2014-15 NBA Predictions

That time of the year is back around where the NBA preseason is complete and the regular season starts tomorrow night. I waited until the last day to write these picks, but rest assured these picks were not just randomly put together and some thought went into it, though it may not seem that way if you check back in June. As of right now, there is no “#1 Prize” if a team folds their cards early and hopes for the first pick in the draft. Last year that pick was Wiggins, however, the Cavs won bigger than him by having LeBron James go back to Cleveland. I think by James leaving Miami, it may open up the East a little bit and NBA fans are starting to see the East getting more competitive. I think there is still a clear favorite in the West with the San Antonio Spurs, with the unbelievable emergence of Kawhi Leonard in the Finals, but they will be challenged by teams several teams in the West. Good luck to all teams, but here are my picks for this season!

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

1) Toronto Raptors
2) Brooklyn Nets
3) New York Knicks
4) Boston Celtics
5) Philadelphia 76ers
Analysis: Yes, this is exactly the standings of how last year ended and it’s basically how I think this year will end. Toronto are the clear favorites to win this division. Brooklyn is said to drop down and the Knicks would fight for first, but I just don’t believe that quite yet. I think Brooklyn has a little more depth and I like Lionel Hollins at coach. Boston is still young and they are without Rondo for some time, even if he comes back healthy, he may be traded. Everyone with any type of interest knows that Philly is tanking…again.

Central Division

1) Chicago Bulls
2) Cleveland Cavs
3) Detroit Pistons
4) Indiana Pacers
5) Milwaukee Bucks
Analysis: This is one of the more interesting divisions in the Eastern Conference. With LeBron going back to Cleveland, the early favorite most analysts are saying is Cleveland. I think LeBron will win yet another MVP this season, but as a team they have some work to do. They are built with a younger big 3 adding Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving as teammates, but defensively and collaborating isn’t all there yet. If Derrick Rose stays healthy..big IF, the Bulls will win this division and I don’t even think it will be close. The Pacers will really drop down with losing Paul George and I still think my sleeper is the Pistons. Stan Van Gundy is just the coaching piece they need to get into the playoffs with a young talented team.

Southeast Division

1) Washington Wizards
2) Charlotte Hornets
3) Miami Heat
4) Atlanta Hawks
5) Orlando Magic
Analysis: This kills me to write that I think the Magic will finish in last again. I still think they are a growing team with not a lot of experience and this is a growing division. The shake up in my opinion is real and will happen. The Wizards have the team to beat now that James is out of the division. The Hornets will surge into the playoffs after having a decent season last year and added a strong piece with Stephenson in the offseason. I think the Heat have the chance to still finish 1st or 2nd pending any injuries to stars on the the Hornets and the Wizards, but the aging Wade is a big factor for why I dropped them to third. I think Bosh will come out of his shell, but we will truly see how big of an impact player LeBron is and how much he will be missed.

Eastern Conference Playoffs

1) Chicago Bulls
2) Washington Wizards
3) Toronto Raptors
4) Cleveland Cavs
5) Charlotte Hornets
6) Miami Heat
7) Detroit Pistons
8) Brooklyn Nets

Eastern Conference Champions: Cleveland Cavs

Western Conference

Northwest Division

1) Portland Trailblazers
2) Oklahoma City Thunder
3) Denver Nuggets
4) Minnesota Timberwolves
5) Utah Jazz
Analysis: Not to brag, but I did predict the final standings for this division last year. I really liked Portland last year when not a lot of people did and I like them even more this year. A lot more experience and a lot of depth. This is a somewhat weak division aside from the obvious top 2 teams, but OkC will have a “down” year, which is still very good, but will miss Durant for the time he will be out of play. Minnesota will drop back a spot after losing a guy like Kevin Love. Another team with a lot of young talent, but they are too young for me to pick to get to the playoffs. Denver will have a better year as long as they stay healthy. I wouldn’t be too surprised if they were in the two spot by the halfway mark.

Pacific Division
1) Los Angeles Clippers
2) Golden State Warriors
3) Sacramento Kings
4) Phoenix Suns
5) Los Angeles Lakers
Analysis: Well, how the times have officially changed. The top 2 teams are obvious as this rivalry gets stronger and stronger every year. I think the Warriors have the potential to overtake the Clippers for first, but my uncertainty of how the team will be coached with Steve Kerr and not Mark Jackson holds that back. This is the year the Kings break through and have the best opportunity to get to the playoffs. I think they’ve built a strong core and should be another exciting team to show some flare. The Suns were a bit of a surprise team last year, but they don’t have a lot of front court depth that makes me confident on being consistent throughout the year. As for the Lakers, they are just bad. Who knows if they will have any team chemistry, which may possibly be Kobe’s last season. Steve Nash is already done for the season and have a lot of no-namers or aging players (Boozer). The Lakers should get that experience for Randle and look forward to next years draft.

