Sports NBA Thread: 2022-2023 Season

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It’s that time of year again, time for basketball! For typical NBA season discussions and such.

Fantasy basketball isn’t big enough to have it’s own thread, so tagging Mizuno if he wants to coordinate in this thread for keeper league. We also had a redraft league in years past, but that league didn’t happen last year. We can revive it this year if there’s interest!
 
Some predictions

East

1 Sixers
2 Cavs
3 Bucks
4 Celtics
5 Heat
6 Nets
7 Hawks
8 Raps

The Celtics get off to a slow start, and the Cavs run through the regular season but have postseason hiccups. Hard to leave the Bulls out, but they’re already off to some horrid injury luck. Hornets would be the 6 seed if Miles Bridges wasn’t scum, but they’re a little short on talent otherwise. Hornets and Wiz in the play in. Hawks added Murray but doubt that moves the needed enough for them.

West

1 Grizzlies
2 Nuggets
3 Warriors
4 Mavs
5 Clippers
6 Wolves
7 Suns
8 Pels

ECF Celtics over Bucks
WCF Warriors over Clippers
Finals Warriors over Celtics

Not entirely indicative of team talent, I believe the Clips and Warriors are the two best teams out West but will rest their stars quite a bit during the regular season. Lakers and Blazers finish in the play-in probably. Pelicans are my sleeper team this year between BI and a healthier Zion.

MVP, Luka; ROY, Banchero; DPOY, Mikal Bridges
Steve Nash is the first coach fired
Lavine win the scoring title
Scottie Barnes, Ant Edwards and Cade make the ASG
SGA requests a trade
Myles Turner stays with the Pacers
Jazz screw up tanking and get the 7 pick or something
Pacers have the worst record
Ben Simmons gets traded again
RJ Barrett and Franz Wagner have breakouts
 
Keeper league is up and running! Draft time is set to Saturday, October 15 at 7PM AST. Last day to set keepers is next Thursday, on Friday keepers will be locked (this is so I have time to validate all keeper choices, randomzie the draft and assign keepers to their respective rounds).

Tagging players from the past year to confirm: Scofield, Stallion, Del Rio, Ghost_Chill, cb aaron judge, Celticpride, trikx_insane, DiscoDucky, lexeas23

If anyone else is interested in participating in the league, let me know and we will see if there is room.

Rules for reference:

  1. Up to three players can be kept
  2. Keeping a player means giving up a draft round equal to the round the players was drafted last year (in our league) + 1. Lets call this the Keeper Value.
    Example: John Wall was drafted 6th last year. Team X can keep him by giving up the 5th round pick this year. (Keeper Value = 5)
  3. If keeping two or more players and they make it so that the same draft round is forfeited, then the additional player can be kept by giving up an additional higher round (so +2 for two, +3 for three...)
    Example: John Wall and Kyle Lowry were drafted in round 6 last year. Team X owns them both. They can be both kept by giving up the 5th round pick and 4th round pick this year.
  4. However, if two or more players make it so that the first round is forfeited, only one of them can be kept.
    Example: Team X has both Lebron James and Kevin Durant, which were drafted in the first round last year. Only one of them can be kept this year.
  5. A player can be kept by the same team for up to 2 years (lets call this the Keeper Contract). If the players was a first round pick the year before, that player can only be kept 1 year (giving up the first round pick for the year being kept).
    Example: Team X drafted Lebron James last year in the 1st round. He can be kept again by giving up the first round pick, but cannot be kept next year by Team X.
  6. Any player kept that was not drafted the year before counts as giving up the very last pick.
  7. The Keeper Contract (i.e. the amount of time a team can keep a player) will transfer when a trade is made and will remain even if a player is dropped.
    Example: Team X has kept J.J. Barea for 1 year. Team X trades him to Team Y. Team Y can only keep him one more year.
    Example: Team X has dropped Danilo Gallinari, who has been kept already 1 year using the 7th round pick. Team Y can pick him up and keep him one more year at the cost of the 6th round pick of the next draft.
 
Keeper league is up and running! Draft time is set to Saturday, October 15 at 7PM AST. Last day to set keepers is next Thursday, on Friday keepers will be locked (this is so I have time to validate all keeper choices, randomzie the draft and assign keepers to their respective rounds).

