The NBA season is finally here. Fall is in the air, the temperature is dropping, and Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons are finding new ways to make everyone hate them. Yep, it’s time for basketball. This season has so much potential, and there are plenty of teams who are looking to surprise everyone, surely there will be teams who disappoint as well. I can’t wait to look back at this in June and see how far I was off, but that’s bad marketing to already knock myself when the season hasn’t even started so ignore that statement. Anyways, let’s get into some predictions for this upcoming NBA season.
Playoffs
Finals:
⁃ Nets defeat Mavericks (4-1)
East Finals:
⁃ Nets defeat Bucks (4-1)
West Finals:
⁃ Mavericks defeat Nuggets (4-3)
East Semi Finals:
⁃ Bucks defeat Hawks (4-3)
⁃ Nets defeat Bulls (4-2)
West Semi Finals:
⁃ Nuggets defeat Lakers (4-3)
⁃ Mavericks defeat Warriors (4-2)
East First Round:
⁃ Bucks defeat Pacers (4-1)
⁃ Nets defeat 76ers (4-0)
⁃ Bulls defeat Heat (4-2)
⁃ Hawks defeat Celtics (4-1)
West First Round:
⁃ Nuggets defeat Grizzlies (4-1)
⁃ Warriors defeat Jazz (4-3)
⁃ Mavericks defeat Clippers (4-2)
⁃ Lakers defeat Suns (4-2)
Summary: This NBA season ends with the Nets defeating the surprise opponent Mavericks led by Luka Doncic in 5 games. The Mavs would take down the Nuggets to get there, while Kevin Durant and his foot would get revenge on the Bucks to punch their ticket to Finals. The Bucks would take down the Hawks and the Nets would take down the new look Bulls in the semi finals in the East. The West semi finals sees the Nuggets taking down the Lakers and the Mavericks shocking the Steph Curry and the Warriors to move on. The East playoffs begins with four not-so-close series in the first round, with each team advancing quite easily, and the West playoffs begins the Suns, Clippers, Jazz, and Grizzlies getting the seasons ended early after very solid seasons from each club.
Standings
East:
2. Nets (63-19)
3. Heat (56-26)
4. Hawks (54-28)
5. Celtics (47-35)
6. Bulls (44-38)
7. 76ers (41-41)
8. Pacers (40-42)
9. Hornets (38-44)
10. Knicks (35-47)
11. Wizards (34-48)
12. Raptors (31-51)
13. Cavaliers (28-54)
14. Pistons (26-56)
15. Magic (23-59)
West:
1. Nuggets (64-18)
2. Jazz (61-21)
3. Mavericks (57-25)
4. Lakers (52-30)
5. Suns (51-31)
6. Clippers (48-34)
7. Warriors (43-39)
8. Grizzlies (41-41)
9. Trail Blazers (37-45)
10. Timberwolves (35-47)
11. Pelicans (34-48)
12. Kings (31-51)
13. Spurs (29-53)
14. Rockets (24-58)
15. Thunder (21-61)
Summary: The West is absolutely loaded with teams that should be top 4 seeds, but many sadly won’t. The East is filled with a lot of teams with 4-8 seeded talent, and some will get a higher seed, and some will miss the playoffs altogether. The Hornets and Knicks barely miss the playoffs in the East, and the Trail Blazers and Timberwolves are the first out in the West. The Nuggets surprisingly take the top seed in the West, and the Bucks stay hot and control the East all season to lead the league in wins. There’s a lot going on here, and it should be interesting to see it play out.
