wizards

When you take a look at this years Eastern Conference Playoff teams, the gap between the really good squads(Cleveland, Boston, Orlando), and the rest of the conference is pretty wide. Sure, you can say Atlanta and Miami are next in line in the East, but its not by much. The Bulls, who just a few weeks ago looked like they were headed to the lottery, now could sneak up to steal the 5th seed in the playoffs. The Heat are a great example of what can happen when you get your stars healthy, and get a little lucky in the lottery. Miami landed Michael Beasley in the draft, and he is really paying off dividends. Teaming him with fellow rookie Mario Chalmers and Miami’s 2008-09 Draft Grade looks to be an A.

With the NBA Lottery looming for the following teams in the East(Indiana, Charlotte, New Jersey, Milwaukee, New York, Toronto, and Washington), there are two teams that stand out to me as most probable to make the jump from the basement to the penthouse next year.

1. Charlotte Bobcats – Bobcats head coach Larry Brown should be in the running for coach of the year, with the job he has done turning that team around this season. The in-season trade that brought Raja Bell and Boris Diaw to Charlotte looks very good right now, and while the Bobcats flirted with the idea of moving Gerald Wallace and Raymond Felton earlier, the core of talent they have in place is not that far away from being in the playoffs and making some noise. Still, there are some decisions that they will have to make.

The Burning Question for Charlotte:
Do they re-sign Raymond Felton? The odds are against having Felton back in Charlotte, and with rumors swirling around that Larry Brown and Allen Iverson could reunite, “The Answer” may bring more questions, and baggage, with him. Do you take the risk of bringing in a talent like Iverson who could be the face of a young franchise, but could also cause chemistry issues?

2. Washington Wizards – The Wizards, even more than Charlotte, could go from worst to first realistically next season. The injuries of Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood are hopefully in the past, and the core of their team should be all healthy for the first time in nearly three seasons next fall. The potential to draft either a top flight guard(Ricky Rubio) or a dominant force in the paint(Hasheem Thabeet, Blake Griffin), will make this team playoff bound without question.

The Burning Question in DC:
Who do you move? The Wizards core of Jamison, Butler, and Arenas are good, but not great. The Wizards have probably gone as far as that trio can take them, yet Arenas’ contract is too high for anyone to pick him up. Jamison has some trade value, but not what Wiz fans would like. Caron Butler could bring back the most bang for the buck in a deal, if the Wizards decide via free agency or the draft they are willing to go in a different direction. Trading one of the teams most popular players with the fans would only be accepted if they really returned some beneficial pieces to the puzzle.

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