Tagging players from the past year to confirm: Scofield, Stallion, Del Rio, Ghost_Chill, cb aaron judge, Celticpride, trikx_insane, DiscoDucky, lexeas23

If anyone else is interested in participating in the league, let me know and we will see if there is room.

Rules for reference:

  1. Up to three players can be kept
  2. Keeping a player means giving up a draft round equal to the round the players was drafted last year (in our league) + 1. Lets call this the Keeper Value.
    Example: John Wall was drafted 6th last year. Team X can keep him by giving up the 5th round pick this year. (Keeper Value = 5)
  3. If keeping two or more players and they make it so that the same draft round is forfeited, then the additional player can be kept by giving up an additional higher round (so +2 for two, +3 for three...)
    Example: John Wall and Kyle Lowry were drafted in round 6 last year. Team X owns them both. They can be both kept by giving up the 5th round pick and 4th round pick this year.
  4. However, if two or more players make it so that the first round is forfeited, only one of them can be kept.
    Example: Team X has both Lebron James and Kevin Durant, which were drafted in the first round last year. Only one of them can be kept this year.
  5. A player can be kept by the same team for up to 2 years (lets call this the Keeper Contract). If the players was a first round pick the year before, that player can only be kept 1 year (giving up the first round pick for the year being kept).
    Example: Team X drafted Lebron James last year in the 1st round. He can be kept again by giving up the first round pick, but cannot be kept next year by Team X.
  6. Any player kept that was not drafted the year before counts as giving up the very last pick.
  7. The Keeper Contract (i.e. the amount of time a team can keep a player) will transfer when a trade is made and will remain even if a player is dropped.
    Example: Team X has kept J.J. Barea for 1 year. Team X trades him to Team Y. Team Y can only keep him one more year.
    Example: Team X has dropped Danilo Gallinari, who has been kept already 1 year using the 7th round pick. Team Y can pick him up and keep him one more year at the cost of the 6th round pick of the next draft.
Confirming
 
Keeper league is up and running! Draft time is set to Saturday, October 15 at 7PM AST. Last day to set keepers is next Thursday, on Friday keepers will be locked (this is so I have time to validate all keeper choices, randomzie the draft and assign keepers to their respective rounds).

Tagging players from the past year to confirm: Scofield, Stallion, Del Rio, Ghost_Chill, cb aaron judge, Celticpride, trikx_insane, DiscoDucky, lexeas23

If anyone else is interested in participating in the league, let me know and we will see if there is room.

Rules for reference:

  1. Up to three players can be kept
  2. Keeping a player means giving up a draft round equal to the round the players was drafted last year (in our league) + 1. Lets call this the Keeper Value.
    Example: John Wall was drafted 6th last year. Team X can keep him by giving up the 5th round pick this year. (Keeper Value = 5)
  3. If keeping two or more players and they make it so that the same draft round is forfeited, then the additional player can be kept by giving up an additional higher round (so +2 for two, +3 for three...)
    Example: John Wall and Kyle Lowry were drafted in round 6 last year. Team X owns them both. They can be both kept by giving up the 5th round pick and 4th round pick this year.
  4. However, if two or more players make it so that the first round is forfeited, only one of them can be kept.
    Example: Team X has both Lebron James and Kevin Durant, which were drafted in the first round last year. Only one of them can be kept this year.
  5. A player can be kept by the same team for up to 2 years (lets call this the Keeper Contract). If the players was a first round pick the year before, that player can only be kept 1 year (giving up the first round pick for the year being kept).
    Example: Team X drafted Lebron James last year in the 1st round. He can be kept again by giving up the first round pick, but cannot be kept next year by Team X.
  6. Any player kept that was not drafted the year before counts as giving up the very last pick.
  7. The Keeper Contract (i.e. the amount of time a team can keep a player) will transfer when a trade is made and will remain even if a player is dropped.
    Example: Team X has kept J.J. Barea for 1 year. Team X trades him to Team Y. Team Y can only keep him one more year.
    Example: Team X has dropped Danilo Gallinari, who has been kept already 1 year using the 7th round pick. Team Y can pick him up and keep him one more year at the cost of the 6th round pick of the next draft.
Also confirming for this year. I have already set my keepers as well. Does anyone know if we are going to have our own thread?
 

