The National Basketball Association (NBA) is known as one of the best professional sports leagues in the world. The thirty-two teams in the league work hard to get to the NBA Championship after the tough and long season. Only sixteen teams of the thirty-two will be able to compete for the championship, but which team will be the one standing as champion? Each team is filling their rosters up to be prepared for the new season. The NBA is full of talent leaving many to wonder who the true title contenders are this year. The Cleveland Cavaliers, Oklahoma City Thunder (OKC), and San Antonio Spurs are three of the best teams in the NBA. With their athletes, coaches, and offensive and defensive strategies, these teams …show more content…
are a possible NBA title contender.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have had their glory days in the past, but many fans wonder if this is the year they will re-live them.
At one point during their franchise, the Cavs were amazing with NBA stars, Ron Harper, Brad Daugherty, Alan Carr, and Mark Price in the 1980’s. But those glory days seemed to be over for this team. In 2010, the year after LeBron James had left the team, the Cavaliers had the worst season records in the history of the NBA. Their record was 19 wins and 63 losses. Cleveland has had it rough since then but now seems to be a top title contender by the end of this year. The team drafted Kyrie Irving, a guard from Duke University in 2011. LeBron James came back too after he opted out of his contract at the end of this season. One of the newest members of the Cavaliers is Kevin Love. He is an all-star power forward who has spent all of his six years with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Cavaliers traded away 2013 and 2014 number one draft picks Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins, along with a 2015 first round draft pick to Minnesota for Love(Stein). The Cavaliers now having the best big three (Love, James, and Irving) in the league also has some of the best shooters in the league too. …show more content…
Shawn Marion, Dion Waiters, James Jones, Matthew Dellavedova, and Mike Miller. The team also has Anderson Varejao, a Center who is very talented. This team has talent, but the man who helps them win games is their head coach. The Cavaliers hired David Blatt over the summer after firing head coach Mike Brown for not being successful this season. Blatt has experience being a head coach by coaching a Euro League team in Israel (Goodman & Windhorst, 2014). He has also lead the Russian basketball team to a bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics. Now at the age of 55, Blatt is coming back to the United States to coach the Cavaliers. With Blatt as their head coach, the Cavaliers can be a successful team this year. The Cleveland Cavaliers is now ranked as one of the best teams in the league. With the new big three, shooters, and height, this team could be the one standing at the podium with Adam Silverman at the end of this season. Their new head coach will bring new plays and defensive strategies to the table in hopes of Cleveland winning their first ever NBA Championship since the team was founded in 1970. This team may be a true title contender, but they will face other teams who are as big as a threat as they are. The Cavaliers will have tough competition their way this season as they will face a team who is known to be majestic. That team is the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Thunder (OKC) is a team similar to the Cavaliers with speed, talent, defense and great coaching. Their best player is Kevin Durant. Durant is a 6-9, dead-eye shooting, small forward out of Texas University. He’s been in the league for six years, and he is already making a name for himself. Last year, Durant won the NBA MVP over LeBron James who at that time was playing in Miami. He has been in five all-star games and he continues to dominate to make him an all-star this year. Over Durant’s career, he averages over 27 points per game and 3.5 assists per game. His rebounding game is exceptional at 6.5 boards per game. This man is a monster on the court. When he isn’t shooting the ball, he’s passing or getting boards. He is always contributing to wins. But he is not the only star on the team. Russell Westbrook, a point guard out of UCLA was drafted by the Seattle Supersonics in 2008. The Supersonics was the name of OKC before they were moved to Oklahoma City. Westbrook is a fast point guard who can cross anyone over and make his signature stop-and-pop mid-range jumper over the defense. Durant and Westbrook are a dynamic duo since 2008. With both Durant and Westbrook on the court, any team will have trouble just trying to guard one of them. Behind Durant and Westbrook is their head coach, Scott Brooks. Brooks has been with the team for five seasons(“Scott brooks,” 2014). He has also lead the Thunder to 3 playoff appearances over the last three years (“Scott brooks,” 2014). Brooks knows what it takes to be in the NBA because he played from 1988-1999 with seven NBA teams (“Scott brooks,” 2014). With his experiences of being in the NBA, he is one of the best coaches in the league. The Thunder is an NBA title contender because of their players. The players get along with each other and they treat one another as family. They work together to win games. Their coach Scott Brooks contributes to the team with offensive plays such as a pick and roll play that allows Durant to be free of his defender and take the easy shot. Durant and Westbrook can lead this team to a title, but the team that has stood in its way the past two years is the San Antonio Spurs.
The Spurs are the last team that is said to be a true title contender.Last year, the Spurs beat the Miami Heat for the championship.
The reigning NBA Champs are still as strong as ever with the first big three in the league. Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Tim Duncan, are still going strong being leaders for their team. These men might are in their thirties, but they are still playing like they are in their mid twenties. Other than the big three, the Spurs have some of the best offensive players in the league. Players like Danny Green, Boris Diaw, and NBA Finals MVP, Kawhi Leonard. These young men bring a lot to the Spurs franchise with speed, scoring, and defense. This team is stacked with talent and each person on the team contributes to every win. But every win is from listening to a legend on the court. The head coach Gregg Popovich. Popovich has coached the Spurs over the last 16 years("Gregg popovich," 2014). He has lead the team to four national championships and has been named NBA coach of the month 12 times in his career("Gregg popovich," 2014). Popovich’s offensive strategy is simple: make a lot of passes and cut across the court while another teammate sets a screen for you. In other words a play the Spurs perform is the ball is passed six to seven times before a shot is took. One wing player will cut across the court to the corner three point line. As the wing player cuts across the court, Tim Duncan or Boris Diaw will set a pick for the wing player so he can get
away from the defender following him. This leaves the man open for an easy shot. This play was used most of the time during the NBA Finals this year as the Heat could not stop their offensive performance. The Spurs is one of the best teams in the league. Through combined efforts of the players on the team and the strategic plays of a talented coach, the Spurs will be one of the top title contenders of the NBA this year.
These teams each have a fair chance of winning the NBA title this year. LeBron James is with a new team and two all-star players. The Thunder have Durant and Westbrook back making this year another dynamic duo season. The Spurs continue to be great with the original big three and talented small forward Kawhi Leonard. The Spurs might be back for another championship as long as the players stay healthy. The world will be watching as the NBA season approaches. There are other teams that stand a chance of winning the title, but these three are the most likely to win the championship at the end of this year. Let the game begin.
Works Cited
Goodman, J. & Windhorst, B. (2014, June 21). David Blatt accepts Cavs job. Retrieved September 23, 2014, from http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11112991/david-blatt-new-coach-cleveland-cavaliers
NBA.com Gregg Popovich. (2014, January 1). Retrieved September 23, 2014.
Scott brooks. (2014, June 22). Retrieved from http://www.nba.com/coachfile/scott_brooks/
Stein, M. (2014, August 8). Wolves, Cavs agree to Love trade.Retrieved September 18, 2014. Gregg popovich. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.nba.com/coachfile/gregg_popovich/