Phx-Suns.Net

Okay, gang. What do you think will happen with this NBA regular season? Who will get the top-8 seeds and playoff spots, and why? Post your lists here, along with any reasoning or commentary as desired. I'll get the ball rolling.

West

1 Golden State Warriors
2 Houston Rockets
3 Oklahoma City Thunder
4 Utah Jazz
5 LA Clippers
6 Portland Trailblazers
7 San Antonio Spurs
8 Minnesota Timberwolves
Denver Nuggets
New Orleans Pelicans
LA Lakers
Sacramento Kings
Memphis Grizzlies
Dallas Mavericks
Phoenix Suns

Commentary:

Warriors are an easy #1 seed pick. Probably challenge for 70 wins again.

I think the Spurs will slip a lot. They rely on Kawhi too much now, and they lost a lot of their nice glue role player guys this offseason. Rudy Gay doesn't strike me as a Spurs impact player, and plus he's hurt. Pau, Manu, Tony, etc. all a year older. Could even see them missing the playoffs if Kawhi has nagging injuries.

No matter how I looked at it, I couldn't put our Suns ahead of any other Western team. We just don't have the talent at all. I think we're last in the West this year, unless maybe Dallas totally bombs out.

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East

1 Boston Celtics
2 Washington Wizards
3 Toronto Raptors
4 Milwaukee Bucks
5 Cleveland Cavaliers
6 Miami Heat
7 Charlotte Hornets
8 Detroit Pistons

Philadelphia 76ers
Indiana Pacers
Brooklyn Nets
Orlando Magic
Atlanta Hawks
New York Knicks
Chicago Bulls

Commentary:

I think Cleveland also takes a big step back this year. I dislike almost all of the moves they made this offseason. They look old, hurt, brittle, and way too reliant on Lebron. Don't like the Rose signing at all. Don't like the Kyrie for injured-Thomas trade (he'll be out for months). Signing Wade is okay but he shouldn't be starting. Don't like the overall culture, don't like the defense, don't like the shooting, or even the attitudes of the players they brought in. Not expecting a lot from them.

I am a big believer in the Wizards. I almost put them at #1, but I think Boston just has too much talent. Wiz should be in the ECF this year in my opinion. I think Kyrie will fit in really well in Boston and will be an MVP candidate with near 30 ppg scoring.

The end of the playoff seeding was the hardest for me to pick. There are a lot of teams that look like they'll win about 32-38 games, like the Pacers and 76ers and so on. I gave my #8 seed to the Pistons out of respect for SVG. I don't think Philly is ready to make the playoffs yet.

I think Brooklyn will surprise some people by not being quite as awful as predicted. I also kind of like Indiana as a sneaky team that could challenge for a playoff spot.

Warriors. Warriors. Warriors.

All the rest is just on-court masturbation.

Suns will get a top 5 draft pick.

West
1 Golden State Warriors
2 Houston Rockets
3 Oklahoma City Thunder
4 San Antonio Spurs
5 Portland Trailblazers
6 Utah Jazz
7 Memphis Grizzlies
8 Denver Nuggets
Minnesota Timberwolves
LA Clippers
New Orleans Pelicans
LA Lakers
Dallas Mavericks
Phoenix Suns
Sacramento Kings

Commentary:
Man, the West... I'd put teams 2-4, 5-7 and 8-11 in their tiers. I guess I'm higher on Portland, Utah (though not Marty apparently ) and especially Memphis. I assume no injuries or tanking trades of Gasol or Conley though. I could see the last playoff spot go to any of the teams 8-11. I put Denver in because at least they should have elite offense. The Wolves have a lot of talent, but they sucked on D last year and they have no shooting to be great on O. Pelicans seem too shallow and I honestly have no idea what to expect from the Clippers.
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East
1 Cleveland Cavaliers
2 Washington Wizards
3 Boston Celtics
4 Toronto Raptors
5 Miami Heat
6 Milwaukee Bucks
7 Charlotte Hornets
8 Philadelphia 76ers

Detroit Pistons
Indiana Pacers
Brooklyn Nets
Orlando Magic
New York Knicks
Atlanta Hawks
Chicago Bulls

Commentary:
Cleveland has James and the deepest team. Wizards are very solid with improved bench. Boston just lost Hayward for a while, so they have Irving, Horford and a bunch of kids? Raptors are what they were. They may end up ahead of Boston without Hayward though. I'm very high on Miami but just didn't have the guts to put them ahead of the standard top 4. I don't expect a big improvement from the Bucks compared to last year. Charlotte has a solid team for the east, and I put Philly in 8 because I hope Embiid plays over 50 games and also because I just don't care for the rest of the teams

Might need to rethink those East seedings after the first 5 minutes of last night's game.

