Author Topic: What are your Eastern & Western conference rankings predictions for next season?  (Read 2744 times)

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Offline chambers

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  • Boston Celtics= Championships, nothing less.
And where the Celtics finish too if you want (warning, you will 100% be flamed no matter what you choose- do so at your own risk  8) )


Mine:

West
1 San Antonio
2 LA Clippers
3 OKC
4 Memphis
5 Dallas
6 Golden State
7 Houston
8 Portland
-----------------
9 New Orleans
10 Phoenix
11 Denver
12 Lakers
13 Minnesota
14 Sacramento
15 Utah

East
1 Cleveland (if they get Love)
2 Chicago
3 Indiana
4 Washington
5 Miami
6 Toronto
7 Atlanta
8 Charlotte
-----------
9 Brooklyn
10 Detroit
11 Boston
12 New York
13 Orlando
14 Milwaulkee
15 Philly

Celtics finish 11th in the East behind Brooklyn and Detroit but better than Milwaukee, Philly, Orlando and New York.
The Western conference bottom dwellers may be as bad as the East last year.
The Lakers will be pretty much the same with Kobe replacing Pau Gasol and their additions like Boozer giving them maybe an extra 6 or 7 wins.
The Suns, Kings, Wolves (after Love goes) will all be worse, but the Pelicans and Denver should be slightly better with Asik and Afflalo + their young talent growth projections.
There should be at least 5 or 6 teams worse than us- but this is based off our current roster. If we trade Green, Bass, Turner, Thornton by the deadline we'll probably be a bottom 6 team again. If we trade Rondo then that cements our bottom 5 status.
Even if we keep the current roster as is, we're going to struggle mightily in the paint on both ends rebounding and scoring/defending. Big teams will dominate us like last year.
Still don't have any killer shooters either.

Pick your rankings.
"We are lucky we have a very patient GM that isn't willing to settle for being good and coming close. He wants to win a championship and we have the potential to get there still with our roster and assets."

quoting 'Greg B' on RealGM after 2017 trade deadline.
Read that last line again. One more time.

Offline Blaze4G

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West
1 San Antonio
2 LA Clippers
3 OKC
4 Golden State
5 Dallas
6 Memphis
7 Houston
8 Portland
-----------------
9 New Orleans
10 Phoenix
11 Denver
12 Lakers
13 Minnesota
14 Utah
15 Sacramento

East
1 Cleveland also if they get love
2 Chicago
3 Washington
4 Indiana
5 Toronto
6 Miami
7 Atlanta
8 Charlotte
-----------
9 Brooklyn
10 Boston
11 Detroit
12 New York
13 Orlando
14 Milwaulkee
15 Philly

Offline chambers

  • Tiny Archibald
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bump! surely people have got some idea of during this boring August/July!
"We are lucky we have a very patient GM that isn't willing to settle for being good and coming close. He wants to win a championship and we have the potential to get there still with our roster and assets."

quoting 'Greg B' on RealGM after 2017 trade deadline.
Read that last line again. One more time.

Offline celticmania

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West
1 Thunder (think Kd takes next step)
2 Spurs
3 LA clippers
4 Mavericks
5 Trailblazers
6 Warriors
7 Rockets
8 Grizzlies

East
1 Cavs
2 Bulls
3 Heat
4 Wiz
5 Hornets (sleepers...could sneak into top 3)
6 Pacers
7 Raptors
8 Hawks

Offline indeedproceed

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EAST:
Top tier (in some order)
Cavs, Bulls, Wizards, Pacers, Raptors
-LeBron alone guarantees 50 wins, but I don't think the supporting cast is there to guarantee 60. Because of that I see a 59 or 58 win team winning the East regular season, and really I think it could be any one of those teams. They're all in a position where "we need nothing major to go wrong" rather than "we need something major to go right that probably won't"

Second Tier:
Heat, Hawks, Hornets, Knicks
-All of these guys need something to go right that hasn't previously. Wade or Bosh needs to reclaim their inner durable alpha dog, Horford needs a whole season, Stephenson needs to gel with a maturing Hornets squad, Knicks need to gel in general. All of them have the talent, but too many things need to go right to be 1st tier teams

Third tier:
Nets, Pistons, Celtics
-I could see the Celtics challenging for a playoff spot if Rondo comes correct, I could see the pistons galvanized under SVG, I could see the Nets rediscovering their inner likability with the departure of Kidd's primadonna act and the more steady hand of Hollins, along with a Brook Lopez resurgence. Ultimately, I doubt any of those things happen though.

