TEAM NEEDS

ATLANTA HAWKS
An outspoken floor leader.
After years of playing the role of laughingstock to the NBA, the Hawks seem to have been headed in the right direction over the past few seasons. Joe Johnson has proven his worth as a second-tier superstar. Josh Smith is a young player that creates matchup nightmares for most teams in the league. Pachulia is a serviceable center and Marvin Williams and Al Horford should continue to get better. However, despite the noise this team made as an eight seed taking on the eventual world champions last year, Mike Bibby remains an odd choice for a veteran point guard to lead a group of young talent. He has never seemed like that type of personality to me and, while you still have to fear him with the ball at the end of a tight game, he is a shell of the player he once was. And Johnson leads only through his play, for he is a soft spoken person who would rather leave the impassioned war-cries to someone else. These things are evident in the way the Hawks have stayed put this year instead of taking the next step. In order to get better, they will need someone more adept at showing these youngsters the way towards reaching their potential.

BOSTON CELTICS
(I will hold off on this in order to build up the suspense)
Give me a defending championship team with three superstar players and tons of young talent and good role players that currently sports the second best record in the league and first best record in their conference and then challenge me to find something to change about them. Am I up for the challenge? Will I tell them to stand pat? Will I cop out with small tweaks like a veteran back up point guard or a little more athleticism on the wing? No. I will flat out tell you that if this team had a coach half as good as a Phil Jackson or a Gregg Popovich, they would be a lock to entertain us with the type of dynasty that we fell in love with via the Celtics, Bulls or Lakers of years past. I will be blunt. Doc Rivers is a bad coach. His rotations are terrible. His play calling is terrible. His rhetoric is trite and uninspiring. He is lucky to have a squad talented enough to largely mask his inefficiencies. However, it is still a shame that we will not get to see just how good this team actually could be.

CHARLOTTE BOBCATS
A scorer.
That’s it. That’s all they need. A go-to guy. Everything else is in place. They have a proven coach who will inspire confidence and commitment and dependability in his guys. Every role you need a role player for is filled. Okafur is a defensive presence inside who controls the boards. Wallace is an everything guy who hustles and fills up the stat sheet like a slightly-less-affluent man’s Shawn Marion. Augustin will blossom into an enviable floor leader and, in the meantime, Felton is a more than capable one. Diaw is a versatile frontcourt player who can pass the ball and suddenly he can hit from the perimeter too. Bell is a strong veteran leader who also hits shots and defends well. What else could a team ask for? Somewhere along the way they forgot to pick up a guy who could be relied upon to score the rock. Obviously, this isn’t the easiest kind of player to find. However, if things swing their way this upcoming draft, they could end up competing a lot sooner than many might think.

CHICAGO BULLS
A complete change of philosophy from up top.
The good news is they might be one John Paxson resignation away! The bad news is that Paxson just made it very clear that he doesn’t plan to go anywhere. Seriously, in all this time they haven’t been able to package together some of their talented young players to bring in one great one? Don’t you think the combination of Rose, Deng and Amare Stoudemire would be better than what they have now no matter who else was on the team? And they settle for bringing in Old-man Miller and John Salmons? Absolutely mind-boggling.

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
For the city of Cleveland to suddenly become one of the biggest commercial hubs in the United States.

DALLAS MAVERICKS
To start over.
Seriously guys, it was a valiant effort. You were a couple of complete emotional meltdowns away from multiple championships. You were a really exciting team to watch for awhile. You even have an owner who is as exciting to watch as the players sometimes. But you are done. You tried to build your franchise around a talented but mentally soft, gangly Billy Goat. You panicked and traded for an over the hill point guard who can’t hit a jump shot. You employ Josh Howard and Erick Dampier. Just start over. Keep that Juan Barea kid, but get rid of everyone else.

DENVER NUGGETS
More leadership.
While I can’t argue with the results of the trade for Billups, it was merely one step in the right direction. Chauncey is currently 32 and already doesn’t look quite like the player he was during the Pistons’ heyday. They still have a roster made up of ballhogs, thugs and drug addicts. They need to find more GMs who are sucker enough to take on headcases for talent. Will the calming effect Billups has on this band of misfits continue once his play drops off considerably? Will Melo continue to be content with another player rationing his shots? Will Chris Anderson get everyone addicted to Meth Amphetamines? These things remain to be seen.

