So, Part II! Expect a friend to get in to this soon.

WEST


1. San Antonio Spurs, 58-24: The Spurs didn't lose anybody more important than 41.2%-shooting Gary Neal, who had a whopping two wins per game by WS. If you actually go by WS, than DeJuan Blair was actually more important, although they did lose Blair too. Still, expect improve from Green, Leonard, and other rising stars on the Spurs.
2. Los Angeles Clippers, 56-26: The Clippers were one of the top teams in the conference by projected wins last season, with fifty-nine of them instead of fifty-six total. I'm not sure about how much head coaches influence their teams, but I'm pretty sure Doc Rivers is better than Vinny del Negro. And dealing Eric Bledsoe's 3.7 WS for the combined 6.1 WS of JJ Redick and Eric Bledsoe should be fine. So what's wrong? Um, not much. Maybe besides Chauncey Billups gone. And Lamar Odom. And Caron Butler.
3. Oklahoma City Thunder, 56-26: Well, the Thunder rolled last season with a 60-22 W-L, a double-digit gap between their ORtg and DRtg, and a 64-18 W-L. But losing Kevin Martin never helps, and, well, their bench sucks.
4. Houston Rockets: 53-29: HOUSTON! Well, most of the core players were staying here. But they did lose a lot of guys in trades last season. They replaced them with other guys, but they did lose a lot of value from their 50 projected wins last season and 45 actual wins. Wait, what? Dwight Howard, you say? Okay, scratch that then!
5. Memphis Grizzlies: 52-30:
The team that just came in second in the West is back! Without coach Lionel Hollins. The most important player they lost? Darrell Arthur. So why does everybody hate this team now?
6. Golden State Warriors: 50-32:
Obviously, Andre iguodala and maybe even a quasi-healthy Andrew Bogut will help. But their points differential last year pegged them as a 44-38 team. With a Iguodala there, they'll play a little better, but don't pick them to win the West yet.
7. Denver Nuggets, 46-36: Well, after 57 wins last year, you might not have expected 46. But they did fire their catch, George Karl. Third-most-important player by WS Danillo Gallinari is out for a pretty long period of time. The fifth-most-important-by-WS-but-generally-considered-more-important Andre Iguodala? Also gone. Forty-six suddenly sounds a lot more generous than it used to.
T8. Minnesota T-Wolves, 45-37: Kevin Martin and more Kevin Love certainly help.
T8. Dallas Mavericks, 45-37: With the 10,000,000,000 sort-of-major free-agent signings Mark Cuban signed off on this year, this team should improve by six wins from their last projected win total.
10. New Orleans Pelicans, 40-42
11. Los Angeles Lakers, 38-44: Note to Lakers fans: nobody likes you.
11. Portland Trailblazers, 38-44: Their bench really sucked last year, but maybe they'll improve 5-6 wins with the new bench.
13. Utah Jazz, 32-50: Wow. The Jazz suck. Commence applause.
14. Sacremento Kings, 28-54: When the Maloof brothers tried to sell and move the Kings, I was kind of wondering if nobody would put in a bid. 
15. Phoenix Suns, 23-59

I might do a series where I get friends in to voice their predictions. I don't know, but for now, here's mine.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

1.) Miami Heat, 60-22: Just pretend you're surprised. If LeBron leaves, though, they'll probably fall out of the Top ten teams.

2.) Chicago Bulls, 56-26: Derrick Rose is back! (Who knew?) And, you know, Joakim Noah will probably play more than sixty-four games this year. The Bulls need as much offense as they can from their top players: they ranked twenty-ninth in team PPG last season.

3.) Indiana Pacers, 53-29: Speaking of teams that sucked on offense last season, the Pacers were first in DRtg last year but twentieth on ORtg. Interestingly enough, their "Pythagorean Wins" were three higher than their total wins. Expect slight improvement with the additions of Luis Scola and C.J. Watson, although they'll probably get more out of regression to the mean than out of their bench.

4.) New York Knicks, 50-32: Did you know that Chris Copeland was New York's sixth-highest scorer last season? Behind Steve Novak in fifth and Raymond Felton in third? And that they lost Copeland and Novak for some salary relief and Andrea Bargiani? (Scratch the salary relief, then.) This team will decline from last year.

5.) Brooklyn Nets, 49-33: Now with a trio of ex-Celtics and the league's most expensive roster! The Nets were three games better than they should have been, but Garnett/Pierce/Terry minus all the players the Nets sent to Boston is more than three wins, so expect no change from the forty-nine wins of last season.

6.) Atlanta Hawks, 47-35: I don't get why people are all pegging the Pistons here, given that the Pistons won a whopping twenty-nine games last season. Josh Smith is a good player, but he isn't worth twenty games. The Hawks, on the other hand, replaced Smith with more cost-efficient Paul Millsap and shouldn't really be pegged to decline 2.3 wins.

