Top 5 NBA teams to win a championship in 2015

I can't wait for this 2014-2015 NBA season to start.  I am psyched up and pumped up for it.  I can't wait for the 82 game season to begin for all 30 NBA teams.  While all 30 teams are trying to better their squads and wanting to win a championship, I believe that these are the top 5 teams who have the best shot at it.




1) San Antonio Spurs-  After last year's performance in the 2014 NBA Finals against the Miami Heat and Lebron James,  I could see the Spurs returning to the finals and winning it all again this year.  The Spurs showed the rest of the NBA and even fans the right way to play basketball, with unselfishness.  The Spurs have the same roster as last year, but have added another passing forward by drafting Kyle Anderson with the 30th pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.  If the Spurs win it in 2015, Tim Duncan will be tied with Michael Jordan for winning 6 NBA championships.  Whether Duncan wins his 6th title or not while playing out the rest of his career, he still will go down as one of the "greatest power forwards of all time"  in my opinion.   So what do you think of the chances of the Spurs winning it all?


2) Cleveland Cavaliers-  I was thinking about putting the Chicago Bulls at 2, but the health of Derrick Rose is my concern. I believe that we will see either the Cavs or the Bulls in the 2015 NBA Finals.  Lebron James came back home to Cleveland after the Cavs got another number one pick.  During the off-season the Cavaliers traded 2014 number one pick Andrew Wiggins, 2013 number one pick Anthony Bennett and a 1st rounder to Minnesota for Kevin Love.  Now the Cavs have a big three in Lebron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.  Will it be enough to win a title?  I'm liking it better than the 2007 squad that the Cavs have.  Kyrie and Love can both score.  Lebron has a team with some better rebounding than he did in Miami. Not only do the Cavs have Kyrie, Lebron and Love, Dion Waiters can score, they've added Shawn Marion, Mike Miller, James Jones and Brendon Haywood to their bench.  I'm not quite sold yet on the Cavs backup point guard Matthew Dellavedova yet, but I'm all for giving a player time.  I want to see Kevin Love improve on the defensive end.  It will be interesting to see players like Kyrie, Waiters and Love who have never been to the playoffs before, to see what it will be like for them.




3) Chicago Bulls-  I was going to put Cleveland here and Bulls at 2, but the health of Derrick Rose is the biggest issue.  Will Rose play like he did his MVP season?  It was hard to watch him go down again last year after 10 games. I want to see D-Rose healthy.  I like the acquisitions of Pau Gasol, Aaron Brooks, and drafting Doug McDermott.  Pau Gasol will give the Bulls much needed size in the post. Gasol is a 7 footer who can play power forward or center.   You have a solid three man rotation at the 4 and 5 with Joakim Noah, Pau Gasol and Taj Gibson.   People may have forgotten but when Aaron Brooks was in Houston he was a starter for the Rockets before being traded to the Suns, and pretty much being thrown to the back burner.  I hope that D-Rose doesn't go down, but if for some reason he does, I can trust Aaron Brooks at the point.   I think if Derrick Rose remains healthy you could see them take the 1 seed and go to the 2015 NBA Finals.

4) L.A. Clippers-  I like that the Clippers brought back Glen Big Baby Davis.  What I really enjoyed was that they added some depth to the power forward and center spot.  They signed Ekpe Udoh and Spencer Hawes.  While I don't trust Udoh as my starter or even first string, I could live with him backing up DeAndre Jordan and Spencer Hawes.  Udoh is a solid defender in the post.  Spencer Hawes is a great signing, because he is a center who can knock down the three point shot, which will stretch opposing teams big men out to the three point line, plus he could come in the last 4-5 minutes of the game and knock down free throws.  Hawes adds some great depth to the center spot.   I hate that they lost Darren Collison to the Sacramento Kings, and hope Jordan Farmar will be good. You never know.   Hedo Turkoglu was brought back to be a stretch 4 which isn't a bad idea.  You have a great coach in Doc Rivers, Blake Griffin is improving his game, and with Chris Paul as the point, this could be an exciting season if you're a Clippers fan.

5) Oklahoma City Thunder-  I couldn't put them high up on my list , because they tend to play a lot of 2 to 3 on 5.  You can't have Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka do all of your scoring.  I do like that they added three point shooter Anthony Morrow in the off-season.   I'd personally like to see Morrow or Reggie Jackson start at the 2 spot.  Mitch McGary was a great draft choice in my opinion.  I think he could fill a void at the power forward or center. I think he will be better than Nick Collison.   Reggie Jackson can score when coming off the bench.  If you start Jackson then I feel you're second unit suffers some.  This is a tough team to figure out.  I hope Scott Brooks starts playing more of the guys and stops sticking with the same 7-8 guy rotations. Jeremy Lamb and Perry Jones needs to get more playing time.

So those are my top 5 candidates to win a ring in 2015?  Some other candidates not in my top 5 are , Dallas Mavericks,  Washington Wizards and Miami Heat who could win a title.  Send me your comments on this or any other post. Thank you for reading Pro Basketball Hoops Land. The place where you can read articles, send comments, purchase pro basketball merchandise and get tickets to your favorite games.