Fake Parity: Who is beating LAL/LAC/MIL?

[Def Leppard]

Who on those teams can stop embiid? I know health is always a concern but will be fun to see. Im a raps fan to

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[facothomas22]

Outside of teams like the Clippers and Bucks,the Rockets,76ers,Jazz,Warriors,Trail Blazers,Pacers,Celtics,Nuggets,Nets(even without Kevin Durant),and even Pelicans,and maybe the Spurs all have better chances of reaching the finals than the Lakers,so I don't understand why the OP including the Lakers included them far as the teams to beat,.The Lakers been very overrated by many people.I be surprised if the Lakers even win more than 45 games next season,but yet people have them winning over 50 games and being contenders.As for the Bucks,I see the 7e6rs,Clippers,Jazz and Rockets better than them,so they are not the team to beat ether. Plus I can't see how the Bucks wold be able to go to the finals if Giannis doesn't improve his jumpshot or develop his post game or if the Bucks supporting cast declines even slightly.Sure the Bucks are the 2nd best team in the NBA,however the Eastern Conference is much weaker than the Western Conference.After all,the Bucks wouldn't be better than even the Nets if Kevin Durant was healthy.

[Pelon chingon]

Im not giving lal the automatic nod to being a good team. The WC will be a gauntlet anyone can be beat on any given night so no free passes.

[jackman]

So OP says there's 3 potential teams in the running as true contenders (I disagree, but let's run with this anyways)...Compare that to what most nba fans were afraid of - a triple threat of Kawhi, Lebron and AD team where LAL would be the ONLY CLEAR favourite. This would take LAC away from contention. One of Bucks/Sixers will come out from East. Neither of which will give the hypothetical LAL team any challenge. What's the issue again?

This past year was a thrill for NBA fans because a few injuries to GSW SUPERTEAM crippled their chances - albeit they put up a respectable fight to defend the title. The league was truly wide open once KD was injured.

NBA has always been more ENTERTAINING in 1 of 2 ways - can't have both:
1) Parity - but by parity we mean 4-5 teams that have a legitimate chance of winning with multiple factors that sway one team over the other. NOT the entire league...
2) Superteams - you have basically the NBA fans versus Superteam fans - most of which NBA fans are rooting against the superteam, not that we want the superteam opponent to win (unless the opponent is your local team)

Because this upcoming season doesn't have a SINGLE CLEAR FAVOURTE to win the chip...it's parity in my books - 4-5 teams with legitimate shot at the title without any clear favourites

[mademan]

Ya'll the giving the Clips and (more ridiculously) the Lakers wayy too much credit. Lets see them play first. Both teams got some bust potential in them (1st round exit for the Lakers, 2nd round exit for the Clips would be bust for them)

we're also a few months removed from the Warriors sweeping the WCF without KD. So lets not count them out. Crazy to me that people are putting the Lakers over them

[thebigbird]

Injury is reasonable to predict for the Lakers considering AD and Cousins are injury prone while LeBron is aging.

How is it reasonable to predict for the Lakers when George and Leonard are more injury prone than LeBron and Davis?

Davis is made of glass. Chronic nagging injuries throughout his career which have made him miss games or leave during games not to return.

George broke his leg once and recovered, so that was a one-off. A broken bone doesn't tend to be a re-occurring issue unlike knee problems or foot problems for a big man.

Kawhi is another discussion entirely, but load management seems to have controlled that.


Part of why I think it is more reasonable to predict them for the Lakers is simply because the Clippers have a good enough supporting cast that they can manage minutes for PG13 and Kawhi as not to put too much wear on them.

The Lakers? That roster is a mess between over-the-hill guys like Rondo and Dudley and guys like Cousins who are a shell of what they used to be. Any "load management" games that AD and LeBron skip would have to be against teams like the Hornets and they still have a decent chance of losing.

Davis played 75 games in both 16/17 and 17/18. Hell, he only played 4 fewer games than Kawhi last year and that was with Davis requesting a trade in January and sitting out. Kawhi has never played 75 games in a season. Paul George just had shoulder surgery.

[LakerLegend]

I love how Lebron is the only one that's aging.

Which other team relies as much on a 35 year old player that has as much mileage as him?

That guy put up 27 8 8 in a career worst spacing. He put up 50 in the Finals a year prior. He's not just "a 35 year old player". And he missed about as much games as Kawhi.

He put up a lot of empty numbers if you watched him significantly.

As for that 50 point game, that came after a random detour to Miami. There won't be time for that often and he's at the age where players can fall off a cliff at anytime.

[LakerLegend]

I love how Lebron is the only one that's aging.

Which other team relies as much on a 35 year old player that has as much mileage as him?

Who is going to play more games next year Lebron or Leonard?

Well Kawhi played more in the playoffs this year so..

[dickfox]

They can probably beat each other, no?

