2020-2021 NBA season Power Rankings
Can any offseason addition prove valuable in competing against the mighty Lakers?
The NBA offseason is far from over, even if the NBA preseason starts next week. A lot can happen in the three preceding weeks before the regular season starts on December 22nd. However, after the John Wall and Russell Westbrook trade, and the Rockets’ intentions to try and keep James Harden, it is highly unlikely that any other big-time moves will occur before the seasons start on December 22nd. It is also no secret to anyone that the Los Angeles Lakers have won the 2020 NBA offseason with the team’s additions of Montrezl Harrell, Dennis Schroder, Marc Gasol, and Wesley Matthews, while also extending LeBron James through 2023 and signing Anthony Davis to a 5 year 190 million dollar deal. Although losing Howard, Bradley, and Rondo are big losses, the additions will outweigh those losses as the Lakers are still the team to beat and the favorites to repeat as champions. Still, even with the Lakers at the top of the pack, offseason moves by Washington, Atlanta, Phoenix, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, and other teams have shaken up these power rankings from how the league finished last year. Typical bottom-feeder organizations such as the New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls, and Cleveland Cavaliers are still at the bottom, while the Hawks, Hornets, Timberwolves, Pelicans, and even the Kings see a little bit of a rise due to offseason moves.
30: Detroit Pistons
I had a tough time deciding between the Knicks, Pistons, Bulls, and Cavs for this position, but the once-promising draft position at #7 for the Pistons was botched per usual when Detroit took Killian Hayes over Tyrese Haliburton, Obi Toppin, and Deni Avdija. Nothing against Hayes, who I think will be a decent NBA player with his gifted playmaking and improving shooting, but for an organization looking for the most talented player in this position, Hayes was not the choice. Not to mention they gave Jerami Grant a 3 year-60 million dollar deal. Again, Grant is good, but nowhere near worth 20 million dollars a year. They could have retained Christian Wood(who is better than Grant) for much less, but they let him walk. Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose can be good if healthy, but they are injury prone. Their talents are simply being wasted in Detroit. It does not make sense to sign Grant for only three years but not go after anyone else in free agency when they are supposedly in the midst of a rebuild. Nothing in this organization makes sense. On the bright side, Isaiah Stewart and Saddiq Bey will provide toughness and a presence on both ends of the floor that they need so I guess that is one positive moving forward. In the end, the Pistons will be the Pistons, and newly-minted GM Troy Weaver has already proven in his short stint that he does not know what he is doing and was riding on Sam Presti’s success and decision making in Oklahoma City for years.
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers drafted Issac Okoro with their 5th overall pick who is an already elite NBA defender with the potential to be pretty good on the offensive end of the floor as well. However, I think that Onyeka Okongwu or Deni Avdija would have fit that organization perfectly. Okongwu is a perfect center for the modern NBA with his elite defensive skills, high motor, and relentless presence inside on offense and defense, something that could have worked with Andre Drummond. Avdija would have provided much-needed playmaking and all-around skill as Collin Sexton is more of a scorer than a playmaker, and Darius Garland has not proven to have the elite playmaking yet that has been predicted of him. Okoro does bring toughness, but I think that he was not the right pick at #5 As Avdija would have gotten Kevin Love and Andre Drummond more looks on offense, while Okongwu would have helped Drummond wreak havoc on opposing offenses. Furthermore, The Cavaliers now rely on Drummond, Love, Porter Jr, Garland, and Sexton to provide offense for them with virtually no depth on the bench whatsoever. In other words, this means they will get steamrolled by almost every other team in the league this season. They need to figure out their future.
