Provide your top 8 playoff teams from each conference

[Moranis]

Can Phoenix be a top 4 team in the West?

Their top three of CP3, Booker and Ayton is strong. One of the strongest in the West. Much stronger than other teams like Denver, Utah or Portland.

Can Phoenix get enough depth around those 3 stars to be a top 4 team this season?

I'm not sure that is a stronger top 3 than Denver, Utah, or Portland.  Certainly more interesting and more variable, but stronger, that is a tough one.

A lot depends on the developmental leap, or lack thereof, from Ayton

and the fall off of Paul.  I mean even if Ayton makes a nice jump I'd say there is a very good chance Paul is no where near an All NBA 2nd Team member.  For next year I'd certainly take Lillard, McCollum, and Nurkic over the Suns trio, I'd take Jokic, Murray, and Porter as well (and Denver is really deep).  I'm bit more undecided on Mitchell, Gobert, and Bogdanovic, but I think the Jazz are much deeper with Conley, Favors, Ingles, Clarkson, etc.  I think the rise of Phoenix is going to mostly be a myth and I didn't even put them in as a playoff team as I just don't think they will be all that good.  Now Paul may surprise and be mostly healthy and still excellent, but I don't think that will be the case.  Booker can score, but I don't like the rest of his game.  I've been very high on Ayton, but I'm not sure how much he actually impacts winning (which is also how I feel about Booker).  I don't like the Crowder signing though do like them bringing Saric back.  I could see the Suns being anywhere from like 35 wins to 50 wins, but think somewhere in the low 40's is probably right, which I don't think makes the playoffs out west next year.

[nickagneta]

Can Phoenix be a top 4 team in the West?

Their top three of CP3, Booker and Ayton is strong. One of the strongest in the West. Much stronger than other teams like Denver, Utah or Portland.

Can Phoenix get enough depth around those 3 stars to be a top 4 team this season?

I'm not sure that is a stronger top 3 than Denver, Utah, or Portland.  Certainly more interesting and more variable, but stronger, that is a tough one.

A lot depends on the developmental leap, or lack thereof, from Ayton

As well as how much CP3's game regresses. He will turn 36 during next season, and though he is holding up well, I am not sure he is a superstar any longer. A large drop off in his performance could happen at any time

[Who]

Atlanta look pretty solid here

PG: Trae Young, Rajon Rondo, Kris Dunn
SG: Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kevin Huerter
SF: DeAndre Hunter, Cam Reddish, Tony Snell
PF: John Collins, Danilo Gallinari
 C: Clint Capela, Onyeka Okongwu

I might have been too quick to write that team off. I don't love how the pieces fit with one another but there is still quite a bit of talent & depth there.

I love Gallo as the 6th man and Bogdanovic as a starting wing is a big improvement for a team that was the worst in the league on the wings last season.

Another year's development for their young guys of Reddish, Hunter and Huerter. The young big man to give depth in Okongwu.

And old man Rondo to round out the 10 man rotation trying to guide those young guys through the league. Plus Snell and Dunn as 11th and 12th men.

That is an interesting mix.

Is that a playoff team? A .500 team?

[gouki88]

Atlanta look pretty solid here

PG: Trae Young, Rajon Rondo, Kris Dunn
SG: Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kevin Huerter
SF: DeAndre Hunter, Cam Reddish, Tony Snell
PF: John Collins, Danilo Gallinari
 C: Clint Capela, Onyeka Okongwu

I might have been too quick to write that team off. I don't love how the pieces fit with one another but there is still quite a bit of talent & depth there.

I love Gallo as the 6th man and Bogdanovic as a starting wing is a big improvement for a team that was the worst in the league on the wings last season.

Another year's development for their young guys of Reddish, Hunter and Huerter. The young big man to give depth in Okongwu.

And old man Rondo to round out the 10 man rotation trying to guide those young guys through the league. Plus Snell and Dunn as 11th and 12th men.

That is an interesting mix.

Is that a playoff team? A .500 team?

