The NBA: Ten More Predictions for 2013-14

This is an exciting time for NBA fans! The opening of the regular season is less than 10 days away. Miami will try for a Three-peat while the East has gotten stronger to prevent the Heat from repeating again. Meanwhile, the West is still as tough as ever with the Clippers, Warriors, Grizzlies, Rockets and Thunder all capable of challenging the Spurs as the best in their conference.

He is back. Derrick Rose looks terrific and explosive while Dwight seems a good fit in Houston. KG and PP look weird in a Nets uniform and the Lakers are taking a back seat to the Clippers.

I have been looking forward to the start of the upcoming season by watching and reading team previews from everywhere. I already wrote about Playoffs Predictions  and Awards Predictions so why not add a few more predictions to the list.

Will Andrew Bynum play or not?
(Photo by: Getty Images)

1. Andrew Bynum will play at least 40 games this season and help the Cavaliers make the playoffs. Bynum will average 12 and 10 per game while Anderson Varejao gets traded for a better perimeter player than Earl Clark (ex: Shawn Marion, Ersan Ilyasova, John Salmons).


2. Al Jefferson will lead the NBA in double-doubles. Last year, Big Al finished 9th in that category playing for the Jazz where other big guys like Millsap and Favors grabbed rebounds that could have been his. In Charlotte, Big Al is their best player and their "bigs" are not as competent as the Jazz had last season.

3. Kawhi Leonard and Steph Curry will be 1st-time All-Stars in the West while Josh Smith (finally) and John Wall will be 1st-time All-Stars in the East.

Kobe was ranked #25 by ESPN

4. Kobe Bryant will be on the court by US Thanksgiving (November 28). He would miss 16 games by that time and the Lakers will probably be 9-7 or 8-8. Kobe could play as early as Nov. 27 vs the Nets or if he needs more time, December 25 versus Miami would be the best bet.

5. Greg Oden will play this season for the Miami Heat. His regular season debut could be as early as November 1 against the revamped Brooklyn Nets but the better scenario is on December 5 vs the Bulls or vs the Pacers on the 10th.

6. Rajon Rondo will sit out the entire season due to his ACL injury after he sees how beneficial it was for Derrick Rose to miss a whole season. There is very little reward for Rondo to speed up his recovery and rehab by playing for the rebuilding Celtics who will not be competitive this season.

Evan Turner is arguably the best player on the 76ers.
He averaged 13 points and 6 boards last year.

7. The Philadelphia 76ers will break the league-worst record for fewest wins in a full NBA season which was 9-73, also held by the Sixers in 1973. Their best player is either Evan Turner or Thad Young. They are under the salary cap by 14.6 million dollars but have no one to give the salary to.

8. NBA League Leaders: James Harden will lead in points, Nic Vucevic in rebounds, Derrick Rose in assists, Anthony Davis in blocks and Mike Conley in steals.

9. Anthony Davis of the Pelicans will have a massive year. He will challenge Dwight Howard as the best all-around center in the West. In the East, Bradley Beal of the Wizards will establish himself as the 3rd best SG in the East after D-Wade and PG24.

10. The first coach to be fired during the season will be Dwane Casey of the Raptors and/or Terry Stotts of the Blazers. Coach Casey was surprisingly retained after the Raptors' front office was replaced while Coach Stotts faces bigger playoffs expectations in Portland after their roster upgrade.

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