New York Knicks
The Knicks have all sorts of issues. But they aren’t in 30th or 29th place this year because they seem to be slowly trying to fix the issues. They got rid of Taj Gibson, Wayne Ellington, Bobby Portis, and Mo Harkless, who did not fit in the long-term picture and were making too much money to keep. They drafted Obi Toppin with the #8 selection, which was a steal since Toppin should have been selected earlier in the draft. They could have picked Tyrese Halliburton with their selection, who would have solved the immediate hole they have at point guard. However, Toppin is a hometown kid with a relentless work ethic, extreme athleticism, and maturity, so he will be a great player and a fantastic addition to a team needing young talent. They also re-signed Elfrid Payton and signed Nerlens Noel, Austin Rivers, and Alec Burks to provide some depth behind Mitchell Robinson, Julius Randle, Obi Toppin, Elfrid Payton, and RJ Barrett. They still don’t know how to develop Frank Ntilikina and Dennis Smith Jr, and have holes defensively and offensively everywhere which will cause them to lose the majority of their games. But hey, this is the first time in years that it seems the Knicks are moving in the right direction.
Chicago Bulls
The Bulls were supposed to have a promising offseason with the addition of Coach of the Year candidate Billy Donovan from the Thunder, and President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas, who had tons of success being apart of the Denver Nuggets front office for years. However, not doing much to improve through the free agent market, keeping veteran Thaddeus Young and his 3 year-41 million dollar deal in the midst of a rebuild and picking Patrick Williams with their #4 selection proves that the Bulls continue to make bad decisions. Patrick Williams is great on both ends of the floor and would have been a steal for any team selecting him in the #9-#14 picks, but there is no way anyone in their right mind should have picked Williams over Halliburton, Avdija, Okongwu, Toppin, and even Okoro. On the bright side Zach LaVine is great and should provide scoring, athleticism, and an offensive presence that they so desperately need. Colby White seems to be improving with his shooting, defense, and playmaking, while Wendell Carter continues to get better and has proven to be the cornerstone of this franchise at the moment. Denzel Valentine has potential and will need to shoot better to reach that potential, while Lauri Markkanen needs to improve his all around game, most importantly his 3PT shooting and interior defense. The Bulls lost a great on ball defender in Kris Dunn, but this team is far away from competing and will need to trade some of their key pieces for draft capital to fast-track their rebuild.
Charlotte Hornets
They got arguably the best player in the 2020 draft at the #3 overall selection in Lamelo Ball, and even though they grossly overpaid for Gordon Hayward he will provide some offensive star-power if he remains healthy. They have Devonte’ Graham, Miles Bridges, and P.J. Washington who have all been great. Adding Ball and Hayward to that core should make this team a little better right away, which is why they are in the 26th ranking instead of the 28, 29, or 30th position. They obviously need to continue to rebuild around Ball, Graham, and Hayward, but their core is solid and they have improved drastically in the past year.
Oklahoma City Thunder
I feel a bit cautious about putting the Thunder in this position, considering they continue to prove people wrong and make the playoffs each year when they are supposed to be at the bottom of the pack. They lost Adams, Gallinari and Paul, which will prove to be huge losses for this year. However, by getting rid of most of their 2019-2020 NBA roster, they got a tremendous amount of draft capital for the next decade already, not to mention they have one of the best young guards in the league in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. They also parted ways with one of the best coaches in the league in Billy Donovan, which should affect the teams toughness and system at least a little bit. They are in an obvious rebuild, but never count this team out of anything, even if it looks like they have one of the worst current rosters in the league. Sam Presti is a genius and knows exactly what he is doing.
