NBA Predictions 2015-2016
It's finally that time of year, finally. Listen, I love college football and the NFL as much, if not more, than anyone and this years MLB playoffs have been the best and most exciting/intriguing America has seen in years. But now the NBA is back and for that, I'm pumped. It's been an interesting offseason to say the least and the NBA is going to benefit from its shift in landscape. Love it or hate it, Kevin Durant saying deuces to Oklahoma City and joining the 73-9 NBA runners up will be the best thing for the league despite a big dip in team parity. The regular season is going to be filled with juicy storylines and big games that make an 82 game regular season schedule not seem so long and drawn out. It's gonna the real deal so here are my predictions for the upcoming season.
Eastern Conference: Cavs over Bulls in ECF, Pacers are the sleeper team, Knicks will still suck.
Lets be real here, the Cavaliers are going to win the east again. The question is not "Who can knock off Cleveland in the East?" but more of a "Who will Cleveland beat in the Eastern Conference Finals?". The Eastern Conference is improved, however. The Bulls added Chicago native and 3-time NBA Champion Dwyane Wade and former Boston Celtic great and NBA Champion Rajon Rondo to make the Bulls instant contenders for the prestigious title of Eastern Conference runner up. The Toronto Raptors will be back at full strength and hope to build on a 50 plus win season as well but the real sleeper here in the East will be the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers added Jeff Teague, Thad Young, and Al Harrington while only losing George Hill. The Pacers will give the Bulls a run for their money in that division and Paul George has become a trendy pick to win the league MVP. The Bucks are still young but damn they are a team with big, long, and lanky dudes. They have seven, yes, SEVEN, players that are at least 6'10. They are gonna surprise a lot of teams because they have the length, size, and freak athleticism to defend every team at the rim and make you beat them from the outside, which will pose issues for a lot of teams who are not as efficient from the 3 pt line. The Bucks are just too young, however, to seriously be considered a contender in the East. And lastly, after all the moves the New York Knicks made, they still might not make the playoffs. They added D-Rose and Joakim Noah? Sweet, too damn bad Noah has not played over 70 games in almost 3 seasons and Derrick Rose has played a grand total of 166 games out of a possible 328 games since he won his MVP back in 2011. These two acquisitions are made of glass and will not help the Knicks much. Noah has injury issues and is nowhere near the defender he was when he actually received multiple MVP votes in 2014 (LOL wut). Carmelo Anthony will still get his shots, still get his numbers, but will not see many changes in the W column. 42 wins max for the Knicks which is a damn shame considering that Kristaps Porzingis is slowly becoming Latvia's version of a human highlight reel. Will anyone have a chance at beating Cleveland in the East? Hell no, and you're lying to yourself if you believe otherwise but the Chicago Bulls will meet up with them in the conference finals and maybe push it to six games.
