The NBA has come off possibly the greatest offseason in the history of the sport. Many superstars found a new place in which they call home, whether through trade or free agency, including: Anthony Davis (Lakers via trade), Russell Westbrook (Rockets via trade), Kawhi Leonard (Clippers via free agency), Paul George (Clippers via trade), Jimmy Butler (Heat via free agency), Kyrie Irving (Nets via free agency), and Kevin Durant (Nets via free agency).
With so many transformations in the teams over the offseason we could be in store for one of the greatest seasons in NBA history.
This will also be the first season since the 2016-17 season where the Golden State Warriors are not the favorite to win the NBA finals.
With all of the offseason transactions it seems as if balance has been restored to the league. There is no doubt that the western conference will still be the stronger conference throughout the season, but there is no clear-cut favorite team this season.
The season kicks off October 22, with the defending champion Toronto Raptors at home against one of the most hyped prospects of his time Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans. Then the late-night game will pit the newly built Lakers against the newly built Clippers, in one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the season.
The season starts in less than a month, but it is never too early to make predictions as to who will be making the playoffs for their respective conferences.
Eastern Conference
1. Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks were great all season long last year, don’t expect that to change this season. The loss of Malcolm Brogdon will hurt this season, as he was a great player coming out of the shooting guard position last season. They dealt him to the Indiana Pacers in the offseason in exchange for a first-round pick and two second round picks.
The loss of Brogdon definitely hurts the Bucks at first glance, but the Bucks still have the key pieces and the reigning MVP to bolster their team. Khris Middleton resigned this offseason on a five-year $178 million contract, which locks him up as the Bucks hope to return to the top of the league.
The remainder of their starting lineup will still be together which includes, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Eric Bledsoe, and Brook Lopez. They also have good depth on their roster which is needed in the league today.
The Bucks may not be as dominant as they were last season, but they should still be strong enough to earn the number one spot in the eastern conference.
2. Philadelphia 76ers
The 76ers have the potential to be the number one team in the conference and represent the eastern conference in the NBA finals this season. This is assuming that everyone on the 6ers roster lives up to their potential. Adding Al Horford as a backup to Joel Embiid was a huge pickup. Embiid while on the floor is one of the most dominant big men in the game today, however, injuries have been a problem for Embiid thus far in his career, that’s why adding another dominant big man in Horford is huge.
They did lose Jimmy Butler to the Miami Heat in the offseason, which means they will be without one of the best two-guards in the league. They did add one of the better perimeter defenders in the league in Josh Richardson who could step in immediately and replace the defense lost from Butler.
With Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons on the offensive end, the 76ers could be one of the best offensive teams in the league this season. Ben Simmons is one of the most athletic players in the league, and with his work on shooting the ball this offseason we should see a large improvement on Simmons’ game from last season.
Behind the starting lineup is a bench of “misfits” who couldn’t piece it together in their previous destinations. This includes Trey Burke, Kyle O’Quinn, and Mike Scott who have seemed to find a new home in Philadelphia and play very well within the system. The 76ers will be a very good team this season and will stay neck and neck with the Bucks all season long, losing Jimmy Butler could be the reason they don’t earn the one-seed in the eastern conference.
3. Boston Celtics
The Celtics never seemed to reach their full potential with Kyrie Irving leading the team. They will now be without Irving this upcoming season as he departed due to free agency, but they added another top-tier point guard in Kemba Walker. Walker was never surrounded with enough talent to succeed in Charlotte, now Walker has the surrounding talent necessary to lead a team into the postseason.
Even though the team will be without Irving, the biggest loss comes in no longer having big man Al Horford. Horford was never a flashy player but was an integral part of the roster. Now they will be starting with Enes Kanter, who is a downgrade at every part of the game, but still a good player to protect the paint for the Celtics.
The main reason they will be a better team this season is because of their young talent. Jayson Tatum has showed flashes of greatness and Jaylen Brown is an excellent defender on the perimeter, but they also added a lot of young talent in the draft this year.
