Globe Link

Issue date: 8/23/07 Section: Sports

Disclaimer: Kobe Bryant was a Laker, Jermaine O'neal was a Pacer, and both Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion were residents of Phoenix when this article was submitted. When at least two of them are traded before the season starts, some opinions expressed below may become moot.

Here are a few predictions before I reveal my preseason awards:

The Predictions

The San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks will remain the NBA's three best teams in that order.

The East will contribute just two of the NBA's eight best teams. They are Toronto and Boston.

Neither Greg Oden nor Kevin Durant will make the 2008 playoffs.

The Sonics will get a top-four pick in the 2008 draft after trading their two best scorers and asking a 19-year-old with Tayshaun Prince's build to lead the team.

The Orlando Magic will earn the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference in 2008 before overpaying Rashard Lewis by $60 million forces them to miss the playoffs in 2009.

Every nationally televised Miami Heat game will focus on Dwayne Wade before tip-off and on Alonzo Mourning's kidney transplant during halftime. The Heat will go home after the first round of the playoffs.

The Denver Nuggets will earn the fourth seed in the Western Conference because Utah didn't do enough to address their hole at shooting guard. Ronnie Brewer will fill that hole in the 2008-2009 season.

The NBA will crack down on flopping in 2007-2008, making it a foul on the defender if there is sufficient contact to draw a charge without the defender adequately establishing position.

Ron Artest will do something crazy and nobody will be shocked no matter how crazy it is. Okay, that one was easy.

The Awards

The Mike Tyson, to the team crazy enough to scare a shrink:

Only Isiah Thomas could look at the worst teammate in the NBA, Zach Randolph, say "Hey, he's perfect for our roster," and be correct. Randolph's attitude will gel perfectly with Eddy Curry's heart, Stephon Marbury's contract and Renaldo Balkman's hair.

The Tim Duncan, to the team that is dreadful to watch but can't be stopped:

No team scares away diehard fans like the San Antonio Spurs. They are brilliant and the personification of the word "team," but between Tim Duncan's eye-bulge stare every time he's called for a foul and Manu Ginobili's World Cup-esque flopping for calls, the Spurs are impossible to cheer for. If only they could be beat.

Continued...

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