Standings Predictions

[bondom34]

Kinda bored at work, figured I'd see how you guys think the standings play out this year at least for the playoffs. My guess:

East
1. Cleveland
2. Boston
3. Toronto
4. Wahington
5. Milwaukee
6. Charlotte
7. Miami
8. Philadelphia

West
1. GSW
2. San Antonio
3. Houston
4. OKC
5. Denver
6. Minnesota
7. Portland
8. LAC

Anyone else?

[Kizz Fastfists]

East-
1) Cleveland
2) Washington
3) Toronto
4) Boston
5) Milwaukee
6) Philly
7) Indiana
8) Charlotte

West-
1) GS
2) SA
3) Houston
4) Minny
5) Denver
6) OKC
7) Utah
8) NOLA

[ThunderTime]

East
1. Cleveland
2. Boston
3. Toronto
4. Philly
5. Washington
6. Milwaukee
7. Miami
8. Charlotte

West
1. GSW
2. Rockets
3. Spurs
4. Thunder
5. Minny
6. Denver
7. LAC
8. NOLA

[ThunderBolt]

Lol. Denver. Lol.

[retrobro90]

East:

1. Boston
2. Cleveland
3. Washington
4. Milwaukee
5. Toronto
6. Charlotte
7. Miami
8. Indiana

West:

1. Golden State
2. Houston
3. San Antonio
4. Oklahoma City
5. Portland
6. Memphis
7. Minnesota
8. Denver

[Dadouv47]

East :
1. Washington
2. Boston
3. Cleveland
4. Toronto
5. Milwaukee
6. Miami
7. Philadelphia
8. Charlotte

West :
1. GS
2. Spurs
3. OKC
4. Houston
5. Memphis
6. Portland
7. Minnesota
8. Utah

I think we will end up ahead of Houston because the chances about injuries in houston are VERY high (Eric Gordon/Ryan Anderson/ Chris Paul/Nene). These are all important players (besides Nene) and they were very lucky last year to stay healthy.
Well something can happen to our players but the odds are still on our side.

[Ontario]

East-
6) OKC

6th? lol you're predicting Russ is going to lose 2 months to a high ankle sprain or something?

[Ontario]

OKC's finish this year:

2nd: 1%
3rd: 20%
4th: 65%
5th: 14%
6th: 0%

[Dadouv47]

OKC's finish this year:

2nd: 1%
3rd: 20%
4th: 65%
5th: 14%
6th: 0%

Where? I would bet 100 to win 10.000 that we end up second. I mean, I don't think we will finish second but if some bookmaker make this bet, the value is huuuuuuuuge (and 0% finishing 6th is bull***t as well)

[Kizz Fastfists]

6th? lol you're predicting Russ is going to lose 2 months to a high ankle sprain or something?

I expect Russ to play 80 games. I expect PG to play 75 games. I expect the teams with a better combination of roster and coaching to finish better than OKC. I'm very much on record as saying PG will not make anywhere near the impact that some people expect. If I'm wrong about PG then all my conclusions based on that end up being wrong. I'm not going to change my PG expectations at this point without any game data. If PG proves me wrong in October and November I will have to adjust my conclusions. When OKC is below .500 on December 4th will you adjust yours?

[InTheSabonus]

I'd be pretty surprised if New Orleans made the playoffs. Wouldn't rule it out completely, they're a very unique and interesting team, but they needed shooting more than anything...so they recruit Rajon Rondo and Tony Allen?

[retrobro90]

I'd be pretty surprised if New Orleans made the playoffs. Wouldn't rule it out completely, they're a very unique and interesting team, but they needed shooting more than anything...so they recruit Rajon Rondo and Tony Allen?

I don't know if it was shooting moreso than general wing talent they were missing last year. I think that guard rotation is okay with Jrue and Etwuan rounding it out but they have literally no one that can be an effective 3.

[Atomic Punk]

6th? lol you're predicting Russ is going to lose 2 months to a high ankle sprain or something?

I expect Russ to play 80 games. I expect PG to play 75 games. I expect the teams with a better combination of roster and coaching to finish better than OKC. I'm very much on record as saying PG will not make anywhere near the impact that some people expect. If I'm wrong about PG then all my conclusions based on that end up being wrong. I'm not going to change my PG expectations at this point without any game data. If PG proves me wrong in October and November I will have to adjust my conclusions. When OKC is below .500 on December 4th will you adjust yours?

And yet, you have reached your current, purely speculative conclusions, without any any game data. Ok.

[Dn4sty]

6th? lol you're predicting Russ is going to lose 2 months to a high ankle sprain or something?

