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Originally Posted by Tigers_eye
Washington and NJ would be happy if they win their division. Heck if they stay above 500.
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I don't know much about NJ, but don't under-estimate Washington in the east. If (there is a big IF though) key players are healthy, this team will surprise lots of people. This season they have significanly upgraded their reserves, therefore the top 5 will need to play less than before.
3rd year man 6' 11" Andrey Blatche ( straight from high school ) is deveping very well. This is his season to show his skills.
This will be Pecherov's (7') 1st season in NBA. But he is well known comodity in Europe. Alreay showing his merit in warmup games. Very versatile ( range, scoring and ball handling) and very good as a rebounder.
2nd round pick McGuire is already proving himslef a contributer in defence. Last night he had 6 block shots, Coaches are already saying he is NBa ready and will be a contributer (in some capacity) in this season.
1st rounder Nick Young has a very good long term potential. But may only contribute once in a while. he is very good offensive player, need to adjust to NBA defence though. May take a full season.
Danial and Songaila played very well together from end of last season. Last year Songaila was injured (at the begining of the innings). This year he is healthy and having a very good preseason so far.
Plus Arenas (starter), Jamison (starter) and Butler (starter) are all healthy now. They all were injured at the end of the season including the playoff games.
The only weak point is Haywwod at Center. However so far he is playing better than last few years.
It may be all hype, but so far what I am seeing (pre-season games) and what I am reading in local news-paper, this team is supposed to do much better than last season (when they stated very well but ended badly with 1st round play-off exit.
I expect Washington to win close to 50 games if the Starters are healthy.