nba 2022-2023 prediction thread

do whatever format you'd like pals

east

1. boston celtics
2. philadelphia sixers
3. milwaukee bucks
4. toronto raptors
5. miami heat
6. cleveland cavaliers

7. brooklyn nets
8. atlanta hawks
9. new york knicks
10. chicago bulls

12. washington wizards
13. charlotte hornets
14. detroit pistons
15. orlando magic

we'll see what joe mazulla is all about in the playoffs but i feel like this boston team is pretty set it and forget it as far as the regular season goes. their depth is concerning but i think their best players will see the floor a lot. sixers and bucks will win a lot of regular season games, don't think there's a ton to say there. the bucks roster is a bit shaky (the degree to which they appear to be relying on jordan nwora is scary) so i have them a step below over 82. both the raptors and heat know how they want to play and have great coaches, i feel good about continuity carrying those two into the 4-5 above the hawks and cavs. the heat have looked clean as a whistle in the preseason.

i like the cavs over the hawks also due to continuity... i may be underrating the cavs based on what we saw last year. docking them slightly due to integrating mitchell, also their roster still feels a bit ill fitting to me. as for the nets i'm falling on the side of bad stupid shit happening to them again over the course of 82. hawks starting 5 looks nice on paper... we'll see if they can play a lick of defense. not a fan of their coach. knicks and bulls both feel like a solid bet to be around .500, don't have strong feelings on them either way.

wizards feel like the odd team out in between the top 10 and the bottom 3 or 4. i don't trust porzingis or beal... they have some other decent role players but a lot of bad young players. i think the hornets still have enough talent to not fully bottom out... magic and pistons i think ppl are over their skis thinking they might challenge for the play in.

west

1. denver nuggets
2. memphis grizzlies
3. golden state warriors
4. los angeles clippers
5. dallas mavericks
6. phoenix suns

7. minnesota timberwolves
8. new orleans pelicans
9. los angeles lakers
10. sacramento kings

11. portland trailblazers
12. houston rockets
13. okc thunder
14. san antonio spurs
15. utah jazz

i don't feel very good about my take on the west outside the top 4. i thought denver had a really nice offseason, KCP and bruce brown feel like great adds. i think they'll win a ton of games in the regular season. wouldn't surprise me if they had the best record in the NBA overall. memphis and golden state feel like they'll keep trucking along. i think the clippers are the best team in the west (spoiler alert) but i think they'll hold their guys back enough to be a hair below the others. i don't think they care about seeding or home court. i'm still high on dallas' team defense and luka... i think they're a clear top 6 team. i had no idea what to do w/ phoenix, putting them at 6 is basically me throwing up my hands. but they feel like this year's jazz to me where they start to slip down the standings as the season goes on before being embarrassed in the playoffs and then the team gets dismantled.

i'm not heavy on the wolves and pelicans like lots of people in the media, though if the wolves were a top 6 seed i wouldn't be surprised. i just don't believe in the KAT/gobert pairing and i don't like their roster outside of their top 3. i think there's a good chance they don't win any more playoff games than they did last year. the pelicans are the most overrated team in the NBA to me, i can't remember a team getting so hyped off winning two first round games where the other teams best players were hurt. i get why ppl like their roster but i think they have a lot to figure out in terms of how all their guys play together on both sides of the floor. also their three best players are always hurt.

i had no idea what to do w/ the lakers. ultimately they're both too old and too young. their roster is really patchy and they have a first time head coach. i think they're in the play in at least but building the argument for them as a top 6 seed is very hard. i think sacramento will be highly motivated to make the play in so i give them the nod over portland but both feel destined to be fighting for the 10 seed to me.

nothing really to say about the bottom 4 teams. i think houston has a fun roster that is crying out for a two way dominant force, feels like they have a lot of one way guys currently. my thoughts on the spurs are that i really liked keldon johnson and devin vassell in fantasy. okc and utah... no thoughts head empty.

playoffs

east finals: bucks over celtics
west finals: clippers over warriors
nba finals: clippers over bucks

i think the bucks big three has enough to carry them to the finish line this year, but i think their roster still sags in too many places to win it all. the west is hard to peg but i think the clippers have the right combo of high end talent, depth, flexibility, and coaching to win the conference. no other team from the west is screaming out at me as a title winner. i think the sixers and nuggets go out in the second round bcuz of roster construction issues.

awards

mvp: jayson tatum
DPOY: giannis
6MOY: malcolm brogdon
coach: michael malone
most improved: evan mobley

cross posting from the other thread

nuggets
warriors
suns
clippers
grizzlies
wolves
------
pels
mavs
kings
lakers

celtics
76ers
bucks
heat
cavs
hawks
------
raptors
bulls
knicks
magic?

mvp: embiid
coy: malone
6moy: poole
dpoy: draymond
roy: banchero
mip: uhh maxey?

we're on the same wavelength w/ denver

i forgot to rank the pacers, needless to say i think they'll be last in the east

no other team from the west is screaming out at me as a title winner.

