Yes or No: Winner of Memphis/Lakers wins the West

[kendogg]

lakers dont even have the best star pairing and they might have the worst depth of any playoff team. it used to be that you could count on lebron to step up his defense and offensive aggressiveness in the playoffs but i'm not convinced he has the stamina anymore to be an elite 2-way player. and AD just kind of fell off a cliff. he's constantly struggling with injuries and hasn't looked dominant at any point when he's been playing the last several years.

i think durant+booker is clearly a better pair, especially if you consider that CP3/Ayton are far better than anyone else on the lakers.
jokic+murray are comparable, ja+jjj are comparable, curry+wiggins/dray are comparable, fox/sabonis are comparable. 5 years ago sure lebron and AD are top 10 locks but not anymore.

[MyUniBroDavis]

lakers dont even have the best star pairing and they might have the worst depth of any playoff team. it used to be that you could count on lebron to step up his defense and offensive aggressiveness in the playoffs but i'm not convinced he has the stamina anymore to be an elite 2-way player. and AD just kind of fell off a cliff. he's constantly struggling with injuries and hasn't looked dominant at any point when he's been playing the last several years.

i think durant+booker is clearly a better pair, especially if you consider that CP3/Ayton are far better than anyone else on the lakers.
jokic+murray are comparable, ja+jjj are comparable, curry+wiggins/dray are comparable, fox/sabonis are comparable. 5 years ago sure lebron and AD are top 10 locks but not anymore.

Special hating right here

[kendogg]

lakers dont even have the best star pairing and they might have the worst depth of any playoff team. it used to be that you could count on lebron to step up his defense and offensive aggressiveness in the playoffs but i'm not convinced he has the stamina anymore to be an elite 2-way player. and AD just kind of fell off a cliff. he's constantly struggling with injuries and hasn't looked dominant at any point when he's been playing the last several years.

i think durant+booker is clearly a better pair, especially if you consider that CP3/Ayton are far better than anyone else on the lakers.
jokic+murray are comparable, ja+jjj are comparable, curry+wiggins/dray are comparable, fox/sabonis are comparable. 5 years ago sure lebron and AD are top 10 locks but not anymore.

Special hating right here

perhaps we have different definitions of dominant. i have a reasonable definition, and you have a delusional definition.

[MyUniBroDavis]

lakers dont even have the best star pairing and they might have the worst depth of any playoff team. it used to be that you could count on lebron to step up his defense and offensive aggressiveness in the playoffs but i'm not convinced he has the stamina anymore to be an elite 2-way player. and AD just kind of fell off a cliff. he's constantly struggling with injuries and hasn't looked dominant at any point when he's been playing the last several years.

i think durant+booker is clearly a better pair, especially if you consider that CP3/Ayton are far better than anyone else on the lakers.
jokic+murray are comparable, ja+jjj are comparable, curry+wiggins/dray are comparable, fox/sabonis are comparable. 5 years ago sure lebron and AD are top 10 locks but not anymore.

Special hating right here

perhaps we have different definitions of dominant. i have a reasonable definition, and you have a delusional definition.

If you genuinely don’t think AD looked dominant at ANY POINT this season you either haven’t been paying attention or you’re lying lol

[GSP]

No

Warriors can still beat both

[TheGOATRises007]

Not that high on Memphis at all.

Lakers are the more interesting team, but their role players are kind of iffy and I don't think LeBron can be as consistent as he was in 2020(which is necessary for the Lakers) to have a shot.

[PhiEaglesfan712]

No, I think the Sacramento Kings will win the West. They remind me a lot of the 2021 Suns.

[An Unbiased Fan]

Does anyone think AD will last the whole playoffs? It's hard to see the Lakers making it. Especially when Lebron is brittle these days too.

Memphis is just a dumb team

[trex_8063]

In an email to my dad before the playoffs started, I rated the chances something like:

DEN: 20-25%
MEM: 20-25%
LAL: 15-20%
GSW: 15-20%
PHO: ~15%
SAC + LAC + MIN: 5%


Seeing what has happened in the series' so far, I might now make it:

LAL: 35%
DEN: 30-35%
PHO: 15%
MEM: 5-10%
SAC + GSW + LAC + MIN: 10%


I'm not near as sold on Phoenix as others appear to be.

EDIT: In terms of answering OP's question, I guess that still puts me slightly in the category of taking the field vs LAL/MEM.

[MisterHibachi]

Easy answer is no. Even if LA looks good against Memphis I just think they'll run out of gas well before the Finals. Plus I think GS and SAC both match up really well against them. Now if Memphis really looks strong in this series I could really see them giving GS a good fight, but still probably not enough for me to favor them.

Phx vs. Denver is interesting because I really don't think Phx has what it takes to exploit Denver's defensive issues, and I also question their ability to guard Denver on the other end. Overall I don't really trust the Denver supporting cast that much (not that Phx instills great confidence either) so I won't really feel great about picking them to win multiple series against anyone.

I don't think the Warriors match up well with the Lakers at all. Lakers are actually an awful match up for them imo. Agree re Sacramento tho

[tsherkin]

Does anyone think AD will last the whole playoffs? It's hard to see the Lakers making it. Especially when Lebron is brittle these days too.

That's the question, isn't it?

It has happened before, even if you can't at all count on in year after year.

Meantime, it's been one game. Let's see what happens when LA doesn't shoot 53% from 3 before we start worrying too much about their chances to exit the conference.