With the additions of Carsen Edwards and Grant Williams to go along with the young talent of Tatum, Brown, and Smart could be enough for the Celtics to overcome the hump and be one of the top teams in the conference. The talent level of the team, after losing Irving, may have gone down, but they should have a better team chemistry this season which will lead them to a three seed in the conference.
4. Toronto Raptors
The Raptors may have had the biggest loss of any team in the offseason, losing the finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. Leonard has always been one of the league’s top players and he showed it when he led the Raptors to their first championship in league history.
Danny Green, a perimeter defender and a three-point shooter is also gone this season which will make it a big turnover in Toronto this season. Ranking them fourth in the eastern conference may be a little high for this year, but they also have the advantage of playing in the weaker eastern conference.
Even without two of their best defenders they still have a good amount of depth on their team. Pascal Siakam was a breakout star for the Raptors last season, winning the most improved player award and looking to get even better this season. Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka, and Marc Gasol are still with the team, and even though they may be a little older they are still very good players within the right system.
One thing the Raptors may have trouble with this season is finding someone who can take over games when in crunch time. That was one huge advantage that Leonard brought to this team, not only could he play great defense, but he could also take over offensively when needed. Now this role will turn back to Lowry as the Raptors are back down to a team with no true superstar, but very good players with a good amount of depth.
The Raptors are going to be in need of a player that they can hope to replace Leonard, they will not find that, but they could have another breakout player this season like they did last season in Siakam. After being a decent role player in previous seasons, Norman Powell could take a huge leap this season and become the NBAs most improved player which would greatly help a good but not great Raptors team.
5. Brooklyn Nets
The Nets were the eastern conference equivalent to the Lakers and the Clippers this offseason, acquiring Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, two of the game’s biggest stars. However, the Nets will be without Kevin Durant for most (if not all) of the season. This will be a big blow for the Nets as they look to repeat their success from last season and make the playoffs.
Irving is definitely an upgrade D’Angelo Russell with his talent on the court, but he brings a disruptive chemistry wherever he goes. Kyrie wanted out of Cleveland because he was tired of playing second fiddle to LeBron, this move may have ended up hurting Kyrie more than helping. Kyrie got what he wanted, but so far, he has shown that he cannot be the leader of a team to make the NBA finals.
The Nets have a talented roster who got their first sniff of the playoffs last season, but they lack a second superstar to go along with Irving with Durant being out this season. This was virtually the same situation that Irving was in when he went to Boston.
Up to this point Irving has shown that he cannot be the only superstar on the team and lead the team to success. The team will still make the playoffs in the weaker eastern conference, but until Kevin Durant comes back, they will not be the team to beat in the eastern conference.
6. Miami Heat
The Heat have been virtually irrelevant since LeBron left Miami to go back to Cleveland. This will change this season as they have added one of the top two-guards in the league in Jimmy Butler.
The Heat have a decent starting lineup but lacks a true big man. Hassan Whiteside is no longer with the team after he was traded to the Trail Blazers in the offseason for Meyers Leonard and Maurice Harkless. Whiteside is still a good center but has dealt with so many injuries in his career that they are finally catching up with him. Whiteside was sidelined halfway through the season for Bam Adebayo, the new starting center for the Heat.
Adebayo is still unproven but getting the starting role and more minutes we will really get to see what he is all about. Outside of Butler they have a good young team, including Justice Winslow, Derrick Jones Jr., and Tyler Herro.
This will be a year of ups and downs for the Heat and Butler will not be able to do everything by himself, but they have a good enough team where they should make the playoffs. They may not win a series in the playoffs with their current roster, but they should make the playoffs.
7. Indiana Pacers
The Pacers are one of the best young teams in the league, the one problem with them is that they will be without their best player Victor Oladipo for an unknown amount of time. They are also without long time point guard Darren Collison who retired after last season.
They did add some talent over the offseason in Malcolm Brogdon, TJ Warren, and Jeremy Lamb, no one that really jumps off the page but good players to compliment Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis.
The Pacers are not a bad team by any means, but without a real timetable for Oladipo’s return we can’t really say how the Pacers will fare. If the Pacers can just be an average team until Oladipo returns than they will have a good shot of making the playoffs. This is exactly what I expect them to do, making whoever draws the Pacers in the first round in store for a tough matchup.