Sacramento Kings
Even though Luke Walton has proved to be a lackluster coach and not one equipped for this Kings job, they have young talent that should get better this year. They max extended their cornerstone player De’Aaron Fox for 5 years 163 million as Fox continues to show how talented he is. They should have a healthy Marvin Bagley, the #2 overall pick in the highly talented 2018 NBA draft, which should make them better than last season immediately. Losing Bogdanovic was huge, but Atlanta overpaid for him, and they really did not need him as they selected another guard in Tyrese Halliburton with their #12 overall selection in this years draft. Halliburton was the steal of the draft as I think he should have been picked 4th overall by the Bulls. The Kings now have their future backcourt in Fox and Haliburton, not to mention they have Bagley at Power Forward, who still has tons of potential to become elite on both ends of the floor. Although they overpaid Hield, he can shoot with the best of them and should take an even bigger leap from behind the 3PT line with the addition of Haliburton’s playmaking to go along with Fox’s as well. The signing of Hassan Whiteside was huge, as he is arguably the best shot blocker in the league and will provide elite interior defense as well. However, Barnes is not playing good basketball and other than Haliburton, Hield, Fox, Whiteside, and Bagley, they do not have much bench depth. I see them finishing last or second to last in the Western Conference still.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Having the #1 overall pick in the draft will obviously make your team a little better. Edwards fits in perfectly in an offense with Karl Anthony-Towns and D’Angelo Russell. The offense can still be run through Towns with Russell as the primary ball handler. Edwards will provide instant offense with his knack for scoring inside and out, and his athleticism and playmaking as well. Edwards also has the chance to provide valuable defense to a team that did not play much of it last season. Jarett Culver should improve offensively this year as his defense has been good since he entered the league, while Josh Okogie should play a bigger role this year as well with his balanced offensive feel and good perimeter defense. The signing of Malik Beasley should help too, even if they gave him too much money. Beasley has a great offensive game, which also should help take off the load of just Russell, Towns, and Edwards. They have serious holes outside of Russell, Towns, Edwards, but that is a good big three to build off of in the future. I see them finishing similar to the Kings, last or second to last in the Western Conference.
Orlando Magic
With Atlanta and Washington’s improvements to their rosters, this year will be tougher than ever for the Magic to get into the playoffs. Jonathan Issac is out all year, and he was ascending both offensively and defensively before his devastating torn ACL and meniscus injury. That is going to be a huge loss for this year and affect their playoff chances dramatically. Can Aaron Gordon and Markelle Fultz both take leaps offensively? Can Mo Bamba do something to improve his game at all this year? We know Evan Fournier will continue to be a force on offense and Nikola Vucevic will be great on both ends of the floor. However, I just don’t see them finishing higher than 9th in the Eastern conference this season. My prediction is that they finish 10th behind Washington, Indiana, and Atlanta.
San Antonio Spurs.
Again, I feel a bit nervous putting SAS in this position considering they still have one of the best coaches in the league in Greg Popovich, not to mention two great players in LaMarcus Aldridge and Demar Derozan. However, I said two years ago that they should have traded both of those guys to fully rebuild. Even though their value has gone down I still think that trading both Derozan and Aldridge is the best move right now for their future. A core of Dejounte Murray, Demar Derozan, LaMarcus Aldridge, Derrick White, Patty Mills, Lonnie Walker, Rudy Gay, and Keldon Johnson is not gonna cut it. They are ruining their future by not fully rebuilding and trading Derozan and Aldridge. Pop must think that they can compete this year, although I think that is a stretch. We will see what happens, but the once dominant Spurs organization will not win a championship or compete for one in the near future. They will finish close to the bottom in the Western Conference in front of Minnesota and Sacramento.
Washington Wizards
The John Wall for Russell Westbrook trade was fantastic for the Wizards organization, especially if Westbrook finally understands he can’t shoot anymore and would be much more dominant scoring inside and dishing the ball out to open shooters when he is covered from now on. I have always been a supporter of Westbrook and his game, but statistics do not lie. Kirk Goldsberry of ESPN gathered analytical data which put Westbrook in dead last among shooting efficiency among players who shot more than 2,500 jumpers over the past 5 seasons, which further proves that Westbrook just doesn’t have his jumper anymore. However, he is still the most explosive guard in the NBA and can use that to his advantage by blowing past defenders and taking it through the lane and to the basket every play. He is also a gifted playmaker and rebounder which should help Washington tremendously. Bradley Beal will get even more open shots than last year with Westbrook passing to him. The same goes for Davis Bertans, who proved to be one of the best 3PT shooters in the league last year. Rui Hachimura, Mortiz Wagner, Thomas Bryant, and Issac Bonga should continue to improve their game, while Cassius Winston, the 53rd overall selection in the 2020 NBA draft, should prove to be a great backup point guard with his innate feel for the game on both ends of the floor. They also got a steal with the #9 overall pick in Deni Avdija, who does everything well with his best attribute being his playmaking. The Wizards should be able to secure the 7 or 8 seed in the Eastern Conference because of their star-power and depth on their roster. However, both the Hawks and Pacers stand in the way of those seeds and because of that, the Wizards could come short and finish 9th in the Eastern Conference.
Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies have a nice young core in Ja Morant, Jarren Jackson Jr, De’Anthony Melton, Dillon Brooks, Brandon Clarke, and now 2020 second round pick Xavier Tillman. However, this team is still too young and even with the rising stardom of Morant, it won’t be enough to secure a spot in the even improved Western Conference this upcoming season. Memphis is a great organization and will continue to rise in these rankings each year with their young core’s development, but 2021 is not their year to compete with the best of them.
Indiana Pacers
A lot of people still have Indiana in the top 15 of their power rankings because of Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner, and T.J. Warren. However, as much as I love all four of those players’ game, I don’t see them securing a higher spot in the playoffs than even Atlanta this year. Washington will also give them a run for their money for the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference. They have a great base and some bench depth, but I don’t like the firing of Nate McMillan. I think that he coached the heck out of the 2019-2020 Pacers team and that was important in securing them the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference. I don’t think Nate Bjorkgren can lead this team any further than McMillan did last season. In fact, I think they take a tiny step backward.
Portland Trailblazers
I love this Trailblazers offense behind Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Gary Trent Jr. should continue to improve his shooting and all around game, while Carmelo Anthony should continue to score from behind the arc. Nurkic will be fantastic on both ends of the floor and will continue to be one of the best rebounders in the NBA. Getting Robert Covington should drastically improve their almost non-existent perimeter defense, but this team had a terrible defense last year so they would need more than just Covington to change their defensive scheme completely. Losing Whiteside was a huge loss, because he provided serious interior defense. They will now have to rely on Nurkic and Zach Collins for all of that from now on. I don’t see the addition of Covington changing much to this teams outlook. Every game this team plays will continue to be a shootout most definitely. They will probably win the majority of their games by a score similar to 145-140. I see them finishing 8th, 9th or 10th in the Western Conference even with one of the best players in the game in Damian Lillard.
New Orleans Pelicans
Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and Lonzo Ball are a fantastic young core, while the additions of Steven Adams and Eric Bledsoe will only make this Pelicans team better. Obviously Jrue Holiday is a fantastic player, but he did not fit in the longterm plan of this organization. Jaxson Hayes should also make a leap on both ends of the floor this year as well. J.J. Redick will continue to shoot it and Josh Hart and #13 overall pick in this years draft Kira Lewis Jr should provide some consistency and depth at the guard position on both ends of the floor. This team has enough talent to secure a 7 seed in the strong Western Conference this season. Depending on their upside, they could even get a 5 or 6 seed this season.
Atlanta Hawks
Here is the biggest riser from everyones power rankings last year. Trae Young will continue to get better and should average close to 30 PPG and 10 APG, while Clint Capela, John Collins and #6 overall pick Onyeka Okongwu should reek havoc inside on opposing offenses. With the addition of Gallinari and Bogdanovic, to go along with young wings Hunter, Huerter, and Reddish, the Hawks will be drastically better on the wing offensively and defensively. Not to mention Rajon Rondo and Kris Dunn provide Point Guard depth, playmaking, and elite defense. This team is a serious contender in the Eastern Conference, and although they had to spend tons of money on Bogdanovic, Rondo, and Gallinari, it will be worth it, as they will finally compete as their rebuild seems almost finished.
Houston Rockets
This team is a wild-card. Obviously they are going to win games just on the star-power of their duo James Harden and John Wall. However, their chemistry just isn’t there and may never come to fruition. But reality is Harden is not happy in Houston, Wall and Cousins are coming off injuries, and the only big addition of this offseason was Christian Wood. Wood was a huge signing and he will be great on both ends of the floor, but even though they still have P.J. Tucker and Eric Gordon with the additions of Wood and Cousins, losing Covington will be a huge blow to this defense. I see this team as a 5 or 6 seed in the west, and I still don’t understand why they traded Westbrook for Wall. Its not the Rockets that couldn’t get past AD and Lebron. No one could! They should have kept that duo together and added Demarcus Cousins and Christian Wood…then this team would have been in the top 12 at least, even with their chemistry issues.
