2012-13 NBA season might be most unpredictable yet

The beginning of any NBA season is exciting, but this one feels a little extra special.

The league is stacked with young talent, the Los Angeles Lakers have created one of the best on-paper teams ever, the Oklahoma City Thunder just traded away a key piece of its NBA Finals team and LeBron James appears to have turned a corner.

It all stacks up to create one unpredictable year, but I’ll give it a shot.

Here are my predictions for each division, along with a championship pick.

Atlantic

The Boston Celtics may be old, but their best player, Rajon Rondo, is still just 26 years old.

Losing Ray Allen hurts, but the additions of Courtney Lee and Jason Terry will keep Boston in the top ranks of its division.

The Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets both made big moves this offseason, bringing in Andrew Bynum and Joe Johnson to their respective teams. I think these moves make both squads better, but neither will be able to contend for the Eastern Conference crown.

The New York Knicks didn’t do anything to improve, and the Toronto Raptors are very much in rebuilding mode.

Central

The Indiana Pacers should walk away with the division crown rather
easily.

They formed a nice corps last year, taking the Miami Heat to six games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

The Chicago Bulls will obviously be hurting without Derrick Rose for most of the season.

They might be able to put a strong surge together at the end of year, but it won’t be enough to win the division.

The Detroit Pistons could be a sleeper to make the playoffs as a seven or eight seed.
Their young corps has quietly been getting better the past few years.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are on the upswing but not ready yet, and the Milwaukee Bucks aren’t getting better.

Southeast

Despite having the 2012 NBA Finals champion Miami Heat, this may be the worst division in basketball top to bottom.

The Atlanta Hawks are in rebuilding mode, although they have stars Josh Smith and Al Horford.

After them, the next best team is the Washington Wizards, who finished with the second-fewest wins in the NBA last year.

The Orlando Magic lost Dwight Howard and will not be good for a long time, and the Charlotte Bobcats broke an NBA record for the worst winning percentage ever in 2012.

Northwest

Opposite of the Southeast, the Northwest division is the toughest in all the land.
Sitting at the top is the defending Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Thunder, followed closely by the revamped Denver Nuggets.

Then, there’s the Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz, two solid teams that are very underrated.

Lastly, there’s the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were 21-19 and beating the Los Angeles Lakers when Ricky Rubio tore his ACL last year.

If he and Kevin Love can get over their respective injuries, this team can challenge for a playoff spot.

Pacific

This is the battle of Los Angeles, but the edge goes to the Lakers because of their talent and the Clippers’ coaching.

The Golden State Warriors are another team that could be good if healthy, but health is the last thing to count on from a team that has both Stephen Curry and Andrew Bogut.

The Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns are both in rebuilding mode, but the Kings at least have young talent.

Southwest

Every year, everyone forgets about the San Antonio Spurs before the season begins because they’re old and not the “sexy” pick.

But the last time they won less than 50 games in a normal 82-game year was the 1996-97 season.

The Memphis Grizzlies could give them a run for their money, but the Spurs will hold on for the division crown.

The Dallas Mavericks are clearly heading in the wrong direction after missing out on Howard and Deron Williams, and Houston Rockets and New Orleans Hornets certainly won’t be contending this year.

NBA Finals Pick

Miami Heat against the Lakers.

In the West, I originally thought OKC was still the best team despite the Lakers adding Steve Nash and Howard to an already incredible roster.

I hated the Thunder’s decision to trade James Harden. He was a great facilitator and worked well with Kevin Durant’s shooting and Russell Westbrook’s slashing.

Without OKC standing in the way, the Lakers’ talent is too much for any other West team.

As for Miami, now that this team has won a championship together, I think it will only get better. It sounds crazy to say, but I don’t think James has hit his absolute ceiling yet.

­— tlstutzm@indiana.edu