I'm interested in seeing Gasol on Bulls, I'm glad he's not on this team, man he looked flat footed in the preseason game I saw.
I'm also gonna check out Dallas Mavs since I now live in Dallas, TX I'm a Laker and bleed purp and gold but I'm gone root for the city I live in unless they play the LakeShow.
You said teams then listed individuals, I thought some trade happened today or something and went right to sports sites looking to see how Lillard and Davis got on the same team. I'd have to say I'm most curious about GSW and to a lessor extent Cleveland just to see how they cope with the expectations.
I gotta go with the Bulls too. Pau/mirotic and Mcbuckets will help an already good team. As a basketball fan, I really hope Rose stays healthy
They have a nice squad. They might surprise some people in the playoffs. Ellis/dirk/chandler/chandler is not a bad team
Bulls will be fun to watch. I hope Rose stays healthy. I root against the Spurs repeating, and the Cavs getting to the finals.
Rose is back, I think Pau will fit in fine for the fact that they have an actual defender and he's not the final cog in defense.
Warriors for sure. They are just such an exciting team to watch. I'll be interested to see if Kerr can make them more consistent on the offensive end. Mark Jackson's biggest flaw as a coach was his vanilla offense. If Kerr fixes that, they can be a true contender.
For me it's the Warriors. I was looking at some of their stats during preseason and their TS% is absolutely ridiculous. They're one team other than the Lakers that I'll be keeping an eye on throughout the season.
New York, Golden State, and Chicago is who I'll be paying attention to. New York to see how Fish does. I'm curious to see what Klay Thompson does as I think he can be the best sg in the league. If Bogus and the splash brothers stay healthy they can contend. I'm interested to see how Derrick Rose looks and how Pau fits in there.
Bulls all the way for me as well. They were already my favorite team in the East for many years running with Noah, Gibson and Rose. Now that they have Pau, I'm happy for him and them. I'd like to see them beat the Cavs, etc. Heck, I wouldn't mind if they won the whole thing, but I don't think they will. Rooting against the Spurs, the Cavs, the Paper Clips and my least favorite, Houston. I like Golden State but they are our direct competitor in the Pacific so I can't root for them. I do really like their team and many of their players though.
I can only watch intently(not root for) another team when we are contenders. If not, I only watch my Lakers, giving them all the positive vibes I can give.
This will probably be me as well. There will be a handful of other teams I keep an eye on but these that you mentioned will be the key ones
I'm a fan of Anthony Davis game so I'll be watching some of him, but it'll also be interesting to see if New York can make the playoffs again.
If I had to root for another team if the Lakers didn't exist, I would be a Warriors fan (Cali for Life!). I've always been more interested in them than the rest of the NBA and I like the new team they built. The Logo being there was just icing on the cake. I am indifferent about the Spurs, but at least I respect them as a team that is well run and supports it's players and fans (all 3 of them). If we're also saying who we root against, it will always be whatever team LaBron is playing on.
Chicago, MIAMI, New York, Houston, LA Clippers, OKC and Cleveland. Chicago: Rose is back, Pau is there, and they have depth. I think this is their best chance to get to the finals and maybe win it all. I do have them going to the finals over the CAVS this year. Miami: I've said it for years: That roster can win 50 games without LeBron James. We're about to find out if this theory will hold true, granted D Wade is older. I can finally somewhat root for the HEAT now that LeBron isn't there...and plus, the better the HEAT perform, the more validation I have for "it wasn't ALL LeBron those 4 years in Miami" New York: Phil/DFish, how they implement the triangle with a clearly inferior roster which probably shouldn't make the playoffs this year...Curious to see how Melo plays in the triangle as well...Knicks can either be a 37-45 team again, or a 55-27 team. There's no middle ground with them. Houston: For the same reasons everyone else stated...Dwight/Harden failing...but more importantly, I'm curious to see if they even make the playoffs...because the WEST is just stacked this year and teams like the Nuggets, Suns, Pelicans are all gonna move up and be competitive this year..Houston will be in the 6-8 seed range with Dallas clearly improving and Portland most likely improving as well. LA Clippers: I cannot believe people are picking this team to a) go to the NBA finals or b) WIN IT ALL. What the heck has this team done to warrant this type of prediction? I'm appalled by it, and I'll be rooting hard against this cry baby squad once again. OKC: KD is out, is it Westbrook's time to lead this squad? Once KD is back and healthy, is it OKC's time to finally win it all? Once again I feel like this year is a good chance for them to win it all while LeBron and the Cavs try to figure it out in their first year. Cleveland: You can't ignore these guys. If they win it all in their first year, i'll be impressed, because I don't have them in the NBA finals, and I'm not particularly impressed with Love and Irving just yet. They may be younger and put up better individual stats than Bosh and Wade...but remember, Bosh and Wade both put up monster stats before LeBron arrived. I predict Love's numbers to go way down....Irving thinks he's the #2 guy, so that's another interesting subplot. LeBron will be LeBron but he's on a team with a core of young guys that have never been to the playoffs...it's a challenging situation and I do think the BULLS will beat this team as they've been together for a longer time and they have a better overall team IMO.
Still supporting the Spurs, when they're not playing the Lakers, because I think it's a classy organization that I have great admiration for. Will be interesting to see what happens with Leonard in the midst of his contract negotiations after winning Finals MVP. Will take a peek occasionally at the Bulls, because I still miss Pau and hope the best for him. Any other team I watch for will be to hope they lose badly, including Clippers, Cleveland, Miami, Houston and (always) Boston.
