What team do you expect to defy expectations the most?

[Nolan]

Nuggets. Deep team with a few young guys that are poised for breakout years.

[ciregno]

Besides my homer pick of the Knicks defying expectations, I'm gonna go with Minnesota. I have a feeling they'll make a bigger leap than expected and finish around 3-6 in the West.

[Curmudgeon]

Atlanta. They've lost some players but Budenholzer is a great coach.

[Jiminy Glick]

T'Wolves will be real good. Though they need to trade LaVine. Too many ball dominate players. Too many demanding salaries in the future. There is potential that they make the same mistake the Thunder made.


But other than that Towns is the best big man in the NBA.

[NxtGr8MagicCntr]

This is easily Orlando. We are being completely written off like always. Vogel has never coached a team with a defense lower than 9th in the league and now he has biyombo and ibaka who are defensively more gifted than anyone on the pacers in his tenure.

Also the last time we had 2 starting caliber centers (dwight,gortat) we were deemed crazy and we were too front loaded. We had rashard play out of his natural position, also deemed stupid. (Aaron gordon) Dwight also came off the sticker dunk contest where he was cheated out of the crown (Aaron gordon) We just signed a knuckle head who could never get right in Pietrus (Jeff green). The whole year we were written off and we made the finals that year. The stars are aligning and history seems to repeat itself. #JustSaying

That being said...We probably end up with 43 wins and bounced in the 1st round

[OrangeBlueSkies]

This is easily Orlando. We are being completely written off like always. Vogel has never coached a team with a defense lower than 9th in the league and now he has biyombo and ibaka who are defensively more gifted than anyone on the pacers in his tenure.

Also the last time we had 2 starting caliber centers (dwight,gortat) we were deemed crazy and we were too front loaded. We had rashard play out of his natural position, also deemed stupid. (Aaron gordon) Dwight also came off the sticker dunk contest where he was cheated out of the crown (Aaron gordon) We just signed a knuckle head who could never get right in Pietrus (Jeff green). The whole year we were written off and we made the finals that year. The stars are aligning and history seems to repeat itself. #JustSaying

That being said...We probably end up with 43 wins and bounced in the 1st round

I really think if the Magic make a move they are a very good team. Personally, I would not look to get rid of Vuc. I know he just signed, but Bismack has value, and if they could add to their backcourt, they could be very good .

[Nuggets_Talk]

According to realgm each team this year will average between 45-48 wins.

[bmurph128]

This is easily Orlando. We are being completely written off like always. Vogel has never coached a team with a defense lower than 9th in the league and now he has biyombo and ibaka who are defensively more gifted than anyone on the pacers in his tenure.

Also the last time we had 2 starting caliber centers (dwight,gortat) we were deemed crazy and we were too front loaded. We had rashard play out of his natural position, also deemed stupid. (Aaron gordon) Dwight also came off the sticker dunk contest where he was cheated out of the crown (Aaron gordon) We just signed a knuckle head who could never get right in Pietrus (Jeff green). The whole year we were written off and we made the finals that year. The stars are aligning and history seems to repeat itself. #JustSaying

That being said...We probably end up with 43 wins and bounced in the 1st round

Weren't Magic fans saying much the same thing last year? I just don't see it.

You have the Cavs/Raptors/Pacers/Celtics as virtual locks barring injuries to superstars.

Then you have the Hornets/Pistons/Heat/Hawks/Knicks/Bulls/Wizards as teams that will be fighting for the last 4 playoff spots - who on this list do you think the Magic are better than?

[gratia333]

This is easily Orlando. We are being completely written off like always. Vogel has never coached a team with a defense lower than 9th in the league and now he has biyombo and ibaka who are defensively more gifted than anyone on the pacers in his tenure.

Also the last time we had 2 starting caliber centers (dwight,gortat) we were deemed crazy and we were too front loaded. We had rashard play out of his natural position, also deemed stupid. (Aaron gordon) Dwight also came off the sticker dunk contest where he was cheated out of the crown (Aaron gordon) We just signed a knuckle head who could never get right in Pietrus (Jeff green). The whole year we were written off and we made the finals that year. The stars are aligning and history seems to repeat itself. #JustSaying

That being said...We probably end up with 43 wins and bounced in the 1st round

Weren't Magic fans saying much the same thing last year? I just don't see it.

