Team Focus: Poobic Heirs

The Big O put in a well-rounded, stellar draft. With a nice combination of big men (Yao, Rasheed, Bogut, Dalembert) to complement multi-talented wingmen (Caron Butler, Ricky Davis, Shane Battier) and number one stunner, Kobe, this team measures out pretty good on paper.

Kirk Hinrich is a nice point guard who's often overlooked. His 6 AST, 1.6 3PT, 1.2 STL and excellent FT% are exactly what you need from the position. Late round pick Devin Harris probably won't approach those numbers this year and that'll leave The Poobic Heirs a few assists short (projected as second-to-last). Still, that's the only dramatic weakness on this well balanced team. Yao, Rasheed, and Bogut will provide nice numbers everywhere and if Sam Dalembert can pick it up, that's a BLK title right there.

Caron Butler, Ricky Davis, and to a lesser extent, Shane Battier are able to contribute positively in all categories and that should be more than enough to complement Kobe Bryant. Sure, on paper, Oliver's team is lacking some in PTS, but Kobe can win that category by himself once in awhile. If new Sacramento shooting guard Kevin Martin can contribute like he did near the end of last season, that's going to be a huge bonus for this team. With real balance through most categories (weak in AST, dominant in FT%), it'll be interesting to see if Oliver's team can win consistently by just being good at everything. The numbers say yes, the fans say "of course."

Best pick: Kobe Bryant in Rd1.
Future star: none.
Steal: Kobe Bryant in Rd1.
Questionable: none.
NBA copycat: Denver Nuggets.