Phoenix Suns
This team barley missed the playoffs last season after playing great down the stretch and winning their last eight games in the bubble. Devin Booker continues to be a star and is on a path to possible super-stardom eventually if he keeps his production up. The addition of Chris Paul is huge, as he brings leadership, toughness, playmaking, and an overall elite feel of the game on both ends of the floor. Deandre Ayton will improve drastically and have a big year, you can bet on that. Mikal Bridges has been great and will only continue to get better. The addition of sharpshooter Jae Crowder should help this team tremendously. Dario Saric needs to play better, but many have lost hope since we have been expecting him to take a big leap for years when he hasn’t. Aron Baynes was a serious loss, but they drafted Jalen Smith with their first round pick, who should provide a big presence inside along Ayton. Kelly Oubre was definitely their biggest loss, but if Chris Paul can play even close to the level that he played like last year, he now has Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton to work with, so this team should finish in the top 6 of the Western Conference.
Utah Jazz
I’m never high on the Jazz. I always assume they’ll be okay, but they always exceed my expectations and finish in the top 4 or 5 of the Western Conference every single year. This year should be no different as Donovan Mitchell should improve even more, while Rudy Gobert and Bojan Bogdanovic should be great as usual. They added Udoka Azubuike, the 7 foot elite shot blocker from Kansas, which should only further bolster their defense, especially their interior defense. Derrick Favors, Mike Conley, Jordan Clarkson, and Joe Ingles will all be valuable again this year, but even with this teams talent they won’t make it past the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.
Philadelphia 76ers
New GM Darryl Morey got rid of Al Horford and Josh Richardson quickly found out, which was needed for this team to 1. save money and have more roster flexibility, and 2. compete at a higher level. They already have their two cornerstone players in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, but they saved money by flipping Josh Richardson for Seth Curry, who is one of the best shooters in basketball. After J.J. Redick signed with the Pelicans, last season the 76ers quickly found out that they desperately needed 3PT shooting, which Redick provided the year before. Seth Curry will good a number of open looks from Ben Simmons’ playmaking. Morey also signed Dwight Howard in the offseason, who will help Embiid with interior post defense, rebounding, and shot blocking. Tobias Harris is still great on both ends of the floor, while Matisse Thybulle is an elite defender. Morey and the 76ers also had a fantastic draft by getting a steal in Tyrese Maxey with the 21st overall pick. Maxey was not efficient in his one year at Kentucky, but has one of the highest upsides in the draft. They also got a steal with both Isaiah Joe and Paul Reed in the second round, as Joe should provide some depth in the backcourt, while Reed’s length should play him into a rotation with bigs that are great at interior defense.
Toronto Raptors
The Raptors always exceeds expectations and should again finish in the top 3 of the Eastern Conference, but that is all attributed to hard nosed players and good coaching. They have no business securing more wins than Miami, Boston, Brooklyn, and Milwaukee, but they will probably finish with more wins than 2 of those 4 teams. Retaining VanFleet in free agency was huge, as he will continue to be a part of a big three with Siakam and Lowry. Losing Serge Ibaka will hurt, but signing Aron Baynes was brilliant, as he is the hard nosed type of guy who should thrive under Nick Nurse, not to mention he is a center who can shoot threes at an extremely high level. OG Anunoby and Norman Powell will be great as usual, while both of their 2020 draft selections, Malachi Flynn and Jalen Harris, will provide backcourt depth and scoring.