DETROIT PISTONS
To blow it up.
They are suffering from the commendable decision to, until this season, stick with the team they had and see if they didn’t have another run in them when it seemed apparent to most of us that, indeed, they didn’t. But in an age when players seem as disposable as the cards that hold their image traded between kids, I can’t say that I fully blame Joe Dumars for sticking, for the most part, with the guys who brought him one championship. But with the trade for Iverson and the now completely dysfunctional offense, it seems they will be finally be thinking about the future. They have a couple of nice pieces in Rodney Stuckey and Jason Maxiell, although I’m not sure they will live up to the hype that Dumars has created. Hopefully they can use the cap space that Iverson’s contract will free up to bring in a couple more and perhaps next year a fringe contender will be willing to give up more young pieces for the likes of a Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince or Sheed.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Some D.
Just a little, ok? Don? Seriously, just give us one or two players that play a little bit of defense. What? No, I’m not saying you should slow down. I’m not saying your guys need to stop running and having fun and shooting every open shot available. Just sign a couple players that play defense. Here’s an idea: next time you address the team, mention the word defense and see how the guys react. As long as every player on the roster doesn’t immediately demand to be traded to the Knicks, you know the door is open.

HOUSTON ROCKETS
To sign just one star player who is not: a) injured half of every season, b) clinically insane.
They have done an adequate job of collecting strong role players, but I’m not sure how much trade value McGrady’s back or Artest’s crazy will hold moving forward. Unless they can somehow find a way to bring in a great scorer without sacrificing too much along the way, it might be time to start thinking about the future.

INDIANA PACERS
More time.
They are still in post-brawl withdrawal. Give them time to get over that and we’ll reassess. Just a few more years now…

LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
Pass. Or, well, maybe just an owner who isn’t an open racist? No, I don’t know. Pass.

LOS ANGELES LAKERS
Just a little grit.
That’s it. This team has all the components on paper but they remain a little too soft. Especially with Bynum sidelined once again, when the going starts to get tough and Gasol and Odom crack under the pressure and Bryant takes on the role of doing everything on the offensive end once again, who will be there to enforce on the defensive end? Trevor Ariza is a nice player and serves this purpose, but they need more. It would have been nice to see them trade some offense (Radmanovic) for some defense (not Adam Morrison) before the trade deadline. Now, they will have to hope this gets it done for them this time around, before reassessing again in the offseason.

MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
Patience.
And maybe add one strong veteran presence to help these youngsters along. And a good coach who can reign them in. And to trade Darko. Other than that, they have compiled an astounding amount of great young talent that, on paper at least, looks like it should mesh well together moving forward. As long as these players are able to play together and off of each other, they should have a promising future. I think the biggest risk here is Mayo becoming too much of a chucker, to the frustration and chagrin of his teammates. That is where strong leadership comes in. However, Gay’s athleticism, Conley’s court vision, Gasol’s front court presence… these are all strong building blocks for a team that could be competing down the road. Patience is a virtue here.

MIAMI HEAT
More talent.
They have one superstar and two other players that are of NBA caliber, one of which is injured all the time and the other looks really good in a tricked out Hummer. Honestly, even though Wade got the first ring, it is hard to watch him struggle with a JV team while Lebron James’ team gets better every season. Chalmers has potential though, and Wade is still young, obviously. The main thing they need is for the guys on the team that are going to be around for awhile (hint: not Jermaine Oneal) to resist the trap of learning how to lose. I guess you can replace my stated need with “Resiliency of mind and faith that better days will come with hard work.” It’s not as punchy though.

MILWAUKEE BUCKS
A rabbit’s foot.
There is a lot of talent on this squad, but not a lot of luck. I mean, their mascot is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Perhaps they could afford to send away some offensive talent in order to bring back one or two hustle guys that will set a good example by embracing Skiles’ philosophy and working their asses off every play. Other than that, I’d say they see what the draft can get them and hope for better luck next year.

