Utah Jazz Newsfeed
Active Member
Well, right here, for one. There's plenty to forecast over the final month of the 2015-16 season. Playoff spots, league records and lottery balls are all up for grabs as the Association heads down the stretch toward what's shaping up to be an exciting spring.
So rather than root around for hotline psychics to tell you what's in store for this year's photo finish, take a look at what we've picked out as strong probabilities for each of the NBA's 30 teams.
[h=2]Atlanta Hawks[/h][h=3]The Hawks Will Finish Stronger Than They Did Last Season[/h]
What made the Hawks' 2014-15 campaign so remarkable wasn't just that they won 60 games but also how quickly they sprinted out ahead of the field in the Eastern Conference. They'd all but locked up the top seed with a month to go and finished eight games clear off the second-place Cleveland Cavaliers.
So, like any team in such a sturdy position, Atlanta opted to rest its star players liberally down the stretch. The result? A less than stellar 9-8 finish over the squad's final 17 games.
That may not seem like much of a mark for today's Hawks, at 36-29 after 65 games, to topple...until you consider that their remaining schedule is the toughest in the East by opponent winning percentage.
Still, the Hawks have the goods to be better than last year's group in at least one way, courtesy of another clear improvement: defense. As Number Fire's Russell Peddle pointed out, Atlanta, with the NBA's second-most efficient defense, has been particularly stingy whenever head coach Mike Budenholzer has called on his reserves:
When reigning Coach of the Year Mike Budenholzer has gone to his bench, though, that's when the Hawks have been an elite defensive team. Every single other lineup that has gotten more than 20 minutes of floor time together over that 24-game span (10 iterations) has a Defensive Rating under 100.0.
[h=2]Boston Celtics[/h][h=3]The Celtics Will Scratch 50 Wins for the First Time in Five Years[/h]Like the Denver Nuggets circa 2012-13, the Celtics are turning into the rare superstar-less squad that's capable of winning 50 games or more.
That's not meant as any disrespect toward Isaiah Thomas. The All-Star guard has risen through the game's ranks since arriving in Boston last season and has been on a tear since he returned from Toronto in mid-February (23.3 points, 6.6 assists).
But these C's are special because they lack a singularly dominant force, despite Danny Ainge's best efforts to bring one aboard. They've turned the TD Garden into as tough a place to play as anywhere outside of Oakland or San Antonio, with 14 straight wins on their home floor.
Getting to 50 wins will be no cakewalk for Boston. But if the Celtics can win at least three of the five legs of their West Coast swing in late March and hold the fort at home, they should be able to secure the 11-6 finish they need to hit that mark.
[h=3][/h][h=2]Brooklyn Nets[/h][h=3]The Nets Will Make Danny Ainge a Saaaad Panda[/h]
Every win for Brooklyn is a loss for the Boston Celtics—which means there could be some disappointment in Beantown in the coming weeks.
Thanks to the 2013 trade that sent Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry to the Big Apple, the C's own the Nets' first-round pick in this year's draft...and next year's...and the year after that. For a while, it appeared as though Boston might luck its way into a shot at LSU's Ben Simmons, the presumed top prospect, by way of Brooklyn's futility.
And the Celtics still might by way of the draft lottery. But the Nets, a relatively robust 6-8 since Feb. 5, aren't making that prospect any more likely.
Nor do they figure to from here on out. An immediate three-game stretch against the Philadelphia 76ers (twice) and Milwaukee Bucks should yield a win or two. So could trips to Chicago, Orlando, New York and Washington, along with home games against the New Orleans Pelicans and Wizards.
If the Nets win enough of those games, they could fall behind (ahead?) of the Minnesota Timberwolves in the overall standings and leave the Celtics shy of a truly plum pick in what's expected to be a weak draft.
[h=2]Charlotte Hornets[/h][h=3]The Hornets Will Snag a Top-Four Seed[/h]It's been 16 years since a team from Charlotte had home-court advantage in the playoffs. That Hornets team, led by Eddie Jones and Derrick Coleman, won 49 games under head coach Paul Silas before losing to Allen Iverson's Philadelphia 76ers in the first round.
