The Goal Post

Two and a half months after the last season ended, the next NBA season has started. I’m going to give my predictions for the upcoming season in this article, with just my predictions for each conference at the start and analysis organized by division after that. Expect more articles in the upcoming days.

East:

1. Milwaukee Bucks
2. Miami Heat
3. Brooklyn Nets
4. Boston Celtics
5. Toronto Raptors
6. Washington Wizards
7. Indiana Pacers
8. Philadelphia 76ers
9. Atlanta Hawks
10. Charlotte Hornets
11. Orlando Magic
12. New York Knicks
13. Chicago Bulls
14. Cleveland Cavaliers
15. Detroit Pistons

Atlantic

Nets

After a disappointing season mostly without Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, those two stars are back to full health, and they’re scary when they are. KD has led in PPG for 4 seasons and has only averaged less than 25 points once. Kyrie has averaged more than 20 points, five rebounds and five assists per game over the past two seasons.

Celtics

Riding the wave of confidence after coming just short of the finals last year, the Celtics still won’t get the one seed, and I predict will be worse than last year. Without Gordon Hayward, the Celtics will still have Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker, who each scored more than 20 points per game last season, but it won’t be enough.

Raptors

The Raptors surprised many people last year and still had a great year without Kawhi Leonard. This year, they may still have some magic with coach Nick Nurse, butthey’ll have to play the Nets and Celtics a lot, which might lead to a slight decline.

76ers

After a disappointing playoff run last year and lots of people questioning the tank their organization did years ago, the 76ers are rejuvenated with a new coach in Doc Rivers. The Sixers have held on to Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons and added Seth Curry, but there still aren’t enough differences from last year.

Knicks

With young players like RJ Barrett, Kevin Knox and eighth overall pick Obi Toppin, the Knicks look like a good young team. They’ll also have a new coach in Tom Thibodeau, however they don’t have any clear-cut stars yet, and will miss out on the playoffs.

Central

Bucks

Not much has gone wrong for the Bucks in the last two regular seasons, and I predict nothing will go wrong this season. The 2019-20 MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, will be motivated to help his team earn the East’s first seed after earning the NBA’s highest ever contract, and a supporting cast of Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday and Dante DiVincenzo.

Pacers

Indiana had another mediocre regular season, but they went off in the bubble, led by TJ Warren who averaged 31 points per game in six games. They’ll also start the season this season with a healthy Victor Oladipo, however it won’t be enough to stop the Bucks, Heat, Nets or Celtics.

Bulls

The Bulls still have Otto Porter, Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkannen, however, like other teams that will miss out on the playoffs, they don’t have enough household names. They are also another team that has a new coach, for them Billy Donovan.

Cavaliers

After four years of NBA Finals, followed by two years of missing out on the playoffs and irrelevance, the only remaining part of the finals runs is Kevin Love, who is going into his 12th year. The Cavs will also have 12-year veteran JaVale McGee and eight-year vet Andre Drummond, but that’s about where the big names end.

Pistons

For the Pistons, Blake Griffin will have to go into his 11th season carrying the Pistons, who I predict will finish last in the East. They are filled with players who were hyped up a couple of years ago and don’t have a lot of hope. At least they have cool jerseys.

Southeast

Heat

After coming just short of winning it all as a five seed, the Heat come in to this season as a big unknown. If Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, and Andre Igoudala all play the way they did in the postseason, Miami will be in luck.

Wizards

Washington had been having a couple of mediocre seasons, but this year, it will be different. Earlier this month, they broke open the NBA trade market by trading for Russell Westbrook in exchange for John Wall. They will miss Wall, but they will get Westbrook, who is the only player to ever average a triple double for three straight seasons.

Hawks

In 2020-21, I predict that the Hawks will be the team getting the closest to the playoffs, but just missing out. Led by underrated stars Trae Young and John Collins, the Hawks will shine and for the first time in a couple of years look legit, but it won’t be enough.

Hornets

After years of disappointing seasons, the Hornets also seem to be turning a corner. They used their first round pick on controversial star LaMelo Ball, and splashed the cash on Gordon Hayward, who will gel nicely with former teammate Terry Rozier, however they aren’t a playoff team.

