Who would lost season be the worst for?

[SHAQATTACK]

Hands down Lakers are surpreme losers  .  Not even close .  Every once of energy was about this year . 

Clippers , Warriors , Bucks  , Celtics will be back all guns loaded for Lakers .   

The path becomes harder for the Lakers next year.  Lots of  teams getting better ....Pels and Mavs

[gouki88]

To go the opposite way -- this is great for the Milwaukee Bucks.

I firmly believe they would've been found out in the playoffs and another playoff disappointment would have pushed Giannis that much closer to leaving in free agency - given that most of his supporting cast are already in the downward slope / decline of their career.

So now they can still believe they could've won the title and Giannis has that buy-in and commitment to what they are doing so the odds of them re-signing and keeping Giannis just went up.

Happy days for Milwaukee.

Giannis still needs another serious  strong #2 ,   like when Lebron saw he needed Wade and left for Heat .   Middleton is not enough .   I don't think he is at the boiling point yet , like Bron after 7 years to take flight .  He is also not as self centered diva.   I think he ll hang with buck least though another contract cycle. 

Lakers chances are literally disappearing like when Kobe got old , now every month Lebron fades a fraction more.  He is just one serious injury away from retirement.

What?! An All-NBA wing with an elite offensive game and good defence isn't enough as a #2 for a title contender? The Bucks are smashing point differential this year for a reason lol.

Yeah, I think Middleton having made that huge jump in efficiency (over 60% TS%) should get him more respect

[slamtheking]

Hands down Lakers are surpreme losers  .  Not even close .  Every once of energy was about this year . 

Clippers , Warriors , Bucks  , Celtics will be back all guns loaded for Lakers .   

The path becomes harder for the Lakers next year.  Lots of  teams getting better ....Pels and Mavs

I'd go along with this assessment.

of all the top teams in the league, the two that needed to make the magic happen this year based on how they're structured for this season and the future, it's the Lakers and Philly that needed to push for the finals.   Bucks are in pretty good shape provided Giannis stays which I think is almost a sure thing based on his well-known love for Milwaukee.   Clips, Celtics, Raptors, Heat, Houston are looking good going forward.  GSW will bounce back next year.  Dallas and NO will be better and tougher. 

Looking forward to seeing the Lakers and Sixers drop back in the pack next year.

[PhoSita]

The Bucks, no question

[gouki88]

The Bucks, no question

Well I have a question - why? They seem more poised than most other contenders to contend again next year

[Phantom255x]

Has to be Lakers and Bucks equally. Bucks on their way to 70+ wins and were clear favorites out of the East. As for the Lakers, Lebron is only getting one year older and the Clippers still exist.

Lebron will still be Lebron, but he'll turn 36 next December. If he keeps this up even at 38+ years old, then wow.

[Moranis]

The Bucks, no question

Well I have a question - why? They seem more poised than most other contenders to contend again next year

I think it is the Bucks as well.  First, they are clearly the best team in the East and with Philly imploding the one team that really has the size to make it tough for them wasn't looking like a real threat (and probably wouldn't have even reached them).  The West is deeper so it provides a much tougher path to reach the Finals and there are no juggernauts or real stylistic problems for them out west.  So while the Bucks look poised to return to form next year, the path won't be as easy as it was this year (see point 2). 

Second, they are going to have much tougher competition in the East with the return of Durant and Irving to the Nets, another year of growth for Siakam and the Raptors, the youngish Heat, and of course Tatum and Brown.  Not to mention, Philly might have the needed the changes to really set them up for contention and Oladipo will return to health for the Pacers.  The East is going to be a lot better next year. 

Third, while Lebron will be older, I expect both the Lakers and the Clippers to craft more complete teams this summer.  They both came together late and expended a lot of assets leaving them a bit bare, but they will be able to get better this off season.  The Rockets should still be very good and the Warriors will likely return to form and the Nuggets and Jazz are still going to be tough (assuming the Jazz get the Gobert stuff figured out).  So even if Milwaukee gets out of the East, the challenger in the West should be better next year then the one they would have faced this year. 

Fourth, Milwaukee needs to keep Giannis and a deep playoff run would have helped them do that.  Now obviously if they flamed out it might hurt that cause, but the odds of the Bucks flaming out this year is as low as it will likely ever be given the competition level in the East.  The Bucks were the heavy favorites because the East is down and the West is much more of a gauntlet. 

[BitterJim]

While I understand the arguments for the Lakers being the worst hit, I disagree. Lebron will be a year older next year, but I think not having a clear ending to the season helps them as far as keeping AD goes. A first (and maybe second) round exit would make AD much more likely to leave this summer, but now he has unfinished business.

I'd say the biggest losers are teams that were in the 7/8 seeds and now miss the lottery while also missing playoff revenue/experience/prestige (teams like the Magic and Mavericks)

[RMO]

While I understand the arguments for the Lakers being the worst hit, I disagree. Lebron will be a year older next year, but I think not having a clear ending to the season helps them as far as keeping AD goes. A first (and maybe second) round exit would make AD much more likely to leave this summer, but now he has unfinished business.

