Future is Bright: Dynasties in the Making
The year 2016, while not exactly an all-around terrific 12-month stretch, was arguably one of the greatest years in the history of professional sports. The Golden State Warriors famously blew a 3-1 series lead in the NBA Finals, giving the Cleveland Cavaliers their first ever title and ending the city of Cleveland’s decades-long championship drought. Speaking of lengthy title droughts, the Chicago Cubs also finally ended their 108-year long stretch of misery by defeating the Cleveland Indians to win the World Series. And perhaps most notably, the small English football club Leicester City overcame historically long odds to win the Premier League title, toppling legendary clubs like Manchester United and Arsenal in the process. Hopefully, 2017 and future years will be as entertaining, and there is a good chance that they will be. American sports are filled with more talent than ever before, and as such, several teams throughout the sporting world have the potential to blossom into juggernauts in the near future, and if they do, will provide entertainment for years to come. Here are some squads with the highest likelihood of such an achievement.
Chicago Cubs: This is fairly obvious, considering the Cubs just won the World Series about two months ago, but they are still worth mentioning. The North-Siders boast the 2016 National League MVP in third baseman Kris Bryant, 2015 NL Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta, and the 2nd and 3rd place finishers in the 2016 NL Cy Young voting in Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks. Additionally, the team had seven representatives in the 2016 All-Star Game, including the National League’s entire starting infield, and of the Cubs that played in the Midsummer Classic, three of them (Bryant, shortstop Addison Russell, and first baseman Anthony Rizzo) are 27 years old or younger. Adding those talents to other young stars like postseason heroes Kyle Schwarber, Javier Baez, and Jason Heyward means that after 108 years of strife, good baseball will finally be a regular occurrence again on the North Side of Chicago.
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Oakland Raiders: Star quarterback Derek Carr’s fractured fibula derailed the Silver and Black’s Super Bowl LI chances, but the Raiders’ breakout 2016 regular season campaign is a harbinger of things to come. Pro Bowlers Amari Cooper, Khalil Mack, Rodney Hudson, and Kelechi Osemele are all 27-and-under, as are Carr, starting guard Gabe Jackson, and starting running back Latavius Murray. Once Tom Brady eventually retires, the fight for the AFC title will become much more competitive, and the Raiders have as good of a shot as any team to contend for it over the next several years.
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Golden State Warriors: Like the Cubs, this is a pretty obvious mention. The Dubs won the NBA Championship in 2015, and returned to the Finals in 2016 fresh off a dominant regular season in which they set the all-time single-season win record of 73-9. As mentioned above, they did lose that series to the Cavaliers, and that outcome may have changed the NBA forever, as it was a major contributing factor in former league MVP Kevin Durant’s decision to sign with the Warriors this past offseason. With a Big Four made up of Durant, two-time reigning MVP Stephen Curry, and All-Stars Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, the Warriors have a quartet unmatched by any team in the league, and so far, they have lived up to the hype. Golden State averages 117.5 points per game, most in the league by almost three full points, and boasts a point differential of 11.9, signifying that most of their wins are total blowouts. With all four of the Warriors’ major stars at 28 years old or younger, they are primed to continue building a dynasty for years to come.
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Houston Astros: They didn’t qualify for the postseason in 2016, but over the course of the next decade or so, that missed playoff berth will be seen as an aberration for this Astros team. Houston doesn’t boast much star power on the mound- 2015 AL Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel regressed rapidly last season, as did the team’s prized acquisition of last winter, closer Ken Giles. However, with all the young hitting talent that this team boasts, that may not be much of a worry. Houston may have the best double play combination in baseball in reigning AL batting champ Jose Altuve and 2015 AL Rookie of the Year Carlos Correa, and former stud prospects George Springer and Alex Bregman have also shown extended flashes of greatness. All four are 27 years old or younger, and adding seven-time All-Star catcher Brian McCann and future Hall of Fame outfielder Carlos Beltran to this young core puts the Astros firmly in contention for a World Series title soon.
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Dallas Cowboys: Nobody expected another potential Cowboys dynasty so soon, but here we are. Despite a preseason injury to franchise quarterback Tony Romo, America’s Team rolled to a 13-3 record, thanks in part to the outstanding play of the team’s all-rookie backfield, made up of signal-caller Dak Prescott (taken in the fourth round) and top-five selection Ezekiel Elliott. Both Prescott and Elliott are legitimately in the running for not only the Offensive Rookie and Player of the Year award, but for the MVP itself. With a backfield destined for stardom, an almost forgotten All-Pro level receiver in Dez Bryant, and an offensive line widely considered to be the best in football, the Cowboys should count themselves as one of the top contenders in the NFC for years to come.