7.) Detroit Pistons, 40-42: Here's a more reasonable spot for the Pistons. Have I mentioned that I really like Greg Monroe? 

7.) Cleveland Cavs, 40-42: Andrew Bynum and half an extra season of Anderson Varejao is what they got, not LeBron James: (see: 2014, Grant Blair, hope.) Anthony Bennett wasn't the best pick they could have made.

9.) Wizards
10.) Raptors
11.) Bucks
12.) Bobcats. The last four or so teams in the East are like a World Sucking Championship. All we need now is the national team of Whateverostan.
13.) Celtics
14.) Magic
15.) Sixers. See what I mean?

So. My 9:30 yahoo H2H league's about to begin. Here's a timeline of what happens. I was considering dual-blogging on the draft and game three of the world series, but decided it was best to stay focused. I was also considering not going to the bathroom so I could valiantly blog about how I circumvented bladder issues during the draft, but decided against it.

9:20: I log on. Picking ninth. Eight of twelve teams are auto-drafting. okay...
9:22: Uh oh time. Laptop flashes "low battery" and I can't find the charger.
9:24: Crisis averted. I find the charger and the laptop is plugged in. Whew.
9:25: Trying to work out draft strategy for ninth pick. I'm going best player available in Round 1. Hopefully non-injury risk.
9:28: Draft starts in a minute. Maybe Paul George first round?
9:29: My laptop is steadily rising in power. Whew.
9:30: And we begin! Durant first, Irving second. King James third? Weird.
9:31: Durant Irving James Harden Paul Curry. I'm up, and George is gone, of course.
9:32: I settle on Carmelo Anthony. One down. Twelve to go.
9:32: First round over, no non-top-twelve drafted. Predictable. Next, hoard big men.
9:34: I nervously take Al Horford with my second round pick. A long wait till my third rounder...
9:35: I'm thinking Dwight Howard. Or a point guard.
9:37: Right when I settle upon Howard, he's drafted two picks before me. Oh well. 
9:38: My plan B is a point guard. Tony Parker, welcome to the team. David Lee next?
9:40: The coveted David Lee earns my fourth-round pick. I exhale. Next pick around 57, but fast draft with all the autopicks.
9;40: Roy Hibbert would be nice but not too realistic. The search for blocks continues.
9:43: I decide to take Rajon Rondo early with my fifth-rounder. 
9:45: Greg Monroe is next. I feel terrible going five picks early for these players, but at the middle rounds it's a little bit better.
9:46: Ohhh....we're halfway there...oh---OH...we're livin' on a prayer...
9:50: A bathroom break almost causes me to miss my seventh pick. I take JR Smith.
9:52: I don't like anybody who I want to draft. Uh oh. ESPN gives a rave review (18.5 PPG/8 RPG Projections), so I take the upside of Tobias Harris. I still don't like this pick, but yahoo and espn do. eight down, five left.
9:54: Danny Green or Evan Turner with a ninth round pick? I'm hoping...
9:55: And...they're both picked. Oh well.
9:56: I take a risk and pick Danny Granger instead. I'm aiming for Nene next.
9:56: Nene!
9:57: Nene is mine. Maybe a backup point next. Or not, I have Rondo. A backup guard, then.
10:01: Anthony Bennett.
10:04: Another top rookie this year? I take Victor Oladipo, and in drafting two rookies confuse myself.
10:08: I settle on Isiaah Thomas over Carlos Delfino and Nerlens Noel [not another rookie?] that's the draft!
10:09: The final pick is made! The results for my team, deemed 'asdf 3.14'...

Pick 9: C. Anthony
Pick 16: A. Horford
Pick 33: T. Parker
Pick 40: D. Lee
Pick 57: R. Rondo
Pick 64: G. Monroe
Pick 81: J.R Smith
Pick 88: T. Harris
Pick 105: D. Granger
Pick 112: N. Hilario
Pick 129: A. Bennett
Pick 136: V. Oladipo
Pick 153: I. Thomas

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArWXqkabsFMwdFZBOF9xVXVPUndwZ0F3NkRkRGRSU2c#gid=0


Pretty simple ranking on all the fantasy stats, not including free throws (my team is punting FT this year) and three pointers (ever seen a center shoot 7-12 from downtown in a game? Thought so).

Chandler's ranking (second?) was especially surprising. This was skewed by his injury-filled 64% FT. Sanders at fifth was surprising too. (Hint: blocks).

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArWXqkabsFMwdEp2SUdqQndwNGo3N3R0ZzhLUTdfWHc#gid=0


All those efficiency rankings, with some fantasy rankings last season. You''ll notice absences like Rajon Rondo and Andrew Bynum, because they were injured.