[bradcoish23Participant]

It is early, but I’m interested in your predictions for this year. I’ll brake down my own below and feel free to add your own.
1) Playoff Seeding

East
1. Milwaukee (Most likely to be consistent all year if they stay healthy)
2. Boston (deep team with good chemistry)
3. Toronto (amazing defensive unit)
4. Indiana (Balanced team that never gets enough respect)
5. Miami (I expect them to come back to earth a little)
6. Philadelphia (Maybe the best team, but injuries will hold them done in regular season)
7. Orlando (I think they are the best of the log jam of bad teams fighting for the final two spots)
8. Brooklyn (Chemistry issues are likely to continue, but they have far more talent then other bad teams)
*Atlanta (not ready yet, but could easily sneak in to a 7/8 spot due to weak competition)
West
1. Denver (very deep and I believe they care more about being #1 then the other teams)
2. LA Lakers (will take their foot off the gas down the stretch to rest vets for the playoffs)
3. Houston (I hate this roster, but it will win games in the regular season for sure)
4. LA Clippers (Maybe the best team, more interested in title then regular season)
5. Utah (excellent D is good enough for 5th)
6. Portland (overcome slow start, too much talent on this team not to)
7. San Antonio (still not the year they miss. Team is better this year than last year)
8. Minnesota (I just have a feeling Towns is in this year as they hold off the two young upcoming teams)
*Dallas and Phoenix drop off as the year goes on and veteran based teams pass them in the standings.
*Sacramento will be this years disappointment.

Playoffs
East
1. The Bucks get over the hump this year with Kawhi out of the way.
2. The 76ers could come out of here if they are healthy, but i just don’t see that being the case.

West
1. Between the Lakers and the Clippers. Just hope they play in the conference finals and not before.
2. Houston loses in the first round.

Finals:
1) I’m leaning Clippers with the ring in the end.
2) The West crushes the East in the finals.

Awards:

MVP
1. Giannis repeats as no team in the West stands out from the pack and duos split votes.
2. Jokic finishes second as Nuggets have great regular season.

ROY
1. Ja Morant runs away the award with Kendrick Nunn holding on for a surprise second.
2. Zion returns with splashy highlights but fails to live up to the hype.

Most Improved
1. Pascal Siakim repeats as Raps have solid year and he continues to have huge numbers.
2. Sabonis gets some votes in Indiana.

Coach of the Year
1. Coach Bud, Bucks have most regular season wins.
2. If Celtics keep playing this well Brad Stevens gets some love.

DPOY
1. Rudy Gobert. Not flashy, but a safe pick considering how good the Jazz are on D.
2. We might see a new name pop up here, somebody out of nowhere. Jonathan Isaac maybe gets some votes.

[canadabasketballisrisingParticipant]

East
Bucks
Sixers
Raptors
Celtics
Miami
Pacers
Nets
Magic

West
Lakers
Clippers
Nuggets
Jazz
Houston
Portland
Spurs
Mavs

Lakers over Bucks in 6

MVP Davis
DPOY Kawhi
6th man L Williams
Rookie Barrett
Coach Nurse

[bradcoish23Participant]

Not a lot of difference in our team picks, I think this year is pretty straight forward. I really like the Nurse pick for coach of the year. Raps could win 55 games without Kawhi and he still gets some extra votes for the title run. Solid pick, I like it better than my own.

[Scrooge McDuckParticipant]

I don’t think Miamia is overrated. Toronto is turning into the Spurs of the East.

[bradcoish23Participant]

I can honestly say I haven’t seen enough of the Heat this year to pass judgment. Mostly, I feel that there are 6 quality teams in the East and I would put the Heat at the bottom of the group, although the Sixers are banged up so they might drop below. If they Heat finished in 2nd or 3rd I wouldn’t be shocked.

The Spurs and Raps comparison is a good one. Very team oriented styles of play. Not enough star power to contend for a title, but a solid enough team to look real good in the regular season.

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