This year's Charlotte squad would have to win 14 of its final 19 games to match that team's regular-season success. Such a pace isn't unheard of for these Hornets, who've posted a 12-3 record since the end of January.
There are enough cupcakes left on the Hornets schedule to help them sniff 50 wins and put them in position for the No. 4 seed in the East. Among Charlotte's remaining contests, 10 will come against teams currently destined for the lottery, including two apiece against Brooklyn and Philadelphia.
As for the team currently ahead of the Hornets, the Miami Heat have eight games remaining against sub-.500 squads. With only a game-and-a-half separating Charlotte and Miami in the standings, that may be all the daylight the Hornets need to buzz up another spot.
[h=2]Chicago Bulls[/h][h=3]The Bulls Will Miss the Playoffs for the First Time Since 2008[/h]
Luck can be a fickle thing in basketball, and the Bulls haven't had much of it this season. They lost Joakim Noah to season-ending shoulder surgery back in January and have since battled through injuries to Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler and Pau Gasol, among others.
Even without those absences, Chicago has suffered through enough issues to throw its playoff prospects into peril. The offense under new head coach Fred Hoiberg has been abysmal (26th in offensive efficiency, per NBA.com) while the defense, once the Bulls' calling card under Tom Thibodeau, has slipped to the fringe of the league's top 10.
In most years, merely finishing at or above .500 would be enough to snag a playoff spot in the East. But the conference's improvement in the middle has changed the usual calculus, with at least one team (which we'll discuss later) ready to pounce.
On the bright side, the last time Chicago missed the playoffs, it landed the No. 1 pick in the draft.
[h=2]Cleveland Cavaliers[/h][h=3]Channing Frye Will Be Cleveland's Most Effective Stretch-4[/h]It's not that Channing Frye is a better basketball player than Kevin Love; he's nowhere near Love's stratosphere as a rebounder, low-post operator and passer.
However, the role to which Love has long been relegated in Cleveland, as a tall guy who can spread the floor with his shooting and play pick-and-pop, is strikingly similar to the one Frye thrived in with the Suns.
He made serious hay in that spot during the Cavaliers' 120-108 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. With Love sidelined by a sore knee, Frye drained eight of 10 shots overall, including going 5-of-7 from three, on the way to a 21-point night.
The last time Love hit that many threes? Jan. 29 in an eight-point win against the Detroit Pistons.
As Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor noted, Frye's rise and Love's decline have been all too evident for the Cavs: "It's that shooting stroke that general manager David Griffin pointed out when acquiring the versatile big man; it's that stroke that has vanished from Love's repertoire recently."
Love may find his form again. Until he does, Frye may be a more effective option to play alongside LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.
[h=2]Dallas Mavericks[/h][h=3]Chandler Parsons, Not Dirk Nowitzki, Will Be Dallas' Biggest Catalyst[/h]
Kudos to Dirk Nowitzki for all he's done to keep the Dallas Mavericks relevant and in the playoff picture this season. The giant German has averaged a sturdy 18 points per game while knocking down 38.4 percent of his threes—a notch above his career mark of 38.3 percent.
But Dallas' elder statesman needn't be Dallas' be-all and end-all, nor will he be. Chandler Parsons is already doing his part to make sure the Mavs have no less than a dynamic duo to prop up their postseason prospects.
Since mid-January, Parsons has poured in 19.8 points on 52.5 percent shooting (47.7 percent from three) while racking up six rebounds and three assists per game. Clearly, the Florida product has recovered from offseason knee surgery. Otherwise, he wouldn't be playing the best ball of his NBA career.
The Mavericks will need plenty more of that from Parsons come playoff time to give one of the West's best a run for its money.
[h=2]Denver Nuggets[/h][h=3]The World Will Realize That Nikola Jokic Is Denver's Best Prospect[/h]Emmanuel Mudiay has been on a tear of late, averaging 21.6 points on 45.8 percent shooting (44 percent from three) with 4.6 rebounds and 6.4 assists. But he's done that work largely against lower-tier point guards—which, as yours truly recently noted, has been the rookie's bread and butter.