Dallas Mavericks
This team will continue to be elite offensively and have the star power to compete with the best of them. Luka Doncic is my prediction to win the 2020-2021 NBA MVP because I can see him improving even more if that is possible. This kid is something special and will sometimes single-handedly will this team to wins over premier opponents. We saw what he did against the Clippers in the playoffs, and if it wasn’t for Porzingis’ injury, the Mavs probably would have won the series. Losing Seth Curry was huge, considering he was the teams best 3PT shooter and was starting to be good defensively as well. I just don’t get trading Curry for Richardson? Richardson can do more than Curry, but he makes more money and cannot shoot even close to as good as Curry. I know they drafted Tyrell Terry, the sharpshooting point guard from Stanford in the draft, and even though he is a fantastic shooter and has a gifted offensive feel for the game, he is not Seth Curry from behind the arc. Nevertheless, the Mavericks will continue to compete with the best of them and should finish in the top 5 of the Western Conference pretty easily.
Golden State Warriors
Losing Klay Thompson for the season was heartbreaking. They would have been 3rd or 4th on my list had he entered the season healthy. But you gotta make adjustments and the Warriors immediately traded for Kelly Oubre and drafted James Wiseman to help create an inside presence to go along with their sharpshooting. Draymond Green will have a bounce back year and average 12-13 PPG, 7-8 APG, and 6-8 RPG as well. Steph Curry will be his usual MVP type self. Andrew Wiggins will get open looks behind Curry and Green’s playmaking, which should make him more efficient, especially from behind the arc. Marquese Chriss had a great end to last season and will hope to continue on his hot streak. The rest of the team is made up of shooting and playmaking depth, which should only help further bolster this offense. Expect them to finish in the top 5 of the Western Conference.
Boston Celtics
I know Celtics fans will laugh at the outrageousness of this position, but if you look closely at the results it’s not an outrageous position for them at all. They are not as good the Bucks or Nets and they got completely owned and out-coached by Erik Spoelstra and the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals. Brad Stevens, even with Tatum and Brown ascending to another level of stardom, and the depth on the team with Walker, Smart, Edwards, Langford, Theis, and Grant and Robert Williams, cannot seem to find a way to beat the Heat…yet at least. I think Spoelstra is the superior coach over Brad Stevens, but Steven’s roster this season will be even better than last season, even without Gordon Hayward. The addition of Tristan Thompson was huge, as he is a gifted rebounder and interior defender. Drafting Aaron Nesmith was huge, considering he is an incredible 3PT shooter and a developing defender. Those two players and the continued progression of their young core could give them a shot at beating the Heat, but I don’t see that happening this season.
Miami Heat
I know the 6th spot is low for a team who got better and is coming off of an NBA finals appearance, but I just don’t see them winning more games than Brooklyn, Milwaukee, or even Boston in the regular season. The playoffs are obviously a different story, and even though they have proved they can beat the Bucks and Celtics, I just don’t think they can beat a healthy Brooklyn team with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Caris LaVert. Jimmy Butler is a Superstar as he can dominate at both ends of the floor. Bam Adebayo is an All-Star and should only continue to improve his game. Tyler Herro is only 20 years old and I am expecting him to take a big leap this year and average close to 20 PPG. Goran Dragic and Duncan Robinson will continue to be fantastic on offense, while Kendrick Nunn, Avery Bradley, Andre Iguodala, Myers Leonard, Kelly Olynyk, and 2020 first round pick Precious Achiuwa should provide some serious depth. Losing Jae Crowder won’t hurt them much and
Los Angeles Clippers
How is the consensus second best team in the West on every other power rankings 5th on your power rankings list? Very simple. They haven’t proven anything other than getting eliminated in the second round of the Western Conference, they have chemistry issues, and they lost two significant pieces in Montrezl Harell and Landry Shamet. I want to know who in this organization thought Luke Kennard would be a better fit than Landry Shamet? Seriously. Luke Kennard is okay, but Shamet was thriving in an offense lead by Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. He was fantastic from behind the arc and played great defense throughout the season. Sure Kennard is a better playmaker than Shamet, but he surely can’t shoot or play defense better than him. That deal just does not make sense. They also gave the worse Morris brother 60 million dollars when the better brother got 2 million dollars from the Lakers. Also, Montrezl Harell, the reigning sixth man of the year, signed with the crosstown rival Lakers for only 19 million dollars. That should tell you something right there. This is not a solid organization, and even though they have an elite core, tons of issues are infecting this organization, leading players to have not much desire to join this team. Serge Ibaka is good, but who cares since he’s not a better player than Harell. This team got worse and I am being too nice putting them at position 5 when both the Heat and Celtics have done more already than this team.
