1.Cleveland Cavaliers: While the unexpected departure of Kyrie Irving might make things a little closer than usual, the Cavs still have a stranglehold on the Eastern Conference. LeBron James' dominance doesn't look like its going to fade away anytime soon and even without Irving, their experienced supporting cast (Kevin Love, Isaiah Thomas, Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, Jae Crowder, J.R Smith) should be strong enough to fend off their closest foes in the East.
2.Boston Celtics: Danny Ainge showed off his brass balls once again this offseason by essentially blowing up a team (Al Horford, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier and Jaylen Brown are the only players returning from last year's team) that was coming off a 53-win season and a conference finals appearance. The Celtics long-time GM finally made the splash moves his team's fanbase add long been clamoring for by acquiring Kyrie Irving in a trade with the Cavs and signing Gordan Hayward to a max contract in free agency. Adding Irving and Hayward to the fold gives the C's a pair of dynamic scoring threats that are ideal fits for Brad Stevens' uptempo, ball movement-driven offense, but their lack of frontcourt physicality and rebounding prowess will more than likely derail their hopes of becoming serious title contenders in 2017-18.
3.Milwaukee Bucks: This should be the season where the Bucks make the leap from scrappy upstarts that routinely challenges the league's established premier teams to an upper-echelon squad in the talent-deprived Eastern Conference. Giannis Antetokumpo is a consistent outside shot away from being the league's most frightening two-way player and their depth is excellent across the board. If Jabari Parker and Khris Middleton can stay healthy for an entire season, the Bucks could challenge the Celtics for the #2 seed in the East.
4.Washington Wizards: All 5 starters from last year's breakout team are back (John Wall, Bradley Beal, Otto Porter Jr., Markeff Morris, Marcin Gortat) and that combination of continuity and health should give them a nice advantage at the beginning of the season. However, their bench is incredibly suspect, the frontcourt trio of Porter Jr./Morris/Gortat is arguably the weakest among the East's top-6 teams and if the injury-prone Beal misses any significant stretch of time, their offense will go down the toilet immediately. It would be pretty surprising if they were able to improve upon their 49-win campaign from year ago.
5.Toronto Raptors: It's hard not to feel bad for the Raptors. They've mustered four consecutive 48+ win seasons in which they were never lower than the #4 seed and only have 1 Conference Finals appearance to show for it. It's highly unlikely that the 2017-18 squad will be the season where they finally reach the promise land of the NBA Finals. They've made no notable improvements for a second straight season (unless you count the addition of streaky shooter C.J. Miles as a game-changer) and their deficiencies in big games/clutch situations will be harder to mask as the top of the Eastern Conference gets stronger.
6.Miami Heat: The Heat got royally screwed last season when a losing tiebreaker with the Bulls kept them out of the playoffs despite posting a remarkable 30-11 in the second half of the season. 2017-18 should be a lot kinder to the Heat. All of the key cogs from last year's squad are back (Hassan Whiteside, Goran Dragic, James Johnson, Josh Richardson, Dion Waiters) and the addition of Kelly Olynyk to their rotation should allow them to further open up their offense. Don't be surprised if this hard-nosed, defensively-sound team fights their way into a high playoff seed this season.
7.Detroit Pistons: No team outside of the 76ers gained more from the sudden dismantling of the Pacers and Hawks than the Pistons. This team is just a year removed from its last playoff berth and the addition of elite perimeter defender/underrated scorer Avery Bradley to its efficient yet not overly flashy starting lineup (Reggie Jackson, Tobias Harris, Stanley Johnson, Andre Drummond) gives them a clear advantage over the rest of the East's tweener teams.
8.Philadelphia 76ers: Even with the flurry of question marks about the durability of their heavily-hyped young corps (Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz), the 76ers are in a prime position to take a huge step forward this season. J.J Redick gives them the sharp outside shooter and veteran leadership they've lacked since "The Process" started, Robert Covington has quietly evolved into a very productive wing and Embiid has shown that he can be an absolute force on both ends of the floor whenever he's in the lineup. This team is going to be a lot of fun to watch and if their young players are able to stay healthy and make consistent contributions, they could morph into something really special.
9.Atlanta Hawks: The decision to not retain Paul Millsap or sixth man Tim Hardaway Jr. in free agency and deal Dwight Howard for a pair of uninspiring bench players (Marco Bell and Miles Plumlee) confirms that the Hawks are suddenly in rebuilding mode. Returning starters Dennis Schroder, Kent Bazemore and Taurean Prince should prevent from bottoming out completely, but an 11th straight trip to the playoffs is looking pretty unlikely as of right now.
10.Charlotte Hornets: The severe elbow injury to key two-way contributor Nicolas Batum and addition of noted locker-room cancer Dwight Howard to their already offensively-challenged frontcout killed the Hornets chances of returning to the playoffs before the season even started. At least the members of Buzz City will have the pleasure of watching Kemba Walker do ridiculous, awe-inspiring shit on a nightly basis to soften the blow of another failed season.
