With “elite” monikers come high expectations for any NBA team.
And high expectations breed big potential letdowns for said squads playing in the National Basketball Association.
Each conference features four or five teams with realistic expectations of a conference championship at season’s end. This 2013-2014 campaign has the likes of the Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls in the East and the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets in the West.
The Heat are the obvious reigning champions, with the Spurs being the tough-luck losers in the Finals from last season. Most of the other aforementioned teams either return a formidable group or have retooled substantially.
All bring hope for an NBA title.
The Clippers and Nets have spent the most on both players and coaching staffs, and have the highest expectations attached to them. The Bulls welcoming back former MVP Derrick Rose and Rockets charging ahead with marquee free-agent Dwight Howard as the centerpiece of their franchise are candidates as well.
However, the Doc Rivers-led Clippers and Nets coached by future Hall of Famer Jason Kidd are set for the biggest letdowns.
Let’s detail why.
Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers captured the Pacific division and secured the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference with a 56-26 record last year. They powered to a 2-0 lead over the Memphis Grizzlies in the conference quarterfinals before getting blown out by double digits in four straight losses.
Such a premature exit led to the firing of Vinny del Negro and hiring of Doc Rivers as head coach and senior vice president of basketball operations. Along with bringing in Rivers’ defensive prowess and championship pedigree, the Clippers re-signed franchise-making point guard Chris Paul and gritty forward Matt Barnes. They also traded for outside sharp-shooters J.J. Redick and Jared Dudley.
Add to this mix an über-athletic frontline of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan and a deep backcourt that includes Jamal Crawford and Darren Collison.
On paper, the Clippers appear as a dynasty in the making. But will ostensible greatness translate into conference-worthy winning on the hardwood?
In a word, no.
Again, this team is absolutely stacked. It boasts a starting five of Paul, Redick, Dudley, Griffin and Jordan. Its bench is rock solid with Collison, Crawford, Barnes, veteran Antawn Jamison and backup center Ryan Hollins. It is now coached by a defensive mastermind, an NBA champ and a real leader of men. And yes, Paul is the game’s best scoring and distributing floor general at point guard.
The reason this eye-popping potential will not come together as a cohesive whole is that it is all too much, too soon.
Griffin, 24, and Jordan, 25, possess all-world talent and produce highlight reels seemingly every night. But for all their spectacular individual plays—offensively or defensively—they are far from complete players. Blocks, dunks and acrobatics will abound from this power forward-center duo; unfortunately, a low-post game, rebounding and consistent all-around play will not.
It’s simply a matter of talent over discipline with these two. Not even the great Doc Rivers and Chris Paul will be able to harness their collective abilities and transform them into an effective frontline, night in and night out. It is a transformation that will require much grooming over multiple seasons.
We must also acknowledge that the Clippers as an organization have been a perpetual dysfunction. Rivers will turn things around eventually, but it will not happen right away.
The 116-103 opening night loss to an inferior Los Angeles Lakers team will serve as a microcosm for the Clippers’ ’13-’14 season. They will shoot the heck out of the ball and lock down defensively at times. But as the fourth quarter against the Lakers’ bench proved, in which the Clippers allowed a mind-boggling 41 points, sound, team-first play will not always materialize.
For all the talent on hand, Rivers does not have at his disposal a big-three of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen functioning in its prime with champion-level focus. Paul is the real deal and Redick and Dudley can knock down shots, but Griffin, Jordan and the team as a whole just isn’t ready for the big moment.
Give the Clippers a top-four seed in the West; just don’t expect a conference championship or lengthy postseason run—at least not yet.
Brooklyn Nets
Like the Clippers, the Nets also earned the No. 4 playoff seed last year. They went 49-33 and finished second in the Atlantic to their cross-town rival New York Knicks. They also concluded their 2012-2013 campaign with a first-round playoff exit, in this case a hard-fought seven-game Eastern Quarterfinals with the Chicago Bulls.
Despite a tremendous 35-19 regular-season finish under interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo, Russian billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov wanted to make a splash. He and general manager Billy King inked former Net and one-time champion point guard Jason Kidd, the NBA’s No. 2 man in all-time assists and steals, as the new HC.
Changes to player personnel ultimately produced the biggest splash. King helped orchestrate a blockbuster deal that landed Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry in Brooklyn. He also resigned F/C Andray Blatche and brought in defensive specialist Andrei Kirilenko.
Operating from the Brooklyn borough in Year 2, the Nets will look to secure New York bragging rights with an all-star-laden roster. Point guard Deron Williams, shooting guard Joe Johnson, Pierce, Garnett and center Brook Lopez have a combined 35 NBA All-Star awards and numerous other accolades between them. Pierce, Garnett and Terry also bring championship experience.
While not as outwardly impressive as the Clippers from top to bottom, the Nets feature a phenomenal starting-five with a few legitimate backups. They seem poised to go toe-to-toe with any conference opponent. But will they win or at least capture the No. 2 seed in the East with said personnel grouping?
Regrettably for the Brooklyn faithful, they will not.
Jason Kidd has never coached at any level. He is a surefire future Hall of Fame inductee as a player, but zero coaching experience does not inspire much confidence. Point-man Williams can do it all and flashes league-best production at his position, but he constantly battles injuries and isn’t world-renown in the leadership department.
Johnson is a lights-out shooter and made multiple game-winners last season. But his status as an overpaid star, and not established superstar (six years, $123 million for a shooting guard), will hold the Nets back from reaching the true elite level.
Pierce and Garnett are proven champions. They’ll dig to their respective and collective corps to get it done for one more year. Yet at 36 and 37 years of age, how much is really left in the tank?
And Lopez, for all his scoring prowess, does not rebound or defend consistently for a 7’0’’ big man. The bench, meanwhile, lacks a reliable backup point guard and overall scoring ability.
The Nets will win plenty of games behind veterans Pierce, Garnett and a team of all-stars. They will, however, finish behind the Heat, Pacers and Bulls in the East. Kidd will be outcoached during his first season on the job.
In an all or nothing campaign, Brooklyn, while superior to its New York counterpart, will falter beneath the weight of its $102 million payroll, paying dearly for $43 million in luxury taxes and unmet expectations.
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