I expect Russ to play 80 games. I expect PG to play 75 games. I expect the teams with a better combination of roster and coaching to finish better than OKC. I'm very much on record as saying PG will not make anywhere near the impact that some people expect. If I'm wrong about PG then all my conclusions based on that end up being wrong. I'm not going to change my PG expectations at this point without any game data. If PG proves me wrong in October and November I will have to adjust my conclusions. When OKC is below .500 on December 4th will you adjust yours?

And yet, you have reached your current, purely speculative conclusions, without any any game data. Ok.

I'm not sure Kizz would give OKC any credit if they lost in 7 to Warriors in WCF this season.

[Dn4sty]

Also I'm. It ready to predict it because of Kawhi and Pop, but this Spurs roster is lacking the firepower of the other top teams in the West. It wouldn't shock me to see them fall to somewhere between 4-6.

[Osirus89]

Also I'm. It ready to predict it because of Kawhi and Pop, but this Spurs roster is lacking the firepower of the other top teams in the West. It wouldn't shock me to see them fall to somewhere between 4-6.

Completely agree.

I think we will be in a 3 team race all season with SA and Houston for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th seeds. It all comes down to how well the Rockets mesh and if the Spurs age finally catches up with them. SA will beat all of the bad teams but they probably won't be able to keep up with the elite teams in the league. Unless Kawhi somehow takes his game to another level...

[sleestak33]

Depends on personnel choices. With the projected starting lineup including Patterson and Roberson OKC is a 4/5 seed at best with a probable 1st round exit. Not beating these high powered offensive teams in the playoffs with two starters that can't even average 7 points per game playing major roles.

[hardenASG13]

Depends on personnel choices. With the projected starting lineup including Patterson and Roberson OKC is a 4/5 seed at best with a probable 1st round exit. Not beating these high powered offensive teams in the playoffs with two starters that can't even average 7 points per game playing major roles.

The two all stars might help. Let's say a game goes like this:

Russ: 29pts
George: 24
kanter: 13
Adams: 10
Patterson: 7
Abrines: 7
Roberson:6
Grant: 6
McDermott: 5

That's very doable and is 107. Would be around an average game for everyone, as a few likely would be above their average and a few below in a given game. It doesn't account for Felton at all, and in my opinion it's likely having at least 1 of abrines, grant and McDermott taking a decent step up this year. The offense will be good, it's a shame they do play Roberson 30mpg because they could be great on that end.

Yes they'd take a step back on D, but it would make everyone else have to play harder on that end. George can do alot of the things roberson can at slightly lower levels, and replacing him with an improved abrines (if he can average 12ppg let's say) makes them a top 3-5 offense. Particularly in the playoffs, against golden State and houston, they will need to score more points if they actually want to win, because they aren't stopping them on D no matter what.

But to the original point, they are fine on offense. I agree they might struggle to score with GSW playing those guys and as you know I think it's necessary to replace roberson if they are serious about winning. That said, people are underestimating the effect having Paul George will have on this offense. He isn't a guy that occasionally goes off.....he averages over 20ppg, has done so as the lead guy, and won. Now he's a second option, and will be getting the best looks of his career. Makes offense alot easier when there are 2 guys who you can count on going for 20-40 each on a consistent basis. This roster is full of talent and has tons of interesting combinations on both ends, they need to be alot more flexible and use them appropriately and in the right situations against the right teams for once.

[sleestak33]

Depends on personnel choices. With the projected starting lineup including Patterson and Roberson OKC is a 4/5 seed at best with a probable 1st round exit. Not beating these high powered offensive teams in the playoffs with two starters that can't even average 7 points per game playing major roles.

The two all stars might help. Let's say a game goes like this:

Russ: 29pts
George: 24
kanter: 13
Adams: 10
Patterson: 7
Abrines: 7
Roberson:6
Grant: 6
McDermott: 5

That's very doable and is 107. Would be around an average game for everyone, as a few likely would be above their average and a few below in a given game. It doesn't account for Felton at all, and in my opinion it's likely having at least 1 of abrines, grant and McDermott taking a decent step up this year. The offense will be good, it's a shame they do play Roberson 30mpg because they could be great on that end.

Yes they'd take a step back on D, but it would make everyone else have to play harder on that end. George can do alot of the things roberson can at slightly lower levels, and replacing him with an improved abrines (if he can average 12ppg let's say) makes them a top 3-5 offense. Particularly in the playoffs, against golden State and houston, they will need to score more points if they actually want to win, because they aren't stopping them on D no matter what.

