I projected GS in 7th seed and conference finals. Clippers 67 wins Nuggets 58 jazz 56 Rockets 53 Lakers 52 Blazers 50 GS 48 Spurs 47
Continuity = rockets 1 seed similar to 2017. Playoffs are a different animal but a #1 seed will be great.
I think the Kings have a decent chance of making it. Lots of talent and depth. They are my dark horse for the playoffs race. Mavs, Pelicans have an outside shot as well. Tough to predict who misses out. OKC seems like the obvious choice, despite Westbrook, Adams, Gallo being a good core. I can see the Spurs missing out as well, but the Morris signing was great for them. I am not sold on the Lakers, they are very thin, maybe they pick up Iggy though. A little bit sceptical for the Blazers, they lost a lot of key contributors from last year. GSW may also struggle. They really need to hit a couple of homeruns with their vet mins, otherwise their bench production will suffer. Thompson may not play much in the regular season. If one of Green, Curry, Russell gets an injury and misses 20 games, I would not be surprised with them not making the playoffs. Utah looks perfect on paper, I can see them winning 60, they are so deep, lots of defensive talent and way more scoring/shooting than last year. At 16:1 they are the best value bet to win it all. Clippers are the clear favourites to win the West. 1. Clippers 2. Jazz 3-5 Rockets, Lakers, Nuggets 6-7 Blazers, GSW 8-12 Spurs, Kings, OKC, Mavs, Pelicans
Lol and here I was thinking the West would finally be easier than the East....east is the leastern conf again smh.
With the additions Utah, Denver, San Antonio, Dallas and Portland made, you have to figure at least a couple of them are going to be surprise contenders this season. That's not to mention the Lakers and Clippers, and Golden State will be hanging around. The Rockets, meanwhile, are aging, overly dependent on one guy playing at an MVP level, and probably have already peaked with this group. They easily could end up at the lower end of playoff seedings in the West as presently constructed, nevermind actually competing for a championship. But you have to think Morey will make at least one significant move in this offseason, so I'm trying hard to withhold judgement. It's hard when you see all these players moving around and other teams getting better. Makes you wonder how much patience Tillman will have with Morey.
Lmao I love how everyone overrates the Lakers, which seems to be every year. Their franchise just got played by Kawhi Leonard by doing nothing. Lebron is getting up their in age, and him and Davis are both injury prone. Not to mention they are a brand new duo with no practice playing together. And their supporting cast is questionable. Injury prone boogie back with Davis? I cannot see this team being in the top 4 this year. And history is telling me this is another one of those Lakers teams that look cool on paper, but end up being a letdown. I'll have my money on teams without all the dysfunction and drama of the Lakers, such as the jazz nuggets blazers etc to be fighting for top seeds in the west. And definitely the rockets over the Lakers.
The disrespect to harden. Just because people team up to form teams, doesnt mean they are the same tier as the warriors b4 the injuries. Harden can carry scrubs to playoffs if he had 2. Our team isnt garbage just a year older. Harden isnt some pushover to not get into playoffs.
You are right, first round will be tough. 5teams look better. Morey is just terrible last July and now. Tilman loves morey bc of profit. Save luxury tax profit, don’t buy picks. Big F in draft and free agent market.
Lol are you crazy? That 73 win team had soo much depth. This team has nothing. They replaced Bogut, Ezili, Barnes, Livingston, Barbosa, Iggy, Speights.. With a bunch of question marks. Barnes as a 3rd option was awesome.
Most of those teams aren’t better than us. Would you really put the Lakers that high with what their roster is now? I’m not sure I would. We know what the Blazers are from years past and Denver still has no wing depth. Now, you could be right if Porter Jr. is as good as we suspect, but Jolie still struggles against Capela. We can beat most of these teams in the playoffs. Let’s see how Leonard’s quad holds up and if George can remain healthy. I’m not sure about their centers defensively either. Since when is Mike Conley this much of a difference maker? Someone will likely emerge ahead of us, but I’m not convinced the Rockets are as bad or as low in the standings as you think.
I dunno who exactly is on Dallas' bench but if Luka and Porkchop catch fire, I think they are battling for 6th seed. True, Spurs are always there at 7th-8th seed when it comes down to it. Rockets might have Denver's number with the guard rotation but Denver is pretty good against most teams in R season.
You're such butt hurt, homer, fanboy. The Rockets are not looking good right now. They're a 6th seed team at best.