Nikola Jokic, on the other hand, has been schooling all comers for the Denver Nuggets this season. The 21-year-old Serbian rookie, who's averaged a sturdy 10 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists, has been particularly prolific this month, with 16 points, 9.8 boards, 3.4 dimes and 2.8 combined blocks and steals per game in March.
The Nuggets were buzzing about Jokic's all-around skills well before he stepped into head coach Michael Malone's starting lineup. Now that Danilo Gallinari is done for the year with an ankle injury, Jokic's abilities will truly shine through in the Mile High City.
[h=2]Detroit Pistons[/h][h=3]The Pistons Will End Their Postseason Drought[/h]
Can a prediction be bold if it reflects a present reality? In the case of the Detroit Pistons, it just might.
The Motor City hasn't seen playoff basketball since LeBron James' Cavaliers swept the Pistons out of the first round in 2009. Ending a drought that long requires a lot of luck and even more hard work.
The same is true for Detroit. The Bulls and Washington Wizards are both more experienced than these Pistons in the ways of postseason competition and won't go down without a fight.
But Detroit has the talent to get back to the promised land, with Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond running pick-and-roll and Tobias Harris and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope serving as scorers on the perimeter. With Stan Van Gundy's guiding hand and a home-centric schedule to go, including a nine-game stand at the Palace of Auburn Hills, the Pistons should have just enough to get across the finish line and into a seven-game series come mid-April.
[h=2]Golden State Warriors[/h][h=3]The Warriors Won't Top 72 Wins[/h]In a roundabout way, Bleacher Report's Howard Beck and Ric Bucher agreed that the Warriors should try to claim the NBA's record for regular-season wins from the 1995-96 Bulls, who finished with a 72-10 mark behind Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
For Bucher, it's a matter of chasing history and keeping up the positive vibes in Golden State's locker room. For Beck, it's about fending off the Spurs and holding onto home-court advantage.
As of March 10, three games separated Golden State and San Antonio in the standings. Should any more daylight emerge between now and the final week or two of the season, don't be surprised if Steve Kerr starts resting his guys and the Warriors suffer on the court because of it.
"Resting, that will take precedence," Kerr told Yahoo Sports' Marc J. Spears. "We will rest guys if they need it before we will go for any kind of streak or record, that's for sure."
Added Stephen Curry: "Honestly, if we are a 70-win team and champions versus a 73-win team and depleted energy and banged up going into the playoffs, we're trying to avoid that. But at the same token, it's a tough balance. How many times are you going to have this opportunity?"
That opportunity might show itself out, whether or not the Warriors start sitting their guys. They still have two games to play against the Blazers, three against the Spurs (including two in San Antonio), two against the Grizzlies, two with the Mavericks and one opposite the Clippers.
Avoiding more than three losses amid that gauntlet may be Golden State's tallest order to date.
[h=2]Houston Rockets[/h][h=3]The Rockets Will Climb into Sixth Place[/h]For all their internal turmoil this season, the Houston Rockets are still replete with the sort of talent and experience that tends to show itself once winter thaws into spring.
James Harden and Dwight Howard may not be best buds, but the former remains a devastatingly skilled offensive operator and the latter is a force of nature on the glass and at the rim. Trevor Ariza, Corey Brewer and Jason Terry aren't any less savvy. Clint Capela and Patrick Beverley haven't lost anything in terms of athleticism and defensive tenacity.
The pieces are all there for Houston to catch lightning in a bottle again. The remaining schedule, while no walk in the park, is both home-heavy (10 of 18 at the Toyota Center) and softer than those that the Mavericks and Blazers will be up against.
[h=2]Indiana Pacers[/h][h=3]Ty Lawson Will Be a Non-Factor for the Pacers[/h]
How exactly would Ty Lawson leave his mark in Indianapolis?