I think it’s a playoff team in the East. We’ve seen worse EC teams make the playoffs in recent years than this one

[slamtheking]

still early to do this with free agency still going on and C's trying to get a TPE from Charlotte but here's my thoughts:
East
1. Milwaukee
2. Miami
3. Toronto
4. Celtics
5. Brooklyn
6. Philly
7. Pacers
8. Atlanta
—> notes
I think Atlanta made enough moves to sneak in.  I think Charlotte won’t come close despite adding Hayward.  Orlando will just miss - figure them for the #9 spot.  Toronto should be good enough in the regular season to get the third slot despite losing Gasol and Ibaka but I think they're the team most likely to be upset in the playoffs.  Brooklyn should get the fifth spot just based on talent alone but they'll look really disjointed and Steve Nash will look as useless as an appendix for that team due to Kyrie and Durant doing whatever they want.

West
1. Lakers
2. Denver
3. Clippers
4. Dallas
5. Houston
6. NO
7. Phx
8. Utah
—>notes
I think the Lakers made enough moves to put themselves at the top of the heap and that’s very painful for me to say.  I think Houston underperforms and if they move either Harden or Westbrook they miss the playoffs.  I think NO and Phx will be much better this coming year than they were this past year.  Utah barely edges out Portland for that last playoff spot.

West will still have someone over .500 that misses the playoffs whereas in the East I think the last spot or two will be under .500. 

overall, this obviously doesn’t predict for injuries that aren’t known at this time.  Example, Klay’s known injury knock GSW out of the playoffs IMO.

You think Utah barely makes it in and Portland misses the playoffs.  That is just crazy to me.  I mean I had them as the 2 and 3 seed.  I really like what they both did this off season.  Especially Portland.  I think they are going to be a very good team, especially in the regular season.

of all the things I figured YOU would complain about is that I have the Celtics as high as 4th in the East or even in the playoffs at all   

As for Utah and Portland, I can't see how you'd think they were that high in the conference to garner the 2 and 3 spots over the Clips and Denver and Dallas at a minimum.  I don't see a compelling argument to put them ahead of NO either but that's my take on the situation.

[footey]

1. Brooklyn (team is loaded)
2. Milwaukee (always excel in regular season)
3. Miami (momentum from last season)
4. Raptors (Nurse coaches them up; they play hard)
5. Celtics (Loss of Hayward and injuried Kemba knee will be felt)
6. Sixers (Embiid and Simmons still don't mix)
7. Pacers (repeat of last year; not well constructed)
8. Hawks (good off season should produce playoff spot)

1. Lakers (best got better)
2. Clippers (addition by subtraction)
3. Nuggets (loss of Grant offset by emergence of Porter)
4. Jazz (run it back with healthy Bog)
5. Rockets (assuming Harden and Westy stay)
6. Blazers (good offseason should improve their lot a little)
7. Mavs (Zingis knee holds them down)
8. Suns (Chris Paul moves them into playoff spot)

I'm pretty down on the Celtics.  I think the loss of Hayward, and the injury to Kemba, is going to really hurt us.  I think Tatum and Brown will both have great seasons, but not enough to get us above the equivalent of 50 wins in a full season. 

I think the Nets are going to be really good; not just KD and Kyrie, but all the other guys are solid. 

Of course I said that about the Sixers last pre-season predictions, so take it with a grain of salt(lover).

[greenhead85]

WEST

1. Warriors (Steph is back; Wiseman, Wiggins and Oubre big plus factors; deep bench with very good
                 chemistry (Poole, Pachall, Looney); Kerr I believe remains and is still the best coach)
2. Clippers (added a lot of bigs, Kahwi and PG remain as mismatches to several teams including LAL;
                  Lue with great championship experience will figure out a better approach (Doc sucked);
                  Ibaka will be huge for them)
3. Lakers
4. Nuggets
5. Blazers
6. Jazz
7. Suns
8. Pelicans

EAST

1.  Bucks  (Only because they have Giannis and Middleton together; otherwise, we're way better)
2.  Celtics (We may top the East depending on the performance of the bench and better shooting from
                Smart and immediate impact and play of TT and JTeague and Nesmith)
3.  Nets    (they may actually top the East if KD and Kyrie are near 100% physically)
4.  Heat   
5.  Raptors
6.  76ers
7.  Hawks
8.  Pacers

[Moranis]

still early to do this with free agency still going on and C's trying to get a TPE from Charlotte but here's my thoughts:
East
1. Milwaukee
2. Miami
3. Toronto
4. Celtics
5. Brooklyn
6. Philly
7. Pacers
8. Atlanta
—> notes
I think Atlanta made enough moves to sneak in.  I think Charlotte won’t come close despite adding Hayward.  Orlando will just miss - figure them for the #9 spot.  Toronto should be good enough in the regular season to get the third slot despite losing Gasol and Ibaka but I think they're the team most likely to be upset in the playoffs.  Brooklyn should get the fifth spot just based on talent alone but they'll look really disjointed and Steve Nash will look as useless as an appendix for that team due to Kyrie and Durant doing whatever they want.