11.New York Knicks: Hooray Phil Jackson and Carmelo Anthony are finally gone!!!!! The severing of ties with the two most hated men in the organzation should usher in a new era of optimism in the Big Apple right? OF COURSE NOT. The new regime made a vintage Knicks move by overpaying for a merely decent role player (Tim Hardaway Jr.) in free agency, somehow didn't sever ties with the bloated corpse of Joakim Noah and was only able to pry away a pair of so-so players (Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott) from OKC in the deal for Melo. The brilliance of Kristaps Porzingis will elevate this team from the rest of the Eastern Conference's scrap heap, but to expect anything more than 30-32 wins from this hastily-assembled group would be insane.
12.Orlando Magic: The Magic are in the odd position of being the only long-suffering Eastern Conference team that's neither good enough to be taken seriously as a playoff contender nor bad enough to be considered a complete joke. There doesn't appear to a single budding star on the roster (unless rookie Jonathan Issac suddenly takes off in the regular season) at the moment yet they have enough raw athleticism and scrappy defensive players to play their way out of a top-three overall pick every year. With the new draft lottery rules that reduces the odds of tanking teams getting the #1 overall pick kicking in following the 2018-19 season, the Magic should fully commit to tanking this season. Dumping off their more promising players (Nikola Vuecvic, Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier) to any team that's willing take on their contracts would allow them to accumulate a nice stockpile of draft picks while simultaneously making a serious run at the top overall pick. Of course, this sensible plan of attack likely won't come to fruition and they'll more than likely string together another 28-win season that results in them landing the seventh or eight overall pick in next year's draft.
13.Indiana Pacers: With the departure of Paul George, the Pacers are kissing goodbye to their annual tradition of acquiring the #6-#8 seed in the East and immediately getting demolished by a deeper, more talented team. Nate McMillian is bound to have a fun time coaching a team that's led by such generational talents as Victor Oladpio, Bojan Bogandovic and Lance "I can only play competently in Indiana" Stephenson. 2015 lottery pick Myles Turner appears to be-line for a breakout season, but aside from that, there's no reason to be excited about this team.
14.Brooklyn Nets: Brooklyn's lone mission this offseason was to find a way to not finish with the worst record in the NBA in back-to-back seasons and I firmly believe they accomplished that simple goal. D'Angelo Russell gives them a young playmaker to jumpstart the offense and the trio of overpaid veterans (DeMarre Carroll, Allen Crabbe, Timofey Mozgov) they acquired should help sure up their perimeter and interior defense. Kenny Atkinson's squad is still going to stink, but they'll be much more competitive than they were a year ago.
15.Chicago Bulls: Without Jimmy Butler to carry them to 38-40 wins, I believe that the Bulls are now the worst team in the league. Zach LaVine, who is coming off a torn Achilles, is the closest thing they have to a proven scorer on the entire roster and their frontcourt defense outside of Robin Lopez is alarming to say the least. This rebuild was long overdue, but the next couple of years are going to be painful for Bulls fans to stomach.
Western Conference:
1.Golden State Warriors: The top nine guys from their 2016-17 title-winning squad are back plus they added another outside shooter in Nick "Swaggy P" Young to their bench. If they don't repeat as champions, I might suffer a fatal, shock-induced heart attack.
2.San Antonio Spurs: The big offseason splashes from the Rockets, Thunder and Timberwolves hasn't changed where I view the Spurs standing in the Western Conference hierarchy. Their top-notch chemistry, Kawhi Leonard's status as the league's most well-rounded player not named LeBron James and Gregg Popovich's excellent coaching gives the Spurs a distinct advantage over every other team that's gunning for the Warriors in the West.
3.Houston Rockets: While the move didn't make a whole lot of sense considering how great James Harden was at running the point in Mike D'Antoni's frantic offense last season, the addition of Chris Paul should make the Rockets a stronger team than they were a year ago. Paul's stout defense should help them be more competitive against the Golden State/OKC's/San Antonio's of the world and his scoring prowess should open up this high-powered offense even further. I'm not convinced that Houston's 2-headed monster will be able to handle the high-pressure scenarios of the playoffs, but they'll be among the league's best teams in the regular season.
5.Los Angeles Clippers: There is no bigger wild card in the Western Conference than the post-Chris Paul Clippers. On one hand, the influx of new faces (Patrick Beverly, Danilo Gallinari, Sam Dekker, Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, Willie Reed, international star Milos Teodosic) makes the Clippers deeper, more athletic and well-rounded on both ends of the floor than they were during the six seasons Paul was on the roster. On the other hand, relying on a pair of injury-plagued players (Blake Griffin, Gallinari) and a bruising, old-school center that needs to come off the floor at the end of close games due to his horrific free throw shooting (DeAndre Jordan) to lead your team is a risky proposition that could result in disaster. Regardless of how things shake out, the Clippers will be one of the most intriguing teams to watch this season.