The Pacers already have three productive, playmaking guards ahead of Lawson on the depth chart in George Hill, Monta Ellis and the recently returned Rodney Stuckey. He's ahead of Joe Young, who's probably a more promising part of Indy's future than Lawson will prove to be. To make matters worse, Lawson sprained his left ankle just five minutes into his first game as a Pacer.
In Houston, where the Rockets could have used Lawson's speed and on-ball abilities to lighten James Harden's load, the former Tar Heel barely registered a blip on the radar.
So, again, how exactly would Lawson make a dent in what the Pacers are doing?
[h=2]Los Angeles Clippers[/h][h=3]The Clippers Will Slip Out of the West's Top Four[/h]It's only a matter of time until Doc Rivers starts waxing melancholic about the Clippers' season-ending schedule, which features a league-high seven back-to-back sets.
After hosting the New York Knicks and Cavaliers at Staples Center, L.A. will embark on a five-game road swing through San Antonio, Houston, Memphis, New Orleans and Golden State. What's worse, the Portland Trail Blazers will be in town to greet the Clippers the day after they wrap their season series with the Warriors.
Chances are that Blake Griffin will be absent for all of those games. If he's not cleared to return from his hand injury by the time the Clippers get home, his four-game suspension could keep him out of action for the team's back-to-back set in Minnesota and Oklahoma City.
By then, L.A.'s roll with Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan carrying the load—and its pursuit of the Thunder in the standings—could be long gone. If anything, the Clippers may look down to find the Grizzlies not only nipping at their heels but overtaking them during either of their next two head-to-head meetings.
[h=2]Los Angeles Lakers[/h][h=3]The Lakers' Young Nucleus Will Average Most of the Team's Points[/h]
The Lakers' future is coming into focus, and it's looking brighter than it has in a long time.
Since March 1, D'Angelo Russell has averaged 23.7 points on 46.4 percent shooting (42.9 percent from three).
"Offensively he's playing at a very high level right now," Lakers head coach Byron Scott said of Russell, per Lakers Nation's Serena Winters.
He's not the only one doing so among the Lakers of tomorrow. Jordan Clarkson has chipped in 16.6 points, and Julius Randle has contributed 16.2 points. For those without a calculator handy, that's 56.5 points combined for Russell, Clarkson and Randle out of the 103 per game that L.A. has posted this month, albeit with Clarkson sitting out against Atlanta on March 4.
Still, it's no coincidence that those three are scoring in bunches for the Purple and Gold these days. They've all come a long way as NBA players on their own but have found more shots in their allotment of late with Kobe Bryant trying to preserve his body for the stretch run.
That pattern figures to hold, much to the dismay of fans shelling out top dollar for seats at Staples Center. Of the 11 games Bryant has missed since announcing his retirement in late November, 10 have come at home, where the Lakers will play 10 of their final 16 contests.
Which means Angelenos will see plenty of the post-Kobe era young nucleus piling up points from here on out, whether they like it or not.
[h=2]Memphis Grizzlies[/h][h=3]The Grizzlies Will Catch the Clippers for Home Court[/h]Mario Chalmers' torn Achilles will hurt the Memphis Grizzlies, but it won't stop them from clawing their way up the Western Conference standings.
Heck, Marc Gasol's broken foot couldn't do that. They won eight of their first 12 games after he went down.
It helps Memphis' cause to have a former All-Star (Zach Randolph) ready to take over down low and another borderline All-Star (Mike Conley) playing the point. Between those two, the contributions of Lance Stephenson (11.3 points on 49.5 percent shooting since the trade deadline) and the grit-and-grind attitude of veterans like Tony Allen, Matt Barnes and Chris Andersen, the Grizzlies will give the Clippers all they can handle in the race for the No. 4 seed—especially when they meet on March 19 and April 12.
[h=2]Miami Heat[/h][h=3]The Heat Will Emerge as Cleveland's Stiffest Conference Competition[/h]
Miami's season-long struggle to find a good fit among all its disparate parts may finally have reached a resolution. The Heat have pivoted toward a more uptempo style of play, one that's right up Goran Dragic's alley, and have started ripping off victories accordingly.