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, October 18, 2022 2:17 PM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

idk how you can watch what the warriors just did and not believe they can do it again? and they should be actually better this season.

i think the records in the top 6-8 of the west are gonna be tight

also lol i left out the nets, thought i typed them.. put them in 5th and bump everyone else down a slot

idk how you can watch what the warriors just did and not believe they can do it again? and they should be actually better this season.

― Spottie, Tuesday, October 18, 2022 5:23 PM (three minutes ago)

yeah. i just think repeating is gonna be a bear for them. that group has accomplished basically everything you could possibly imagine. i also think they had a really easy draw in the conference last year

a lot of people predicted dallas would beat them, and memphis.

i think if you were gonna rank the final 8 teams in last year’s playoffs phoenix, dallas, and memphis would be in the bottom 4 with philly. and then memphis lost ja

the suns were the title favorites. or do you mean on a re-rank? the grizz had ja to start the series and the dubs were blowing them out during the swing game that he went down, which ended the series more or less. i think the grizz last year with healthy ja and jjj were as good as anyone.

yeah i just mean looking back on those teams in retrospect. i think the final 4 in the west this year is gonna be a lot stronger

was thinking the bucks to win but then i read that middleton is gonna miss the beginning season cause of surgery and started to feel like is this team about to fade, obvs a tough year to predict i was looking at the west and i dont like any of the teams to have the best record idk

i think the bucks have the best top 3 in the east, prob the best backbone of any team in the league. but yes on middleton and also their roster isn’t really improved from last year when i think they got exposed in that boston series. and yet they still almost won and would’ve beaten miami! helps to have the undisputed best player in the world

yeah giannis is showing no sign of slowing but the rest of the team idk

mavs and wiz will overperform
hawks and twolves will underperform

nuggets will win the nba playoffs

mvp luka
dpoy bam
roy ivey

celtics > bucks
nugs > dubs
celtics > nugs :)

finals mvp jayson tatum

was thinking that with the intensified tanking this year more good players than usual might be available for trade which could change the race

cross posting from the other thread

nuggets
warriors
suns
clippers
grizzlies
wolves
------
pels
mavs
kings
lakers

celtics
76ers
bucks
heat
cavs
hawks
------
raptors
bulls
knicks
magic?

mvp: embiid
coy: malone
6moy: poole
dpoy: draymond
roy: banchero
mip: uhh maxey?

― Spottie, Tuesday, October 18, 2022 5:19 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

ilu

Not going to make a prediction because I'm not enough of a head, especially out West, to make it really informed. As a Sixers fan, I just hope for team health (especially Embiid) heading into and through the playoffs and the rest will take care of itself (i.e. another second round exit).

i'm not makin any picks this year bc i have too much credibility to lose

j/k nuggets champs, giannis mvp, lots of ugly tanking, lots of major injuries, blazers bad, zion good, lakers medicre

if the blazers are out of it by mid year i think we might finally see dame get moved.

with that contract? i mean cheers if so but he's owed $67m in his age 37 season

sorry, $63m. a bargain!

someone might still pull the trigger but the clock is ticking

wld be weird to give him that extension then immediately trade him tho

yeah i should preface it by saying if the blazers are out of it and dame looks good...

would look weird yeah but gotta let him free.

west:
GSW
DEN
DAL
LAC
MEM
MIN
PHO
LAL

east:
BOS
PHI
MIL
MIA
BKN
TOR
CLE
ATL

mvp: tatum
coy: kidd
6moy: brogdon
dpoy: embiid
roy: mathurin

finals: LAC vs MIL
champs: LAC

the westbrook contract and the two lakers unprotected picks is the only obvious dame trade that makes sense to me. but that feels like a very light return for portland. i think the lakers would somehow need to find other assets to spin into the deal

worst PR move the blazers could make on the planet is trading the beloved son and arguable best blazer ever to the villainous lakers, simply not going to happen for the sake of the front office not getting immediately burned to the ground