Awards
Most Valuable Player: Luka Doncic
Runners Up: Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo
Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert
Runners Up: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday
Rookie of the Year: Jalen Suggs
Runners Up: Evan Mobley, James Bouknight
6th Man of the Year: Jordan Clarkson
Runners Up: T.J. McConnell, Derrick Rose
Most Improved Player: Ja Morant
Runners Up: Mo Bamba, Mikal Bridges
Coach of the Year: Billy Donovan
Runners Up: Mike Malone, Taylor Jenkins
Summary: Is it basic to have Luka Doncic win the MVP? Yes. Do I care? Hell no. He’s a stud and should continue to grow this year, and it’ll be a blast to watch. He narrowly defeats Kevin Durant for the award and Giannis will surely get votes too. Rudy Gobert has an outstanding season defensively to beat out two Bucks players in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday for the DPOY award. Jalen Suggs has looked great in preseason and should get a great chance to show off his skills for the weak Magic this season. He’ll outlast Evan Mobley and James Bouknight for the Rookie of the Year award. I picked Jordan Clarkson for the Sixth Man of the Year Award last season and he made me look like a genius, so I have to stick with him again this year for the award, as he beats out T.J. McConnell and Derrick Rose. The Most Improved Player award goes to Ja Morant this year, I’m going to be a huge Morant fan this year and I fully expect him to make me look like a genius when he takes a huge step forward. He beats out Mo Bamba and Mikal Bridges for the award, but it’s not too close. Watch out for Ja Morant this year. You heard it here first. Billy Donovan gets the Bulls deep into the playoffs and wins the Coach of the Year award, beating out Mike Malone and Taylor Jenkins. Lots to unpack here as well.
All League Honors
First Team All NBA:
G Stephen Curry
G Luka Doncic
F Kevin Durant
F Giannis Antetokounmpo
C Nikola Jokic
Second Team All NBA:
G Damian Lilliard
G Ja Morant
G James Harden
F LeBron James
C Anthony Davis
Third Team All NBA:
G Trae Young
G Devin Booker
F Domantas Sabonis
F Zion Williamson
C Rudy Gobert
First Team All Rookie:
G Jalen Suggs
G Jalen Green
F James Bouknight
F Scottie Barnes
C Evan Mobley
Second Team All Rookie:
G Cade Cunningham
G Davion Mitchell
G Ayo Dosunmu
F Josh Giddey
C Kai Jones
First Team All Defensive:
G Ben Simmons
G Marcus Smart
G Jrue Holiday
F Giannis Antetokounmpo
C Rudy Gobert
Second Team All Defensive:
G Dejounte Murray
G Matisse Thybulle
F Draymond Green
F Jonathon Isaac
C Anthony Davis
Summary: Luka Doncic leads the NBA First Team that features Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Nikola Jokic. The NBA Second Team sees two Lakers teammates and a surprise visit from Ja Morant (just wait and see). The NBA Third Team sees Trae Young and James Harden in the back court, and Zion and the underrated Sabonis at forward, with Rudy Gobert as well. The rookie First Team sees Jalen Suggs, Jalen Green, James Bouknight, Scottie Barnes, and Evan Mobley. The second team includes number one pick Cade Cunningham, Davion Mitchell, Ayo Dosunmu, TikTok star Josh Giddey, and Kai Jones. The defensive teams get interesting with a three guards making the First Team. Ben Simmons, Marcus Smart, and Jrue Holiday get it done and beat out the big guys for First Team. Giannis and Rudy Gobert obviously join them. The second team has Dejounte Murray and Matisse Thybulle at guard, Draymond Green and Jonathon Isaac at forward, and Anthony Davis at center. Plenty of surprises, but there always is.
Overall Summary: If I had to describe this NBA season with three players, it would be Luka Doncic, Ja Morant, and Kyrie Irving. Why Luka? Well he’s the MVP, and he guides the Mavs all the way to the Finals as well. He’s bound to do big things this season. Why Ja? Mr. Morant has been solid, but is expected to make a jump in Year 3, and he will. In a huge way. He’ll be the first guy out of his draft class to make that jump, and hopefully leads to some others following in his footsteps and helping the NBA load up on exciting young talent. Why Kyrie? Mainly because this season is going to weird, and probably filled with some COVID issues across the league, much like Kyrie Irving. All in all, this will be a great season filled with plenty of ups and downs. I can’t wait to watch it unfold and see how wrong I am about most of my predictions above, but once again, that isn’t good marketing, so pretend I didn’t say that.