Stallion

Tree Young
is a Tiering Contributoris a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Three-Time Past WCoP Champion
Keeper league is up and running! Draft time is set to Saturday, October 15 at 7PM AST. Last day to set keepers is next Thursday, on Friday keepers will be locked (this is so I have time to validate all keeper choices, randomzie the draft and assign keepers to their respective rounds).

Tagging players from the past year to confirm: Scofield, Stallion, Del Rio, Ghost_Chill, cb aaron judge, Celticpride, trikx_insane, DiscoDucky, lexeas23

If anyone else is interested in participating in the league, let me know and we will see if there is room.

Rules for reference:

  1. Up to three players can be kept
  2. Keeping a player means giving up a draft round equal to the round the players was drafted last year (in our league) + 1. Lets call this the Keeper Value.
    Example: John Wall was drafted 6th last year. Team X can keep him by giving up the 5th round pick this year. (Keeper Value = 5)
  3. If keeping two or more players and they make it so that the same draft round is forfeited, then the additional player can be kept by giving up an additional higher round (so +2 for two, +3 for three...)
    Example: John Wall and Kyle Lowry were drafted in round 6 last year. Team X owns them both. They can be both kept by giving up the 5th round pick and 4th round pick this year.
  4. However, if two or more players make it so that the first round is forfeited, only one of them can be kept.
    Example: Team X has both Lebron James and Kevin Durant, which were drafted in the first round last year. Only one of them can be kept this year.
  5. A player can be kept by the same team for up to 2 years (lets call this the Keeper Contract). If the players was a first round pick the year before, that player can only be kept 1 year (giving up the first round pick for the year being kept).
    Example: Team X drafted Lebron James last year in the 1st round. He can be kept again by giving up the first round pick, but cannot be kept next year by Team X.
  6. Any player kept that was not drafted the year before counts as giving up the very last pick.
  7. The Keeper Contract (i.e. the amount of time a team can keep a player) will transfer when a trade is made and will remain even if a player is dropped.
    Example: Team X has kept J.J. Barea for 1 year. Team X trades him to Team Y. Team Y can only keep him one more year.
    Example: Team X has dropped Danilo Gallinari, who has been kept already 1 year using the 7th round pick. Team Y can pick him up and keep him one more year at the cost of the 6th round pick of the next draft.
Confirming but hard for me to lock in keepers without remembering my timers on certain guys haha.
 

Scofield

Ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhh, Kate.......
is a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Past SPL Championis a Past WCoP Champion
Let's move up the playoffs 2 weeks, I'm tired of the BS resting at the end of season
 
Let's move up the playoffs 2 weeks, I'm tired of the BS resting at the end of season
Moved it up at least one week and we'll see how it goes this season. Now is: 6 teams - Week 20, 21 and 22 (ends Sunday, Mar 26)

We have room for one new manager, so if anyone is interested in participating let me know!
 
Draft order set (was randomized, then used that order to manually set the draft and keepers).

Here is the draft order:

4DDC8DBC-E8DC-4B72-9ED8-B3A11EE943B1.jpeg


Please verify keepers are set correctly here.
 
The 2022 offseason had quite a bit more buzz than what we were used to for the past few years. There was plenty of trade activity, injury rehabilitation success for key players, and… the Brooklyn Nets.

The first feeling I get when I think of the new season is that we’re going to have a lot of motivated players this year. Kevin Durant, James Harden, Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard; it simply feels like everyone has a chip on their shoulder from last season. I believe there’s going to be multiple breakout seasons and star performances that might end up in the history books. Also, so many rosters are experimenting and tinkering with new pieces. This means that abrupt momentum swings in winning and losing streaks are likely. So, the teams who possess a roster with more depth, versality, and comradery are more likely to succeed this regular season than more top-heavy and star-powered rosters.

Figuring out the landscape this time around was tough as injuries have been impacting the league more and more than years past for some reason. I will be making some assumptions regarding injuries to certain players in order to justify my predictions this time around. I believe it is relevant regarding how big of a swing in winning statistics some of these teams have with certain players.