Magic

Last year, the Magic not only made the playoffs, but beat the Bucks in their own city. They’re a good team, but they lack overall stars and probably won’t succeed in a stacked Eastern Conference.

West:

1. Los Angeles Lakers
2. Los Angeles Clippers
3. Dallas Mavericks
4. Denver Nuggets
5. Portland Trailblazers
6. Golden State Warriors
7. Phoenix Suns
8. Houston Rockets
9. Utah Jazz
10. Memphis Grizzlies
11. New Orleans Pelicans
12. San Antonio Spurs
13. Oklahoma City Thunder
14. Sacramento Kings
15. Minnesota Timberwolves

Northwest

Nuggets

With underrated players Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray succeeding to win the three seed, the Nuggets were a huge basketball fan’s dream. Jokic was a beast last year, averaging 29 points and 15 rebounds a game and this year will be an MVP candidate.

Trailblazers

Last season, the Blazers won their play-in game, and therefore the right to play the eventual title-winning Lakers. This year, they’ll have one of last year’s MVP candidates and if he stays in that form or grows, Portland will cause a lot of trouble.

Utah Jazz

Utah’s stars are undoubtedly Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, and although the Jazz have impressed in years passed, I don’t think they’ll have enough this year.

Oklahoma City Thunder

After trading away Russell Westbrook before last season, a lot of basketball analysts and fans criticized the moves the Thunder made and thought that they were tanking. Oklahoma City then went on to finish fifth in the West, led by Chrid Paul. This year, without Paul, the Thunder now have little hope, and will finish third to last.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Even though they finished second in the West last year and third overall, the T-Wolves still had the first pick, which they used for Anthony Edwards. Edwards, along with Karl-Anthony Towns will be the stars, but that isn’t enough to do any better than last year.

Pacific

Lakers

In the Pacific and West, this season will be like last year, with the Lakers cruising to the one seed in the West. The duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis will be too much for opposing defenders to stop and they will be as successful, if not more successful (with additions like Marc Gasol) than last year.

Clippers

Similarly to the Lakers, the Clippers’ year will mirror 2019-20, and they’ll finish just behind. This year, I don’t think they’ll play as well, but they’ll still earn the two seed. Kawhi will play the same way he normally plays, but I have lost confidence in Paul George after last postseason.

Warriors

Oh my, what a division this is! With two big title contenders in the LA teams mixed with the three time champs, this division will sure please. With Steph Curry, who missed almost all of last year, back with Draymond Green, the Warriors will be back in the playoffs. However, they won’t be yet back to the heights they were at before last season, as they’ll miss one half of the Splash Brothers in Klay Thompson.

Suns

I have a lot of confidence in the Suns, and I think they’ll make the playoffs just behind the Warriors in at seed seven. Adding Chris Paul, who averaged 17.6 PPG and 6.7 APG, to Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton, this team will be hard to stop.

Kings

Sacramento is a lot like the Knicks of the West, they have some talent, are an emerging team, but have bigger teams in their division in their way. Last season, Kings fans saw the rise of Buddy Hield, but they can’t use him alone to guide them to the playoffs.

Southwest

Mavericks

This team’s success is about one man, Luka Doncic. He is another MVP contender this season, and I predict his success will carry the Mavs to being the best or the rest, without the LA teams.

Rockets

Houston has struggled to truly find an elite season, and I think that the wait will continue. They’ll struggle without Westbrook, and though they’ve added Wall, he hasn’t played in a long time. James Harden will do enough to put them into the playoffs.

Grizzlies

The Grizzlies are a playoff team in a normal year, but this Western Conference is so jam-packed with talent. They have Ja Morant, who might slump in his sophomore year, but I predict he’ll thrive.

Pelicans

The Pelicans will start the season with a healthy Zion Williamson, but I don’t think he has enough experience to be dominant. The Pelicans don’t have a lot of players to support him and they’ll miss the playoffs.

Spurs

The Spurs have never gone two seasons without the playoffs in their history, but I believe that the record will be broken. The Spurs star is DeMar DeRozan, who can lead them to some success, but not enough to be better than the Pelicans or the Grizzlies.

Sources:

• Basketball Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2021.html
• ESPN https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30564545/nba-season-preview-new-rankings-projections-2020-21-opening-night