It may feel as if the 2019/20 NBA season just ended, but we’re just suddenly hours away from the ’20/21 regular season tipping off.
With the coronavirus pandemic ongoing, this season won’t quite look like a typical NBA campaign. Teams are only scheduled to play 72 games instead of 82, and that’s assuming that they can get through the season without cancellations.
On Monday, commissioner Adam Silver told reporters – including Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press – that he expects some “bumps in the road” for the NBA as the 2020/21 season progresses, acknowledging that there will likely be some positive COVID-19 tests among players and other on-court personnel. However, Silver also said the league is “prepared for all contingencies” and is confident that it will be able to get through the full season.
Time will tell if Silver is right. But for now, let’s assume – or at least hope – that he is. We want to get your predictions on which teams and players will rule the 2020/21 NBA season — assuming the league can get through it.
Playoffs and NBA Finals
Betting site BetOnline.ag currently lists the following 12 teams as the best bets to claim the top six spots in each conference:
Eastern Conference:
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Brooklyn Nets
- Boston Celtics
- Miami Heat
- Toronto Raptors
- Philadelphia 76ers
Western Conference:
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Denver Nuggets
- Dallas Mavericks
- Utah Jazz
- Portland Trail Blazers
Only the top six finishers in each conference are assured of playoff berths this season, as the Nos. 7-10 teams will participate in a play-in tournament at the end of the year for the final two spots. The seventh and eighth seeds will only have to win once in two games to claim their spots, while the ninth and 10th seeds would require two wins.
Based on BetOnline’s odds, the Pacers, Hawks, Wizards, and Magic are the best bets for the 7-10 spots in the East, with the Bulls, Hornets, and Cavaliers among the teams lurking as threats.
In the West, the Suns, Warriors, Rockets, and Pelicans are considered the best bets for that 7-10 range, with the Grizzlies, Spurs, Kings, and Timberwolves looking to push them out.
Meanwhile, the Bucks and the Nets are the frontrunners to make the NBA Finals in the East, per BetOnline, while the Lakers and Clippers are the overwhelming betting favorites to represent the West.
What do you think? Do those projected standings look about right to you, or do you think certain teams are noticeably overvalued or undervalued? Do you expect some combination of the Bucks, Nets, Lakers, and Clippers to play in the Finals, or will another team (or two) crash the party?
NBA End-of-Season Awards
Some end-of-season awards are a little easier to forecast than others. We have a general idea of which players should be in the mix for the Most Valuable Player award or Defensive Player of the Year honors. But there could be dozens of candidates for Most Improved Player, while an award like Sixth Man of the Year often hinges on whether injuries force certain top bench players to become starters.
Still, BetOnline has provided betting favorites for all of major awards. Here are bettors’ top five picks for each one:
Most Valuable Player:
- Luka Doncic (Mavericks)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
- Kevin Durant (Nets)
- Stephen Curry (Warriors)
- Anthony Davis (Lakers) / LeBron James (Lakers) (tie)
Defensive Player of the Year:
- Anthony Davis (Lakers)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
- Rudy Gobert (Jazz)
- Bam Adebayo (Heat)
- Joel Embiid (Sixers)
Rookie of the Year:
- LaMelo Ball (Hornets)
- Obi Toppin (Knicks)
- James Wiseman (Warriors)
- Killian Hayes (Pistons)
- Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves)
Sixth Man of the Year:
- Lou Williams (Clippers)
- Jordan Clarkson (Jazz)
- Danilo Gallinari (Hawks)
- Goran Dragic (Heat)
- Serge Ibaka (Clippers)
Most Improved Player:
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)
- Deandre Ayton (Suns)
- Christian Wood (Rockets) / Michael Porter (Nuggets) (tie)
- Jamal Murray (Nuggets)
- Coby White (Bulls)
Coach of the Year:
- Steve Nash (Nets)
- Tyronn Lue (Clippers)
- Monty Williams (Suns)
- Brad Stevens (Celtics) / Erik Spoelstra (Heat) / Frank Vogel (Lakers) / Rick Carlisle (Mavericks) (tie)
- Doc Rivers (Sixers)
While the favorites for each of those awards make sense, there are some guys I like who don’t make the cut. I think Kings guard Tyrese Haliburton is an intriguing Rookie of the Year candidate, and I’d be tempted to make Davis Bertans my choice for Sixth Man as long as the Wizards intend to continue bringing him off the bench.
What do you think? Are you picking mostly from the above candidates for your award selections, or are you going off the board with some of your choices?
With the regular season to tip off, we want to hear your predictions for the coming year.
Head to the comment section below to share your picks for the 2020/21 regular season standings, the playoff results, the award winners, and any other subjects you want to weigh in on (James Harden‘s trade destination? Or maybe the first head coach to be fired?).
Happy opening night!