You have the Cavs/Raptors/Pacers/Celtics as virtual locks barring injuries to superstars.

Then you have the Hornets/Pistons/Heat/Hawks/Knicks/Bulls/Wizards as teams that will be fighting for the last 4 playoff spots - who on this list do you think the Magic are better than?

Magic Could be better then all those Teams listed and I'm not sold on Pacers or Raptors next year. Al Jefferson is done...
There are BIG "ifs" I grant. The Magic might be right back where they are this year and the GM will be gone.

But "IF" Payton improves his jumper, (let we see a lot in the summer there are videos showing improvement), Gordon needs to take a step forward for sure and show he play the SF and Serge needs to shoots 3pt like he did in the playoffs not like he did in regular season last year. The magic could be right there with the east in the 3-10 spots. I believe there will little difference in records from 3-10 in the east next year.

The Magic should be much better on Defense, have better 3pt shooting and will protect the paint and the 3pt line better. They should be much improved on rebounding too. I don't get the hate...

[NxtGr8MagicCntr]

This is easily Orlando. We are being completely written off like always. Vogel has never coached a team with a defense lower than 9th in the league and now he has biyombo and ibaka who are defensively more gifted than anyone on the pacers in his tenure.

Also the last time we had 2 starting caliber centers (dwight,gortat) we were deemed crazy and we were too front loaded. We had rashard play out of his natural position, also deemed stupid. (Aaron gordon) Dwight also came off the sticker dunk contest where he was cheated out of the crown (Aaron gordon) We just signed a knuckle head who could never get right in Pietrus (Jeff green). The whole year we were written off and we made the finals that year. The stars are aligning and history seems to repeat itself. #JustSaying

That being said...We probably end up with 43 wins and bounced in the 1st round

Weren't Magic fans saying much the same thing last year? I just don't see it.

You have the Cavs/Raptors/Pacers/Celtics as virtual locks barring injuries to superstars.

Then you have the Hornets/Pistons/Heat/Hawks/Knicks/Bulls/Wizards as teams that will be fighting for the last 4 playoff spots - who on this list do you think the Magic are better than?

Well last year we had 35 wins under Skiles who never ran a play and who basically gave up after January when he reportedly didn't want the job anymore. Plus the magic lost so many games by 5 points or less (not sure if we led the league). They predicted we would win 36 games this year??? So expectations are very low, don't see how we do worse under Vogel barring everyone injured. Plus at least with this year's predictions our roster at least looks better on paper....

[bmurph128]

This is easily Orlando. We are being completely written off like always. Vogel has never coached a team with a defense lower than 9th in the league and now he has biyombo and ibaka who are defensively more gifted than anyone on the pacers in his tenure.

Also the last time we had 2 starting caliber centers (dwight,gortat) we were deemed crazy and we were too front loaded. We had rashard play out of his natural position, also deemed stupid. (Aaron gordon) Dwight also came off the sticker dunk contest where he was cheated out of the crown (Aaron gordon) We just signed a knuckle head who could never get right in Pietrus (Jeff green). The whole year we were written off and we made the finals that year. The stars are aligning and history seems to repeat itself. #JustSaying

That being said...We probably end up with 43 wins and bounced in the 1st round

Weren't Magic fans saying much the same thing last year? I just don't see it.

You have the Cavs/Raptors/Pacers/Celtics as virtual locks barring injuries to superstars.

Then you have the Hornets/Pistons/Heat/Hawks/Knicks/Bulls/Wizards as teams that will be fighting for the last 4 playoff spots - who on this list do you think the Magic are better than?

Well last year we had 35 wins under Skiles who never ran a play and who basically gave up after January when he reportedly didn't want the job anymore. Plus the magic lost so many games by 5 points or less (not sure if we led the league). They predicted we would win 36 games this year??? So expectations are very low, don't see how we do worse under Vogel barring everyone injured. Plus at least with this year's predictions our roster at least looks better on paper....

Ah okay didn't know that about Skiles. I hope Orlando does well this year....always had a soft spot for them (minus a certain Eastern Conference Finals series)

[Bertrob]

Timberwolves will defy expectations of people who think they will be good by continuing to be bad.