West
1. Lakers
2. Denver
3. Clippers
4. Dallas
5. Houston
6. NO
7. Phx
8. Utah
—>notes
I think the Lakers made enough moves to put themselves at the top of the heap and that’s very painful for me to say.  I think Houston underperforms and if they move either Harden or Westbrook they miss the playoffs.  I think NO and Phx will be much better this coming year than they were this past year.  Utah barely edges out Portland for that last playoff spot.

West will still have someone over .500 that misses the playoffs whereas in the East I think the last spot or two will be under .500. 

overall, this obviously doesn’t predict for injuries that aren’t known at this time.  Example, Klay’s known injury knock GSW out of the playoffs IMO.

You think Utah barely makes it in and Portland misses the playoffs.  That is just crazy to me.  I mean I had them as the 2 and 3 seed.  I really like what they both did this off season.  Especially Portland.  I think they are going to be a very good team, especially in the regular season.

of all the things I figured YOU would complain about is that I have the Celtics as high as 4th in the East or even in the playoffs at all   

As for Utah and Portland, I can't see how you'd think they were that high in the conference to garner the 2 and 3 spots over the Clips and Denver and Dallas at a minimum.  I don't see a compelling argument to put them ahead of NO either but that's my take on the situation.

I think Denver is going to be a bit worse than last year and they will miss Grant a lot and Plumlee to a lesser extent, especially with Millsap just getting older.   I don't really like what the Clippers did and they still have the Kawhi taking 20 games off problem.  The Clippers are likely a much better playoff team than regular season team.

As for Utah, they won 44 games last year (2 wins less than the Nuggets).  I think Mitchell is still getting better and they won't be appreciably worse anywhere else.  I don't think it odd to think they will improve upon their 50 win pace, especially since they didn't play overly well in the bubble before pushing Denver to 7 games in the first round (after blowing a 3-1 lead no less) and not having Conley in the 2 point game 7 loss.

I believe Portland was an aberration last year without Nurkic and basically Collins.  They also got a lot better in their free agent additions.  I think they may very well may have improved the most of all the playoff teams from last year.  This is a team that won 53 games and was in the WCF just two seasons ago.  I think they have the 2nd best starting 5 in the West (behind only the Lakers).  Lillard, McCollum, Covington, Anthony, and Nurkic is a great starting 5.  I like Hood off the bench (potential 6th man of the year candidate) and they will have Collins back in January and I think players like Jones could really thrive in his role.  I expect Portland to be back in the mid-50 win range again and a real threat out west, just as they were 2 years ago.

As for the Pelicans, they might not even be better than they were this year.  Losing Holiday was a big blow to them.  Bledsoe is ok, but he isn't Holiday.  I think Adams will provide some cover for Zion, but I don't like how they fit together.  There is certainly some talent on their roster, but I don't think they will be a great team or anything.  They have talent, enough talent that I put them as the 8th seed, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if they missed the playoffs, especially if Golden State (who I have out) is better than I think they will be.  Also, I'm really not sure how Zion, Ingram, Ball, and Lewis will actually fit together long term either.  They may have to move Ingram at some point.

[footey]

I’m stunned as to why everyone ranks the Nets so low. Load management issues? Rookie coach? That team is stacked.

[Moranis]

I’m stunned as to why everyone ranks the Nets so low. Load management issues? Rookie coach? That team is stacked.

I put them as the 7th seed, though I think they win in the upper 40's (equivalent), which is a decent bump up from the 40 win pace they had this year.  For me, I know Irving is going to miss 1 in 4 games, and I fully expect Durant to miss a lot of games and take quite a bit for him to get anywhere near his talent level.  I do like their younger surrounding players a lot and they are a pretty deep team, but they didn't play well with Irving this year and I don't know why that would change much just adding Durant to the mix who missed an entire year and is on the wrong side of 30.

[nickagneta]

I’m stunned as to why everyone ranks the Nets so low. Load management issues? Rookie coach? That team is stacked.

You know how many players in NBA history have ruptured their Achilles and in the first year came back playing at almost the same level? One. Dominique Wilkins, a genetic freak who may have had some help from stuff that is banned today.