Erik Spoelstra's squad has won 14 of 20 games since Jan. 22 while racking up the league's 17th-most possessions per game, per NBA.com. That's still miles away from Warriors territory, but it represents a significant jump from 29th up until that point in the calendar.
Better yet, the Heat have managed to push the pace while continuing to clamp down defensively.
"It's the expectations on defense, too," Spoelstra told the South Florida Sun Sentinel's Dave Hyde."We're not just running up and down. We're not just trying to run a shootout. We still expect to defend at a high level, defensively. And that requires a lot of effort."
That effort could pay off in a big way against a plodding, isolation-oriented Cavaliers team come playoff time.
With Chris Bosh on the mend and the institutional knowledge the Heat have on LeBron James, Miami might soon have enough of its top players healthy to push the East's presumptive champion.
[h=2]Milwaukee Bucks[/h][h=3]The Greek Freak Will (Almost) Average a Triple-Double[/h]Two years ago at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, Jason Kidd suggested that Giannis Antetokounmpo might one day run the point for the Milwaukee Bucks.
"We’ve seen it in practice, and so when you see a player’s comfort level with the ball no matter what size, we want to see it in game action and we slowly have started letting him have the ball and running the offense," Kidd said, per NBA.com's Scott Howard-Cooper.
Apparently, Antetokounmpo has come far enough since then to earn that job full time in Milwaukee. He's seized that role by the horns since Michael Carter-Williams succumbed to a season-ending hip injury in late February.
In his first six games in MCW's stead, the Greek Freak averaged 21.5 points, 9.2 rebounds and 8.7 assists, with two triple-doubles to boot. As ESPN's Zach Lowe noted, Point Giannis can create all kinds of nightmares for the Bucks' opponents:
He already knows basic point guard reads, and when Jason Kidd wants to keep things simple, he can have Antetokounmpo attack one-on-one. Is a smaller guy on you? Post up! Is the opposing power forward on you, as often happens when Kidd removes Parker and pairs Antetokounmpo with just one big man? Then catch the ball at the elbow and blow by that sucker!
With O.J. Mayo now done for the year as well, the Bucks figure to shift even more perimeter responsibilities—and, thus, more opportunities to stuff the stat sheet—Antetokounmpo's way.
[h=2]Minnesota Timberwolves[/h][h=3]Kevin Garnett Will Retire at Season's End[/h]
This isn't based on any inside information. Consider this more of a semi-educated guess than an operating theory with sound science behind it.
That being said, you don't need to know what's going on inside Kevin Garnett's head to see where things are headed. He hasn't played since late January due to a nagging leg injury and played a mere 14.6 minutes per game as a token starter at power forward before then.
Garnett's absence has cleared the way for Gorgui Dieng to put his stamp on a frontcourt spot next to Karl-Anthony Towns. Since returning to the starting lineup in late January, Dieng has averaged 13.2 points on 58.2 percent shooting with 8.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.4 combined steals and blocks.
KG has never been the sort to go quietly and may not do the same with $8 million left on his contract for next season. But with his own health clearly in decline and the Minnesota Timberwolves finding their way without him, Garnett may have a difficult time ignoring the writing on the wall.
[h=2]New Orleans Pelicans[/h][h=3]Anthony Davis Won't Rest Much[/h]Alvin Gentry recently admitted publicly what everyone already knew—that the New Orleans Pelicans aren't making the playoffs—before apologizing for speaking out of frustration, however truthfully.
The point remains the same: The Pelicans would be hard-pressed to leapfrog the Rockets, Utah Jazz, Nuggets and Sacramento Kings, especially with Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans both done for the reason.
Normally, it would only be a matter of time until Anthony Davis started racking up DNPs, hopefully by choice. The newly turned 23-year-old has a history of fragility, and with the season already too far gone, the Pelicans may not want to risk subjecting their young star to another setback.
Then again, The Brow will probably push to play, in part to improve his slim prospects of nabbing the All-NBA nod he needs to bump up his five-year, $125 million extension another notch. With an extra $19 million at stake, you can bet Davis won't take any rest days sitting down.