Western Conference: Spurs over Warriors in WCF, Russell Westbrook beats the Warriors once during the season, Warriors win 60 games, Mike D'Antoni probably gets fired again. The Jazz make the playoffs and people remember that there is actually an NBA team in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The west is wild again. The Warriors sign Kevin Durant and now have the winners of the last three NBA MVP awards. But will this win them a title this year? Nope. Nor will it get them out of the Western Conference. I get it, Kevin Durant will be an all time great and a first ballot hall of famer and will win at least two titles in Oakland with his new dream team, but this kind of championship team chemistry is going to take some time and success won't come easy, just ask Lebron and the Heatles. The Warriors also lost so much of their depth with the addition of Durant. The Warriors lost an elite rim protecter and sneaky good passer in Andrew Bogut, versatile wing man in Harrison Barnes, and almost the entire depth of their bench including Leandro Barbosa, Marreese Speights, Festus Ezeli, and Brandon Rush. The Warriors will be great and will have a seven game Western Conference Final series with the Spurs but when you lose a big part of what made you a 73 win team (defensive depth and locker room continuity) you simply will not be able to compete with the Spurs. Speaking of the Spurs, they are just too damn good and Gregg Popovich is a wizard, plus they added 2-time NBA champion Pau Gasol to replace the retired Tim Duncan. Kawhi Leonard is the best on ball defender in the league and has improved his scoring numbers and 3 point field goal percentage in his last three seasons and is poised for an MVP season AND another Defensive player of the year award. And to add to the hype of the Spurs, Popovich has molded Jonathon Simmons (aka Lebronathon Simmons) into the ideal bench weapon to add depth, defense, and toughness and will be the key to the Spurs team. Outside of these two teams, nobody has a shot to win the West. The Clippers added Marreese Speights to help spread the floor and add some desperately needed front court depth and Blake Griffin should be healthy for a full season and play along side a much improved Deandre Jordan will mutually benefit both players. All of that plus Chris Paul is cool and just sounds like another fun 50 win season but lets not forget they're still the Clippers and will always have ZERO business in the NBA Finals nor do they have any business messing around and making the conference finals. At least the team that has actually won titles in L.A. will be MUCH improved and the pieces finally seem to be in place to build a team around. The Luke Walton hire was the best hire in the NBA's offseason and a guy who has won rings as a player and being a teammate of Kobe Bryant's for many years and has even won a title as an assistant on the Warriors coaching staff. It won't be this year, it probably won't be next year, but keep these guys together and give Walton time to coach these guys up and the Lakers will be back in the playoffs...at least they are already fun to watch. But the sleeper pick for the west should be the Utah Jazz. Yes, there is a pro basketball team hidden up in Utah and yes, they will be in the playoffs. They have an exceptional, rim defending front court as Rudy Gobert has turned into a shot blocking machine and one of the leagues premier rim protecters. George Hill was a great addition to add experience to a very young roster. Gordon Hayward is an exceptional, creative scorer with a great three point shot and almost single handedly lead them to the playoffs last year. The depth is key for the jazz as well as they bring talented lottery pick Trey Lyles off the bench and signed Joe Johnson who may be old and slow, but like George Hill, will add at least ten years of experience to this young squad and is also known to be a great shooter and is still reliable to hit big shots late in games. The Jazz were close last year to making the Playoffs, but this is the year everyone will watch the Jazz push the Warriors to seven games in the first round of the playoffs. For the rest of the conference, Russell Westbrook will put up a billion triple doubles and the Thunder will suck (but will steal one from the Warriors early in the season because Westbrook will hang 60) and Mike D'Antoni's bullshit gimmick he calls an offense system will put up points but the Rockets will still give up 120 points each game.
The Long2 NBA Preseason Awards: MVP- Kawhi Leonard (Spurs). Defensive Player of the Year- Kawhi Leonard (Spurs). Coach of the Year- Gregg Popovich (Spurs). Most Improved- Rodney Hood (Jazz). Rookie of the Year- Brandon Ingram (Lakers).
NBA Finals: Spurs over Cavs in 7. Kawhi Leonard is series MVP.
Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
The Cavs will run away from the East from start to finish and win the first 8 games of the playoffs again and won't be tested until the face the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals but the Spurs are a whole new animal. LeBron is easily the best player in the world and is seemingly unstoppable....unless you're Kawhi Leonard. Leonard made a name for himself in the Finals a couple years ago when he completely shut down Lebron and the final chapter of the Heatles in five games. The Spurs are too deep and too good defensively to NOT win the title this year. In terms of match ups, The Spurs have the advantage. Kyrie Irving will get his and show out but the series will be one on the defensive end and on the boards. Both teams have versatile big men who spread the floor and can shoot with good range but the series will be won by whoever rebounds the ball better. It will be a neck and neck series but in the end, the Spurs win the defensive and rebounding battle and Gregg Popovich wins ring number six.
Man I freakin love basketball. Welcome back, friend.
E_Campbell3