But to the original point, they are fine on offense. I agree they might struggle to score with GSW playing those guys and as you know I think it's necessary to replace roberson if they are serious about winning. That said, people are underestimating the effect having Paul George will have on this offense. He isn't a guy that occasionally goes off.....he averages over 20ppg, has done so as the lead guy, and won. Now he's a second option, and will be getting the best looks of his career. Makes offense alot easier when there are 2 guys who you can count on going for 20-40 each on a consistent basis. This roster is full of talent and has tons of interesting combinations on both ends, they need to be alot more flexible and use them appropriately and in the right situations against the right teams for once.

If they start Patterson and Roberson we are talking about 50 combined minutes per game and roughly 13 points plus all of the problems that come with Roberson's defender not guarding him for the 30 minutes he's out there with spacing, double teaming and clogging the lane. Roberson simply can't be in the game more than 14-16 minutes otherwise he really starts costing the team too many points offensively. Kanter literally averages more than twice as many points per minute as Patterson and is the clear choice to start at power forward and the Warriors and Rockets have absolutely nobody that can contend with his offensive game not to mention he would kill them on the offensive boards. If Abrines were given the starting role instead of Roberson and that 30 minutes he would average around 12-14 points and if Kanter was getting the 33-34 minutes he should be getting in the starting role he would easily average 20. That would be a colossal difference in offensive production and would give them a legitimate chance to compete. As we saw last year with Donovan trying to match lineups and play small ball OKC went 2-11 against those 2 teams and the closest game they even had with the Warriors was 16 points. They have absolutely no chance of competing with the Warriors with Roberson out there.

[ThunderBolt]

Depends on personnel choices. With the projected starting lineup including Patterson and Roberson OKC is a 4/5 seed at best with a probable 1st round exit. Not beating these high powered offensive teams in the playoffs with two starters that can't even average 7 points per game playing major roles.

The two all stars might help. Let's say a game goes like this:

Russ: 29pts
George: 24
kanter: 13
Adams: 10
Patterson: 7
Abrines: 7
Roberson:6
Grant: 6
McDermott: 5

That's very doable and is 107. Would be around an average game for everyone, as a few likely would be above their average and a few below in a given game. It doesn't account for Felton at all, and in my opinion it's likely having at least 1 of abrines, grant and McDermott taking a decent step up this year. The offense will be good, it's a shame they do play Roberson 30mpg because they could be great on that end.

Yes they'd take a step back on D, but it would make everyone else have to play harder on that end. George can do alot of the things roberson can at slightly lower levels, and replacing him with an improved abrines (if he can average 12ppg let's say) makes them a top 3-5 offense. Particularly in the playoffs, against golden State and houston, they will need to score more points if they actually want to win, because they aren't stopping them on D no matter what.

But to the original point, they are fine on offense. I agree they might struggle to score with GSW playing those guys and as you know I think it's necessary to replace roberson if they are serious about winning. That said, people are underestimating the effect having Paul George will have on this offense. He isn't a guy that occasionally goes off.....he averages over 20ppg, has done so as the lead guy, and won. Now he's a second option, and will be getting the best looks of his career. Makes offense alot easier when there are 2 guys who you can count on going for 20-40 each on a consistent basis. This roster is full of talent and has tons of interesting combinations on both ends, they need to be alot more flexible and use them appropriately and in the right situations against the right teams for once.

If they start Patterson and Roberson we are talking about 50 combined minutes per game and roughly 13 points plus all of the problems that come with Roberson's defender not guarding him for the 30 minutes he's out there with spacing, double teaming and clogging the lane. Roberson simply can't be in the game more than 14-16 minutes otherwise he really starts costing the team too many points offensively. Kanter literally averages more than twice as many points per minute as Patterson and is the clear choice to start at power forward and the Warriors and Rockets have absolutely nobody that can contend with his offensive game not to mention he would kill them on the offensive boards. If Abrines were given the starting role instead of Roberson and that 30 minutes he would average around 12-14 points and if Kanter was getting the 33-34 minutes he should be getting in the starting role he would easily average 20. That would be a colossal difference in offensive production and would give them a legitimate chance to compete. As we saw last year with Donovan trying to match lineups and play small ball OKC went 2-11 against those 2 teams and the closest game they even had with the Warriors was 16 points. They have absolutely no chance of competing with the Warriors with Roberson out there.

If Kanter is so great and everyone besides The thunder FO and certain fans realize this, why aren't teams trading for Kanter? I mean, if you're right then they would get an all star for only $17 million a year.