[h=3][/h][h=2]New York Knicks[/h][h=3]Kurt Rambis Won't Help His Cause on the Court[/h]
The New York Knicks have won just four games out of their first 12 with Kurt Rambis as interim coach. They'll be lucky to win more than that over their final 16 outings of the season.
Their current six-game road trip will conclude with stops in Oakland and Washington, with dates against the Bulls (twice), Cavaliers, Mavericks, Pacers (twice) and Raptors still to come. With any luck, the Knicks will hold their own against the Lakers, Kings, Pelicans, Nets and 76ers, though even those could be iffy given how the team has performed.
Fortunately for Rambis, he may have Phil Jackson's support no matter how the rest of the campaign unfolds. As Jackson explained, per the New York Daily News' Frank Isola:
I think he’s perfectly capable of [coaching the Knicks]. We’ve talked many times over the past four or five years about the obvious record that is created behind his coaching in Minnesota and that puts a black mark on his coaching ability at first glance.
But he has a way of handling players. He’s relaxed, yet he has the ability to keep them focused on the important parts of it. He’s a defensive-oriented guy. I had him as my defensive coordinator for my teams in 2007, '08 and '09. And I think he has a real good handle on that part. So we’ll see how they go
[h=2]Oklahoma City Thunder[/h][h=3]Enes Kanter Will Be the Favorite for Sixth Man of the Year[/h]In truth, this is more of a season-long outcome than a final-month prediction. Enes Kanter has been a productive force off the bench for the Oklahoma City Thunder throughout the 2015-16 campaign. He's averaged 12 points and 7.6 rebounds in just over 20 minutes per contest.But he has a way of handling players. He’s relaxed, yet he has the ability to keep them focused on the important parts of it. He’s a defensive-oriented guy. I had him as my defensive coordinator for my teams in 2007, '08 and '09. And I think he has a real good handle on that part. So we’ll see how they go
To put that in perspective, he'd be pouring in 21.1 points and 13.3 rebounds each night if he were a 36-minute-per-game guy. Instead, he's taken a back seat to Serge Ibaka and Steven Adams in OKC—and to Will Barton and Andre Iguodala in the Sixth Man of the Year race, at least until now.
Russell Westbrook recently proclaimed without prompting, per the Oklahoman's Anthony Slater:
In my opinion, Enes is probably the Sixth Man of the year. I think he gets overlooked, man, and to me it doesn’t make any sense. The things he does on a night in, night out basis at his position, coming off the bench, shooting top-five field goal percentage, man, damn near averaging a double-double off the bench. To me, ain’t nobody off the bench that plays better than him.
Kanter will have every opportunity to show as much to those who vote on the award (i.e. the media) with three games against the size-centric San Antonio Spurs still to come.
[h=3][/h][h=2]Orlando Magic[/h][h=3]Aaron Gordon Will Establish Himself as Orlando's Centerpiece[/h]
Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Payton and Evan Fournier have each made strides, however incremental, for the Orlando Magic this season. Nikola Vucevic has produced like an All-Star for the last two seasons or so.
None of those guys can hold a candle to the prodigious potential that Aaron Gordon brings to the table—and not just because he can pull off windmill dunks in actual NBA games.
Since barging into Scott Skiles' starting lineup in late January, Gordon, the No. 4 pick in the 2014 draft, has averaged 11 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists with eight double-doubles. The same ability that helped him push Zach LaVine in the dunk contest has allowed Gordon to become an all-court contributor and, in the process, turn ESPN's Zach Lowe into a fan:
On the right nights, Gordon is the most electric nonsuperstar in the NBA—an unmatched brew of bouncy athleticism and earnest, gleeful effort. Those dunk-contest hops translate into noisy putback crams and flying ninja closeouts where Gordon emerges from off camera to swat a jump-shooter who had no idea Gordon was even nearby.
The more Air Gordon learns to harness his jaw-dropping gifts, the more clearly he'll separate himself from the rest of Orlando's young whippersnappers.