(1) Denver Nuggets
(2) Los Angeles Clippers
(3) Golden State Warriors

This group are my top three in the conference. They can be arranged in any order. Denver is a team I expect to have one the best chances at having the best record in the league. I anticipate Murray to be a major addition that complements Denver’s offseason additions Caldwell-Pope and Brown Jr. Jokic is a regular-season MVP on a consistent basis even if he doesn’t win it this year. Now, you add more athletic guys who can pass and shoot. I haven’t even factored in any potential growth from Porter Jr. This is Denver’s year. Their offense will be #1, so as long as the defense breaks top 10, which can be done by them, they will be contenders.

Kawhi is going to have a great season. How many games will he play, though? I’m not one to doubt Kawhi’s greatness in the postseason, but it’s been some years since he’s shown that same greatness throughout the regular season. Los Angeles regardless has a ton of depth and versatility, and Lue is a genius when he has the right tools. This guy is going to come up with a scheme that will bother the entire league because we haven’t seen this team with a full training camp with Powell and Covington. If Wall has improved his jump shooting as a player throughout his rehab, this team is as dangerous as any.

Golden State is not in a murky situation by any means, but there are some questionable variables compared to the other two. The elephant in the room is Draymond Green. I don’t personally believe this team has the kind of culture to allow Green’s frustrations to affect the locker room, but they’re certainly not going into the season with the best footing. You add in the age factor of the big three, the number of rookies and sophomores on the roster, and the loss of key guys Porter Jr. and Payton Jr., and suddenly there’s a lot for them to figure out. The culture of organization gives them the great ability to turn drafted prospects into decent contributors consistently. The question is, how good can Wiseman, Moody, and Kuminga be in bench stretches?

I think Golden State can manage and have proven they can manage rookies well, so these questions all likely have positive answers. There’s just a chance the regular season can be a slog depending on the health of the aging big three. I am including mental health in that for Draymond Green’s case. If one guy goes down for extended time, some younger player must step up enough to keep the ship afloat.

(4) Los Angeles Lakers
(5) Memphis Grizzlies
(6) Phoenix Suns
(7) Dallas Mavericks

These four teams just… aren’t good enough for me to consider them contenders. Los Angeles is a mystery. First, are Davis and James going to have a healthy, long season? Chances are, at least one of them won’t. Then, if one of them may not, who fills in the missing piece? Westbrook? Whatever Los Angeles trades for Westbrook? Well, the fact that Westbrook is seemingly open to coming off the bench is already a net positive for the team in my eyes. So, that instantly makes them ready for playoff contention if everyone has a healthy and productive season.

Davis and James also return with a lot of motivation. I don’t think this roster is enough immediately to be contender status, but above play-in if they play their cards right with Westbrook. Honestly, much of my hesitancy has to do with the health and play of Davis than Westbrook. LeBron certainly isn't good enough at 37 to get a top seed on his own in a strong conference.

Their offseason moves were decent, but don’t move the needle that much. Beverly arguably was their biggest addition just by the added comradery he brings to teams. I anticipate Los Angeles to have a better season than the last but still not be heads above anyone. My placement is mostly based on anticipating Davis to return to form.

Memphis will start the season with Jackson Jr. injured, but they are a proven team with perseverance. The culture of the locker room must be electric around Morant. Even when injured, this team has sometimes become even better as a result. This team overall has the depth, comradery, and star power to deal with even the best opponents. It’s sad that I even have them this low, but it speaks to the strength of the league today. I will say this… the West has a lot of aging stars, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Morant broke out and turned this team into another high seed.

Phoenix is weird. The Ayton situation is awkward, Paul is aging, Crowder is gone, and we’re starting the season from all the drama in the offseason regarding Sarver. This team’s done an excellent job handling and maintaining a culture of success despite setback after setback since the 8-0 bubble run, but I’m not so sure for this year. Johnson is great to start and could open up new avenues in their stale offense, but what I think they really need is guard depth behind Paul since he’s clearly aging. Payne hasn’t been consistent enough. Also, without McGee, their frontline is defensively questionable. They’ve always had solid schemes but rebounding and size isn’t particularly a good weak point to have considering you have an aging guard. I don’t anticipate Phoenix to have as good of a season as they had last year, but they should be good enough to make the playoffs if they manage their games well enough. A Chris Paul lead team is still a Chris Paul lead team. Too many western teams have improved for me to be confident even for home court advantage in the playoffs. Realistically, they could go anywhere from top four to play-in out of all the teams in this conference.

