Eastern Conference:
1. Cleveland
2. Boston
3. Toronto
4. Washington
5. Milwaukee
6. Charlotte
7. Philadelphia
8. Detroit
9. Miami
10. New York
11. Indiana
12. Atlanta
13. Brooklyn
14. Chicago
15. Orlando
Playoffs:
• Cleveland over Detroit, Boston over Philadelphia, Toronto over Charlotte, Milwaukee over Washington
• Cleveland over Milwaukee, Boston over Toronto
• Cleveland over Boston. This will be a war, and don't be surprised if there are suspensions in this game
Western Conference:
1. Golden State
2. San Antonio
3. Houston
4. Oklahoma City
5. Utah
6. Minnesota
7. Denver
8. Portland
9. New Orleans
10. Memphis
11. Sacramento
12. LA Clippers
13. LA Lakers
14. Dallas
15. Phoenix
Playoffs:
• Golden State over Portland, San Antonio over Denver, Houston over Minnesota, Utah over OKC
• Golden State over Utah, Houston over San Antonio
• Golden State over Houston
More notes:
• MVP? I think this might be one of those years that there are six viable candidates. I have a hard time seeing Harden or Westbrook repeating their numbers. The young guys are still a year or two away. I'll go with LeBron, because he'll always be a contender- but we might be arguing Leonard, Embiid, or even Rudy Gorbert
• Cleveland/Boston is going to be an ugly bloodbath this year. Between IT's anger at Aigne and Kyrie's statements about Cleveland, I think these two franchises will be hating each other.
• Here's the thing about Golden State; on paper, they should win 70+ games. The core has been together for a year, they are all still young, no one has been able to figure them out.
But they've also been incredibly lucky in terms of injuries. They haven't had an injury that took one of their core players out for a month during the playoffs (see what happened to Kawhi last year). Eventually, that luck will run out- and they sacrificed their depth to sign Durant.
If I had to bet on one team winning the NBA finals, it's Golden State. But Golden State vs. the field?
I think someone beats them this year. Officially, I'll put down Cleveland winning the title in 7 games. But if you told me that Golden State would be at 100% health, I'll be on the Warriors repeating.
