This can be a one stop shop to post any and all predictions you have on the upcoming season. Be as simple or concise as you want and than we can look back after the season to see how we did. Eastern Conference Atlantic Nets Knicks Raptors Celtics 76ers Central Pacers Bulls Pistons Cavaliers Bucks Southeast Heat Wizards Hawks Magic Bobcats Western Conference Southwest Rockets Spurs Grizzles Mavericks Pelicans Northwest Thunder Nuggets Timberwolves Jazz Trailblazers Pacific Clippers Warriors Kings Lakers Suns Eastern Conference playoffs 8) Raptors 0 1) Heat 4 Miami easily gets by the Raptors who while entertaining offensively, pose no threat defensively and get swept. 5) New York Knicks 1 4) Chicago Bulls 4 Knicks will be a good regular season team, but I don't like them come playoff time as you can't count on Stoudemire so essentially there a one man team going up against a Bulls squad with Derrick Rose back in the fold. 6) Detroit Pistons 2 3) Indiana Pacers 4 Should be a good series against division opponents who will know the other inside and out. The Pistons talent is very close to the Pacers, but the Pacers play the better brand of team ball and that will make the difference. 7) Washington Wizards 2 2) Brooklyn Nets 4 I think this is the year that things fall into place for the Wizards. I expect Wall to stay healthy and maintain his play from the 2nd half of next season, Beal will continue to develop into a very good SG with great range and the rest of the team should complement them nicely. However, its not enough for the upset as the Nets have too much talent and veteran leadership to prevail. 4) Chicago Bulls 2 1) Miami Heat 4 This will be a typical hard fought Bulls/Heat series, but in the end the Heat have just too much for the Bulls to content with. 3) Indiana Pacers 3 2) Brooklyn Nets 4 This will be a spectacular series where each team can match up against the others strengths. The difference will be Deron Williams who has the biggest mismatch at his position. This will be a dog fight. 2) Brooklyn Nets 4 1) Miami Heat 2 No three-peat as the defending champs are knocked out of the playoffs by the Nets. The Nets have built a perfect team for a one year run and it shows with their ability to throw multiple defenders at LeBron while possessing the ability to score from any position on the court. Western Conference Playoffs 8) Minnesota Timberwolves 3 1) Oklahoma City Thunder 4 Minnesota almost pulls the upset. The Thunder will be a great regular season team, but I don't see them making a strong run this postseason without a stronger third option. 5) San Antonio Spurs 1 4) Golden State Warriors 4 The Spurs will still be a force, but I think this year marks the beginning of their slide as the Warriors will out run them and make short work of the Spurs. 6) Denver Nuggets 2 3) Houston Rockets 4 There's going to be a homer vibe to these predictions for sure, but I don't think there going to be too far out there. Houston will possess the best inside out game in the NBA and that will take them far. Coupled with athletes and shooters this Rocket team will be special. 7) Memphis Grizzles 3 2) Los Angeles Clippers 4 These two teams always push each other to the limits and this year will be no different. A tough series that goes the distance with Paul's playmaking ability being the difference. 4) Golden State Warriors 4 1) Oklahoma City Thunder 2 The Warriors will find a way to win 1 game at OKC while holding serve at home. With Barnes and Iguodala, the Warriors can rotate defenders on Durant while I can't see the Thunder slowing down the Warriors offense enough to take the series. 3) Houston Rockets 4 2) Los Angeles Clippers 1 I just don't see this Clipper team matching up well against the Rockets. I expect Harden and Howard to have there way with the Clips en route to a easy 5 game series. 4) Golden State Warriors 3 3) Houston Rockets 4 This will be the most entertaining match up of the postseason with all the offense and fast pace play anyone can handle. Each team will be strong enough to take the others best and fight back. The difference will be game 7 at Houston and Harden and Howards postseason experience. NBA Finals: Houston Rockets 4 Brooklyn Nets 3 This will be another great series following on last years Heat/Spurs one that sees it come down to a game 7. The Nets will frustrate the Rockets with their ability to come at you from any position and with great depth, but it will not be enough to beat a team that features the best SG/C combo in Harden and Dwight. They will be able to lead their team to victory in a tough series that will remind Rockets fans moreso of the Rockets/Knicks series (minus the physical play) and less of the Rockets/Magic one.
Just wanted to gloat about correctly guessing the scoring title champion last year. It was an educated guess amidst lots of anti-Melo hate. I don't like him either, but still.