6.Minnesota Timberwolves: Adding Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson, Jamal Crawford and Jimmy Butler to this roster helps immediately fix this young squad's nagging issues with bench scoring, perimeter defense, and veteran leadership. The arrival of these talented veteran playmakers combined with the rapid ascent of Karl-Anthony Towns should help the T-Wolves secure the playoff berth that's alluded them over the past few years.
7.Denver Nuggets: It blows my mind that the Nuggets aren't getting more buzz heading into this season. Free-agent pickup Paul Millsap adds another versatile, two-way player to their gifted frontcourt, they have the combination of physicality on the interior, excellent passing and effective mid-range/outside shooting to attack opposing defenses from anywhere on the floor and Swiss Army Knife Nikola Jokic is the most under-the-radar budding star in the entire league. Even in this brutal Western Conference, this Nuggets squad could make some serious noise this season.
8.Portland Trail Blazers: As prolific as Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum are on offense, it's just hard to get overly excited about this Blazers team. Even with Jusuf Nurkic returning for his first full season in RIP City, their defensive deficiencies are too prevalent to ignore and will likely prevent them from finishing any higher than sixth in the west.
9.Memphis Grizzlies: The Grizzlies long-term refusal to invest in young talent look like its going to finally come back to bite them in the ass this season. Marc Gasol and Mike Conley simply aren't good enough to carry this team to a playoff berth by themselves anymore and the lack of reliable scoring options behind their aging "stars" puts them on the outside of the West's ultracompetitive playoff picture.
10.Utah Jazz: Losing Gordon Hayward immediately undid all of the progress the Jazz had made over the past few years. As defensively sound as they are across the board, Hayward gave them a scoring spark that guys like Rudy Gobert, Joe Ingles, Rodney Hood, Thabo Sefolosha, Joe Johnson, Derrick Favors and Ricky Rubio simply won't be able to make up for.
11.Dallas Mavericks: Mark Cuban has a clear vision of getting this franchise back on track, I just don't that their return to relevance is going to occur this season. Rookie Dennis Smith Jr. isn't enough to magically fix this team's scoring woes and as solid as he was last season, Harrison Barnes lacks the dynamism to be a top player on a quality team.
12.New Orleans Pelicans: Reuniting Demarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo on a team that has less depth than their 2015-16 Kings team is a disaster waiting to happen. If Anthony Davis makes it through this season without asking for a trade, he'll solidify himself as one of the most loyal players in the history of professional sports.
13.Sacramento Kings: The balance of youn (De'Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Justin Jackson, Willie Cauley-Stein) and proven veteran leadership (Zach Randolph, Vince Carter, George Hill) has made the Kings a hot pick for the West's "Surprise Team". I'm not even close to being in that camp. The lack of identity or legitimate scoring threats paired with the alarming volume of injury-prone players on the roster leads me to believe that this will be a sloppy, unhinged circus masquerading as a basketball team.
14.Los Angeles Lakers: Are the Lakers going to be as bad as they've been the past few seasons in 2017-18? Probably Not. Is Lonzo Ball going to come in and suddenly turn this team full of questionable prospects and sadsack veterans into a formidable basketball team? Doubtful. Is LeBron going to leave Cleveland after this season for the chance to play alongside Brandon Ingram, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr.? To be determined. I think this Lakers squad will end up resembling the 76ers of the past few years: a bad young team with some decent chemistry that will sneak up on contenders every once and a while before landing a high-lottery pick.
15.Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker will hit a lot of 3's, rookie Josh Jackson will play some good defense, Eric Bledsoe will probably get traded to a contender at the deadline and the Suns will lose 55+ games yet again. Hopefully these unlucky bastards will catch a break and land the #1 pick next year.
Playoffs:
Eastern Conference
First round:
Cavaliers over 76ers
Celtics over Pistons
Bucks over Heat
Wizards over Raptors
Conference Semifinals:
Cavaliers over Wizards
Celtics over Bucks
Conference Finals:
Cavaliers over Celtics
Western Conference:
First Round:
Warriors over Trail Blazers
Spurs over Nuggets
Timberwolves over Rockets
Thunder over Clippers
Conference Semifinals:
Warriors over Thunder
Spurs over Timberwolves
Conference Finals:
Warriors over Spurs
NBA Finals:
Warriors over Cavaliers
Playoffs:
Eastern Conference
First round:
Cavaliers over 76ers
Celtics over Pistons
Bucks over Heat
Wizards over Raptors
Conference Semifinals:
Cavaliers over Wizards
Celtics over Bucks
Conference Finals:
Cavaliers over Celtics
Western Conference:
First Round:
Warriors over Trail Blazers
Spurs over Nuggets
Timberwolves over Rockets
Thunder over Clippers
Conference Semifinals:
Warriors over Thunder
Spurs over Timberwolves
Conference Finals:
Warriors over Spurs
NBA Finals:
Warriors over Cavaliers
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