PARIS (George Eddy's International Show) - Which NBA franchises have the best chance of making a big move upwards in the standings this season? I've chosen three from each conference and these six teams will be heavily influenced by their foreign contingent.

Let's start with the East and the lowly Philadelphia 76ers, one of the worst teams of all-time last season. After years of tanking and making excuses for it, the franchise is finally ready to start winning some games and I see them winning twice as many as last season, going from 10 to 20 wins, riding on the wings of excellent international players like Joel Embid, Dario Saric, Sergio Rodriguez and Ben Simmons (when he gets back from foot surgery).

Had Simmons been available from the start, I would have predicted 25 wins, but the other three players have enough talent and experience to hold down the fort. Rodriguez is a master at reading the defense in pick and roll situations and when Philadelphia makes a trade to relieve the glut at center and improve the wing position this roster should look more balanced.

The Orlando Magic also have a glut at the center position and in this age of small ball that can be a problem but it also gives a team some preciously rare pieces to trade. Faithful foreign players like Evan Fournier and Nicola Vucevic will receive a lot of inside help on defense from major recruits Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo.

The big question mark concerns Aaron Gordon and Mario Hezonja on the wing. If you mixed the two into one player you would have your solution, but for now, new head coach Frank Vogel will have to wade through Mario's mental lapses and Aaron's lack of outside shooting and find some sort of cohesion for a seriously transformed roster. He did a great coaching job in Indiana and he's the main reason I see the Magic winning 8 to 10 more games while fighting all season long for a playoff spot.

My third pick in the East to make significant improvement is everyone's pick, the New York Knicks. Like Vogel, Jeff Hornacek is a good coach who should improve the team if he can get out from under Phil Jackson's large shadow and nostalgic preference for the triangle offense. Even if he succeeds in doing so, he'll have plenty of other obstacles standing in his way starting with the Derrick Rose civil trial, Joakim Noah's fragile body and unbridled, unrealistic expectations from Knicks fans and media notorious for their impatience and poison pens!

Courtney Lee was a great recruit by Jackson and I feel the Knicks will be fighting with Orlando and a few other teams like the Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards and Milwaukee Bucks for the last two Playoffs spots in the East, probably hovering near a 50 percent winning percentage, if they can quickly develop some semblance of chemistry despite alot of new players.

Out West, the biggest improvement should come from the Houston Rockets and their new coach, Mr. "7 seconds or less" himself, Mike D'Antoni. In New York and L.A., he never had the players to play his run and gun style whereas, in Houston, the roster fits perfectly with his coaching philosophy. 

He doesn't have a dominating center on his roster and he doesn't really want one! New additions Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon add even more three-point shooting to a Houston team that was already among league leaders in shots taken from beyond the arc and fastbreak points!

Clint Capella runs like a deer and can alley-oop with the best off of James Harden's passes. If Harden, the team's superstar, buys into D'Antoni's methods and becomes a true leader then the Rockets can move up from 8th to 4th place this season.

The team that should scoop up the 8th spot in the Western Conference is the Utah Jazz, if they can just win five more games and finally get over the hump.

Gordon Hayward's broken finger is bad news that may hamper them at the start but when the team has integrated new and important elements like George Hill, Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw, let's say that around Christmas, their teamwork and Rudy Gobert-led defense should take them to new heights!

With their roster, this will never be an uptempo team but their old school style should be enough to finally make the playoffs.

Last but not least, all NBA experts are intrigued with what new coach Tom Thibodeau will be able to get out of the young  Minnesota Timberwolves. They were already improved last season by winning 29 games and I see them winning at least 35 this season which would probably see them ranked 10th in the West after being 13th last season.

Kevin Garnett's presence and leadership will be gone which should naturally push Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns to the forefront. Ricky Rubio will never become a very dangerous outside shooter with his flat release but he's still among the most brilliant passers and fastbreak generals in the NBA and his defense will be a cornerstone for Thibodeau's game plan. The coach loves to overplay and grind his stars into the ground and this shouldn't be too much of a problem with such a young roster.

There you have it, six teams that we'll be watching closely for signs of major improvement!

George Eddy

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