NBA
Eastern
Conference
Atlantic
Toronto
Raptors
The
Raptors' have a slightly worse team than last year's team, but I
expect their record to be similar to last season's record. 48-34 #3
Brooklyn
Nets
Coach
Hollins should provide some decent coaching and the Nets should be a
more competent team this season. 44-38 #5
New
York Knicks
Jose
Calderon is a great pickup, but losing Tyson Chandler is a tough
price to pay for the acquisition. While Coach Fisher should be a
decent HC he has little to work with on this team, unless he is
actually able to convince the players on the team that the first
available semi-open/semi-contested shot is not actually a good shot.
34-48 #11
Boston
Celtics
If
I would be Coach Stevens then I would totally start Jared Sullinger
and the four PGs on the team. Or not. The Celtics' roster is
somewhat limited, but I expect Coach Stevens to get more out of his
team than any other coach in the league, except for Popovich and
possibly Thibodeau. 38-44 #9
Philadelphia
76ers
Given
their roster, I assume that the 76ers will be attempting to tank once
again this season. When the 76ers actually get some decent players then they will have a good coaching scheme to go along with the players. 16-66 #16
Central
Indiana
Pacers
The
Pacers lost one of their best players, and one of their most erratic,
and replaced him with... Rodney Stuckey? Alrighty then. I suppose
that their GM is not trying very hard to be GM of the year. 46-36 #4
Chicago
Bulls
I
have never been a huge fan of D-Rose's game, but that is just me.
Maybe the former MVP (MVP due to voter fatigue...) will surprise me
and have a career year whilst leading the Bulls to a 55+ win season.
I highly doubt that will happen, however. 50-32 #2
Cleveland
Cavaliers
The
Cavaliers made the biggest offseason acquisition of the season and
acquired James from the Heat. While James is pushing 30+ years old
and may have his best years behind him, I still think that he has
some value for the Cavaliers. He made a fairly incredible 52% of his
threes last season. If James can bring the same type of threat to the
Cavaliers this season, then he should be able to secure a handful of
minutes each game.
Oh,
besides James Jones, the Cavaliers also happened to add his Miami
teammate, LeBron James. While I do not view LeBron as being some
sort of great guy for going back to Cleveland, I had no problem with
him leaving Cleveland in the first place. The trio of Irving, James
(LeBron that is), and Love should be a fairly terrific, terrifying
trio, however, I do think that the rest of the roster for the
Cavaliers is rather lacking. Despite their weak bench and their
early seasons struggle with cohesion, the tenacious trio should be
able to lead the Cavaliers to a top three record in the NBA and the
best record in the weak Eastern Conference. A lot of the team's
early cohesion will depend on coaching and I do not really know what
to expect of the Cav's coach, however, I expect the NBA's best player
to lead the Cavs back into relevance and even dominance at times,
considering that this will be by far the best supporting cast that
LeBron has ever had in Cleveland. 57-25 #1
Detroit
Pistons
 |
| When your starting PG is a player who attempts nearly 13 shots a game and makes only 42% of them, you may want to implement a new strategy. |
Milwaukee
Bucks
The
Bucks' management did a great job of dumping all of their players and
trading for great players who are stuck on deep teams' rosters like
Kosta Koufos. Wait..? That didn't happen? I suppose that
incompetence breeds further incompetence. Other than possibly
Sanders, Mayo, and Wolters this roster is filled with backups. The
roster is especially full of backups who like to shoot high
quantities of low quality shots, which is of course always a formula
for success. Always.
Technically the Bucks should have some regression to the mean, but I
just don't see it happening with their roster, even considering that
the Bucks get to play in the crummy Eastern Conference. 16-66 #15
Southeast
Miami
Heat
The
Heat have an interesting roster. Losing the best player in
basketball will be a huge loss, but I still think that the Heat have
an EC playoff-caliber roster. 44-38 #7
Washington
Wizards
As
long as players like John Wall do not suffer from injuries longer
than half the season, then I think that the Wizards will be in
contention for a top 4 playoff seed. 44-38 #6
Charlotte
Hornets
So,
the Bobcats think that pairing players such as Al Jefferson, Gary
Neal, and Lance Stephenson is a good idea? Alrighty then.
