Playoff Predictions 2020/21

[planetmars]

So of the top 7 teams....
Bucks .. Heat.... Nets... Chowders... Raps... Indy....Hinkies.....

Who falls out for the whiz to sneak in beyond 8th ?

I think it comes down to the Hawks or Wizards for that 8th spot. And right now I'm leaning Atlanta. They struggled defensively by a lot last season, plus their young PF missed a lot of games due to his drug suspension. This season they got some vets in Rondo and Gallo. A good defensive center in Capela and defensive guard in Dunn (who almost made the all defensive team last season). And of course Bogdan.

[LJ2]

So of the top 7 teams....
Bucks .. Heat.... Nets... Chowders... Raps... Indy....Hinkies.....

Who falls out for the whiz to sneak in beyond 8th ?

Indy seems like the natural choice due to whatever issues they have going on in their locker room, plus they are probably the least talented of the group.

Depending on their health the Nets could really suck. If Durrant misses significant time that's basically Kyrie lead Cav's.

The way things are unraveling in Houston, I get the impression Harden will start the season on a new team and if I had to guess they would want him in the Eastern Conf.

[GOLDBLUM]

I think it comes down to the Hawks or Wizards for that 8th spot. And right now I'm leaning Atlanta. They struggled defensively by a lot last season, plus their young PF missed a lot of games due to his drug suspension. This season they got some vets in Rondo and Gallo. A good defensive center in Capela and defensive guard in Dunn (who almost made the all defensive team last season). And of course Bogdan.

I'm with you, pm. I think ATL has rounded out their roster really nicely and while I think Washington will be much improved with Russ & Beal, I'm not much of a fan of the rest of the makeup of their team. (Maybe this'll be the season I gain an appreciation for Bertans?)

I see ATL in the 8th spot and WSH just missing at 9.

(and if anybody falls out from the expected top 7, it's gotta be Indy one would think.)

[DogeLover1234]

I'm with you, pm. I think ATL has rounded out their roster really nicely and while I think Washington will be much improved with Russ & Beal, I'm not much of a fan of the rest of the makeup of their team. (Maybe this'll be the season I gain an appreciation for Bertans?)

I see ATL in the 8th spot and WSH just missing at 9.

(and if anybody falls out from the expected top 7, it's gotta be Indy one would think.)

Idk man, Washington had a really good offense last year to begin with. Westbrook + Beal with shooting should be able to outscore most teams in the league - defense is a whole other question. I feel like its easy to see the makeup of Washington and how they will play, whereas Atlanta is still largely a collection of talent with question marks. Plus as long as they play Young 35+ minutes a game they wont be a great defensive team either. Still think Atlanta is a year away from being really good. Could see a couple teams falling out due to guys missing time with injuries + covid - Atlanta has good depth.

[GOLDBLUM]

Y

Idk man, Washington had a really good offense last year to begin with. Westbrook + Beal with shooting should be able to outscore most teams in the league - defense is a whole other question. I feel like its easy to see the makeup of Washington and how they will play, whereas Atlanta is still largely a collection of talent with question marks. Plus as long as they play Young 35+ minutes a game they wont be a great defensive team either. Still think Atlanta is a year away from being really good. Could see a couple teams falling out due to guys missing time with injuries + covid - Atlanta has good depth.

Yeah -- I hear that. It's certainly possible I'm not giving enough respect to the supporting cast and structure in WSH. I think it'll be close between these two teams either way and they should both play some pretty good bball at times along the way. I looking forward to having better competition in the 8-9 seed in the East this year. I think it's been years since I've seen the 8-9 seed look like anything other than the dog's breakfast, and it's looking like that may not be the case this go round.

[planetmars]

They have another play in this season.. so could finally see a good one for the last spot in the East this time around.

[Maury]

Now that the dust has sort of settled from free agency and the draft, it's time to take a stab at predicting the standings.

Here are my predictions:

East

1. Milwaukee
2. Toronto
3. Philadelphia
4. Boston
5. Miami
6. Brooklyn
7. Atlanta
8. Washington
9. Indiana

West

1. LA Lakers
2. LA Clippers
3. Phoenix
4. Portland
5. Dallas
6. Denver
7. Utah
8. Golden State
9. Houston

Amendments! If Houston gets to 9, I think that means Harden is still there, and that means they probably win the play-in and make the playoffs.

[DanH]

A lot of people writing off the Magic, and they aren't like good or anything, but neither were the Hawks or Wizards by a long shot last year, they made improvements but they'd need to improve a good bit to even catch the sad sack Magic.

[Kagemusha]

Hard to believe that we are within a MONTH of the regular season.
THe NBA offseason got compressed into 3 week window of the draft and free agency and trades and guess what ....camp doors are open.


First tier is the Bucks. The Alphabet rides again. Hopefully for the last year wearing those lousy Milwaukee uni's. Danforth awaits Giannas. Opa !!

Second tier is the Nets and the Celtics and Heat.
These guys all have talent. Right now we know Bostons works even without Hayward. More touches for Tatum. Yeah like that hurts Boston.

We know Miamis works like clockwork inside of a bubble. Lets see if what they have is sustainable. It should be.