[h=2]Philadelphia 76ers[/h][h=3]The Sixers Will Suffer Their Worst Finish Yet of the Sam Hinkie Era[/h]The Philadelphia 76ers have all but wrapped up their worst showing since the Sam Hinkie regime took over. They'd need to win 10 of their final 18 games to match last season's 18 victories, which fell one shy of the 19 they tallied in year one under Hinkie and head coach Brett Brown.
In each of the previous two campaigns, Philly has gone 4-14 down the stretch. How the Sixers will equal even that meager mark is a mystery. They'll spend the rest of the season without Jahlil Okafor, who's due to have arthroscopic surgery on his knee, and have just six games remaining against sub-.500 competition.
Not that any of those opponents will roll over to help the Sixers stop what's become a 13-game skid.
[h=2]Phoenix Suns[/h][h=3]Devin Booker Will Be Phoenix's Cornerstone, Both Now and Moving Forward[/h]
In terms of pound-for-pound ability, nobody can quite hold a candle to Eric Bledsoe in Phoenix. When healthy, the 26-year-old Kentucky product is a marvel of strength and athleticism who can scour the entire court, get to the hoop at will and lock down opponents of all shapes and sizes.
But health has been fleeting for Bledsoe. His 2015-16 season ended in December when he tore the same meniscus that had sidelined him previously.
The silver lining is that Devin Booker, the youngest player in the NBA, has played like a budding stud in Bledsoe's stead. In March alone, he's averaged 25.8 points and 4.3 assists, including two games of 30 points or more and a 27-point, nine-assist showing in Miami.
"I was impressed with him the first time we played him, and I'm very impressed tonight," Dwyane Wade said after that game, per ESPN.com's Michael Wallace. "When you've got a young guy going through a tough season like that, he's just out there having fun. He's out there getting better, and he's one of the future [top] 2-guards in this league."
So long as Booker continues to produce and injuries remain the defining features of Bledsoe and Brandon Knight as Suns, the 19-year-old rookie will look every bit the future of the franchise in Phoenix.
[h=2]Portland Trail Blazers[/h][h=3]The Blazers Will Hang on as the West's No. 8 Seed[/h]The Portland Trail Blazers have come back to earth after their rocket ride out of mediocrity and up the Western Conference standings. They lost three straight to likely Eastern Conference playoff teams to end a six-game road swing.
This, after racking up an 18-4 mark against a fairly soft schedule.
The trips down Easy Street will be few and far between from here on out for the Blazers. After a back-to-back in Oakland and at home against Orlando, Portland will head back on the road to Oklahoma City, San Antonio, New Orleans and Dallas before welcoming the Mavericks to Rip City and taking on the Clippers in L.A. the very next night.
That brutal schedule, along with the heavy loads lifted by Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum thus far, figure to drag Portland down from its previous high in the West's No. 6 spot.
Not that anyone would argue with watching the Blazers' backcourt go toe-to-toe with the Splash Brothers in Round 1.
[h=3][/h][h=2]Sacramento Kings[/h][h=3]DeMarcus Cousins and George Karl Will Get into It[/h]
OK, so maybe this isn't such a bold prediction. After all, the Sacramento Kings just suspended DeMarcus Cousins one game for unloading on George Karl during and after a 120-11 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, per The Vertical's Chris Mannix.
This, after Boogie verbally abused his head coach following a defeat in San Antonio in late November.
To be sure, Karl isn't blameless in all this. Nor is Cousins the only player who may have beef with him. Just ask rookie center Willie Cauley-Stein.
Still, you'd think that after all the mudslinging and financial penalties that have incurred, Cousins and Karl would come to some sort of ceasefire, at least until the season is over. Then again, the only constant in Sacramento these days is chaos, and the team's two biggest personalities have added plenty of volatility to the mix.
[h=2]San Antonio Spurs[/h][h=3]The Spurs' Home Winning Streak Will End[/h]San Antonio has ripped off 40 straight home wins—by an average of 16.7 points per game—since succumbing to the Cavaliers in overtime last March, 128-125. At some point, Gregg Popovich will leave the AT&T Center in a surly mood—and not just because of some sideline interview through which he's had to suffer.