I'd say the biggest losers are teams that were in the 7/8 seeds and now miss the lottery while also missing playoff revenue/experience/prestige (teams like the Magic and Mavericks)

As much as we'd all like to believe there's a chance the lakers gave up all those assets for an AD rental I just don't see it.  That is where he wants to be and that was clear the moment he switched to Klutch.  I mean, it's not like there's been a peep of drama out of that locker room (maybe kuzma being unhappy but who cares).  Even Dwight has fallen in line.  They have the second best record in the league.  i'd say a lost season hurts them the most as lebron is running out of time and as mentioned, the role players are as well.  I'm no salary cap expert but outside of signing Davis I don't think they have a lot of room to sign others and they gave up a lot of future draft picks in that deal.

[Donoghus]

Bucks.

[bdm860]

Not to go with the cliche, obvious, unmentioned answer, but this lost season is worst for the fans.

It would be one thing if we lost a season from '11-'14, where everyone thought the Heat were going to win, or '16-'19, where everyone thought the Warriors were going to win (even though the expected winner didn't always win), but this season seemed so wide open.  And from a fantasy booking perspective, there's so many match ups and story lines I'd love to see that were real possibilities.

Lakers/Clippers
Luka in the playoffs
Zion (or to a lesser extent Memphis) in the playoffs
Somebody beating the Lakers (hopefully)
Will Houston be able to make a run, or are they going out in the 1st round?
Can the Thunder go farther than the Rockets?
Denver vs anybody would be fun.

Is this Giannis's time?
Can Boston make a legit run?
Could Philly get knocked out in the 1st round (which would be awesome)? By the Celtics (which would be even more awesome)?
Or will Philly flip the switch?
Potential Butler vs TJ Warren matchup in Round 1
Or Miami vs Philly Round 1.  Bulter knocking off Philly would be entertaining.
Can Oladipo be back to consistent All-Star form by the playoffs?
Been hoping for a Philly/Bucks series for 2 years now

Harden vs Giannis in the Finals would be salty (just like I like it).  Bucks/Lakers or Bucks/Clippers would be great.  Anybody other than the Bucks vs anybody other than an LA team would also be great.

Pretty much any way you shuffle the top 6 teams in the East, and the top 7 teams in the West, I think you could get a great playoff series.  Teams like BOS, TOR, MIA, DEN, UTA, DAL, maybe not the favorite past the 1st round (and possibly not even then), but all of them are capable of playing a great series against just about anybody.

The only thing that would suck, and would be a blessing to be saved from, is Boston getting knocked out in the 1st round, even more so if it's at the hands of Philly.  I'd gladly sacrifice the whole season if it means saving us from that lol.

[nickagneta]

The Boston Bruins.😢😢😢😢

Oh, sorry, wrong sport.

What about the Pelicans? They were 11-7 in their last 18 games, almost all with Zion Williamson.

The Griz had one of the toughest schedules left while the Pels schedule was much easier. New Orleans was closing fast. Giving that young team some playoff exposure could have been great for the development of the youth on that team and made them more formidable in future years.

But, yeah, the answer is LeBron and the Lakers.

[PhoSita]

The Bucks, no question

Well I have a question - why? They seem more poised than most other contenders to contend again next year

There are no guarantees in sports and they were having their best season in the history of their franchise.

You just don't get very many shots to be that good, and you never know what the next season will bring regardless of who is on the roster.

[hwangjini_1]

The Bucks, no question

Well I have a question - why? They seem more poised than most other contenders to contend again next year

There are no guarantees in sports and they were having their best season in the history of their franchise.

You just don't get very many shots to be that good, and you never know what the next season will bring regardless of who is on the roster.

last season's red sox are in total agreement with your point.

[BitterJim]

While I understand the arguments for the Lakers being the worst hit, I disagree. Lebron will be a year older next year, but I think not having a clear ending to the season helps them as far as keeping AD goes. A first (and maybe second) round exit would make AD much more likely to leave this summer, but now he has unfinished business.

I'd say the biggest losers are teams that were in the 7/8 seeds and now miss the lottery while also missing playoff revenue/experience/prestige (teams like the Magic and Mavericks)

As much as we'd all like to believe there's a chance the lakers gave up all those assets for an AD rental I just don't see it.  That is where he wants to be and that was clear the moment he switched to Klutch.  I mean, it's not like there's been a peep of drama out of that locker room (maybe kuzma being unhappy but who cares).  Even Dwight has fallen in line.  They have the second best record in the league.  i'd say a lost season hurts them the most as lebron is running out of time and as mentioned, the role players are as well.  I'm no salary cap expert but outside of signing Davis I don't think they have a lot of room to sign others and they gave up a lot of future draft picks in that deal.

You're probably right, but after the Kyrie situation I'm not ready to say anyone is definitely staying on their team, especially if they refuse to make any verbal commitment (not that those apparently mean anything...)