NBA 2026-7 Predictions

Last year, I picked the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the title, and they lost in the Eastern Conference finals.  Let's see what the new season brings!

Eastern Conference:

1.       Boston

2.       New York

3.       Cleveland

4.       Philadelphia

5.       Detroit

6.       Atlanta

7.       Toronto 

8.       Indiana

9.       Charlotte

10.     Orlando

11.     Washington

12.     Miami 

13.     Chicago 

14.     Brooklyn 

15.     Milwaukee

Playoffs:

·      (play-ins):   Indiana over Toronto; Charlotte over Orlando;  Toronto over Charlotte

·      Boston over Toronto; Indiana over New York; Cleveland over Atlanta; Philadelphia over Detroit

·      Philadelphia over Boston; Cleveland over Indiana

·      Cleveland over Philadelphia

Western Conference:

1.       Oklahoma City

2.       San Antonio 

3.       Houston

4.       Minnesota

5.       LA Lakers

6.       Denver

7.       Portland

8.       Golden State

9.       Dallas

10.     Utah

11.     New Orleans

12.     Memphis

13.     LA Clippers

14.     Phoenix

15.     Sacramento

Playoffs:

·     (play-ins):  Portland over Golden State; Utah over Dallas; Utah over Golden State

·     Oklahoma City over Utah; San Antonio over Portland; Houston over Denver; Minnesota over Los Angeles Lakers

·     Oklahoma City over Minnesota; Houston over San Antonio

·     Houston over OKC

More notes:

·     The East is going to be a nightmare.  There's 12 teams that have a good argument that they should be in the playoffs.  Injuries and/or bad luck can turn anyone from a title contender to out of the playoff hunt.

       In that scenario, I'm sticking with cohesion and coaching for the regular season standings.  New York and Cleveland basically have the same team, and Boston has a track record of constantly finding good players to fill in the holes.  But who does well in the regular season and who does well in the playoffs might be completely different stories.

       Playoffs?  The East is going to be a dogfight, and entirely dependant on health and depth and coaching.  On paper, I like Boston.  But I also think Atchinson will level up as a coach after last year, and I like Cleveland's top 5 more than Boston's.  But I also think it could be any one of six other teams

·     The West is a different animal.  There's a top two, then four other contenders, and then a serious dropoff.  The smart move is to just put OKC and San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals... but I'm not doing that.  I think one of them will slip in the playoffs, and until Wembeyana can play as many minutes as Jokic or SGA, I'll always worry about them.  

       I'm picking Houston as the team to meet OKC in the finals, because they have talent, and missed FVV to drive the team.  And I think Houston has the depth to overwhelm OKC.  

·     MVP?  If I'm wrong about Indiana- if they end up a top 2-3 seed in the East- then I'm going with Tyrese Haliburton.

If I'm right, and Indiana onlys gets to the play-in...  It's hard for SGA to repeat again.  Jokic isn't in a great position.  It might be Wembyana, but I'm going with Jayson Tatum

 

·     The Finals.  I have Houston shocking everyone by beating OKC and San Antonio to make the finals.  And I've got Cleveland surviving the East to meet them in the Finals.

       I also think Cleveland has a very short window- and know it.  Harden's not getting any younger.  Mitchell is over 30.  Cleveland is all in with this team... and after the brutal playoffs last year, they'll either succeed or fall apart.

       I think they pull it off.  Cleveland in 6.