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Minnesota Timberwolves: The NBA’s offseason hype darlings have struggled their way to an 12-26 record, tied for second worst in the Western Conference, but there are still plenty of reasons to hope in the Twin Cities. Their three leading scorers (Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, and Zach LaVine) are all averaging over 20 points a game, a feat matched by only the star-studded Warriors and Cavaliers, and all three Wolves are 22 years old or younger. Towns especially has shown superstar potential, dropping over 40 points and 15 rebounds on two separate occasions this season. The Timberpups, as they’re affectionately referred to, need to drastically improve their defense-opponents shoot 47.1% from the field against Minnesota, putting them only in front of the Lakers, Mavericks, and Nuggets, three equally as porous defensive squads-but with one of the league’s elite defensive minds in Tom Thibodeau as their coach, progress on the less glamorous end is all but inevitable.
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New York Yankees: I don’t mean to sound like a completely unreasonable homer, but the Yankees are set up for their next dynasty. The next generation of Baby Bombers emerged in the 2016 season, headlined by catcher/possible demigod Gary Sanchez, who was named AL Player and Rookie of the Month in his FIRST MONTH in the majors, while also coming in second in Rookie of the Year voting despite only playing in 53 games. However, the Yankees boast quite a few other high-ceiling prospects, like starting pitcher Luis Severino, first basemen Greg Bird and Tyler Austin, and outfielder Aaron Judge. This infusion of youth will add to an already relatively young core highlighted by double play combo Starlin Castro and Didi Gregorius, starting pitcher Michael Pineda, and reliever Aroldis Chapman. Finally, as is the case with several clubs mentioned later in this article, the possibility of the Steinbrenner boys shelling out big money to land a top-notch free agent is always lurking, and with the 2018 free agent class boasting All-Star caliber players at every position, it’s more of a probability than a possibility at this point. Don’t look now, Yankee haters, but the next Bronx Bomber dynasty is on its way.
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Milwaukee Bucks: Since 2010, the Eastern Conference has been run by whatever team LeBron James has played on. For four years, that was Miami, and now for three seasons, it has been Cleveland. In the process, legitimately fun and talented teams like the early 2010s Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers and the present-day iteration of the Toronto Raptors that would have been contenders in other eras have been summarily stopped in their tracks because they happened to run into one of the five greatest basketball players of all time. However, there is a chance that LeBron’s streak of consecutive Finals appearances ends before he retires, and that opportunity rests chiefly on the shoulders of the Milwaukee Bucks and their star (insert position here, there’s no wrong answer) Giannis Antetokounmpo, commonly known as “The Greek Freak.” We were treated to a sneak peek of the changing of the guard in the Eastern Conference on November, when the Bucks welcomed LeBron to Milwaukee with a 118-101 shellacking in which Giannis posted 34 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, five steals, and two blocks, a statline which is becoming a regular occurrence for him now. The Greek Freak boasts jaw-dropping physical tools and has turned into a megastar this season by putting up literally unprecedented statistics on a nightly basis (hint: if a current NBA player is producing stats that were never even generated by Wilt Chamberlain or Oscar Robertson, that’s a cue to take notice). But Giannis is certainly not the sole reason for hope in Milwaukee. The Robin to his Batman, former #2 overall pick Jabari Parker, averages over 20 points a game and is a devastating athlete and leaper in transition, currently injured swingman Khris Middleton is one of the best shooters in the NBA when healthy, and if 2016 lottery pick Thon Maker pans out, then his size, athleticism, and shooting ability will add another terrifying element to Milwaukee’s already absurd collection of talent. A perennial Eastern Conference powerhouse is looming in Wisconsin.
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Los Angeles Dodgers: I don’t want to copy and paste my argument for the Yankees into a section on the Dodgers, but it most definitely applies. Like the Bronx Bombers, the Dodgers boast a staggering collection of young talent, highlighted by 2016 NL Rookie of the Year Corey Seager, starting pitchers Julio Urias (the youngest player in Major League Baseball) and Jose De Leon, and outfielder Joc Pederson. In addition, the team resigned third baseman Justin Turner, starting pitcher Rich Hill, and All-Star closer Kenley Jansen this offseason, boasts additional proven bats in first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and catcher Yasmani Grandal, and lest we not forget, still controls three-time NL Cy Young winner and possible alien Clayton Kershaw for two more seasons. The talent already in place at Chavez Ravine is enough to make a World Series run, but the team’s ownership group, led by a recluse named Magic Johnson, have shelled out money time and again to land big free agents, and have shown no indication that they will stop anytime soon. Yes, the Cubs are the National League favorites until proven otherwise, but the Dodgers are a team that could, in fact, prove otherwise.