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
A cohesive game plan on management's part.
This is, perhaps, the opposite situation in which we find the Grizzlies. The T-Wolves have managed to put together a lot of young talent that, on paper at least, doesn’t mesh at all. Two good scoring big men who are undersized and don’t play defense in Kevin Love and Al Jefferson. A scoring point guard who doesn’t have court vision and doesn’t play defense in Sebastian Telfair. A couple of inconsistent athletic scorers who aren’t known for their defense in Randy Foye and Corey Brewer. A scrappy veteran shooter who, nonetheless, doesn’t offer a lot of defense. Mark Madsen. I don’t see McHale figuring this thing out anytime soon.

NEW JERSEY NETS
To hope for the best.
Devin Harris is really good. He is. I believe that. But other than that, what do they have? Brooke Lopez will be a good player in the league, but he strikes me as more of a role player than anything else. Same with Yi Jianlian. Vinsanity can still be explosive from time to time, but his days as a consistent premiere scorer are over and he has never been especially efficient in that category. My feeling is that the Nets will soon recede back into near oblivion and have to employ their drafting abilities to gain respectability again.

NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
A coaching change.
Let me just state: I like Byron Scott. I think he is a really smart guy. I even think he can be a really good coach. However, he is old school. He is of the Larry Brown, Scott Skiles ilk. He is hard-nosed. He is a dictator. His players need to tune in or tune out. Right now, seems like they are choosing the latter. You see, a coach like that needs to have the perfect roster in order to ultimately be successful (see Brown’s version of the championship Detroit Pistons, and even they wearied of him after awhile). Otherwise, they are very good at getting under-talented teams to commit to defense and over-perform (see the Chicago Bulls under Scott Skiles for one year, or what Larry Brown is in the process of achieving in Charlotte). Scott reached that peak last season with these Hornets. But with guys like Chandler and Peja growing tired of playing lockdown defense, and a lack of any real offensive explosiveness from the wings, this team is not going to reach the next level with Scott at the helm, forcing Chris Paul to direct one of the slowest offenses in the league. It’s time for a change and Scott is the man to go. Sorry, Byron.

NEW YORK KNICKS
For the next year and a half to just fly by… as if a dream upon waking.
There is probably some tweaking they could get done in the meantime. But they ain’t getting rid of Curry’s contract and the thought of Starbury getting excited enough at the prospect of playing for a contender that he will give more than 5% of his salary back seems a pipedream at this point. So really, they’re left with having as much fun as possible playing D’Antoni ball before seeing what the magical summer of 2010 yields.

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
To cross their fingers and hope that karma does not exist.
They have a lot of good players on this team. In Kevin Durant, they have someone who will be the top scorer in the league for years and years to come. Russell Westbrook is a great young point guard. They have another explosive scorer in Jeff Green. They have a versatile big man in Nick Collison. I even believe that they should be secretly happy that they didn’t get Tyson Chandler because I think that his attitude could be detrimental to a team so young and impressionable. So these are all good things. Still though, you have to wonder if owner Clay Bennett’s shady business maneuvers will unfairly come back to haunt this young and promising team. Do I hear a wolf howling in the distance?

ORLANDO MAGIC
A better playmaker.
It’s not a knock on Jameer Nelson. He’s a solid player. However, it should make a basketball fan salivate to think of Dwight Howard playing alongside a true passer. Plus, there is the fact that if Rashard Lewis was rewarded for taking the ball to the hoop with a highlight reel alley-oop once in awhile, he might, you know, actually do it. Of course, a Steve Nash or a Chris Paul is hard to come by. This team has obviously done a good job putting some solid talent around Howard and they have played above expectations under the leadership of a great coach. However, if at any point in the next few years they have the opportunity to trade some young talent for an aging point guard who is still the best open court passer in the game, they should jump at it.

PHILADELPHIA SIXERS
To not follow your most promising year in ages by spending all your money on a player that plays the opposite type of basketball that has produced said year.
The sad thing is that Brand isn’t even going to have much trade value after such a disappointing season.