Stephenson has some upside potential, and the Hornets sort of stole
him, but he's not a player to build around as your locker room
leader. 37-45 #10
Atlanta
Hawks
Sefolosha
is a nice piece for the Hawks and I think he is a decent player. If
the Hawks would be in the WC, then they would only have around a 20%
chance of making the playoffs, but as it is they probably have
slightly above even odds of making it. 41-41 #8
Orlando
Magic
The
Magic added some leadership with a few veteran players, but are not
really an appreciably better team from last year, except for getting
another year of experience for their younger players. 22-60 #14
Western
Conference
Northwest
Oklahoma
City Thunder
Anthony
Morrow is a decent pickup, but losing Sefolosha to the Hawks and
Durant to a half-dozen weeks or so injury will hurt the Thunder. It
will be interesting to see just how good
the Thunder are without KD and with a Russell led team. Let the fun
begin. 50-32 #6
Portland
Trail Blazers
Portland
may have had the least player movement in the offseason, which I view
in this case as partially a bad thing, but the Trail Blazers should
still be decent. 49-33 #7
Minnesota
Timberwolves
Losing
K-Love is a big loss for the T-Wolves, but they still have a very
competent team. Dieng should show some improvement. 38-44 #10
Denver
Nuggets
The
Nuggets improved a little bit in the offseason. 40-42 #9
Utah
Jazz
The
Jazz managed to replace poor players with other poor players. Meanwhile, Jeremy Evans will likely continue to languish on the bench this season.
Such a great job by management. 29-53 #15
Pacific
Los
Angeles Clippers
The
Clippers should have an improved team this season as compared to last
season, which is slightly scary. There may happen to be a regular
season Western Conference champion that will not reside in San
Antonio this season. 58-23 #1
Golden
State Warriors
While
the Warriors have a good coach, I think that their old coach happened
to be better.. Good old politics. Despite Curry's continued
excellence, I expect the Warriors to have some struggles, some of which problems due to injuries.
45-37 #8
Phoenix
Suns
Will
the Suns' success carry over to this season? No, I expect that last
season was a one year aberration. 39-43 #11
Sacramento
Kings
When
will the Kings be able to make the transition to playoff-caliber
team? Answer: When they move to the East Coast. Jokes aside, the
Kings will likely be struggling in the Western Conference once again
this season. 31-51 #14
Los
Angeles Lakers
I
think that Jeremy Lin is an above average player... After that the
roster for the Lakers gets fairly weak. Other than Lin I fail to see
where a decent amount of quality attempts will come from. Possibly
Kobe Bryant will see the error of his ways and stop firing off highly
contested long attempts? Or not. 32-50 #13
Southwest
San
Antonio Spurs
The
Spurs surely cannot be as good this season as they were last season,
right? Riiight. Considering that the Spurs were 46-9 when Kawhi
Leonard was healthy, I kind of doubt that they will take a major step
back. Very little offseason movement for the Spurs, but in this case
I think that is certainly a fine decision. 58-23 #2
Houston
Rockets
The
Rockets kind of had a horrible offseason. They lost Jeremy Lin, Omer
Asik, and Chandler Parsons, while only really picking up Jason Terry.
A small step back for the Rockets, despite having the fearsome
threesome of Beverly, Harden, and Howard. 51-31 #4
Memphis
Grizzlies
The
Grizzlies may actually happen to be the team that I am most excited
to watch this season. The main focal points for me to watch are what
Coach Joerger lines up for the Grizzlies and to see Koufos play some
decent minutes. 52-30 #3
Dallas
Mavericks
Parsons
makes nearly twice the amount of money that Nowitzki makes.. That
totally makes sense. I am a much bigger fan of Parsons than most
people are, however, I don't know if he will be worth the 14 million
dollar salary the Mavericks will be paying him this season. Still
though, he should provide their team with some good minutes. 51-31 #5
New
Orleans Hornets
I
think that Omer Asik is better than most people give him credit for,
possibly this will be the year that the Pelicans finally hit the next
level. 37-45 #12
Spread Picks Under: Knicks under 41, Hornets under 45, Pelicans under 43, Thunder under 57
Spread Picks Over: Celtics over 26.5, Pacers over 33, Timberwolves over 26
Spread Picks Under: Knicks under 41, Hornets under 45, Pelicans under 43, Thunder under 57
Spread Picks Over: Celtics over 26.5, Pacers over 33, Timberwolves over 26
Overall Eastern Conference Record: 570-660
Overall Western Conference Record: 660-570
Overall Western Conference Record: 660-570