It's easy to pick the prohibitive favorites, I hate doing so, but I did anyways. Thisclose to picking Golden State over OKC out West. I was going to pick Mark Jackson for COY but went with the coach of the best team. I was going to go with Dwight for DPOY but went with LeBron. Outside of that, I think like the rest of my picks, ha. East 1. Miami 2. Chicago 3. Indiana 4. Brooklyn 5. New York 6. Atlanta 7. Milwaukee 8. Detroit Miami West 1. Oklahoma City 2. San Antonio 3. LA Clippers 4. Houston 5. Memphis 6. Golden State 7. Dallas 8. Denver Oklahoma City Miami (Threepeat) over Oklahoma City; NBA Finals MVP: LeBron James ROY: Trey Burke MVP: LeBron James COY: Erik Spoelstra Executive of the Year: Daryl Morey DPOY: LeBron James Sixth Man: Jarrett Jack
Yeah, strange how some people who hate Melo and dismiss all his scoring ability seem to forget to mention him when it comes to contenders for scoring title each year -- it's almost like they are contradicting themselves. "Sure he can score, but he's not going to." Something tells me Durant will win the scoring title again. Hell, he may be at 35ppg by the time Westbrook comes back. How's that for an "educated guess?"
Ha ha ha! They lost Monta Ellis, Brandon Jennings, J.J. Redick, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Mike Dunleavy, & Samuel Dalembert (along with a few others who didn't make a real difference). They added O.J. Mayo, Brandon Knight, Luke Ridnour, Carlos Delfino, Gary Neal, Zaza Pachulia, & Khris Middleton (along with some draft picks that may or may not contribute). I can't trust Washington or Cleveland. The injury bug will bite sooner or later for one or both teams. And then there's Toronto. So you have about five teams fighting for the last two spots -- Milwaukee, Detroit, Washington, Cleveland, and Toronto.
Sounds like there getting Wiggins next year to me i feel you on the cavs and wizards and toronto aint going no where
While Ellis and Jennings are inefficient chuckers, Knight, Ridnour and Delfino (while I love him) might actually be downgrades compared to them. And OJ Mayo is barely an upgrade over those two. And more importantly, the Bucks lost Redick and Dunleavy, two very solid rotational guys. This year's Bucks team is significatly worse
East: 1.Heat 2.Pacers 3.Bulls 4.Nets 5.Knicks 6.Pistons 7.Cavs 8.Wizards Heat over Wizards-4 games Pacers over Cavs-5 games Bulls over Pistons-4 games Nets over Knicks-6 games Heat over Nets-6 games Pacers over Bulls-7 games Pacers over Heat-6 games West: 1.Spurs 2.Clippers 3.Thunder 4.Rockets 5.Warriors 6.Grizzlies 7.TrailBlazers 8.T Wolves I think Westbrook won't be 100% this season Spurs over Twolves-5 games Clips over blazers-6 games Thunder over Grizz-7 games Rockets over Warriors-7 games Spurs over Rockets-5 games Clips over Thunder-6 games Spurs over Clips- 6 games Spurs over Pacers-6 games
The format of my response is credited to J.R. East 1. Miami 2. Chicago 3. Indiana 4. New York 5. Detroit Pistons 6. Brooklyn Nets (Injuries) 7. Atlanta 8. Cleveland Chicago West 1. LA Clippers 2. San Antonio 3. OKC 4. Houston 5. Golden State 6. Memphis 7. Minnesota 8. Portland LA Clippers LA Clippers over Chicago in 6. NBA Finals MVP: Blake Griffin ROY: Victor Oladipo MVP: Lebron James COY: Doc Rivers Executive of the Year: Daryl Morey DPOY: Dwight Howard Sixth Man: JR Smith (Not a Clippers fan in any world, but I think this will be their year.)
- Rudy Gay becomes one of the best players in the league after his eye surgery, shoots 50/40/90. After dropping 50 points in the Toyota Center he tweets TRADE ME FOR SHANE BATTIER HUH - JaVale McGee, free from George Karl, can finally average 20/10 like he is meant to. - The Timberwolves season is derailed when Kevin Love is injured while doing a zumba dance DVD - Florida legalizes mar1juana and the NBA decides to stop testing for it entirely. LeBron James, a bleary-eyed Michael Beasley and Greg Oden with a robot leg form a new 'big 3' and lead Miami to a championship. - The Lakers have the worst record in the league. Kobe gets a sex change, signs with a WNBA team and leads them to ten consecutive titles. - Paul George, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins live up to their max contracts. Okay sorry, that one was a joke.