Of the Spurs' 10 remaining home games, only one (vs. the Pelicans on March 30) will feature a lottery-bound opponent. They'll host the Thunder and Warriors twice each while welcoming in the Clippers, Blazers, Heat, Grizzlies and Raptors.
This San Antonio team may be good enough to sweep through those contests to keep pace with Golden State's record-setting home success. But between the quality of competition and rest days for stars, the Spurs figure to lose at least once in the Alamo City before beginning their playoff push.
[h=2]Toronto Raptors[/h][h=3]The Raptors will Steal the No. 1 Seed in the East[/h]
The Toronto Raptors have every reason to go full-bore after the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
They've yet to win a playoff series with Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan leading the way. Moving up a spot would, in theory, match them up with the East's weakest playoff competition in the first round rather than leave them in line to face a threat like the Indiana Pacers early on.
Should they advance, the Raptors could count on using their raucous home court at the Air Canada Centre to their advantage, be it against the Heat or Hornets in Round 2 or opposite the Cavaliers in the conference finals.
Cleveland, on the other hand, seems to be battling discord and boredom at every turn. In all likelihood, Cavs coach Tyronn Lue will take liberties to rest his stars down the stretch, knowing full well that having his guys healthy and refreshed heading into another championship chase far outweighs any seeding concerns.
Toronto, meanwhile, could get another boost of its own. According to TSN's Josh Lewenberg, DeMarre Carroll is close to returning from knee surgery. He should help the Raptors close the two-and-a-half-game gap between them and the Cavaliers.
And if the two teams end the season with identical records, Toronto will get the edge by way of 2-1 head-to-head tiebreaker with Cleveland.
[h=2]Utah Jazz[/h][h=3]Utah Will Wish It Had Done Better Than Shelvin Mack at the Deadline[/h]The Utah Jazz have been plagued by problems at the point all season. Some of that was to be expected with Dante Exum going down with a knee injury before 2015-16 tipped off.
The Jazz hoped to solve some of that with Shelvin Mack's arrival in Salt Lake City at the deadline. Instead, Utah dropped eight of its first 10 games with Mack, the last nine of which featured him in the starting lineup.
The Salt Lake Tribune's Gordon Monson wrote that the Jazz's issues aren't all Mack's doing:
By the numbers alone, Burke should be the starter at point. There are whispers, though, that there are reasons beyond what happens on the court that Burke is not the starter.
Blaming Mack for the Jazz's bump and skid would be unfair and erroneous, but it causes one to wonder if the very thing that Dennis Lindsey has tried to run away from — a disruption of chemistry — has stirred into the club's mix. Maybe the disruption was already there.
Still, some folks in Utah will be left kicking themselves at season's end, wondering what could have been had the front office done a better job of handling the Jazz's hole at the point. Blaming Mack for the Jazz's bump and skid would be unfair and erroneous, but it causes one to wonder if the very thing that Dennis Lindsey has tried to run away from — a disruption of chemistry — has stirred into the club's mix. Maybe the disruption was already there.
[h=2]Washington Wizards[/h][h=3]The Wizards Will Sneak into the Playoffs[/h]
Injuries have delayed, but not derailed, Washington's hopes of a third straight spring with playoff basketball. The roster is as healthy as it's been all season, with Bradley Beal due to return from a hip pointer.
That's a huge shift for the Wizards, who've lost more man-games to injury than any team in the NBA. Beal's scoring (17.8 points per game), in particular, will come in handy for a Washington squad that will need all the help it can get.
Much of that help, as it happens, will come unwittingly from the schedule-makers. In terms of opponent winning percentage, the Wizards have the softest remaining schedule in the Eastern Conference.
So while the Bulls hold out hope that their starting backcourt will return in short order to lock down a playoff spot, Washington's duo of Beal and John Wall will be running and gunning right for them.
All stats accurate entering games on March 10, 2016.
Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter(@JoshMartinNBA), Instagram and Facebook.
Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com
Full Story...