Fourth Tier:
Magic, Sixers, Bucks
-The East really is wide open, because get a few drinks in me and I could easily see a scenario of good luck/sudden maturity coupled with bad play from some of the above teams where the magic or bucks sneak into the playoffs, but until we see it, this is the basement.

WEST:
Top Tier: Spurs, Thunder
-I don't think any other team has a "we'll probably make the conference Finals" more than the Spurs or Thunder. The Spurs, because their business model is just so flawless and the talent fits together so perfectly, the Thunder because The Durant/Westbrook/Ibaka trifecta is now unequivocally the best Big Three in the league.

Second Tier: Blazers, Warriors, Clippers, Grizzlies, Rockets
-Nobody made any big splashes in free agency, nobody really got significantly worse. None of them are outright contenders and would need perfect matchups to get to the conference finals.

Third Tier: Suns, Mavs, Nuggets, Pelicans
-Surefire playoff teams in the East, they all made improvements (or will if Gallinari comes back in top form) from last year, they all have the talent to make the playoffs and steal a series, but the West is a murderers row in spots 3-11. Anything goes, but these guys are the fringe of the fringe

Fourth Tier:
Lakers, Wolves, Kings
-All teams that will make the best attempt they can at winning, but probably lack the cohesive talent necessary to get it done.

Fifth Tier:
Jazz
-Likely still rebuilding. Sorry, Utah.

"You've gotta respect a 15-percent 3-point shooter. A guy
like that is always lethal." - Evan 'The God' Turner

Offline Who

  • James Naismith
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Eastern Conference

1 Chicago
2 Cleveland
3 Washington
4 Indiana
5 Toronto
6 Atlanta
7 Miami
8 Charlotte

9  New York
10 Detroit
11 Boston
12 Brooklyn
13 Milwaukee
14 Orlando
15 Philadelphia

Offline Who

  • James Naismith
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Western Conference

1 Oklahoma
2 San Antonio
3 Golden State
4 Portland
5 LA Clippers
6 Dallas
7 Houston
8 Memphis

9  New Orleans
10 Phoenix
11 Denver
12 Minnesota
13 Sacramento
14 LA Lakers
15 Utah

Offline PhoSita

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I started doing a ranking, and then I realized it's gonna be basically the same, only the Cavaliers jump to the top of the East and knock the Nets out of the playoff picture.

How about a ranking of the bottom 10?

30. Sixers
29. Magic
28. Bucks
27. Lakers
26. Celtics
25. Jazz
24. Timberwolves (after Love trade)
23. Pistons
22. Knicks
21. Kings
20. Nuggets
You’ll have to excuse my lengthiness—the reason I dread writing letters is because I am so apt to get to slinging wisdom & forget to let up. Thus much precious time is lost.
- Mark Twain

Offline BigDogPitbull

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1.Chicago
2.Cleveland
3.Miami
4.Charlotte
5.Indiana
6.Washington
7.Toronto
8.New York
9.Brooklyn
10.Atlanta
11.Detroit
12.Milwaukee
13.Boston
14.Philadelphia
15.Orlando

1.Oklahoma City
2.Los Angeles Clippers
3.Dallas
4.San Antonio
5.Golden State
6.Portland
7.New Orleans
8.Houston
9.Memphis
10.Los Angeles Lakers
11.Phoenix
12.Denver
13.Sacramento
14.Utah
15.Minnesota





Offline rondoallaturca

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Quote
Eastern Conference

Tier 1: Division winners
1. Chicago Bulls
2. Toronto Raptors
3. Washington Wizards

Tier 2: Playoff contenders
4. Cleveland Cavaliers
5. Atlanta Hawks
6. Charlotte Hornets
7. Miami Heat

Tier 3: Fringe playoff teams
8. New York Knicks
9. Brooklyn Nets
10. Detroit Pistons

Tier 4: In flux
11. Indiana Pacers
12. Boston Celtics

Tier 5: Lottery
13. Milwaukee Bucks
14. Orlando Magic
15. Philadelphia 76ers

Quote
Western Conference

Tier 1: Division winners
1. San Antonio Spurs
2. Oklahoma City Thunder
3. Los Angeles Clippers

Tier 2: Playoff contenders
4. Memphis Grizzlies
5. Dallas Mavericks
6. Golden State Warriors
7. Portland Trailblazers
8. Houston Rockets
9. Phoenix Suns

