How many games will PHI win this season?

[TrustTheProcess]

Utah is overrated IMO, good frontcourt, but just lost their starting PG and distributor, Portland lost Batum, Aldridge and Matthews, and is completely riding on Lillard, Denver is in full rebuild mode now, Sacramento has no chemistry, a terrible owner, and a senile ego-driven coach, and Minnesota has lots of young talent, but minimal veteran presence really and Kevin Martin is a cancer on the floor that will inhibit the development of their young guards with poor and excessive shot selection.

[sixerkitty]

Utah, the Suns, and New Orleans are all easily better and more talented then L.A.....even with a 100 % Kobe...who actually makes the Lakers worse then better. And teams like Denver and Sac will be right there at least challenging the Lakers record wise. And as for Minnesota...and Kevin Martin poisoning the younger Wolves players.....ridiculous. They have KG, and NOBODY commands more respect then he does, or is a better professional. So depending on how Wiggins, Lavine and some others progress, they too could easily be right there with the Lakers.

[TrustTheProcess]

Utah, the Suns, and New Orleans are all easily better and more talented then L.A.....even with a 100 % Kobe...who actually makes the Lakers worse then better. And teams like Denver and Sac will be right there at least challenging the Lakers record wise. And as for Minnesota...and Kevin Martin poisoning the younger Wolves players.....ridiculous. They have KG, and NOBODY commands more respect then he does, or is a better professional. So depending on how Wiggins, Lavine and some others progress, they too could easily be right there with the Lakers.

Honestly, i forgot about KG and think his presence will be huge for them.. would love to see the Wolves have a big year, i just really can't stand Kevin Martin.. Maybe it's just his awkward release that puts me off lol.

You really think New Orleans without AD is still a better team than the Lakers having added Russell, Randle, Hibbert, Bass and Williams though? I suppose the Suns are likely a 50 win team with the addition of Chandler, but I am just not sold on Utah.

Again, I am not saying that it is likely to happen by any stretch, I just think that it is certainly possible.

[hookshot199]

Why what? The team won't make the playoffs and I don't think Hinkie is at the point of his plan where he is concerned about wins. There's no promise Embiid will ever step foot on an NBA court nor that Jah or Nerlens will be superstars so it stands to reason that Hinkie will look to add a potential superstar in the draft like he's always done. If that means moving Covington or Jackson or whoever else for future considerations I don't see why not considering his track record. So to answer the question of why would Hinkie do this, it's because it's what he's always done. If that was even the question.

So you don't really follow Hinkie. He got rid of Hawes and Turner, neither of whom were going anywhere in their careers and were playing for paydays, to give him a better shot at Parker, Wiggins and Embiid. In the process he drafted Jeremy Grant with a second in that draft. He got rid of Thad, a player the Sixers coveted but were going to lose because Hinkie didn't want to pay $10 mil to keep him, for the Miami pick. He traded KJ McDaniel because he wouldn't accept the Hinkie special and he had another young stud in the wings - Grant. He didn't extend Henry Simms, who was a 51 pick overall. He didn't extend Jason Richardson and Luc Mbah a Moute because he's got younger players to fill their roster spots. But why would he dump Covington? Makes no sense. And Wroten, he'll only do so after he recovers from his injury. And he will only dump Jackson if he doesn't make the team. Hell, they gave him an extra year to recover from his injury to give him a chance to make the team. Hinkie got the Lakers (probably five, six or seven) pick for Michael Carter Williams. MCW wasn't going to be their point guard of the future. Generally, Hinkie doesn't move young players who show promise. And he's rather creative in picking young guys off the scrap heap like Covington and Jakaar and developing them. I just think you've got the wrong 'Hinkie' - or have analyzed his payer personnel decisions incorrectly.

[GoSixersBro]

40-45 games ?



Thanks for the Laugh....I needed that. No way L.A. wins close to that, or does 45 wins even get the 8th seed in the playoffs. Lakers are more likely a 26-32 win team MAX!!

Whatever you did to that quote made me look like I said that. I agree with you though. 40 wins definitely doesn't get you the 8th seed in the West. 45 might not either.

40 is certainly generous, but if Kobe can play a full season and be a half decent teammate, and Russell and Randle can steadily improve throughout the season... they added a rim protector in Hibbert and a scorer off the bench in Lou Will... I'm also high on Jordan Clarkson, i think he is underrated and will have a surprisingly good season. Add Bass and Boozer making decent contribution at the 4 and i don't think it is farfetched to say there is a 10% chance at the 8 seed...

Also, what other teams aside from the 6 powerhouses do you have winning 45 games?? an injury to Anthony Davis and the 8 seed is completely up for grabs. Bottom half of the west is relatively weak IMO, whereas the top 6 or 7 teams are clear cut playoff teams

I think to a degree you're right, but basically you just laid out the perfect scenario for the Lakers this season. Also the whole injury thing to Davis, you can make up that case for any player on any team. In fact, the most likely is an injury to Kobe based on recent history.