PHOENIX SUNS
How about one NBA ready player above 6’8” that is not named Shaquille Oneal?
With Amare’s eyeball choosing to displace itself at the worst possible time (seriously, could the timing on that injury, less than 24 hrs after the trade deadline, be any more gut-wrenchingly hilarious?), and Robin Lopez still playing JV basketball, Phoenix is left with a frontcourt consisting of his Cactus-ness and any combination of Matt Barnes, Louis Amundson and Jacob Dudley. What? That’s Jared Dudley? The point is, no matter how fast this squad manages to run for the remainder of this season, it is hard to argue that that is going to get it done against any of the elite teams in this league. And I choose to focus only on the remainder of the current season for this team because after that the future just looks too bleak.

PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS
To stay the course and temper expectations for what Oden will become.
They have a great young roster and a future superstar in Brandon Roy. Lamarcus Aldridge can become a beast if he gains enough confidence in his own game to become consistent. Travis Outlaw is better than anyone seems to realize. Fernandez is a good outside threat and will get better. Even Pryzbilla is a solid center. All they need from Oden is for him to be an imposing defensive presence inside who grabs boards and the occasional put-back. That is it. Other than that, they are in great shape

SACRAMENTO KINGS
A great, young, big man.
Yes, they are a big of a mess right now and have been for a number of years. However, Kevin Martin and Beno Udrih are pretty solid young guards who can score the ball. Bringing in Nocioni was a good move. They need to pick up a big man who will be great for years to come in the draft. This may mean actually drafting that player or trading their pick for someone already in the league. Either way, it requires them coming up with very high draft position so the fans need to hope for the best.

SAN ANTONIO SPURS
Youth.
Well, the Spurs front office has obviously done a phenomenal job keeping this team a perennial contender for the past decade. Even the last couple years when it seemed as if they were too old to compete, they surprised everyone by hitting the gas after the all star breaks and proving all the doubters wrong. This year could prove to be another repeat of that too. Duncan and Parker have been playing as well as ever and Ginobli’s injury could just leave him that much fresher for the post season. However, the fact remains that, while Parker is still just 26, Duncan and Ginobli will begin to fade at some point and the team has compiled very little young talent to step up when this happens. Of course, the front office seems to have a knack for finding diamonds in the rough that is the later draft rounds so if you are a Spurs fan, you needn’t necessarily feel like your team’s window is closing too fast.

TORONTO RAPTORS
Shawn Marion… six years ago.
Shawn Marion’s is exactly the kind of skill set they needed to bring in. GM Bryan Colangelo is assumedly open to the idea of playing a fast-paced brand of basketball after seeing his Phoenix Suns blossom under the leadership of Mike D’Antoni and Steve Nash. And they have good pieces for this. Calderon is a great floor leader. Bosh is a versatile scoring big man who can pass. Bargnani is a long player whose speed and range can draw opposing big men out of the paint. They have some shooters. An athletic, highflying slasher that plays great perimeter defense and takes some of the rebounding pressure off of Bosh is exactly what they needed. The problem is this team is not making the playoffs this year. Probably not competing next year either. And all the while, Marion is getting older and his athleticism is diminishing. They also need some depth.

UTAH JAZZ
To buckle down, stay healthy, and win one goddamn championship for Jerry Sloan.
Seriously, the guy has been a stellar coach his entire career but has not yet been rewarded with a ring to show for it. Or is that just a sign that he’s overrated? Either way, this team has had a lot of talent for the last couple years and, if they are fortunate enough to get completely healthy for next season, they should have a shot at competing for a championship with the core of Boozer, Williams, Okur and Millsap still intact. But if they lose Boozer, know that Millsap is not a good enough player to compensate for that loss and they will be back to searching for extra pieces to get over the hump.

WASHINGTON WIZARDS
To pray that Gilbert Arenas heals.
Let’s face it. If Arenas is forever a gimp, this franchise is screwed for a long time. I’m not saying that even if he does fully heal he is an ideal franchise guy. But at least then they have options. It is possible that they will find a team desperate enough for a versatile big man who can score but not defend to trade some good defensive, hustle type guys for Jamison. If that is the case, they will be competitive in the East with Arenas as their main scorer, Butler as their second option, and a bunch of gritty role players around them committed to defense. It is also possible that a team hard-pressed for scoring is willing to ship out some young guys for Gilbert. Again, though, this all hinges on the Hibachi actually returning to form.