NBA 2011 Season: Top 3 NBA Franchises with Bright Futures

The 2011 NBA basketball season will surely display some of the most young talented basketball teams ever since the 1990s. There are three young professional teams with very bright futures ahead of them. One team will likely win an NBA championship within three years, but the only thing that stops them is the lack of postseason experience. According to the NBA rankings shown on www.espn.go.com/nba/powerrankings, the Miami Heat are the likely favorites to win an NBA championship in 2011 behind the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Miami Heat may not be considered as young as the top two franchises with bright futures, but they do have a legitimate shot at winning an NBA title within a few years. Due to Pat Riley's strategic moves during the summer, the Miami Heat organization was able to lure both Chris Bosh and LeBron James from the most chaotic free agency market ever. The addition of these superstars gave Miami an almost guaranteed opportunity to win another championship. The roster shown on the Heat's official website (www.nba.com/heat/roster/index.html) indicates they have little depth because of the signing of the three superstars. The Miami Heat must stay healthy at all costs this season or they waive goodbye to their solid championship opportunity.

One young team to watch this NBA season would be the New Jersey Nets. The Nets are coming off their worst season in franchise history, but it seems that the roster has made some progress over the summer. They were lucky enough to snag a top three pick from the NBA draft due to their awful season. There is not much to say about New Jersey's current position, but with the 2011 free agency coming next summer; they may have a strong chance at signing Carmelo Anthony to a long-term contract. If you are a Nets fan, you are likely to see them surge to the playoffs within two years.

The Oklahoma Thunder have literally silenced their most harshest critics by not only winning fifty games in a season, but by giving the Los Angeles Lakers a rough time throughout the first round of the playoffs. The Thunder are the NBA Franchise of the future because of superstar Kevin Durant. Prior to last season, Durant's team struggled to find its true image. Durant may be the next true Michael Jordan of the new millennium, but he will have to battle teams such as the Lakers, Spurs, and Mavericks to gain even recognition. Durant is basically the only hope for the NBA to recover from the loss of Michael Jordan back in 1998.