[TrustTheProcess]

Whatever you did to that quote made me look like I said that. I agree with you though. 40 wins definitely doesn't get you the 8th seed in the West. 45 might not either.

40 is certainly generous, but if Kobe can play a full season and be a half decent teammate, and Russell and Randle can steadily improve throughout the season... they added a rim protector in Hibbert and a scorer off the bench in Lou Will... I'm also high on Jordan Clarkson, i think he is underrated and will have a surprisingly good season. Add Bass and Boozer making decent contribution at the 4 and i don't think it is farfetched to say there is a 10% chance at the 8 seed...

Also, what other teams aside from the 6 powerhouses do you have winning 45 games?? an injury to Anthony Davis and the 8 seed is completely up for grabs. Bottom half of the west is relatively weak IMO, whereas the top 6 or 7 teams are clear cut playoff teams

I think to a degree you're right, but basically you just laid out the perfect scenario for the Lakers this season. Also the whole injury thing to Davis, you can make up that case for any player on any team. In fact, the most likely is an injury to Kobe based on recent history.

Yes of course, but my point I was mostly trying to make is that it is certainly not impossible for things to fall into place for the Lakers and fall apart for another supposed playoff team or two.. Like you say, anyone could get injured, hence, any expected playoff team could struggle.

If i told you last year that the Bucks would make the playoffs, I'm sure you all would laugh as well.. While I don't care for Byron Scott as a coach at all, there is certainly enough talent on that team to be the 8 seed in the west if things come together for them.

[Imdatboul11]

It depends on what Hinkie wants to do. If he feels like we need just one more piece and wants to maximize chances at Simmons we'll win 25 or less. If he wants the team to do the best they can to improve fan morale while still banking on the kings to suck and still get Simmons from the pick swaps, then we could probably win about 37 games. By Noel making a huge jump which he most likely will because he improved during the year which is rare seeing that from a player and having this offseason and by Oak improving conditioning and working on FT's before the season starts we could really be respectable. Noel anchors the defense which led to a top 13 defense last year I believe and Oak being surrounded by shooters and knocking down at least 62% of FTs would anchor the offense. Especially in the weak east our front court could really do damage and carry this team to a possible 8th seed.

[manlisten]

So you don't really follow Hinkie. He got rid of Hawes and Turner, neither of whom were going anywhere in their careers and were playing for paydays, to give him a better shot at Parker, Wiggins and Embiid. In the process he drafted Jeremy Grant with a second in that draft. He got rid of Thad, a player the Sixers coveted but were going to lose because Hinkie didn't want to pay $10 mil to keep him, for the Miami pick. He traded KJ McDaniel because he wouldn't accept the Hinkie special and he had another young stud in the wings - Grant. He didn't extend Henry Simms, who was a 51 pick overall. He didn't extend Jason Richardson and Luc Mbah a Moute because he's got younger players to fill their roster spots. But why would he dump Covington? Makes no sense. And Wroten, he'll only do so after he recovers from his injury. And he will only dump Jackson if he doesn't make the team. Hell, they gave him an extra year to recover from his injury to give him a chance to make the team. Hinkie got the Lakers (probably five, six or seven) pick for Michael Carter Williams. MCW wasn't going to be their point guard of the future. Generally, Hinkie doesn't move young players who show promise. And he's rather creative in picking young guys off the scrap heap like Covington and Jakaar and developing them. I just think you've got the wrong 'Hinkie' - or have analyzed his payer personnel decisions incorrectly.

Fair enough. I just personally feel he values a top 3 pick over all else especially at this phase of his rebuild. It's the backbone of his whole strategy. He can't count on combining picks to move up in the draft as we saw a few months ago. If Covington and Jackson are the difference between a top 3 pick and not, they will be out the door on the first thing smoking. Like you said he seems confident in his ability to find rotation players later on in the draft which is why I mentioned he will aim for that top 3 and figure out the rest later.

[GoSixersBro]

My friend and I have a bet going whether or not the Lakers make the playoffs in 2016. He's more of a casual NBA fan and was hyping their additions (Hibbert, Russell, Lou Williams) and thinks the Kobe Bryant of 2008 is returning this fall to bring them back into the hunt.

This is an easy bet for me to win right? There's no way they sneak in as the 8 seed I hope. Barring major injuries, the Warriors, Rockets, Spurs, Clippers, Grizzlies, Thunder and Pelicans should all make it and either Phoenix, Portland, or Utah should have a better shot, right?

Easy money for you. 0% chance Lakers make playoffs and there's a real chance they're the worst team in the NBA.

Can't believe I was worried about this. I texted him last night about it and he backtracked trying to tell me we made the bet before the draft and thought they'd take Okafor and make the Playoffs. Showed him the convo and texts were made in late July.

[snoopdogg88]

I think like 95% of us were wrong with the 20-29 win prediction

thinking 15 wins is the max for this squad.

[Embiid P]

I'm just curious as to who the four idiots who said we would win 60+ games are.