EC 1-6: same.
EC 7-10: Magic out, Cavs in.
EC 11-15: reverse^.
WC 1-6: Blazers out, Suns in
WC 7-10: reverse^ and Warriors & Pels out, Griz & Wolves in
WC 11-15: reverse^
finals: Nuggets over Sixers
MVP Doncic, DPY Davis, COY Monte Williams.
If Shai makes MIP: eye rolls
Rooks: Toppin, Wiseman, Okoro, Avdija, Maxey, Flynn, Bane, Haliburtn, PatWilliams. Edwards will have misses, Ball turnovers. Others will not have enough starts.
Mavs are overrated because KP is injury prone
I think Haliburton will finish in top 3 for ROY, he’s better than Killian by far.
Dinwiddie is a 6th man being overlooked.
For whatever reason, BetOnline doesn’t have Dinwiddie or LeVert on their list, but whichever one comes off the bench would definitely be a great choice.
Haliburton’s major problem right now is the depth chart. He was a steal on paper, but he is still behind De’Aaron Fox. He won’t get enough minutes for ROY. He’ll probably not even get enough minutes to threaten for the All Rookie teams.
What! Your nuts. He’s listed as the backup PG and SG on ESPN. He should get 25 min a game. The only other guard they have is Cory Joseph.
Ever heard of Buddy Hield? Fox and Hield will be on the court at least 30 minutes a night each.
That leaves 25-35 min for Haliburton and Joseph. And Oh By the way Hield plays SF at times
You’re a year early on SGA for most improved, unless OKC makes the play-in games.
MVP is going to a “darkhorse” candidate from a team that overachieves, tho if Dallas is a 1 or 2 seed, Luka probably wins.
Harden is going to have the chance to accept trades to such destinations as Orlando, Sacramento, OKC, or maybe Chicago, but will ultimately decide to stick out the year in Houston and get traded to Philly/Brk in the offseason for not-Ben Simmons.
Chicago will trade for Harden, Kemba Walker, PatBev, or Dinwiddle, sneak into the playoffs, and declare success.
The Bucks will get lucky with buyouts, or will fall short of the finals again this year. Bud gets fired.
Im curious to why you think Harden has any kind of say in where he gets traded
In a way he does since no one will offer anything close to what he is worth, therefore the odds of him being traded will continue to drop the better he plays this season (as his value increases even more).
Does not answer the question doofus. As for the point you tried to make, the longer he waits, the more the FO will consider other teams to get the trade made. Harden is 31, his re-up doesn’t matter that much.
My thought on that came from the idea that if he flips and says he’s staying, he can “veto” a trade somewhere truly noncompetitive.
But with every passing moment his bridge back looks more and more on fire.
I think SGA is a huge candidate simply because there is no one else on OKC’s roster that is going to put up numbers. Someone on that roster is going to score points. They might not win a lot of games, but they are not going to lose games 120-30 either. SGA will probably score 25-30 points per game simply because no one else will. Most improved player has absolutely nothing to do with team record.
Why would any of those 4 teams trade for harden lmao
West
1. Lakers 2. Blazers 3. Clippers 4. Nuggets 5. Mavs 6. Warriors
7. Jazz 8. Suns 9. Pelicans 10. Grizzlies
East
1. Bucks 2. Celtics 3. Nets 4. Sixers 5. Heat 6. Raptors
7. Pacers 8. Wizards 9. Hawks 10. Magic
Awards
MVP: Lillard
DPTY: AD
6th Man: Dinwiddie
Rookie: Wiseman
MIP: Micheal Porter Jr
Coach: Brad Stevens
Harden and Tucker to Blazers for McCollum, ZCollins, Trent Jr, Little and 2 first round picks, 2 second round picks.
Blazers have
1. Lillard. Simons
2. Harden. Hood
3. Covington. Jones Jr
4. Tucker. Melo. Giles
5. Nurkic. Kanter
WCF Blazers vs Lakers
ECF Bucks vs Sixers
Final Lakers vs Sixers (Sixers in 6)
Off season Kawhi leaves the Clippers for the Mavs
I like your idea but I think the Blazers want to roll with what they have. They just picked up guys where they were weak on the wing and I think they’re going to give it a shot with their current roster.
Not having the Rockets among the top 10 teams in the West is just ridiculous. They will easily finish in the top 10, probably the top 5.
I love how everyone here thinks I’m just some insane homer! It’s so cool how the Rockets are cruising under the radar just like Slim Pickens was on that nuclear bomb at the end of Dr. Strangelove going “Wahoo!” before he ended up destroying the world. Don’t expect any mercy from me after all the crap I have taken.
You know it’s personal don’t you. Nobody used to hate houston, just Harden’s rules abuses.
Now harden wants out. He doesn’t want to be on your sign-in either.