Southwest Division
1) San Antonio Spurs
2) Dallas Mavericks
3) Houston Rockets
4) New Orleans Pelicans
5) Memphis Grizzlies
Analysis: My motto at this point is pick the Spurs until they fail. This is a tough division to pick for me as I think a lot of these teams are stacked to full potential. The Spurs depth is just insane and they have made a point to rest players throughout the year to be strong for the post season and almost always works. Dallas got stronger and deeper and I think they will pass Houston, who had struggled to defend. There’s a lot of movement of players within this division, which should make match ups throughout the year very enjoyable. The Pelicans are still young, but I feel they have stronger talent where they will pass the Grizz, but may still be a year away from the post season.

Western Conference Playoffs

1) Los Angeles Clippers
2) San Antonio Spurs
3) Portland Trailblazers
4) Dallas Mavericks
5) Oklahoma City Thunder
6) Golden State Warriors
7) Houston Rockets
8) Denver Nuggets

Western Conference Champions: Los Angeles Clippers

NBA Champions: Los Angeles Clippers

There you have it. I picked the Clippers to topple the Cavs in the NBA Finals this season and that would make a great series. It’s tougher to get out of the west and I was really thinking the Mavs might actually make a run in the playoffs, but not gutsy enough to pick a Mavs/Cavs Finals, as catchy as that is. I think the Cavs will put it all together by the time the playoffs start and though they won’t have home court, the experience from James may prevail. Regardless, I’m sure some will disagree with these picks, but they are only predictions, so give it a shot and hopefully this wasn’t your reaction to my picks…

Enjoy!

Reflecting Back in the NBA…Predicting the Near Future

Needless to say, I wasn’t dead on with my NBA predictions to start the season, but I was close enough on the teams I thought would make the playoffs. Dating back these were my top 8 in the east:

1) Miami Heat
2) Chicago Bulls
3) Philadelphia 76ers
4) Indiana Pacers
5) Atlanta Hawks
6) Boston Celtics
7) New York Knicks
8) Detroit Pistons

The 76ers as the 3rd seed sticks out like a sore thumb. I didn’t figure Andrew Bynum would miss ALL of the season and that obviously hurt my pre-season pick, but even with him Im not quite sure they would have been as good as I ranked them. The other pick was the Pistons squeezing in as the 8th seed. It was a gutsy pick and I thought with their young players they would put something together… Maybe next year. Lets start the breakdown of the 1st round in the East:

#1 Miami Heat
vs
#8 Milwaukee Bucks
Analysis: Okay, so maybe this matchup is exactly fair. I’m making a bold prediction in saying I think Miami has a great chance of running the table in the East. After Miami lost to the Bulls to end their HUGE winning streak, they started resting Wade, LeBron, and Bosh. They are healthy and ready to go. The East is weak overall and the Bucks slid into the playoffs. I’d be SHOCKED if they win at least a game.
Pick: Miami in 4.

#2 New York Knicks
vs
#7 Boston Celtics
Analysis: Amare may not be playing in this series, but it shouldn’t matter. I think Boston may win a few or at the very least each of the games should be close. New York has more talent than Boston and Carmelo is having a great season. He may hit 50 points in a few games in this series. Boston can’t advance without Rondo.
Pick: New York in 6

#3 Indiana Pacers
vs
#6 Atlanta Hawks
Analysis: Not going to lie, but this is a boring series and probably a series that will be on NBATV. Indiana plays great defense, but they don’t run up and down the court. The key to Indiana’s success will be Hibbert. If Hibbert can’t get going, then Indiana will struggle in the paint and just struggle overall. I think Atlanta can upset Indiana if Josh Smith plays incredible all series long.
Pick: Indiana in 7

#4 Chicago Bulls
vs
#5 Brooklyn Nets
Analysis: This will be the best eastern conference first round series. Without Derek Rose its anyone’s game and if the Bulls really put their minds to it, they can play a rough game, but they may wear themselves down since they don’t have a typical “go-to” player. Brooklyn has a lot of fire power and will make it an interesting series.
Pick: Brooklyn in 6

As for the western conference, these are the 8 teams I picked in the pre-season to make the playoffs:

1) Oklahoma City Thunder
2) Los Angeles Lakers
3) San Antonio Spurs
4) Los Angeles Clippers
5) Denver Nuggets
6) Memphis Grizzlies
7) Golden State Warriors
8) Phoenix Suns

In all reality I didn’t do so bad, just my seeding was a tad off. The only one I got wrong of getting in was picking the Suns, as the Rockets got in. I knew the Rockets had a good team going in, but I wasn’t sure how the chemistry would work for them and how Harden would step up as a star player. It sets up for a nice exciting first round game, lets jump right in.

