Your Lakers and League Predictions

[TylersLakers]

Well, my excitement for the Lakers couldn't be lower.

Having Russell Westbrook on the team is a shot to the gut, something I didn't want to see. There's many times during the season I prioritize staying home and watching games instead of going out, working overtime, etc. That certainly won't be happening this year. If the wife and family wants to do something, I'll be missing games and won't feel any regret about doing so.

With that said I'm excited to see the rest of the league. I'm sure there will be nights when games are on and I'm watching a different team on league pass instead of the Lakers game that's on. There's a lot of parity in the league and I'm absolutely excited about that. I hope the Lakers are able to join that around mid-season when hopefully a trade opportunity presents itself to get Westbrook off the team and acquire talent. If I was the Lakers, I'd trade the two picks for Hield and Turner right now. I would've done it before the season to allow for a proper training camp.

How's everyone else feeling? This is without a doubt the lowest activity I've ever seen on this board and I feel like largely this fanbase isn't connected to the team because of the terrible decisions Rob Pelinka has made the last couple years since winning the title.

Laker Predictions:

1- I don't think Westbrook will be a complete disaster. I do think he's going to be better than last year. I also think he'll be benched in a lot of fourth quarters because there's going to be many nights where Beverley/Nunn/Reaves will be better fits to close the game. Westbrook needs to show that he's capable of fitting into a team to be able to get another contract in the off-season. I think that factor combined with Darvin Ham, having a more athletic team around him and Anthony Davis being more available will allow him to be better. As far as a stat line I have no idea. Probably something around 14-16 PPG, 6 RPG, 6 APG and I'm guessing a better 3PT% because he'll be shooting more corner threes and won't be taking some of the ridiculous shots he took last year. I think he'll play somewhere around 26 MPG.

2- The main reason we'll lose games early is because the roster simply lacks size and shooting on the wings. Even if Westbrook is playing better and is a nicer fit, we still don't have anyone outside of AD and LeBron who can defend at a high level on the wing. We're going to lose a lot of games because opposing teams just beat us over the top.

3- AD is going to be fantastic. He'll play somewhere between 65-70 games. 28 PPG, 10 RPG, 2.5 BPG, and I think he'll hit his outside shots at a better clip (32% 3PT).

4- LeBron will be really good, but I think this will be the year he shows some slow down. There'll be moments when we question his ability to beat defenders off the dribble, he'll settle for more outside shots. Play a lot more out of the post. He'll play more games than last year, I'm thinking around 65.

5- Westbrook will be traded before mid-season. He's a trade asset basically that has an expiration date of the trade deadline. Pelinka admitted as much at media day. Either for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield and we only give up 1 1st rounder or Chicago is a natural fit. With Lonzo's injury, I don't think they're going to be very good and the rest of the East ahead of them is all significantly better. I could easily see this being the year where DeRozan becomes a Laker along with Vucevic (and maybe Caruso?) comes to the Lakers. I think we will make a trade of that calibre, have a better second half and finish 6th in the standings.

West Predictions:

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

1st round:

- GSW defeats Memphis in 5 games
- Denver defeats Dallas in 7 games
- Clippers defeat Lakers in 6 games
- New Orleans defeats Minnesota in 7 games

2nd round:

- Golden State defeats New Orleans in 7 games
- Clippers defeat Nuggets in 7 games

WCF:

- Clippers defeat Golden State in 6 games

Eastern Predictions:

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

1st round:

- Philadelphia defeats New York in 4 games
- Cleveland defeats Toronto in 7 games
- Boston defeats Milwaukee in 7 games
- Brooklyn defeats Atlanta in 5 games

2nd round:

- Philadelphia defeats Brooklyn in 6 games
- Boston defeats Cleveland in 6 games

ECF:

- Philadelphia defeats Boston in 6 games

NBA Finals

- Philadelphia defeats LA Clippers in 7 games

Award Predictions:

MVP: Steph Curry
ROY: Paolo Banchero
DPOY: Anthony Davis
6MOY: Jordan Poole
MIP: Anthony Edwards

All NBA Teams:

1st Team:

G- Steph Curry, James Harden
F- Paul George, Giannis
C- Joel Embiid

2nd Team:

G- Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving
F- KD, Anthony Davis
C- Jokic

3rd Team:

G- Donovan Mitchell, Ja Morant
F- Ingram, Tatum
C- Gobert

All Stars:

Western Conference:

- Curry, Ja, Ingram, LeBron, Jokic
- AD, Zion, Luka, PG13, Kawhi, Anthony Edwards, KAT

Eastern Conference:

- Harden, Trae, KD, Giannis, Embiid
- Mitchell, Garland, Kyrie, Tatum, Siakam, Brown, Evan Mobley