5 NBA Teams Who Are Ready to Go

By far, this is one of the most entertaining off-seasons I've seen in a while. With the draft, and free agency, teams just keep getting better and taller. Now, the Western Conference is loaded more so than ever. Even Eastern Conference teams are improving their rosters as well. Which 5 teams that didn't make the playoffs last year are ready to go this year?

5. Minnesota Timberwolves: It's time. Kevin Love is tired of waiting, and he's not going to stick around in Minnesota if the Timberwolves keep losing. This is why he will be ready to go. Ricky Rubio is also a budding PG who is looking to score big time, while keeping up his high assist numbers. Along with Roy in the backcourt, the Wolves are on a mission to make it to the playoffs. It'll be a shame if they don't, but competition is tough.

4. Milwaukee Bucks: Monta Ellis, Brandon Jennings, enough said. Will Ellis and Jennings playing together, the Bucks were 14-8 in their final 22 games. Those are some pretty good numbers considering Ellis was in a shooting slump. They've proven that they can stick together despite all the criticism of the trade. In adding depth with Dalambert, re-signing Ersan Ilyasova, and drafting John Henson, the Bucks are ready to go.

3. Golden State Warriors: Curry and Bogut are coming off of injury, and they're looking better than ever. Other than that, not many players on the Warriors are injury prone. They have a top 7 starting lineup, and incredible depth on their bench. With Thompson entering his sophomore year, Curry ready to finally start his career, the toughness of Bogut, the athleticism of Harrison Barnes, and the veteranship of Lee, this squad is also ready to go. They will stop at nothing to play at least 86 games this year.

2. Detroit Pistons: Watch out, Eastern Conference. The high crime isn't the only thing Detroit will be known for. The Pistons are another sleeper team ready to play. With Andre Drummond, Brandon Knight, and dare I say Corey Maggette, the Pistons have depth and talent. They are looking to finally go back to their winning ways.

1. Brooklyn Nets: The Core 4 is looking to do some serious damage. Deron Williams just keeps getting better. Now that he's playing with Joe Johnson, the two scorers will be exploding offensively. They will also have Brook Lopez in the post, and not to forget Gerald "Crash" Wallace working as hard as he can. Although reports indicate that the Nets are pretenders, they're in a new city, and this is a new start. Is a new era ushering in?

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Bucks - Warriors: Down The Road Trade Review

The Warriors gave away one of the most underrated players in the league, who had the potential to go head to head with some of the better NBA players. He drew attention from LeBron and Kobe, two of the NBA's best players. Coaches such as Greg Poppovich made it their primary focus to slow Ellis down in the game. So much for that. Against the Spurs, Monta scored 38 points. The only other player who scored more than him against Greg Poppovich's Spurs was Michael Jordan. Of course, there's no comparison there, yet.

The Bucks traded away Andrew Bogut. Easily one of the best centers in the NBA. He can rebound, score, defend, and do it all. The difference between the two, other than their position, is that Bogut is injury prone, and Monta Ellis is tougher than ever. Ellis went down against the Thunder with a hyper-extension in his knee: many said that was it for the season. What did he do? He played the next day and scored 33 points. Monta Ellis was a true Warrior.

Despite all these good things that I have to say about Ellis, the trade ends up working for the Warriors. They lacked size, the trade gives them size. They lacked good rebounding, the trade gives them that as well. They lacked defensive intensity, the trade also gives them that. Bogut played very well for Milwaukee, but hasn't proven himself to the Warriors yet. Now that he's nearing full rehabilitation, the Warriors have to put him to better use than Monta Ellis.
Curry and Bogut will be a feared combo, and Curry and Thompson will be a feared backcourt. This trade, down the road, worked out perfectly for the Warriors.

What about the Bucks? The Bucks may think that they're getting a good deal with Monta Ellis, but it may or may not work out for them.

 May Not:

-Ellis and Jennings are both elite players, but they both like to play PG. You can't start two PG's it just doesn't work like that.
-A similar problem to the Curry-Ellis dilemma may play out here.

May Work:

-Ellis is all the things I've described him as. He's literally a superman. Ellis knows how to change his game into more of a SG style. He will feel free to take the point whenever Jennings is out.

You tell me, fans. Looking back at the trade, and into the future, was this a good trade? Who was it good for? Comment Below. 

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Monta Ellis Was a Curse?

Jennifer Stewart/US Presswire

Monta Ellis brought all of us Warrior fans so much joy. He literally filled up the seats. Golden State was lucky to have such a dynamic scorer, All-Star snub, and great player. Although he never signed autographs, he was a great guy and loved the fans. We were all sad to see him go.

While that's nice and all, the Warriors may be lucky to have gotten rid of him. Ellis and Stephen Curry are the same type of guards. Both PG AND SG style. That is why it can't and will never work. No offense to the Bucks, but either Ellis or Brandon Jennings is going to need to be less selfish.

Klay Thompson am Curry will actually be a feared backcourt. One can handle and shoot, and the other can strike threes with limitless range.

Ellis was a great player, but his forever curse of being a 6'3 SG may have been the cause of the extended playoff drought.

Was Ellis a curse? Comment below.

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