The decision is here. They’re saying that this is the most anticipated decision since Lebron took his talents to South Beach. I know that the approximately three people who have read these articles are invested in the NBA franchise that I choose and today, I am ready to reveal this decision.
Tonight is the opening of the NBA season. Over the past month I have committed myself to getting into NBA basketball again this year and doing so by pledging my allegiances to a franchise. I made a couple of eliminations right off the bat and narrowed things down to my top ten.
Please don’t just scroll to the bottom of this article to find the decision (I mean, you can, but that’s less fun). As teams are listed, they are eliminated and I’ll give a brief explanation of the reasoning, unlike any free agent sweepstakes you’ve experienced before.
Sacramento Kings
Some of my criteria include rooting for teams that are at least semi-competitive in 2020, as well as having a good outlook for the future. While the Kings are possibly heading in the right direction, I don’t think they will be very good this season. Having most of their games on the west coast and almost no nationally televised games hurt their cause as well. I can’t wait for the people who scrolled down to think I picked the Kings.
Minnesota Timberwolves
There’s some young talent here, but this is another team that I don’t think will be a contender this year. Basically all of the same bullet points that apply to the Kings apply here too.
Miami Heat
Despite going to the Finals last year and having some young talent, my disdain for Lebron causes me to not be able to root for them. Outside of this, I don’t want to hop on the bandwagon for a team that went to the Finals. I think it is a little too late to get on this train.
Utah Jazz
I love Donovan Mitchell and this team is built to compete now. However, I also feel like rooting for Utah is hopping on the train too late.
Portland Trailblazers
Damien Lillard is the one thing that made me seriously consider becoming a Blazers fan. Oregon is a beautiful state and I’d love to go back and watch my NBA team, but Blazers games are hard to watch from Missouri, both from a national broadcast standpoint and from a time standpoint.
Memphis Grizzlies
The same things said about Portland apply here as well (besides the beautiful area part). Ja Morant is an electric up-and-coming superstar that I would love to root for. The Grizzlies are in the right time zone for me and also have fantastic uniforms. However, there are too many Duke players on this roster for me. I am a North Carolina basketball fan and refuse to root for a team rostering Grayson Allen and Justice Winslow. I also tried to be a Grizzlies fan a few years ago and it’s not an easy franchise to get behind with their lack of franchise success.
Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets were the team that I believe in the most. I love the way this team is built, how they draft, and most of their players. Everything aligned for me to pick Denver, besides on thing: Stan Kroenke. I can’t stand behind the owner that took the Rams from St. Louis and cares more about his bottom-line than putting a winning product on the court. This man is honestly the only reason I have for not picking the Nuggets.
Top Three
If you’re keeping track, this leaves us with the Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks, and Phoenix Suns. There are great reasons for picking all of these teams and it was basically a coin flip to decide my team.
The Suns have Devin Booker, who fits my ideal playing style. This offeseason they also added Chris Paul to the backcourt and Deandre Ayton continues to develop.
Dallas has Luka Doncic leading the charge and should be a middle-tier team in the West this season. Mark Cuban is a great owner and takes care of his players well.
The Atlanta Hawks have Trae Young, who is one of my favorite players in the league. Cam Reddish, Deandre Hunter, and John Collins are all promising young guys to supplement Trae and the team appears to be going in the right direction.
The Decision
With that being said, my final decision is to become a fan of the Dallas Mavericks. They have everything that I was looking for. Dallas has plenty of nationally broadcasted games and I also have their regional games available with my TV package so I should be able to watch every game I want. Luka is a superstar and the favorite to win MVP this year. As mentioned earlier, I am a big fan of Mark Cuban and would love to root for the team he controls. I believe that there is a promising young core in Dallas and that this season should be fun. The team likely won’t win the NBA Championship in 2020, but I think that they have the upside to at least make it to the second round of the playoffs and maybe make a push for the Western Conference Finals, depending on how the bracket shakes out. I am officially a Dallas Mavericks fan.
