Better than, period, full stop Blazers Spurs Better than if they struggle a lot with injuries (which could happen) Clippers Lakers Pelicans Warriors Better than if we just win the coin flip on various factors Jazz We will almost certainly fall below everyone else in the west besides those teams.
You buy veterans and their experience but you also get risk of injuries. You cannot say those teams are to struggle with injuries while the Rockets are in NBA2K and on Non Injury Mode. And BTW most of those teams have better insurance guys than the Rockets have. Both LA teams are somewhat weird in their own way, they can be really bad and injured, that is their specialty.
Western Conference 1 Suns 2 Lakers 3 Nuggets 4 Warriors 5 Grizz 6 Kings 7 Mavs 8 Thunder 9 Clippers 10 Pelicans T-Wolves Rockets Jazz Blazers Spurs Eastern Conference 1 Bucks 2 Celtics 3 Heat 4 Cavs 5 Raptors 6 76ers 7 Knicks 8 Pacers 9 Hawks 10 Nets Bulls Hornets Magic Pistons Wizards Rockets will have a better record than: Spurs Blazers Jazz & Wizards
Most seem to have higher expectations than an early lottery pick and there's times I'd agree ... But I keep going back to "who are they clearly better than?" Probably better than Detroit, Washington and San Antonio. Maybe better than Portland, Charlotte and Orlando. Maybe the Clippers if their stars aren't healthy for the majority of the season. I think that's the short list and that would put them 8th in the draft lottery giving them ~26.2% chance at a top 4 pick.
Gonna have to disagree on this one. They made some nice additions in FA to a team that went to the conference finals last year. If Bron and AD can stay healthy in the playoffs, they will be dangerous. And I'm not a fan, just my 2.
Yeah that's a given. We will have to be lucky with injuries and breakouts from young players, and other teams will have to be very unlucky. That's the only way we make the play-in in my view.
What I am getting at, because superior teams have injuries and may drop does not mean their quality is inferior all of a sudden.
Possibly, they brought in: Marcus Smart Derrick Rose Still have JJJ (defensive player of the year) Steven Adams Desmond Bane Luke Kennard Xavier Tillman Zaire Williams (will get more involved) Isaiah Todd (will get more play) Josh Christopher (will get more play) The one I might change may be Utah. Forgot about John Collins addition to the team. I like their rookies Keyonte George and Taylor Hendricks. West is going to be brutal this season. West might be the strongest teams I've seen ever in one particular season.
I forgot about Marcus Smart. They will probably still be pretty good. You’re right in how tough the West is going to be this year. I think the Rockets will try and win with defense and I think they have the tools to do it. It looks like they are still going to struggle from 3 which will limit their half-court offense, although offensive rebounding should be a real strength. Their transition game will improve if their defense performs as I suspect.
Oops I thought it said "who'll be better than the Rockets" so my vote looks crazy. Out of this list though, the only teams I'm confident will be better than us are the Lakers and Thunder. Then it's likely the Mavs, Wolves, Clippers and Pels are too but I can see weird things happening and us beating them out. West is really competitive this year, it can go either way.
10 bold predictions: Rockets become a top 10 defense and make the play-in tourney and secure a playoff berth but get swept by the #1 seed in the first round. Udoka wins Coach of the Year. Wembanyama gets hurt, Amen is a monster off the bench amassing stats everywhere, but they give Henderson ROTY because he starts and averages a few more points and it feels like a snub. FVV, Brooks do exactly what they were brought here to do but people complain about their salaries anyway. Jock Londale is anointed the starter at some point this season. Tate re-emerges as a fan favorite. By the end of the season Jabari Smith is considered the team's best player. Jalen Green evolves into a madlad and gets into some dust-ups this season. Tari Eason still can't make layups. They can't find a trade for Bozo the Clown so he just stays at home a la John Wall.
Yes Memphis will have the past two DPOY's on one team (Marcus Smart and Jaren Jackson jr Most of us remember how Blazers and Jazz came out last season like gang busters. Then tanked for Wemby like so many shortly after. Utah with: John Collins Markkanen Olynyk Kessler Talen Horton-Tucker Agbaji Collin Sexton Jordan Clarkson add Taylor Hendricks Keyonte George will not be Donovan Mitchell rookie yr....but will contribute. Blazers with: Ayton Jerami Grant Brogon Robert Williams Thybulle Scoot Henderson Shaedon Sharpe Kris Murray Both will be formidable; but Dame Lillard was playing out of his mind that first month. Have them lower than Utah because they depend more on the young guys of Scoot, Sharpe and Murray,...who will make mistakes. Utah vets are pretty good, actually. _________________ Pels were number 1 until Zion went out. Only a couple of players I have being injured long stretches: Porzingis: Boston....only reason I don't have them #1 in the East Markkanen: Utah and Zion: Pelicans The LeBron, AD, Kawhi, Paul George don't care about making All Star team or All Defense to meet max contract money. They will still load manage enough to give their team 62-64 games this season. Gear for the playoffs.
Although we're not clear favorites over some of the middle teams, the good news is we might be in the mix. A dark horse. If you asked me three years ago; where I'd like us to be in the fourth pivot year, I'd hoped for more. It's like school where the student stayed back a year, but good news is we could still graduate, even if it takes us more time to get there. High twenties / low thirties win this year, then next year another jump. It's easier to get to middle of the pack, harder rise to rise from the middle to a contender. So I'm giving Udoka a current two year plan to see noticeable improvements to get to a .500 win team. This season, there is a an absolute minimum bar to clear; > 26 wins.