Tier 3: Fringe playoff teams
10. Denver Nuggets
11. New Orleans Pelicans
12. Minnesota Timberwolves

Tier 4: In flux
13. Sacramento Kings

Tier 5: Lottery
14. Los Angeles Lakers
15. Utah Jazz

Quote
Notes
- Reflects Paul George injury

Online SparzWizard

  • Reggie Lewis
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East
1. Cleveland
2. Washington
3. Chicago
4. Toronto (div champs)
5. Miami
6. Charlotte
7. Atlanta
8. New York
-----------------------
9. Brooklyn
10. Detroit
11. Boston
12. Indiana
13. Milwaukee
14. Philadelphia
15. Orlando

West

1. Oklahoma City
2. Houston
3. San Antonio
4. Golden State (div champs)
5. Dallas
6. Portland
7. Los Angeles Clippers
8. Memphis
---------------------------------------
9. New Orleans
10. Los Angeles Lakers
11. Phoenix
12. Sacramento
13. Minnesota
14. Denver
15. Utah


#JTJB (Just Trade Jaylen Brown)
#JFJM (Just Fire Joe Mazzulla)

Offline slamtheking

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West
1 San Antonio
2 OKC
3 Dallas
4 Portland
5 Golden State
6 LA Clippers
7 Houston
8 Memphis
-----------------
9 New Orleans
10 Lakers
11 Denver
12 Phoenix
13 Sacramento
14 Minnesota
15 Utah

East
1 Cleveland (pending expected Love deal)
2 Chicago
3 Washington
4 Miami
5 Atlanta
6 Charlotte
7 Indiana
8 Toronto
-----------
9 Detroit
10 Brooklyn
11 New York
12 Milwaukee
13 Orlando
14 Boston
15 Philly

-Clips take a hit this year due to Sterling turmoil
-NO misses playoffs by 1 game
-Kobe returns and pushes a lousy roster almost into the playoffs
-Paul George injury torpedoes Indy's regular season.
-Boston finishes with 3rd worst record ahead of only Philly (worst) and Utah.  Smart looks like a solid pick although fans here will continue to harp about skipping a few players picked after him that had better years.  Rondo bounces back almost to pre-injury form but suffer through a losing season because they just cannot score down the stretch in games.  end up with 2nd pick in lottery with Utah winning the top pick.

Online Neurotic Guy

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Not one person (so far) predicts that Brooklyn will make the playoffs.  I understand that this has to do with the loss of PP and lack of faith in the declining DW.   But, they have Jarret Jack now to back up the point and Brooke Lopez returns.  Still have JJ along with a bunch of decent rotation/role players (AK, Teletovic, Blatche, Plumlee). And KG will probably be back.   And a grown up coach!   

I think they make the playoffs one last time before they start giving us their #1's.

Offline slamtheking

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Not one person (so far) predicts that Brooklyn will make the playoffs.  I understand that this has to do with the loss of PP and lack of faith in the declining DW.   But, they have Jarret Jack now to back up the point and Brooke Lopez returns.  Still have JJ along with a bunch of decent rotation/role players (AK, Teletovic, Blatche, Plumlee). And KG will probably be back.   And a grown up coach!   

I think they make the playoffs one last time before they start giving us their #1's.
I understand your point but personally speaking, I think the teams I rated ahead of them either have more talent or will have improved enough to surpass the Nets.  For example, in Detroit's case they still don't make the playoffs but I think they'll do something with either Monroe or Smith to make a more cohesive roster that will outperform the Nets

Offline Moranis

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East
1. Cleveland
2. Washington
3. Chicago
4. Toronto
5. Miami
6. Atlanta
7. Brooklyn
8. Indiana
9. Charlotte
10. Detroit
11. New York
12. Orlando
13. Boston
14. Philadelphia
15. Milwaukee

West
1. San Antonio
2. Oklahoma City
3. Dallas
4. L.A. Clippers
5. Houston
6. Memphis
7. Portland
8. Golden State
9. New Orleans
10. Sacramento
11. Phoenix
12. L.A. Lakers
13. Denver
14. Minnesota
15. Utah
2023 Historical Draft - Brooklyn Nets - 9th pick

Bigs - Pau, Amar'e, Issel, McGinnis, Roundfield
Wings - Dantley, Bowen, J. Jackson
Guards - Cheeks, Petrovic, Buse, Rip