8. Detroit Pistons
The Pistons were a team last season that looked like it had the parts to make the playoffs, they did, and they just managed to sneak in with a .500 record to capture the 8-seed. They were led by forward Blake Griffin and rebounding machine Andre Drummond to complete that push.
They did not do too much work in the offseason to make themselves a serious threat at getting better. They will virtually have the same team as last season which is good and bad. It is good because when Griffin, Drummond, and Reggie Jackson were on the floor together they were one of the better offenses in the league.
When all three of these players were not on the floor together than their production dropped significantly. This will be a trend that needs to change for the upcoming season if they hope to return to the playoffs.
With the team they have they should make the playoffs, even without getting significantly better with their roster. Once again, they will be an average team who will just have enough to squeak into the playoffs at the 8-seed.
Western Conference
1. Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers have one of the best duos in the entire league in LeBron James and Anthony Davis, this should serve them well this season. The biggest question concerning these two is health. If they can stay healthy all season long, then there should be no problem, but Davis has never played a full 82 game season due to injuries so far in his career.
This shouldn’t be a problem however, because the Lakers have good depth at the big man position, including Kyle Kuzma, Dwight Howard, and DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins has dealt with two big injuries in the last two seasons which raises the question, can he still be as effective as he was before the injury? Who knows, but they have good depth at the position to overcome the challenge.
They also added Danny Green as a wing player, a great defender who can knock down threes with the best of them. The additions they made look great, but they will need to get better production from the players who were there last season.
Rajon Rondo and Avery Bradley have both been trending negatively over the past three seasons, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope also showed a revert last season. In order for the Lakers to be great they will need better production out of these players to compliment the stars in James, Davis, and possibly Kuzma.
2. Los Angeles Clippers
If the Lakers have the best duo in the league than the Clippers are directly behind them with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. In another great offseason acquisition the Clippers signed Kawhi Leonard if they promised to get Paul George via trade to complete the team. They did just this but may have to deal with injuries early in the season.
George underwent shoulder surgery this offseason which could keep him out until mid-to-late November. However, the Clippers are built to win around a team without the superstar presence. They did this last season in the playoffs by taking the Warriors to six games even though they did not have a superstar.
This is because they have incredible depth in Patrick Beverly, Lou Williams, Montrez Harrell, and Landry Shamet. These are great undervalued players that fit exactly into their role and play it perfectly, giving the Clippers a good blend of talent.
Once the team is at full strength, they could be one of the toughest teams to beat in the entire league. This is because they will have three defensive studs in Beverly, Leonard, and George. If this team is as good defensively as they have a chance to be then that will lead them to one of the best records in the west and neck and neck with in-town rivals, Los Angeles Lakers.
3. Denver Nuggets
Nikolas Jokic is one of the most underrated stars in the NBA today. This is partly because he is playing in a smaller market in Denver, however, it is impossible to understate the value that Jokic has brought to the Nuggets in his short time there.
Jokic’s numbers don’t jump off the page when you look at them, but when he is on the floor, he makes everyone else better with his ability to read the floor. With players like Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, and Michael Porter Jr., to go along with Paul Millsap and Jokic, the Nuggets could be dangerous for years to come.
This will only happen if these players in Murray, and Porter Jr. continue to grow and rise with Jokic. If they can do that then the Nuggets will once again be one of the top teams in the west, with the big man at the helm.
A trade is possible in the middle of the season which would take away some of the depth, but a trade that might be necessary for the Nuggets to compete with the best teams in the league when it really matters. The Nuggets are going to be a great team again this season, but the biggest question is whether they will be able to win when it matters?
4. Rockets
Offensively the Rockets have the potential to be the best team in the league with James Harden and the newly acquired Russell Westbrook. One potential problem that arises is the chemistry that these two will have on the court. I don’t see that as much of a problem, but defensively, these guards could have a problem.
