Where are the Best Teams in the NBA?

Here we are, around the mid-way point of the NBA season, and still waiting for some of the premier teams in the league to get going. The list of these teams is relatively short for me. Two teams in the east and two in the west. First are the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team just recently got LeBron James back from injury, and are waiting for Iman Shumpert to come back from an injury. A win last night against the Chicago Bulls could get this team going on a run. The Bulls are the other team in the east that I find myself waiting for. Chicago is doing better than Cleveland, but in the last two weeks has been struggling. Right now sitting in the fourth seed, the team would like to finish with the one or two seed, but being healthy come playoff time is most important. 

In the west the two obvious teams are the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder are still currently out of the playoffs, while the Spurs have just not been as dominant, sitting in the seventh spot. While the Thunder need to simply focus on even making the playoffs, each of these teams need to step their games up. The only team with a free pass is probably the Spurs. Just because of the teams recent history, and the fact that home court advantage does not really matter to the team. Going forward, even if it is just for my personal enjoyment, I hope these teams begin to play as well as they are capable.

Cavs Moves

The Cleveland Cavaliers made a few moves this past week in an attempt to improve their current roster. This resulted in acquiring a couple of shooting guards (Iman Shumpert and JR Smith), as well as center Timofy Mozgov. These moves immediately improve the Cavs roster, but I'm not so sure this makes them anymore of a contender. Hard to tell until LeBron comes back from injury, but I can't see this team making it to the NBA Finals right now. I would like the Cavs chances in a matchup against the Raptors or Hawks, but I could not see them beating the Bulls or the Wizards in the playoffs. Shumpert will help out the perimeter defense and will bring some athleticism to the backcourt. Smith should be exactly what he's always been, and thats a streaky shooter who can win a game here and there because of his great scoring ability. Mozgov is a huge upgrade at center after Varajao went down with injury. So, we will see how these moves end up playing out. I expect the team to improve and start winning more games, but when LeBron comes back.