wow two mvp votes for tatum idk even if he does play at an mvp level feel like guys usually dont get it the first year they do that, tho the media has been on his nuts since day one so maybe, i would support it tho

almost picked steph tbh

my feeling on the MVP is that jokic is effectively eliminated this year and so it’s almost certainly gonna go to a player in the east unless steph or luka grab it. embiid or giannis are prob the safer bets but i think tatum’s chances are being heavily discounted given that he’s the best player on a team that easily could finish first in the east & everyone just spent the entire playoffs talking about how great he is (even as he sometimes didn’t play all that great)

embiid has been knocking on the door theyll give it to him if he looks like he did the last two seasons and no one else goes supernova

that’s prob true. there’s always the chance embiid doesn’t hit whatever arbitrary games played threshold exists to win

new prediction - scoring will be way up league wide this year

east

bos
phi
mil
cle
mia
bk

atl
tor
chi
was

cha
det
nyk
orl
ind

west

gsw
den
lac
phx
mem
min

dal
nop
lal
por

sac
okc
hou
ut
sa

mvp: tatum
roy: keegan murray
coy: mike malone
6moy: reggie jackson
roy: paolo

finals: mil over gsw

lmao i couldnt decide ROY so now theres two, jk jk its paolo

guess that settles it tatum is mvp, congrats to him

also michael malone running away with ILH COY

reggie jackson is a great 6MOY pick bison

nice move giving the best draft odds to the spurs kudos

im wacky 4 wembanyama

West:
Warriors
Nuggets
Grizz
Clippers
Timberwolves
Mavs
--
Suns
Pelicans
Trailblazers
Rockets

East:
Celtics
Bucks
Sixers
Heat
Nets
Toronto
---
Cavs
Knicks
Hawks
Hornets

MVP: Giannis
Coach: Jenkins, Grizz
6th Man: Poole
Defensive POY: Giannis
Rookie: No idea
Most Improved: Brogdon

everyone tatum mvp predictions looking pretty good

He’s averaging nine free throw attempts per game, nearly three more than his previous career high. He’s shooting 80 percent from inside of four feet. He has averaged 11.1 points in the paint per game, which would also be a career-high. He has scored at least 31 points in five of the six games during the current winning streak.

first quarter corrections?

finals mvp jayson tatum

― lag∞n, Tuesday, October 18, 2022 6:30 PM (one month ago) bookmarkflaglink

B-)

i was too low on the cavs which i knew i was but i was just being stubborn. was too low on the pelicans. everyone was too low on the suns tho i still think that's a house of cards that crumbles in the playoffs. maybe a bit too high on denver tho i think they could go on a big second half run. def too high on the clippers as far as the regular season goes. everyone was too high on the sixers and tho there's some obv some mitigating factors there that they just don't seem to be the team ppl were expecting to see

tatum as mvp is looking pretty good tho

celtics and suns shaking offseason drama to top their conferences for the first quarter of the season should be commended for sure. thats not usually how this stuff works out.

pels gotta be the best story so far. jazz and blazers got all the praise to start the season but have slowly come back to earth and the pels are just steady even with big starters in and out of the lineup. kings also looking good.

warriors look like themselves once they demoted wiseman and stopped forcing the youth movement. but their defensive issues are real and they need to make a trade.

clips, grizz, 76ers, who knows they've all been too injured

heat, mavs, warriors biggest disappointments

crazy thing about the pelicans is zion is just starting to find his groove if he really gets rolling they could be dangerous

they have solid and versatile two-way role players too with trey/herb/nance/jose and other borderline all star talents in cj/jonas that can get you 20+ any given night. and cj has been really bad so far so he should improve.

yeah none of their stars have even played that good

other than underestimating the knicks and kings, i did pretty good

i nailed denver. was right on new orleans. was way too high on miami and toronto. too low on the cavs and knicks

my preseason final four of clippers over warriors, bucks over celtics, and clippers over bucks is still alive. not that i would be on it...

j/k nuggets champs, giannis mvp, lots of ugly tanking, lots of major injuries, blazers bad, zion good, lakers medicre

wrong on giannis by a hair and didn't think to mix together the zion good but also majorly injured, other than that pretty solid if the nuggets win (they won't)

I forgot to post my predictions this year but I would have chosen the exact order it ended up finishing in

wow, kevstradamus over here

I failed to post predictions to save myself from eating my words right now. I don't follow the NBA closely enough any more to try my hand at preseason predictions. I follow it just enough to get my share of pleasure from it.