Dallas is entering the season with a better understanding on what they want to do, and Kidd clearly has grown as a coach. Their success to me hinges on Wood’s minutes and contributions. Can he hold defensively? Is Luka also finally going to have the MVP season we’re waiting for? If he does, expect Dallas to be an easy top four seed which wouldn’t surprise me at all.

(8) New Orleans Pelicans
(9) Minnesota Timberwolves

These two teams happened to end up here because they have more experimentation in their line-ups to figure out and/or there is a large variable factor with a star player.

New Orleans should make the playoffs this year. In fact, they will likely jump the most in wins out of all teams. They seemed to have a fully healthy training camp while returning from the momentum of their playoff run. Reports have said Williamson is as healthy as he’s ever been, and now maintaining his weight is part of his contract. This may be the first year Williamson finally becomes what we all thought he was since he was drafted. Their depth showed some serious value last year. Green comes from the Monty coaching tree. Then you add more talent in McCollum and the steadily improving Ingram. This team now sounds a lot like that Phoenix team that improved after adding Paul. I project this team to make the biggest jump from the middle-of-the-pack teams, but the West is so good, I can’t reliably place them higher than teams more established than them, but I wouldn’t judge anyone who had them as a high seed just by the potential of Williamson coming back.

I anticipate Minnesota to struggle incorporating Gobert into their line-up. Overall, they may have mixed results with the twin towers. The organization has certainly seemed to conclude that Anthony-Towns simply cannot defensively handle frontlining an NBA defense. If he can be fine guarding smaller guys, and have good chemistry with Gobert offensively, they can make a decent jump. I just don’t think that transition is going to be a steady climb. What does give me hope, however, is that Cleveland managed to pull this off with success.

That means the difference may just come down to how well the guards shoot and play make with the twin towers. Edwards and Russell aren’t exactly guys who have those skills collectively. They can score, but can they incorporate that scoring into their offense that allows Gobert to work? It will likely be a process and thus, they may not come out potentially blazing like the teams above them who can. Out of all the teams above them, I have the least faith in their ability to incorporate Gobert.

(10) Portland Trailblazers
(11) Sacramento Kings


I have zero faith in these two teams. Lillard is aging another year with a roster filled wingmen and… Nurkic. These wingmen added over the last year are decent additions and everything, but it’s the same formula overall. Now that the conference is tougher, they need to bring even more from an older Lillard. Simons is a great guard, but he hasn’t shown to be better defensively than even McCollum. This team must hope to once again outscore the opposing team with undersized guard play and a lack of real size behind Nurkic. Out of the teams above them, they’re likely to have another less than stellar season. This will not a great early coaching stint for Billups

Sacramento falls in the same boat while being much younger. You simply cannot form any semblance of an NBA defense with Sabonis being your last line of defense. They will have to rely on the skill and scoring of their perimeter guys and play fast. Is that something Mike Brown has a history of having success in? You’ll struggle to sell me this combination of coach, defense, and players can make the playoffs. Brown would have to have grown a lot in Golden State which I think he did, but a bleh roster is a bleh roster. I don’t see them going anywhere with the frontline they have and a coach not known for coaching small teams just yet. Did I miss something about that Nigerian team?

(1) Philadelphia Sixers
(2) Milwaukee Bucks
(3) Boston Celtics

The East can go in so many different directions. I decided to separate two class of teams from each other. It’s not necessarily a reflection on whether they are contenders from the eastern conference. I simply feel one class collectively has more depth, comradery, and balance than the other. All six teams can be potentially be a top seed.