East Indiana Miami Brooklyn Chicago Knicks Atlanta Cleveland Detroit MIAMI West LAC Houston San Antonio OKC (No Westbrook) Memphis Golden State Portland Minnesota OKC (crazy trade to give them depth) ROY: MCW MVP: LeBron COY: Jason Kidd (lame) EOY: D Morey or Billy King DPOY: Tony Allen Sixth Man: Tyreke Evans Champs: LeBron's Team
Sorry for the bump, but I've just now put together my standings prediction. Uses a few stats + my own hunches. You can now place your bets in Vegas. East 1 MIA 2 CHI 3 IND 4 BRK 5 NYK 6 CLE 7 DET 8 BOS 9 WAS 10 MIL 11 ATL 12 TOR 13 ORL 14 CHA 15 PHI West 1 LAC 2 HOU 3 SAS 4 OKC 5 GSW 6 MEM 7 DEN 8 MIN 9 POR 10 NOP 11 DAL 12 LAL 13 SAC 14 UTA 15 PHX Complete Spoiler 1 MIA 2 LAC 3 HOU 4 CHI 5 SAS 6 OKC 7 IND 8 GSW 9 BRK 10 MEM 11 NYK 12 DEN 13 MIN 14 POR 15 CLE 16 DET 17 NOP 18 DAL 19 BOS 20 WAS 21 MIL 22 ATL 23 LAL 24 SAC 25 UTA 26 TOR 27 ORL 28 CHA 29 PHX 30 PHI
As the rosters are now, injuries, trades, accidents, scandal and criminal charges could bring changes Eastern Conference Atlantic Nets Knicks Celtics Raptors 76ers Central Bulls Pacers Bucks Pistons Cavaliers Southeast Heat Hawks Wizards Bobcats Magic Playoff Picture: 1. Chicago Bulls - 59.5 wins: Most well-rounded team, outside of Miami 2. Miami Heat - 57.5 wins: Cruise-control this year, they can win most games with a C effort. 3. Brooklyn Nets - 56.5 wins: 4. New York Knicks - 56.5 wins: 5. Indiana Pacers - 52.5 wins: Most overrated team in the NBA, only 49 wins in the Eastern Conference with other playoff teams not being completely healthy. 6. Atlanta Hawks - 47.5 wins: NBA-Hell, they won't be bad enough to get a lottery pick and fortunately being in the East ... they are still a playoff team and may actually give some of the teams above a little scare (not enough to beat them). 7. Milwaukee Bucks - 45.5 wins : Of all the lower tier Eastern conference teams, they are the most stable by far. 8. Detroit Pistons - 43.5 wins: Of all the lower tier Eastern conference teams, they may have the best talent combined with no as much chaos. Lotteryville bound: Cleveland Cavaliers again (top 11-15) - too much chaos Toronto Raptors (top 11-15) - too much chaos Boston Celtics (top 11-15) - scrappy lower playoff seed potential Charlotte Bobcats (top 7-12) - better than last three years Washington Bullets (top 7-12) - slightly better than last year Orlando Magic (top 1 - 5) Philadelphia 76ers (top 1 - 5) - Western Conference Southwest Spurs Rockets Grizzles Mavericks Pelicans Northwest Thunder Nuggets Trailblazers Jazz Timberwolves Pacific Clippers Warriors Lakers (if Kobe plays at least 38-41 games) Kings Lakers (if Kobe plays less than 38-41 games) Suns Playoff picture: 1. San Antonio Spurs - 60.5 wins :Leonard rises to almost all-star status and the Spurs keep doing their usual thing. 2. Los Angeles Clippers - 58.5 wins :Coaching in all of these predictions seems to be the most underrated aspect and the Clippers improved the most in that aspect in the offseason, while getting better in some areas (losing Bledsoe hurts). 3. Oklahoma City Thunder - 56.5 wins : 4A. Houston Rockets - 54.5 wins: 4B. Golden State Warriors - 54.5 wins: 6. Memphis Grizzlies - 53.5 wins: Entering NBA-hell again. 7. Denver Nuggets - 49.5 wins: In NBA-hell. 8. Dallas Mavericks - 45.4 wins: Lotteryville Bound: Portland Trailblazers (top 13-15): Will and could flip flop with the Mavs for the entire year. Utah Jazz (top 13-15) - Barely missing the playoffs again. Minnesota Timberwolves (top 13-15) - Better this year ... missing something to make a serious playoff push ... when you have your coach calling you out in a preseason game and the team wasn't a contender last year. New Orleans Pelicans (top 8-12) Los Angeles Lakers (top 5 - 8): Kobe missing most of the season ... People, especially some Laker fans...Los Angeles sucks worst than a second rate p*rn stars on a 3 film shoot in one day without Kobe. Last season with Kobe, Dwight, and Gasol (with an occasional appearance by Nash), the Lakers squeaked into the playoffs by a choking Rockets team and only winning 2 and 4 more games than the Mavs and Jazz. (top 12-15): If Kobe plays half or a greater proportion of the season. Sacramento Kings (top 5 -8): Phoenix Suns (top 1-5) -
MVP - Kevin Durant or Chris Paul (the NBA likes to spread it around). Finals MVP - LeBron James DPOY - Paul George ROY - Victor Oladipo, Otto Potter or Michael Carter Williams EC All-Star starters: Al Horford, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Deron Williams WC All-star starters: Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant Kobe Bryant (yep... he's going to get the votes and probably be back, if he's injured James Harden ... substitutes), Step Curry or Russell Westbrook