They will all play each other at some point and any of them can win.

Do you understand how the schedule works?

[LloydFree]

PHI >= MIL

HOU/GSW = LAC/LAL <= UTA/DEN

*GS only if Klay comes back early enough to have ample amount of reps before the playoffs

People really need to check themselves, with their disregard to the Warriors. Once Thompson comes backin February, they aren't that much different than the team that won their 1st title.

[Roy The Natural]

Ya'll the giving the Clips and (more ridiculously) the Lakers wayy too much credit. Lets see them play first. Both teams got some bust potential in them (1st round exit for the Lakers, 2nd round exit for the Clips would be bust for them)

we're also a few months removed from the Warriors sweeping the WCF without KD. So lets not count them out. Crazy to me that people are putting the Lakers over them

To be fair, they probably won't have a 100% Klay this year, and they were down BIG in 3 out of 4 games to a Portland team without Nurkic. A Portland team that also likely improved this year. The Warriors also lost Iguodala who was a major component in their comebacks against Portland.

[Roy The Natural]

PHI >= MIL

HOU/GSW = LAC/LAL <= UTA/DEN

*GS only if Klay comes back early enough to have ample amount of reps before the playoffs

People really need to check themselves, with their disregard to the Warriors. Once Thompson comes backin February, they aren't that much different than the team that won their 1st title.

They're vastly different. They've lost a ton of their top-level defenders. Also, I think people need to acknowledge that it's very unlikely that Klay will look like himself for at least a month upon his return. Jumpshooters with a long history tend to take some time to get back into rhythm.

[scrabbarista]

This isn't my official pick, but if you forced me to predict next season's champ today, I'd choose Philadelphia. PHI and MIL's path through the playoffs will be so much easier than whoever they face in the Finals that it seems like a smart pick from where we are now.

It goes without saying they won't all be healthy, but if they were, there'd be seven teams that could come out of the West. The conference is bananas.

[HMFFL]

If Embiid is 100% and Simmons shows any signs of a jumpshot come playoff time, I love our chances against anyone.

Many changes in both of their games and mindsets will need to change other than just adding a jump shot. The additions will be nice but they also loss talent.
Like you mentioned, I hope range on offense improves, and everyone is on board for the main goal. Not a lot of competition in the East now that Toronto's loss Leonard so it's time for Philly to actually show up.

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[mudsak]

I am not buying Milwaukee as unbeatable. Giannis is great, but I do not trust Middleton and especially Bledsoe.

I'm kind of surprised they locked in Bledsoe instead of Brogdon. I would have gone Brogdon instead.

[SK21209]

I wouldn’t be surprised at all if none of those three are in the finals. Philly could have an absolutely dominating defense next year. LeBron lead teams tend to get off to slow starts in their first year together and having to win more than one series without homecourt in the West could be a death sentence. And as good as I think the Clippers can/will be, there are legitimate questions about Kawhi and PG holding up for the whole season.

[Raps in 4]

Three contenders is more than we've had in years.

Denver will be up there if Murray continues to improve. Portland might have a chance too. Houston before the WB trade was a contender. I don't like WB, but maybe they'll be able to make it work somehow (I'm not optimistic). Philly could be a contender if Simmons learns to shoot. And of course GSW are still contenders when Klay comes back.

[NZB2323]

What have the Lakers, Clippers, and Bucks really accomplished? I know the 76ers, Jazz, Rockets, and Denver have weaknesses, but last year the Lakers missed the playoffs and so did Anthony Davis. Lebron will be 35 next year and has a lot of miles on him. Last year the Bucks lost 4 games in a row in the playoffs. Last year the Clippers lost in the first round and so did Paul George. PG13 and Kawhi both have injury concerns. PG13 has a metal rod in his leg and had surgery on both shoulders in the offseason and Kawhi was limping at the championship celebration.

We’ve seen this time and time again throughout NBA history. The betting odds were against the 2019 Raptors, 2015 Warriors, 2011 Mavs, 2004 Pistons, 1978 Bullets, 1975 Warriors, etc.

EDIT: I also wouldn’t count the Warriors out. They’re no longer a super team, but Steph, Dray, and D’lo is a great big 3.

[Raps in 4]

I wouldn’t be surprised at all if none of those three are in the finals. Philly could have an absolutely dominating defense next year. LeBron lead teams tend to get off to slow starts in their first year together and having to win more than one series without homecourt in the West could be a death sentence. And as good as I think the Clippers can/will be, there are legitimate questions about Kawhi and PG holding up for the whole season.

Philly can't shoot, which is going to be a huge problem for them.

Losing Butler and Reddick was massive.

[mickie]

people are forgetting that around the same time last year all the talking heads were asking who will win the race to 2nd place behind the UNBEATABLE Warriors... "Injury" gods had other ideas..