The NBA regular season starts tonight, and this Summer made me more excited than ever for it. With all of the free agency moves that took place, including my team the Brooklyn Nets signing Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan, the league is actually competitive for the first time in a long time.
No more just picking Golden State to win it all. Let’s face it, even though Toronto took home the title last year most people were picking the Warriors.
Both conferences are wide open, and if you ask 10 different people who they think will win the NBA championship this year you will probably get 10 different answers.
These are my predictions on where every team will finish the season in the standings, who I think will take home the awards for this season and who I think will win this season’s NBA championship.
Eastern Conference Standings
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Boston Celtics
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Brooklyn Nets
- Indiana Pacers
- Detroit Pistons
- Chicago Bulls
- Atlanta Hawks
- Toronto Raptors
- Miami Heat
- Orlando Magic
- Washington Wizards
- New York Knicks
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Charlotte Hornets
Western Conference Standings
- Denver Nuggets
- Houston Rockets
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Utah Jazz
- Golden State Warriors
- San Antonio Spurs
- Dallas Mavericks
- Sacramento Kings
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Phoenix Suns
Most Valuable Player – Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are a team that gets slept on by many, and I understand why. The team lacks any real name value.
Yes, they drafted Michael Porter Jr. last year, but he is yet to play in a regular season game, and probably won’t make a huge impact until he gets more comfortable in his role and the system he is in.
The Nuggets have one player that is close to having star value, and that’s Nikola Jokić. After finishing second in the Western Conference last year behind the Golden State Warriors, the Nuggets are ready to win the conference in the regular season. A big reason for that is going to be Jokić and his ability to do everything really well.
Last year Jokić averaged 20.1 points per game, 10.8 rebounds per game, and 7.3 assists per game. That is almost a triple-double from a center!
Jokić will take the next step forward in his career and show the world that the Nuggets are for real, at least in the regular season.
Rookie of the Year – Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans
Look, Zion is the best rookie in this draft class hands down.
I know he is going to miss 6-8 weeks due to injury to start the season, but that won’t stop him from making an immediate impact when he does return. He has the most hype out of any rookie drafted this year, and there is a reason for that.
He will be a big player in the league for years to come, and it starts with the Rookie of the Year award.
Defensive Player of the Year – Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers
Anthony Davis got his wish.
He is in Los Angeles with Lebron James. He was already one of the best defensive players in the game before, and now he is going to be more motivated than ever to be the best he can be.
Lebron is going to be a motivating factor in Davis’ play, and he will shut down opposing power forwards throughout the NBA.
Sixth Man of the Year – Spencer Dinwiddie, Brooklyn Nets
Spencer Dinwiddie just signed a nice contract with the Brooklyn Nets, and he is going to backing up one of the best point guards in the league in Kyrie Irving.
Kenny Atkinson is one of the better up and coming coaches in the league, and he gets the most out of his players as we saw last year with a Brooklyn team that was not supposed to make the playoffs.
Dinwiddie led the bench unit for the Nets, and that won’t change this year.
Irving will take a lot of the burden, so Dinwiddie just has to go out and ball, and I think he will do just that.
Most Improved Player – Lonzo Ball, New Orleans Pelicans
Lonzo was plagued with injuries and a bad situation in Los Angeles.
His dad was all over the news, and even though Lonzo said he was going to focus on basketball it’s hard to not look at the news, especially when your dad is all over talking about your family.
I don’t necessarily think that Ball will improve his stats drastically, but I do think he will make a bigger difference in New Orleans, and the league will begin to notice.
I believe that Ball needed a fresh start, a new beginning. He got just that when he was included in that blockbuster trade for Anthony Davis over the summer.
The Pelicans will miss the playoffs but will open the eyes of teams and analysts alike throughout the season.
NBA Playoffs
I’m not going to go through every single matchup based on my predictions, but I will tell you who I think will make the Conference Finals and the NBA Finals.
The Western Conference Finals are going to include the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Yes, it will be a battle of Los Angeles in the Western Conference Finals.
It will be a very entertaining matchup, and it will allow the fans to see Paul George and Kawai Leonard taking on Anthony Davis and Lebron James.
It will be close, but I’m taking the Clippers over the Lakers.
I believe in Kawai, and I think he is going to cement himself as the best player in the league when he takes down King James and the Lakers.
The Eastern Conference Finals will include the Milwaukee Bucks and the Philadelphia 76ers.
There is a lot of hype around the 76ers because they signed Al Horford and traded for Josh Richardson. The one thing that concerns me with the 76ers is shooting.
Even if Ben Simmons starts to take jump shots, he may not make a lot of them. The team lacks a true shooter since JJ Redick left in the offseason.
The Bucks lost Malcom Brogdon and didn’t really replace him. Giannis Antetokounmpo will take the next step and improve his game, but I don’t think it will be enough to get the Bucks past the 76ers.
Philadelphia will move on to the NBA Finals.
So, the NBA Finals will see the Los Angeles Clippers take on the Philadelphia 76ers. Looking at the teams head-to-head, we can see that the Clippers are much deeper, and have better all-around players than the 76ers do.
The Clippers have depth, defense and offense. The 76ers have offense and defense, but certainly not as much depth as the Clippers.
Because of this, the Los Angeles Clippers will be your NBA Champions for the 2019-2020 season.
The Baseline J 