If you had to peg a season-defining sentiment for the upcoming 2016-17 NBA campaign, you'd probably arrive at something like predestination.
With the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers (again) standing out as unimpeachable favorites in their conferences, it's hard to get past the feeling that their third straight Finals matchup is a foregone conclusion—which is why we need to celebrate the league's upstarts and rising forces more than ever.
The members of this ascendant new wave probably aren't ready to knock off the established ruling class just yet. But if those superpowers falter eventually, don't be surprised if it's one of these teams doing the toppling. In the meantime, watching them grow is half the fun.
Utah Jazz
Let's start here: The Utah Jazz posted the fifth-best net rating in the Western Conference last year. While that plus-1.6 points per 100 possessions suggests they should have been marginally better than .500 instead of marginally worse (the Jazz finished 40-42), this is not a team we should expect to spend another season trying to break even.
Thoug ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Grant Hughes
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September 2nd, 2016 by Grant Hughes Leave a reply »
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