-41)
9. Vancouver Grizzlies(39-43)
10. Los Angeles Lakers(37-45)
11. Minnesota Timberwolves(36-46)
12. Sacramento Kings(34-48)
13. Seattle SuperSonics(33-49)
14. New Orleans Pelicans(23-59)
15. Los Angeles Clippers(19-63)
The Spurs joined the exclusive 60 win club in another dominant season, but what is very interesting is the names lined up behind them. You have Denver, led by breakout star Victor Oladipo(22.4 ppg) and Portland, who signed Bradley Beal(21.5 ppg) before the season started. Dallas fell all the way to seventh, while shockingly, Minnesota fell out of the playoff picture in a season where they failed to find success on the road. Sacramento started in last place, making a midseason trade for C Carson Rollins(86 OVR) that at least got them out of the cellar, but they have completely failed to provide a good landing spot for Joe Johnson(19 ppg). New Orleans fell hard after trading away Jordan and losing Beal, though no one was as bad as the Clippers, who were so putrid that Gordon Hayward(26.2 ppg) took almost every shot and led the league in scoring, so there's that.
Eastern Conference
1. Atlanta Hawks(55-27)
2. Detroit Pistons(53-29)
3. New York Knicks(53-29)
4. New Jersey Nets(52-30)
5. Chicago Bulls(48-34)
6. Orlando Magic(43-39)
7. Boston Celtics(42-40)
8. Milwaukee Bucks(42-40)
9. Indiana Pacers(41-41)
10. Toronto Raptors(39-43)
11. Cleveland Cavaliers(34-48)
12. Charlotte Hornets(34-48)
13. Washington Wizards(32-50)
14. Philadelphia 76ers(28-54)
15. Miami Heat(27-55)
A lot of the usual suspects making in the East, though Detroit made a huge improvement thanks to a career year from Arthur Stinson(20.1 ppg). And New Jersey is once again a major threat after an absolutely ridiculous season from Derrick Rose(28.9 ppg, 10 apg) that won him his first MVP. Also, a big shout-out to the Bucks, who have improved so much in the past few years that they beat out the ever present Pacers for the final playoff spot. Milwaukee is led by the big man duo of Kristaps Porzingis(20.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg) and Karl-Anthony Towns(18.4 ppg, 11.6 rpg), and should provide an excellent early test for LeBron and the Hawks. Toronto also made massive strides this year, but fell just short in the end, and Charlotte just can't figure things out. And in a stiff competition for the worst record in the East, Miami won out in the end, with the third best odds to claim the #1 overall pick.
Awards
MVP: Derrick Rose, New Jersey Nets
Rookie of the Year: Ben Simmons, Cleveland Cavaliers
Sixth Man: Ricky Rubio, Detroit Pistons
Defensive Player: Willie Lewis, Boston Celtics
Most Improved: Derrick Rose, New Jersey Nets
Coach of the Year: Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs
Ben Simmons, by the way, was mostly a bench player for Cleveland in Year 1 but did put together a solid all-around campaign(12.7 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 3.6 apg). Join me next time on The New Millennium for the 2017 NBA Playoffs.
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