Philadelphia has some of the best talent together in the conference, and they added great role-players in Melton, Tucker, Harrell, and House Jr. In fact, it appears that this team can essentially be called Houston Rockets 2.0 with Embiid. That’s… a really damn good team, and I feel like Philadelphia has the highest chance to come out with the best seed. Embiid and Harden are more motivated than anybody, Maxey has room to grow, and they finally have shooters and defenders. My problem? Health. Embiid played 60 plus games for the first-time last season. That’s great, and he’s trending higher and higher as far as remaining a healthy long-term player throughout the regular season. If he can do it again, and Harden can have a solid 10+ games without Embiid, then this team should be in the best possible position out of everyone. Their offensive statistics with Embiid and Harden together while improvising an offense in the middle of the season were impressive. Give them a full training camp and a healthy roster, and it’s easy to have them at the top.

Milwaukee has the best collective mix of established comradery, health, and depth. They had a quiet offseason by signing Ingles. Adding another playmaker and spot-up shooter who can defend in a scheme is going under the radar for many fans. Milwaukee still has one of the best trio of players in Holiday, Middleton, and Antetokounmpo. They’ve shown willingness to experiment and manage the regular season more casually, so that certainly is a mark against them in having the best chance in having a winning record, but they certainly have a higher floor than most teams in this conference.

Boston found an identity in their finals run but losing your head coach for the year after that must be a big hit. Their offseason for a finals team was great. Brogdon plugs up all the ballhandling issues they were dealing with last season. Comradery was really the struggle this team has had the past few years. Can they survive without the head coach?

Another question I have is the stability of their defensive frontline. I love Horford, but he’s broken down at some point just about every regular season for them, and with Williams not available to start the season, they’re missing their best defensive piece. Gallinari, another offseason addition they added to create more versatility, will also not be available due to injury. I’m confident this team can make the playoffs, but I’m not confident about them making any sort of jump. I would only be surprised if they didn’t secure home court advantage.

(4) Brooklyn Nets
(5) Cleveland Cavaliers
(6) Miami Heat

This class of teams once again aren’t necessarily incapable of accomplishing the same things those above them are; they simply are experimenting a bit more or have questionable depth/more concerning injury history.

I dare anybody to feel confident in anything they say about Brooklyn. I have so many questions. Will Durant, Simmons, and Irving play enough games? Will drama happen? Can they succeed playing small with Simmons at the five for long stretches? I have no clue about anything. Philadelphia went on an impressive month-long run a few years ago without Embiid. Simmons was the only star player on the floor, but they played transition basketball with some of the best shooters. Offensively, it’s a very scary line-up to have Simmons and lots of great shooters. You could have regular season success even if your defense isn’t up to snuff.

But this could all go tumbling down, because maintaining that kind of efficiency is hard if you have drama, star players in and out, a coach that apparently isn’t coaching, and no real center to speak of. This team could be great or horrible, and I chose the very middle.

Cleveland is the new upcoming and potentially contending team in the East, and that’s saying a lot considering how long we’ve seen Atlanta and New York flail out. They had a strong regular season last year until injuries hit them, and they couldn’t recover from the play-in tournament. This tells me that depth is a concern once injuries happen.

The good news is that if fully healthy, I don’t see any reason Cleveland wouldn’t get homecourt advantage. They have to incorporate Mitchell but he fits right into their team as they needed another creator and slasher from the perimeter. It’ll be interesting to see how Mitchell plays without Gobert but with a Gobert-like defender.

Speaking of their frontline, Mobley certainly has room to grow considering his rookie season last year was phenomenal. Growth from him alone should have them improve as an overall team from last season. The big questions for Cleveland: who is that forward in your best line-up?

Is it Wade? Okoro? Osman? I’ve even seen them try LeVert in the starting line-up during the preseason. They have some things to figure out at that small forward position. They must find the perfect mixture of minutes for that spot considering it’s the most star-studded position in the league right now, and it’s exactly what got them eliminated at home against Durant. Figure out that small forward position, stay healthy and maybe even develop some depth along the bench with Love and they should be fine.

Miami had great success last regular season despite their aging core. Lowry missed many games as well. What can we expect with essentially the same roster for another go-around? Well, it doesn’t help that everybody else improved externally except you. Additionally, your stars are another year older. One could argue that internal improvement isn’t uncommon with their younger players, and a healthy Lowry can still change things, but it doesn’t inspire confidence within an eastern conference more stacked than last year’s. They are very similar to Milwaukee in that I’m not super confident in their ceiling, but I’m confident in their floor.

