I think there are 4 real title contenders this year. Bucks and Celtics from the east and Nuggets and Suns from the west. Every other team is at least a tier lower.
Heat - Had a nice Cinderella story last year but with the upgrades that the bucks and celtics made, they wont be close this year.
Sixers - Can God even get them out of the 2nd round?
Lakers- still no where near the nuggets and barely beat a hobbled Suns. They have 0 chance
Clippers - always a threat IF they can stay healthy which is basically no chance.
warriors - too old and small
Mavs- Kyrie will mess things up somehow
Pelicans - always looks good on paper but never works out
Kings - Probably make some noise but not really a threat
4 real title contenders (2 from each conference) is great parity. I think we will see a bucks vs nuggets finals.
Nuggets, Celtics, Bucks and Thunder
TIER 1 (contenders)
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Nuggets
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Bucks
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Suns
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Celtics
TIER 2 (near playoff locks)
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Lakers
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Warriors
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Cavaliers
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Heat
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Kings
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Clippers
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Mavericks
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Grizzlies
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76ers
TIER 3 (playoff contenders)
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Knicks
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Pelicans
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Thunder
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Pacers
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Hawks
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Magic
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Bulls
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Raptors
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Timberwolves
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Nets
TIER 4 (rebuilding or retooling)
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Spurs
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Hornets
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Pistons
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Rockets
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Wizards
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Trailblazers
Knicks are closer to the Cavs and Sixers than they are anyone in tier 3.
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Too soon to tell imo. Do the lakers gel like they did at the end of last year/stay healthy. Do the clippers stay healthy. Can the heat get hot as they did last year again. Does Chris Paul/saric mesh with the warriors. And so on.
Nah bro, the Lakers didn’t win by as much as they should have in game 2 of the regular season, clearly we can conclude that they have zero chance at the title
two games into the season
Heat, Nuggets, Warriors, Suns.
Anyone counting out Steph or Lebron is nuts.
I’m not counting Steph or Lebron out, I’m just counting in Jokic and that impacts my equation in the West to the point where I barely consider anyone else.
I think Boston v Denver final
Contenders 3-Nuggets/Celtics/Bucks Cinderella 2- Heat/Warriors Trade needed 2- Lakers/76ers Pumpkins 2- Suns/Clippers
The Suns are in the Lakers/Warriors tier until proven otherwise. Call me crazy but putting a team in the same tier as the NBA champions when they changed every single aspect of the team and when there are so many unknown is a bit too much hype for me
Theres 2 favorites, Nuggets and Celtics.
3 lower tier contenders, Suns, Bucks, Heat
3 or 4
Ask again after 25 games
Nuggets 35% Celtics 25% Bucks 20% Suns 10% lakers 5% clips 2% heat 1% Dubs 1% the field 1%
- The Celtics because there’s no other reason why. The Celtics are the balls
AND the tits, my guy.
Way too early to tell. We won’t know how the top 6-7 teams will look until around January, excluding the nuggets since we know what they are. Injuries will also play a huge factor with certain teams