Denver Nuggets
So what they lost Jerami Grant and Malik Beasley. Jokic and Murray are coming off of leading a legendary playoff run and both will only get better. Michael Porter Jr. should elevate his game and become a solid third option on that team this year. Paul Milsap will be the ultra-reliable Paul Milsap he usually is, and Bol Bol will improve drastically this year with increased minutes. Not to mention they have serious depth with 2020 draft picks R.J. Hampton and Zeke Nnaji, Monte Morris, Gary Harris, Markus Howard, and Will Barton. This team, even with the losses of Grant and Beasley should be just as good if not better than last year.
Brooklyn Nets
A healthy KD catapults this team into a serious title contender. People hate on KD so much it makes me sick. The dude was and IS easily the second best player in the NBA behind LeBron when he is healthy and people are forgetting about what KD can do since he’s been hurt, similar to people forgetting about what LeBron could do when he was hurt and missed the playoffs two seasons ago. Kyrie may be bad in the locker-room like many people say, but he is a serious basketball player and one of the most talented offensive players the game has seen in recent memory. Caris LaVert is a walking bucket and Spencer Dinwiddie is an elite playmaker and scorer who will get even better this year. Jarret Allen and Deandre Jordan are elite shot blockers and interior defenders not to mention they have Joe Harris who can shoot with the best of them. Oh by the way, they also stole Landry Shamet from the Clippers a part of the three team trade with Detroit. This team is STACKED and their potential is limitless. Since I don’t think the Bucks can beat the Lakers, this team has the highest chance to do so, even though I think that it is unlikely as well.
Milwaukee Bucks
Jrue Holiday was a huge addition to this already extremely talented Bucks team. He is an elite defender, and an all around wizard on offense. He is leaps and bounds better than Eric Bledsoe, and even though the Bucks gave up a lot for him, he should be worth it in their quest to continue competing for a championship. Giannis Antetokoumpo is going to be in MVP form again this season and Khris Middleton raises his offensive efficiency every year and this year should be no different. Even though they did not pull off snagging Bogdanovic, they still have DiVincenzo, Korver, Torrey Craig, and 2020 draft pick and sharpshooter Jordan Nwora to provide shooting and backcourt depth. Brook Lopez will be great all around this year again, and the addition of Bobby Portis should provide some extra toughness on interior defense. This team should be the first seed in the Eastern Conference and will make a run for the title.
Los Angeles Lakers
How does a team win an NBA championship in 6 games and proceed to get astronomically better in the offseason? Ask Rich Paul and Rob Pelinka as they orchestrated one of the best off-seasons ever for a team coming of a title. Howards going to leave? No big deal, Rich Paul’s client Montrezl Harrell comes in and signs well below his value to compete for a championship. Rondo is gonna leave and we need a playmaker? No big deal. They trade Danny Green and the 28th overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft for sixth man of the year candidate Dennis Schroder. They replaced Green with a cheaper and better shooter in Wesley Matthews. They also traded JaVale McGee to make room to sign Marc Gasol. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, another Paul client, deserved a raise and got a big one, while two of Paul’s other two clients, Lebron and AD both signed max extensions to remain with the Lakers longterm. Los Angeles also retained Quinn Cook, Jared Dudley, and Markeiff Morris for cheap, where Morris played a big part in the 2020 title run. They also still have Caruso, Kuzma, and Horton-Tucker on the bench for extra depth. It would be nice to see Kuzma back on track to being a solid young player, but he doesn’t even need to improve for them to win another title. If I had a million dollars I would bet it on the Lakers to repeat as champions. I don’t care what the odds are. I think barring any serious injuries, the Lakers repeating as champions is almost a sure thing. I just don’t see how the Nets, Heat, Celtics, Clippers, Bucks, or Nuggets can beat this juggernaut in a 7 game series.