Heat culture is enough to get in the playoffs with their core. Health will determine how far they go. I don’t think Bam has another gear in him to improve on the offensive end. The true x-factor here is Oladipo. He showed good spots of scoring in the last playoff run. Any resurgence from him is likely going to help bolster Miami’s depth. I won’t get my hopes up too high on that, but out of all the teams around this “semi-contender” class, they give me the most meh feeling when looking at them even if they were the previous number one seed. Mainly because even throughout that year, they didn’t feel like a true number one seed to me.

(7) Toronto Raptors
(8) Atlanta Hawks
(9) New York Knicks

Every year, Toronto is always overrated or underrated. We must accept that as a fact of life. Nick Nurse is still an excellent, unconventional coach. They always play hard during the regular season, have tons of wing versatility, Barnes will certainly improve, and Anunoby looks likely to play more games than last season. To me, this is enough for them for them to make the playoffs. Their defensive tenacity and versatility is just universally troublesome, which sets a very high floor for them. If they want to reach a higher ceiling, Barnes is the one to take them there.

Atlanta is full of question marks. 2021 is looking more and more like a Cinderella story to me. Hunter is always injured, Capela lost a step, and Young appears to be alienating as a star player to his teammates. I was a little bit intrigued by the trade for Murray, but after some months, it isn’t as impressive to me anymore when I first heard it. Murray frees up Young to play off ball and takes on more defensive responsibilities, but do I really think a point guard can improve one of the worst defensive teams in the league? They’re going to need to show me more to put them anywhere above play-in status.

New York like Atlanta had a Cinderela run in 2021 but only in the regular season. The thing about Thibs teams I’ve noticed is that, after that one great season, it’s straight downhill. He isn’t warm to rookies and he’s very rigid about the style he wants to play. Brunson, Randle, and Barrett as your core talent doesn’t give me good vibes although Barrett has room to grow into a potential star. I say, if New York does anything this year, it’s through Barrett and Thibodeau’s change in schemes.

(10) Indiana Pacers

They have a great core of young players, and out of the bottom-dwelling teams in the east (Charlotte, Orlando, Detroit), I like them better to try for the play-in than other teams. Either they’ll do a lot of experimenting, or just be a middling eastern conference team. I don’t quite know what they plan to do with Turner and Hield, but the squad now is pretty solid and one could make a case that their younger players have enough chemistry to separate themselves from the class of teams around them.

MVP: So many candidates to choose from. I end up landing at Giannis, Kawhi, Joel, and Luka. Giannis has the best injury history and tenacity, while Kawhi and Joel have injury/player-empowerment that hinders them playing a full regular season. Luka is always a possibility, and this year even more since he came into camp in-shape. I end up landing with Giannis, with Kawhi behind him.

Rookie of the Year: Bennedict Mathurin. This guy already called out LeBron James himself, and his preseason was amazing. Paolo Banchero is the deserving favorite, but I’m more interested in Mathurin.

Defensive Player of the Year: Candidates to me include Evan Mobley, Bam Adebayo, Ben Simmons, Rudy Gobert. Minnesota is in the middle of a questionable experience, so I don’t feel comfortable picking him. Simmons, if healthy and makes an impact, has a narrative to grab anyone neutral to him. Mobley has the ability, and Adebayo just needs to stay healthy. I’ll go… Mobley.

Coach of the Year: Candidates include Willie Green, Michael Malone (don’t call him Mike), and J.B. Bickerstaff. All their teams are expected to make big jumps. Which will be the most notable? I’m leaning Michael Malone.

Most Improved Player: I’ve thought about Tyrese Maxey, Evan Mobley, and Precious Achiuwa. To me, Mobley has the best narrative if Cleveland succeeds, Achiuwa will have the best opportunity. All equally likely to me, but I’ll choose Achiuwa since I already chose Mobley.

Sixth Man of the Year: Jordan Poole is the deserving favorite, while I’ve thought about Malcom Bogdon and Bones Hyland having an outside shot. Christian Wood if he stays on the bench is a nice pick as well.
 
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