#1 Oklahoma City Thunder
vs
#8 Houston Rockets
Analysis: I got it right when I thought OkC would be ranked #1 in the west. They didn’t miss a step without James Harden, but they’ll see him at least 4 times in the playoffs regardless. This will be a fun series because both teams run and shoot teams. James Harden may drop 50 at least once in a home game. Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook have the ability to do that as well, and more than once.
Pick: Oklahoma City in 6

#2 San Antonio Spurs
vs
#7 Los Angeles Lakers
Analysis: So I knew The Lakers would make the playoffs and be in this game, but I thought they would be the 2 seed. They had such a rocky season and going into this series and the entirety of the playoffs without Kobe Bryant. They got the perfect match up being that the Spurs are dinged up. This series can go either way, but I think the Lakers may surprise people with the strong play of Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol.
Pick: LA Lakers in 6

#3 Denver Nuggets
vs
#6 Golden State Warriors
Analysis: This is my favorite series in the west, which means a lot since every series in the west is going to be entertaining. Denver’s “no star” team has been fast paced all year and put together a nice long win streak of their own. On the other side, I really love the team Golden State put together, but for mostly all of them, it’s their first playoff appearance. I’m a really big fan of what Mark Jackson has preached and I foresee a possible upset.
Pick: Golden State in 7

#4 Los Angeles Clippers
vs
#5 Memphis Grizzlies
Analysis: A little bit of a rivalry forming here between these two teams. They met last year and went a thrilling 7 games. This time LA has the home court advantage. The Clippers and Memphis know each other extremely well and there is a lot of dislike. This is another series that is a must see and can go either way. Home court doesn’t guarantee a series victory.
Pick: LA Clippers in 7

NBA Mid-Season… Trade Deadline Approaches

 

Weird happenings during the All-Star break in Houston (see the picture above). I have to be honest. I did not watch much of the all-star events such as the celebrity game, rookies vs sophomores, the skills, 3-point, and dunk contest. I caught the 4th quarter of the all-star game and that was it. As a fan, it’s disappointing that I’m not excited to see the dunk contest any more. The lack of star power that competes in it is disappointing. Competes is really the key word all in all, because is it really competing? The players did it for fun and for the fans. Of course players enjoy winning and topping the rest of the players in the NBA, but those times have sadly ended. 

The All-Star weekend has come to an end and the second half to the season has started back up tonight. There are many questions that remain to be answered heading into the playoff talk and more importantly at the moment, the trade deadline. The trade deadline is on Thursday and there are some names that are still floating around to be traded. There could potentially be a ton of movement or very little. I’m leaning toward the very little movement only because there is a lot of stipulations to move players such as players not being signed for the long term or players not waiving no trade clauses in their contracts. I’ve listed some players that may be on the move by Thursday:

1) Dwight Howard
Dwight Howard is back in the discussion of trades. The first question that should be asked is, is Dwight a good fit for the future of the Lakers? The Lakers are Kobe Bryant’s team (for now), but if they resign Howard, will he be happy and will he be utilized the way he should? If the Lakers have a feeling that Howard won’t resign after this season, they may want to trade him to get some pieces in return. There’s one team that Dwight has expressed he would want to play for and thats Brooklyn. If Brooklyn wants him, they can trade Lopez who they have locked up for 4 years and a few other pieces or possibly even involve another team if the Lakers are still interested in Kevin Love. 

2) Kevin Garnett
The main question with Garnett is, will he waive is no trade clause? The Clippers is the team that has been reportedly the most interested, but reports say he does not want to leave Boston. The only destination I see him going to is the Clippers and if he accepts a trade going there it will be strictly be because he wants to play with Chris Paul. 

3) Marcin Gortat
The Suns are in dead last in the West, so why wouldn’t the Suns look to trade Gortat? There are always teams that can use an extra big guy. The first time I heard his name in trade talks was to go to Boston. If they do trade Garnett, maybe Boston would be the best fit for Gortat. I wouldn’t be surprised if Philly makes a move for him given that they are 9th in the East at the moment and Andrew Bynum still hasn’t played a game. Bynum will be a free agent after this season and no guarantee he will resign. I can also see the Thunder or Hawks being interested in him.