West
1 Golden State Warriors
2 Oklahoma City Thunder
3 Houston Rockets
4 San Antonio Spurs
5 Portland Trailblazers
6 Minnesota Timberwolves
7 New Orleans Pelicans
8 Memphis Grizzlies

Utah Jazz
Denver Nuggets
LA Clippers
LA Lakers
Sacramento Kings
Dallas Mavericks
Phoenix Suns

Suns trade Bledsoe, Chandler and Dudley for picks by December, and go full tank for the last draft where it matters.


East
1 Cleveland Cavaliers
2 Washington Wizards
3 Boston Celtics
4 Milwaukee Bucks
5 Toronto Raptors
6 Charlotte Hornets
7 Miami Heat
8 Philadelphia 76ers

Indiana Pacers
New York Knicks
Detroit Pistons
Orlando Magic
Atlanta Hawks
Brooklyn Nets
Chicago Bulls

Philly's process finally starts to pay off, Bulls continue to punch themselves in the face, Hayward comes back in 3 months and the Celtics make a run for top seed but fall short.

West
1 Golden State
2 OKC
3 Houston
4 Denver
5 San Antonio
6 LAC
7 Minnesota
8 New Orleans
Utah
Portland
Memphis
Sacramento
LAL
Dallas
Phoenix

East
1 Cleveland
2 Milwaukee
3 Boston
4 Washington
5 Toronto
6 Miami
7 Philly
8 Charlotte
Detroit
Indiana
Orlando
Brooklyn
New York
Atlanta
Chicago

I originally had Boston 1st in the East, but moved them down due to the Hayward injury.

Indy wrote:Might need to rethink those East seedings after the first 5 minutes of last night's game.

Hot take incoming: I actually think the Celtics will be totally fine without Hayward, at least in terms of their regular season W/L record. He's a very good player, but they have a few other guys who can play his position. They have Jaylen Brown and also their rookie, Tatum. Both of those guys are young, but with the other veterans on the roster, they can probably get by with two youngsters at the forward spot. Not saying they will be 100% as good, but I bet it will be close enough that they will get by.

I don't know if they'll still get the #1 seed, but I don't think their entire season is over or anything dramatic like that. They're still one of the top teams in the East, loaded with depth and talent, well coached, hungry, ready to take a step up. I would not count them out.

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote:

Indy wrote:Might need to rethink those East seedings after the first 5 minutes of last night's game.

Hot take incoming: I actually think the Celtics will be totally fine without Hayward, at least in terms of their regular season W/L record. He's a very good player, but they have a few other guys who can play his position. They have Jaylen Brown and also their rookie, Tatum. Both of those guys are young, but with the other veterans on the roster, they can probably get by with two youngsters at the forward spot. Not saying they will be 100% as good, but I bet it will be close enough that they will get by.

I don't know if they'll still get the #1 seed, but I don't think their entire season is over or anything dramatic like that. They're still one of the top teams in the East, loaded with depth and talent, well coached, hungry, ready to take a step up. I would not count them out.

The east isn't in great shape, so I think they will still get home court in the first round. But they won't get past Cleveland without Hayward.

I have Giannis with an outside shot for MVP because I think they get a top 4 seed with Wiz and Raptors. I just think it's alot to ask of Tatum and Jaylen is an obvious talent but consistency for me will still be his issue. I was being lazy earlier in the week because my page crash and didn't feel like typing over my predictions but wouldn't be surprised if Celtics are 5 or 6

I don't think that the Celtics will fall off that far, and I never thought that they were going to beat the Cavs this year even before the Hayward injury. I thought that Cleveland actually got better this off-season and I guess we'll see if that's the case.

I could see a scenario where the Cavs carefully manage the minutes of vets like Lebron, Wade, and Rose, and then they are fresh and ready for the playoffs. If those guys were healthy and had energy in the tank for the postseason, I could see them making noise with all their veteran savvy. But I think more likely Rose will be out with some kind of injury and Wade and Lebron will be kind of gassed by April.

I could see a scenario where the Cavs carefully manage the minutes of vets like Lebron, Wade, and Rose, and then they are fresh and ready for the playoffs. If those guys were healthy and had energy in the tank for the postseason, I could see them making noise with all their veteran savvy. But I think more likely Rose will be out with some kind of injury and Wade and Lebron will be kind of gassed by April.

East:

1 Boston Celtics
2 Washington Wizards
3 Toronto Raptors
4 Milwaukee Bucks
5 Cleveland Cavaliers
6 Miami Heat
7 Charlotte Hornets
8 Detroit Pistons

I think Cleveland also takes a big step back this year. I dislike almost all of the moves they made this offseason. They look old, hurt, brittle, and way too reliant on Lebron. Don't like the Rose signing at all. Don't like the Kyrie for injured-Thomas trade (he'll be out for months). Signing Wade is okay but he shouldn't be starting. Don't like the overall culture, don't like the defense, don't like the shooting, or even the attitudes of the players they brought in. Not expecting a lot from them.

Feeling like the negative prediction about the Cavs is coming true. If anything they're worse than I was willing to predict. They could legitimately miss the playoffs if they keep this up.