Other than that, every other player came back demonstrably limited compared to their game prior. Close to half never even came back. Almost all, never regained their prior form.

I think those projecting bad stuff in Brooklyn probably feel Durant won't make some amazing comeback and who knows how many games Kyrie will feel like playing in this year. There is a high probability of the Nets imploding due to Kyrie and Durant not returning as superstars and the coaching situation being less than ideal

[pearljammer10]

WEST

1. Lakers
2. Blazers
3. Clippers
4. Jazz
5. Nuggets
6.Warriors
7. Rockets
8. Suns

Edit: forgot Dallas. Man the West is brutal. Dallas takes the Suns spot.

EAST

1. Bucks
2. Heat
3. Celtics
4. 76ers
5. Nets
6. Raptors
7. Hawks
8. Pacers

[gouki88]

WEST

1. Warriors (Steph is back; Wiseman, Wiggins and Oubre big plus factors; deep bench with very good
                 chemistry (Poole, Pachall, Looney); Kerr I believe remains and is still the best coach)
2. Clippers (added a lot of bigs, Kahwi and PG remain as mismatches to several teams including LAL;
                  Lue with great championship experience will figure out a better approach (Doc sucked);
                  Ibaka will be huge for them)
3. Lakers
4. Nuggets
5. Blazers
6. Jazz
7. Suns
8. Pelicans

EAST

1.  Bucks  (Only because they have Giannis and Middleton together; otherwise, we're way better)
2.  Celtics (We may top the East depending on the performance of the bench and better shooting from
                Smart and immediate impact and play of TT and JTeague and Nesmith)
3.  Nets    (they may actually top the East if KD and Kyrie are near 100% physically)
4.  Heat   
5.  Raptors
6.  76ers
7.  Hawks
8.  Pacers

In what world is that weak as heck Warriors bench you listed strong? Wiggins and Oubre, the two most empty-stat wings in the whole league, as big plus factors? Huh?? I am so confused by that assessment of the Warriors

[RodyTur10]

I'm waiting until we know exactly how this free agent period has turned out. It's quite unpredictable this year I think. I'm confident to name 10 teams that certainly won't make the playoffs (although there are play-ins now), but I think there will be a big shake up on the seeds. I could see Boston, Toronto, Indiana or Philadelphia dropping to a very low seed in the East. On the other hand I can see Portland, Atlanta and Phoenix making a huge jump from last year. And Golden State, Houston, Brooklyn seem like complete wildcards.

[greenhead85]

WEST

1. Warriors (Steph is back; Wiseman, Wiggins and Oubre big plus factors; deep bench with very good
                 chemistry (Poole, Pachall, Looney); Kerr I believe remains and is still the best coach)
2. Clippers (added a lot of bigs, Kahwi and PG remain as mismatches to several teams including LAL;
                  Lue with great championship experience will figure out a better approach (Doc sucked);
                  Ibaka will be huge for them)
3. Lakers
4. Nuggets
5. Blazers
6. Jazz
7. Suns
8. Pelicans

EAST

1.  Bucks  (Only because they have Giannis and Middleton together; otherwise, we're way better)
2.  Celtics (We may top the East depending on the performance of the bench and better shooting from
                Smart and immediate impact and play of TT and JTeague and Nesmith)
3.  Nets    (they may actually top the East if KD and Kyrie are near 100% physically)
4.  Heat   
5.  Raptors
6.  76ers
7.  Hawks
8.  Pacers

In what world is that weak as heck Warriors bench you listed strong? Wiggins and Oubre, the two most empty-stat wings in the whole league, as big plus factors? Huh?? I am so confused by that assessment of the Warriors

The bench players aforementioned were given enough PT last season to adjust/acclimate to the team plays as facilitated by Draymond. The team wasn't winning games but those players were given a lot of exposure with the objective of fully learning the playbook. They were warrior-like and assertive in executing plays (outside shots and penetrations by Poole, strong finishes like their mini-Barkley in Pascall, Looney plays good defense (6'9 with 7'4 wings). Oubre was a pain-in-the-ass to us back when  he played for Washington. He and Wiggins will provide the needed scoring "lost" from Klay's absence. The Warriors last season appeared to play, instead of piling wins, to let the other players to adapt to Kerr's system in preparation for the Splash brothers comeback.