4) Josh Smith
The Hawks are determined to get rid of Josh Smith and this is concerning to me being that Atlanta is 6th in the East and only 3.5 games behind 2nd. Even more concerning is that they are looking into trading him to Brooklyn who are currently 1 game ahead of Atlanta. Another strange possibility would be to trade him to Boston for either a Rondo or Pierce. Josh Smith is a guy that can be a key piece in a playoff run and may be a great fit for Brooklyn where he has played with Joe Johnson previously and especially if the Nets land Dwight Howard.

5) JJ Redick
JJ will be an unrestricted free agent in July, and Orlando is looking to get a 1st round draft pick in return for him. Once upon a time, the Bulls were interested in signing him and the Magic beat them with their offer. The Bulls may look to trade for JJ, not so much for this season but for the future once Rose is back and healthy. The Bulls are stuck until they trade off Boozer and his contract though. Another destination for JJ can be New York who hasn’t been what they were last year in perimeter shooting. 

As previously mentioned, Carlos Boozer may be included in a trade to dump salary for the Bulls. The Clippers are still loaded with point guards and may look to trade Eric Bledsoe for either Garnett or another piece if they can’t land Garnett. Gasol may be included if Love gets traded in a Dwight deal, Rondo was once talked about possibly going to LA for Dwight, and Pierce may get traded also? With all the injuries with Gasol and Rondo, it may just be talk and nothing big may happen by Thursday. Time will tell.

Buzzer Beaters and Comebacks…

Kevin Durant pictured above

I didn’t have a post yesterday because I was so overwhelmed with the events that happened yesterday (like my Orlando Magic proving me wrong and winning game 1 in Indiana), so I’ll cover some of the major happenings of the weekend. As expected, the weekend was filled with great games to watch. The Bulls won (but lost Derrick Rose), the Knicks got creamed, the Magic stole game 1 on the road, and the Thunder trailed the whole game until the 4th quarter when Durant hit the game winner (as pictured). 

As for today, the Spurs broke their bad luck of losing game 1’s by defeating the Jazz, the Lakers had no problem with the Nuggets, the Hawks held on to beat the Celtics (with possibly losing Rondo to a suspension), and the game to end the weekend was probably the best game out of all of them. The Clippers made a remarkable comeback to beat the Grizzlies on the road.

I want to touch up on two particular things that happened today during the NBA playoffs. I watched the Boston-Atlanta game live and saw what happened with Rondo toward the end of the game. He was clearly upset that the call on the floor was a foul when it was clear that it should have been a jump ball during a crucial part of the game. Rondo picked up a quick technical foul and then “bumped” the ref which gave him the second technical foul to eject him. The rules of the NBA is that if a player intentionally bumps or touches an official, the player will get suspended. I don’t think it was intentional to bump the referee, but I find it hilarious listening to the analysts on the TNT post game show: Shaq, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith all said that, “Rondo tripped”. I don’t think I agree that he tripped, but I also don’t think it was intentional and hopes he doesn’t get suspended for a game in the playoffs. Within the playoffs, emotions get stirred and actions flow and when the official turned his back on Rondo, he went to speak to him and his momentum carried him into the ref. And not to the point of receiving the technical fouls to begin with, I thought it was a horrible call on the floor to call it a foul (Brandon Bass’ last foul) instead of a jump ball.

As to next topic, the Clippers were all but down and out in game 1 of the series with Memphis. Memphis dominated the game from the first quarter until the third quarter. In the 4th quarter, I think the score was 95-71 or something around that, the Clippers started to make their come back. They started that comeback with playing defense and making every shot more difficult for Memphis. However, I think Memphis also took their foot off the gas because they were up by so much. Give much deserved credit to the Clippers after losing Caron Butler to a fractured hand, the play of Reggie Evans, Eric Bledsoe, and Nick Young were outstanding. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin were in foul trouble for most of the game and they still fought on and never gave up. Nick Young hit three 3 point shots in one minute and brought the Clippers back to a 3 point game with about 3 minutes left. At this point in the game, I feel that the Grizzlies completely gave up hope and gave up their strategy they had the whole game. The Clippers went on a 28-3 point run within the last 8 and a half minutes in the game and the most impressive part of this was it all happened on the road. It interests me on how Memphis responds in game 2, because other than the 4th quarter, they played a great game; however, the momentum the Clippers got from that victory can carry them through game 2 if they remain focused. All the pressure is on Memphis. Welcome to the playoffs!

Feel free to give thoughts about this past weekend!