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Philadelphia 76ers: The Bucks have replaced the Timberwolves as the popular choice for the NBA’s next dynasty due to both Giannis’ emergence and Minnesota’s stunted growth, but in as soon as a few months from now, the media might yet again be singing a different tune, a tune emanating most loudly from the Delaware Valley. After three extremely depressing seasons filled with losing, the Sixers and their fans finally have some reasons to hope. They’re still at the bottom of the standings-that hasn’t changed- but the team’s high lottery draft picks over the past several years are, with one giant exception, all simultaneously healthy for the first time ever, and have shown overwhelming potential. The most remarkable developments have come from center Joel Embiid, who after two full seasons of sitting out due to knee injuries has quickly emerged as the runaway Rookie of the Year favorite, but fellow big men Nerlens Noel, Dario Saric, and Jahlil Okafor have also continued to show promise. Incredibly enough, perhaps the team’s best player, last year’s first overall pick Ben Simmons, is still recovering from a broken foot suffered in the preseason, but will probably start seeing game action within the next month. When Simmons finally steps on the court and demonstrates his wicked passing ability, Philly could start to produce regular highlights reminiscent of the Showtime Lakers. With Simmons, Embiid, whichever big men Bryan Colangelo chooses not to trade, and whatever presumably high lottery picks the Sixers take in next year’s draft, the backbone of a dynasty more frightening than any I’ve mentioned so far may start to take shape.
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Boston Red Sox: I feel physically uncomfortable writing positive remarks about the Red Sox, but the team’s future is quite bright, so it would be unfair of me not to include them in this piece. Boston is led by superstar utility player Mookie Betts, a 5’9”, 155-pound dynamo who finished second to Mike Trout in 2016 AL MVP voting. I’m aware that “superstar” and “utility” aren’t words that typically make sense together in a sentence, but the phrase was pretty much invented for Betts. He played second base in the minors, but because the middle infield starting spots were blocked by established starters Dustin Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts when he reached the big leagues, Betts was forced to move to the outfield. However, he proceeded to be almost completely unaffected by this seemingly major position change, earning not only a spot on the AL All-Star team and a Silver Slugger Award, but also a Gold Glove for playing a position he was learning on the fly. Mookie will most likely be the Red Sox’s best player going forward, but he’s far from the only top-flight young talent on the team. The team’s shortstop, Xander Bogaerts, is a two-time Silver Slugger and one-time All-Star, and outfielders Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley Jr. have shown elite hitting and defensive potential, respectively. On the pitching side, the Sox made perhaps the biggest transaction of the 2016 offseason when they traded top prospects Yoan Moncada and Michael Kopech to the Chicago White Sox for five-time All-Star and strikeout machine Chris Sale. He joins an already formidable rotation led by Cy Young winners David Price and Rick Porcello, forming perhaps the best trio of starting pitchers in Major League Baseball. And as has been mentioned in the Yankee and Dodger portions of this article, Boston has plenty of money at its disposal, and is not afraid of spending it (see Sandoval, Pablo). The NBA seems like it will be dominated by Warriors-Cavaliers championship series for years to come, and at this rate, Red Sox-Cubs will dictate baseball in the same way very soon.
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Los Angeles Lakers: The past several years have seen unprecedented lows for the NBA’s Golden Franchise, as the legendary career of Kobe Bryant skidded to an unceremonious end (disregarding his final game) alongside such basketball luminaries as Xavier Henry, Shawne Williams, and Robert Sacre. However, in such darkness, there is light, and light in the case of the Lakers was four draft picks that have the potential to restore greatness to LA’s foremost sports team. Over the course of three seasons, the team picked power forward Julius Randle, point guard D’Angelo Russell and forward Brandon Ingram, and traded for combo guard Jordan Clarkson. These four picks, along with role players like Larry Nance Jr. and Tarik Black, can form the backbone for another great Laker team. The Lake Show is, once again, near the bottom of the standings this current season, but the team’s 10-10 start under new coach Luke Walton gave many hope for the future. With Randle’s penchant for notching triple doubles (he has two this season), Clarkson’s dynamic athleticism, Russell’s flashy passing ability, and Ingram’s scoring potential, it may not be long before another Laker dynasty is upon the NBA.
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