The many trades that took place during the NBA offseason, has made this upcoming season totally unpredictable……or did it? Here a few predictions I have about the upcoming NBA season starting tonight:
- The Golden State Warriors will win the championship again – I hate to say it, but we kind of already know how this season will end. Unless the Warriors are hit with some major injuries during the season, they probably will win the Championship again. The Golden State Warriors have built an almost perfect team over the last five or six seasons. The addition of Kevin Durant was simply overkill. From top to bottom, the Warriors were a lot better than every other team in the NBA last season.(Including Cleveland) The Warriors were one of a few teams that didn’t lose anything that they didn’t easily replace in the offseason. Golden State’s second unit is capable of competing with most teams’ starters. This is a very well put together team from 1-15. The Warriors will most likely be taking home “the chip” once again.
- The Cleveland Cavaliers will not be the Eastern Conference champions this season. I understand that Lebron James is the best player on the planet, but I think most people are under-valuing the loss of Kyrie Irving. That was huge! Remember all of those off shooting nights Lebron had last season? Guess who was there to pick up the slack? Kyrie Irving was a big part of why The Cavs were so successful. I don’t see that they added enough to fill that void. I don’t think the Isiah Thomas thing is going to work out as well as Cleveland had hoped. Isiah was productive in Boston because he was something like what Allen Iverson used to be to the Philadelphia 76ers. “He’s the man…the rest of ya’ll just play defense, and on offense find yourself a spot and be ready if Isiah passes you the ball.” This won’t play well in Cleveland’s starting rotation or the Cav’s second unit. J.R. Smith needs shot attempts just to be interested enough in the game to play some defense on the other end. The addition of Dwayne Wade is just downright confusing. I understand the friendship thing, and the reminiscing from the old days back in Miami, but Wade isn’t that same player. He has always been a player who creates for everyone when he has the ball in his hands. Wade seemed to get old quickly. This is not the 08′ – 09′ Dwayne Wade that led the league in scoring anymore. Holding the ball and trying to create at this point in his career, is not the best thing for this team….or him. And Wade has never learned to be a spot up shooter type of guy who’s productivity doesn’t depend on having the ball in his hands. I think the Cavs have made more of a mess, than a power move with the roster changes in this offseason.
- The New York Knicks will still be bad. The End.
- The San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets will meet in the first round of the playoffs. It seems like two Texas teams always play one another in the first round of the playoffs every season. I picked these two because I honestly don’t think the Mavs will make the playoffs this year. Until the Mavs realize that Dirk has been on his last wooden leg for the past five or six seasons, and convince him to retire, or trade him, the Mavs are not doing much of anything.
- The Houston Rockets won’t be playing in the Western Conference Championship game. I don’t like the Harden and Paul mixture. They can talk all the positive stuff they want, but reality says that this is a bad combination. Harden is a shooting ass 2 guard who has become comfortable being more like a point guard. Harden is not comfortable not being the facilitator on this team. Harden needs to be part of the action. Whether points are being scored or assist are being dished out, James Harden is looking to be a part of the action, not a spectator idly standing by waiting for Chris Paul to pass him the rock. The Rockets will make the playoffs, but the second round is as far as this team will go. Sorry Rockets fans.
- The Oklahoma City Thunder will be facing the Warriors in the Western Conference championship game. I think people are going to be surprised to see what happens when you put a few proven all-stars on a team with Russel Westbrook. I know, I know, you’re saying “he already played with two all-stars, KD and Harden. True, but that was before Russel Westbrook went full Russel Westbrook. Back then he was always an afterthought to KD. Today, that Oklahoma City team belongs to Brook. It’s a big difference. Westbrook is now the guy expected to take the big shot at the end of the game…not KD. Westbrook carried a garbage can on his back last season. The Thunder’s scoring dropped drastically every time Westbrook went to the bench to catch his breath last year. With the addition of “Hoodie Melo” and Paul George, Westbrook can get the kind of bench rest that a star player needs, and the team will not be hurting to find scoring while he’s doing so. This makes a HUGE difference! Thunder vs. Warriors Western Conference Finals. Warriors in six.
- The 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks will make the playoffs this season. The Eastern Conference is really not that good. This isn’t as much of a stretch as you think it is.
- The Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors will face off in the Eastern Conference Finals. One of these two will be the team to knock the Cavs out of the playoffs in a close seven game series, then will go on to face the other in the Conference Finals. It really doesn’t matter though, Warriors win the “Chip” in five (5) against either one.
- Almost forgot….The Lakers will be fun to watch, but won’t be all that competitive. That team, competing in a difficult western Conference….NO. Outside of the interest in Lonzo Ball, the Lakers have added no key pieces to the squad that will take them from bottom of the pack to top or even middle. The Lakers will still be bad….as for Lonzo Ball…..I think the youngster can compete in this league. Will he be the Lakers’ next Kobe Bryant? Only time will tell….
Being the basketball pro that you are, I know you strongly disagree with all of this! Drop a comment below to let me know where I went wrong.