Harden has gotten much better defensively, especially in the post, and Westbrook is a good on-ball defender, but they both anticipate too much and this could be a big downfall. Luckily, they still have Clint Capela to protect the paint, as he is one of the best big men defenders in the league.
If Harden and Westbrook can effectively share the ball than this team has immense potential. So much attention will be placed on these two that it will open up Eric Gordon and P.J. Tucker on the offensive end which will be much needed.
It just so happens that the Rockets play in the much tougher western conference which is the reason they are not ranked any higher, but if this team can live up to their potential then there is no saying how har they can go. There may be some early chemistry issues, but these will all get straightened out and the Rockets will be set in a good path this season.
5. Warriors
It is weird to not see the Warriors in the top half of the playoff seedings, since it seems like we haven’t seen this in a very long time. This will happen when you lose two of your best players, Kevin Durant left due to free agency and Klay Thompson went down with an injury that will keep him out for a majority of the season.
They did add guard D’Angelo Russell to make up for losing Thompson, but that will not be enough in a loaded western conference this season. The Warriors will still be a good team with Curry, Green, and Russell, but they will struggle against the better teams in the league without the sharpshooting of Klay to take away pressure from Curry.
They also lost one of their best bench players in Andre Iguodala, which is a huge loss on the defensive end. This means that the starting lineup will have to play great defense to take away from not having the luxury of having a disruptor coming off the bench.
This will also be a season in which Curry will have to show that he is one of the best players in the game. We all know he is a great player, but he will be without a true superstar counterpart for most of the season. We will truly get to see what Curry can do and if he can lead the Warriors back to one of the top spots in the western conference.
6. Utah Jazz
The Jazz, like many of the other western conference teams, revamped their team in the offseason by adding point guard Mike Conley to go along with their wing guard Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell is one of the best young players in the game but has never had a true point guard to help make his play better.
He has that now in Conley and he should have a breakout year this season. One big loss for the Jazz will be no longer having Derrick Favors. That role will now be played by Bojan Bogdanovic, who is not nearly as good on the defensive end as Favors is.
Even without Favors, they still have one of the best defensive players in Rudy Gobert. Other than Gobert they will be playing a much smaller lineup this season, which could benefit the Jazz.
They are starting to get with the times, by having a smaller lineup who can shoot the ball. This, along with the great defense that will be provided in the middle will make the Jazz a tough team to beat this season and could make them a dangerous threat come playoff time.
7. Portland Trailblazers
The Trailblazers added another big man over the offseason to complement Jusef Nurkic, in Hassan Whiteside. This depth was a much-needed addition to the team, because both Damien Lillard and CJ McCollum’s production dropped when he was not on the floor.
By adding another dominant big man, these players production should not drop (nearly as much) when Nurkic is not on the floor. The next concern comes when Lillard and McCollum are not on the floor.
The Trailblazers seemed like they could not work when these players were not on the floor, that will need to change this season. Offseason acquisitions hope to turn this trend around, but the players they got rid of to get these players might be a concern themselves.
The former depth of the Blazers is gone and will be a much different kind of depth this season. It will be interesting to see if the Blazers will be as consistent as they were last season. The Blazers are a different team, whether for better or worse, but expect the Blazers to change in some way. With the added strength to the conference this year they may have a tougher time matching the success of last season.
8. San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs are one of the most consistent teams in the NBA, this is partly thanks to the great coaching provided by Greg Popovich. Now arises the question, can DeMar DeRozan lead this team into the playoffs in the loaded western conference?
This will be yet to see, but he does have the pieces to make a strong push to the playoffs. Dejounte Murray will be back this season, which will bring some much-needed defense on a team that lacked it last season. Derrick White is also an emerging star, who will need to continue to improve to give a good second hand to DeRozan.
As of right now, LaMarcus Aldridge will be the second man in command on the court, and the leader of the team off the court. His leadership, along with DeRozan will be much needed for the Spurs this season.
The Spurs tough schedule will not do them any favors, and they will be battling all season long against in-state rival Dallas Mavericks to get to the playoffs. However, they have the talent and a little more depth than the Mavericks which should make it just enough for them to sneak into the playoffs.