We are unsure of what the Nets have in cohesiveness as they hit the floor with Durant and Irving and a bunch of other guys who aren't sure how this works other than they will have the best player on their team most every night. Steve Nash has work in front of him.

Third Tier is the Philly, Raps and Indy. All of these teams come with questions but they are still good teams just not up in Tiers 1 and 2.

Indy blamed it on Nate. Well now that that bit of blame assignment is done what is appreciably different about Indy from last year to this year. Not much. Olidiipo wanting out. They still have Myles Turner and Damontas Sabonis when they only need 1. They still do have Brogdon and Warren though.
Questions.

Philly started out great. They fixed their balance sheet at a small cost and move one of the three uneven legs of the philly chair that is never right. In comes Doc Rivers with his special brand of media savvy but the problem is still very evident over this bit of wallpapering. Joel Embiid and Simmons just don;t work well together. Its year 4 of this duo and they are no better off than they were in year 1. They have tried to address the 3 point shooting problem by adding Curry and Green. They still badly need a real PG.
Questions.

Can the Raps beat Indy and Philly to finish at the top of the third tier ? Freddy and Kyle are going to be the best backcourt on a lot nights. Lowry as always will be ready to go. Fred is going to show us he is worth the Brogdon Deal. OG needs to make another big stride with his handles and taking advantage of his 3 pointer being north of 39%. Pascal has a come to Jesus season for himself. How good can he be. Have we seen the ceiling. Will Norm always be Norm ? Great in stretches. Reach for visine in stretches. They must see something in Boucher to give him 13.5M$ paid tryout.
Questions.


The Herd. Everyone else in the 8 to 15 group. They are better but they are far from competeing with the top 3 tiers.

Darkhorse Team to make Strides Altanta. One year I will get this right. But again. Atlanta.

Team WTF and Turmoil: The Whiz... John Wall is one self entitled son of a bitch. Hes back. Gone are the Morriss and other knuckle heads the Whiz had in their heyday of getting out of the first round ... but John Wall is more than up to take on the mantle of lead knucklehead.Leonsis has to fix this. Its worth Russell for John Wall and just shut up and drive and get out of there.

Play in Teams... Atlanta and Charlotte.

Nice list.
But I'd put the 76ers on 2nd tier.
They will be revitalized and will get better direction with Doc and Morey.

Atlanta will be on my 3rd tier as well.
The addition of Bogdan Capela and Gallo is no joke.
Dunn and Rondo locks up the opposing guards on D? That's a solid team right there.

[inthepaint]

So of the top 7 teams....
Bucks .. Heat.... Nets... Chowders... Raps... Indy....Hinkies.....

Who falls out for the whiz to sneak in beyond 8th ?

I think depending on injuries or (lack thereof) in the East in general, I can see the wizs knocking down any one of Indy, Philly and even the Raps & Nets hate to say it. East looks pretty open this year both at the top and around the middle. Hawks & Magic will be decent too this year.

[S.R.]

A lot of people writing off the Magic, and they aren't like good or anything, but neither were the Hawks or Wizards by a long shot last year, they made improvements but they'd need to improve a good bit to even catch the sad sack Magic.

I think the Wizards do for sure, because Russ can do this. I'm not convinced on the Hawks, though I really like CP3. Trae is just a really flawed player to try to win with. Any kind of winning, not just playoff winning.

[planetmars]

A lot of people writing off the Magic, and they aren't like good or anything, but neither were the Hawks or Wizards by a long shot last year, they made improvements but they'd need to improve a good bit to even catch the sad sack Magic.

Isaac is their best player and will be out again this year. Gordon is okay but needs help. They'll need big improvement from Bamba who was pretty bad last year. And they lost their veteran PG in Augustin who was really good in getting Vucevic going.

I like their coach, but I don't really like their talent. But if everything clicks they could get in. I just think Atlanta improved a lot on paper that I like them over Orlando this year. Washington to me is still a wait and see.

[DogeLover1234]

East 1-8 : Bucks, Raps, Nets, Philly, Heat Celtics, Wizards, Hawks

West 1-8 : Lakers, Clippers, Dallas, Portland, Nuggets, Phoenix, Warriors, Pelicans

Assuming Harden is traded somewhere within a month. Either way the west is a mystery with only 2 playoff locks rn imo

Raps may move down a spot or two, but I think their problems are amplified in the playoffs and irrelevant in the regular season. One of the best defensive teams to generate a ton of transition/early offense opportunities where they are arguably the best in the league. Thats just a recipe for regular season wins and the off season didnt change that.

[Demographic Shift]

So the last shoe to drop to the trade deadline will be where to determine where James Harden picks up his mail come 2021,
Maybe things get patched up but right now Harden is putting on his best rebelling against Houstons vile behaviour towards him.
Good Luck James.

East
1. Bucks
2. Chowders
3. Nets
4. Raps
5. Heat
6. Philly - Mulligan if Harden signs here.
7. Indy
8. Whiz
9. Atlanta
10. Charlotte
11.Orlando`
12. Chicago
13 Knicks
14. Detroit
15, Cleveland

[007]

East: Milwaukee, Boston, Toronto, Philly, Miami, Brooklyn, Indiana, Atlanta

West: Lakers, Clippers, Denver, Dallas, Portland, GSW, Phoenix, Utah