Boston, Toronto, Philly, Indiana, Wizards, Bucks...sorry, but other than Hou or GS, the rest of the teams in the West aren’t significantly better than that group from the EC Utah, OKC, Nola, Portland, Wolves...all good teams, but nothing amazing about them (maybe Utah continues their play from the 2nd half of last season and separates themselves from the rest of the pack) Scrappy Suns? Will they even win more than 30 games? the West is Hou, GS, a huge gap, and then a couple of teams that can win 45-50 games Lebron got 50 wins out a team ranked 29th in defense...the man is that good this isn’t the West from back in the day where u could have a 54 win 5th seed or something like that
People taking the Stephen A and Kellerman takes seriously are the ones who keep watching the SAW movies thinking there's a happy ending
Yeah, I have no idea. It seems pointless to start trying to predict playoff seeding since you have mid-season injuries and what not. You have to think that the Rockets-Warriors are top 3 which mean that they, no matter what, will be on the opposite side of the bracket. I have no idea what he was talking about but I heard it earlier and just completely ignored it as drivel. I don't even think the Lakers finish in the top 4. Nothing against Lebron but he has a history of chilling out in the regular season for long stretches of time. He could afford to do that in the East, in the West, there's literally no breaks. 1 game decides your fate and Lebron usually misses around 7 or so games per year (outside of last season...) and I'm not sure that this Laker team can afford that if they hope to finish top 4 in the west. We'll see.
Whatever bro. You're a bonafide Harden and Melo hater and a LBJ cokcgobler. Choke on that for reality.
Lmao, u actually think I’m a Harden hater?!? U don’t know my posting history at all. You’re definitely on some clown sh*t now, I can’t take u seriously. this fool really thinks I’m a bonafide Harden hater...lmfao
Eh, agree to disagree. I think the West teams you listed would beat every single one of those EC teams in a 7 game series (minus Toronto and Boston....perhaps Philly). And this might be a hot take that has no substance, but I actually think the Suns might be a bubble team for that 8 seed this year. They're long, athletic, can score in bunches, and can potentially play some defense now.
Love isn't playing for the Lakers at all, and which of Lebron's team mates are clear cut as good or better than him as of today? Maybe one of the young players like Kuzma or Ball gets there, but they aren't yet. You can't really rule out toxicity with the Lakers with Rondo, McGee, Beasley, and Stephenson, mixed with Ball's dad's constant media presence if they aren't winning consistently. 3rd thru 9th seeds in the west were all quality teams with similar records to the Cavs, probably better regular seasons considering they played a tougher schedule. 6th seed and lower in the east is closer to the Clippers or last year's Lakers than they were to the western conference playoff teams. The top east teams were good last year, but none of them were likely to make the conference finals if they had been in the west. Any team with Lebron has a chance to do something in the playoffs, but it's going to be hard to rest him at all in the West and just turn it on during the playoffs. The Lakers have to have a significantly better season than the Cavs did despite a tougher schedule. Lakers won 35 games last year. Cavs won 20 more games than the previous year when Lebron came back, but they also added Kevin Love and already had Kyrie Irving. Lebron leaving the Heat also removed them as a top tier team in the east. 45-50 wins seems most realistic for the Lakers unless they make a trade or one of their young players blossoms into a legit star. This is what vegas is currently projecting.
lmao, ask around then...u thinking I’m a Harden hater is actually pretty funny u must have me confused with someone else
Suns look like they have a good future but they have no idea how to win still. and that's not happening overnight especially w/ a team full of youth. worst record in the league isn't realistically going to jump into the playoff race without adding a true premier player, especially in the west.
fakers have the worst big man rotation of any team the past several years. over an 82 game season they are going to get murdered in the paint on both ends. and this clown talkin bout the playoffs already lol
maybe...I just don’t think much of the likes of OKC, NO, Minny, Portland, Denver, etc...they’re good, but nowhere close to elite just like a lot of those EC teams...Utah is the team that I’m highest on outside of Hou and GS in the West, but even then, maybe they win 52 games or something on the high end IMO With the Suns, I’ll have to see it to believe it. They’ve got so much work to do on both ends of the floor.
Now the Lakers are a "solid" crew around Lebron and good young teammates. The moment they underachieve the narrative changes to how Lebron has to play with a bunch of bums. They wouldn't even beat OKC or Utah in the 1st round. I'll give them a W over NO or Minny or Den or Portland, but that's about it. I bet SA would beat them too.
I know that he’s not playing with the Lakers. My point is that even with their 2nd best player missing 21 games, them having 1 of the most toxic locker rooms in the league, and having the 29th ranked defense, Lebron is still able to squeeze out 50 wins. Surely this Lakers team won’t be anywhere near 29th in defense. I think they can be average-slightly above average on that end. I think Lebron is great enough to get them to around 10th in offense. A team with the 10th ranked offense and let’s say 14th ranked defense is good enough to win at least 44 games and make the playoffs in the West which is all I think the Lakers are capable of at this point. You’re right that any team with Lebron has a chance to do something in the playoffs which is why I will never count out a Lebron led team. I think he’s more than capable of beating any WC team in the playoffs outside of Hou or GS.
