Daniel Waddleton
Oct, 24, 2023
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(Scroll to the bottom for notes)
East
Boston Celtics
Milwaukee Bucks
Cleveland Cavaliers
Atlanta Hawks
Philadelphia 76ers
Miami Heat
New York Knicks
Orlando Magic
Indiana Pacers
Toronto Raptors
Brooklyn Nets
Chicago Bulls
Detroit Pistons
Charlotte Hornets
Washington Wizards
ECF: Celtics vs Bucks
Finals: Bucks
Dark Horse Finals Run: Hawks
West (This was actually so difficult to do so please don’t laugh at me in February)
Denver Nuggets
Sacramento Kings
Los Angeles Lakers
Phoenix Suns
Minnesota Timberwolves
Golden State Warriors
Oklahoma City Thunder
Los Angeles Clippers
Memphis Grizzles
Houston Rockets
New Orleans Pelicans
Dallas Mavericks
Utah Jazz
Portland Trail Blazers
San Antonio Spurs
WCF: Nuggets vs Lakers
Finals: Lakers
Dark Horse Finals Run: Kings
MVP: Nikola Jokic
ROTY: Chet Holmgren
DPOY: Bam Adebayo
6th Man: Malik Monk
MIP: Cade Cunningham
COTY: Quin Snyder
FMVP: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Notes
If stars can stay healthy this season, this might be one for the ages. I'm not sure the league has ever been this deep in my entire lifetime and there's also not one clear cut favorite at the top. I'm preparing for maybe the best NBA season of my lifetime.
Gun to my head champion pick would probably be Denver because there's no way I'm betting my life against Nikola Jokic, but I went upside on the Lakers and Milwaukee picks. I think if everything goes right for these two teams (LeBron and AD stay healthy, Dame and Giannis fit perfectly) then these teams could be the two teams who meet in June. It also feels worth nothing that D'angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura's new contracts fit perfectly in a 2 for 1 Kyrie Irving deal. If the Nuggets older rookies that they are weirdly really counting on this season look awesome from the jump, just know I’ll be instantly regretting not picking Denver to repeat as champions.
I know I’m super high on the Kings. Chances are they make me look stupid and then I’m going to have a play-in team as a Western Conference dark horse. I don’t know what it is, but their season last year just reminds me so much of the 13-14 Warriors before the 14-15 championship run. For what it’s worth I had the Nuggets as my Western Conference dark horse last year and they won the finals, so I’m trusting my gut and keeping them where they are.
Bucks and Celtics are the clear cut top teams in the East, but I think the Cavs will come back in and once again be atop the East standings. They added a lot of outside shooting to a team that it felt like they could've really used it last year. Their playoff outlook all depends on the potential offensive leap of 3rd year forward Evan Mobley, but even with the bad taste in everybody's mouth from last years first round exit to the Knicks, there's no reason to believe this isn't a 50 win team again this year.
I'm REALLY high on the Hawks this year. I think the Quin Synder effect will be real after a full off-season with him, and they have a super talented roster. They have multiple candidates for young breakout players (AJ Griffin, Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu) and I think the backcourt of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray is going to elevate in year two together.
I actually think the Warriors will be improved this season, but I still had them finishing 6th again because the west is just so stacked. I picked the Timberwolves to finish 5th last year and between injuries and just feeling like it was a year away being the reason they fell, I'm going back to that move again this year hoping it pays off. As far as the top 4 teams I'm confident they will all be better then Golden State this year.
In any other year I'd have OKC sky rocketing to a 3 or 4 seed. But as I just talked about with the Warriors the West is just so stacked this year and I don't see a world where they can be a top 4 seed as much as I love their roster.
I like the Magic and the Pacers to both be in the play-in, and what a basketball nerds dream that would be to see those two play in a winner takes the 8th seed elimination game.
Yes, I have the Rockets in the play-in. I didn't want to be too vanilla and wanted to make a couple bold predictions. I think the Ime affect will be real and this team made moves this off-season to try to actually win games this year. It could be a rocky start but I really do believe around January when the Celtics made the jump with Ime two years ago, the Rockets will start to surge for the rest of the season and just sneak their way into the play-in. (This is also a bet that Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson will have yet another injury riddled year).
I really don't like the Mavericks this year. The Luka Doncic experience left a really bad taste in my mouth last season. The heliocentric offense, complaining to the refs every play instead of running back on defense, appearing to not even try in pick and roll defense. They didn't make the playoffs last year and the west got better. There move was adding Grant Williams and a rookie center. I'm not buying it and if I didn't already like the team before, the cherry on top is they have ticking time bomb Kyrie Irving who I still believe wants to play for the Lakers.
I've seen the Hornets as a popular leap team this year, but I'm on the record saying there is no way that's happening. The East is way better then it was 2 years ago when the Hornets were last in the play-in with Miles Bridges, so the re-addition of him isn't changing much in my opinion.
The Wemby hype is real, but I don't expect that team to be great and I'm sure they would love to pick in the top of the draft next year and get the point guard of the future.
Jokic should've 3 peated MVP's last season if anybody actually stayed up to watch Denver games. How do I know nobody was staying up for the games? Well, there was a "Jokic statpads" narrative going around and it wouldn't take more then watching 1 half of a Nuggets game to know there is zero stat padding going on from that guy. I'm sure all of the Embiid > Jokic people probably had some very private conversations with themselves last spring when they actually watched Jokic for the first time during his finals run. I think he has another incredible season and the Nuggets finish 1st in the west, and the voters give him his deserved 3rd MVP award.
Bam still hasn't won a DPOY and I'm not sure there's anybody in the league besides Giannis or Draymond (who both have won) better then him on that end of the floor. I think it's time to give the guy his hardware.
Malik Monk 6th man bandwagon is set to take off before their first game on Wednesday, you still have time to hop on before it leaves!
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