The Bold Predicitions Thread

[Vox_Populi]

Philly win total is two digits and starts with 3.  Same for Lakers.

Indy implodes and Paul George gets traded.  Same with Chicago and Rose.

Brooklyn makes the playoffs.

Milwaukee takes a major step up and is the 2 seed in the East.

Dallas makes the playoffs.

Detroit is the worst team in the East.  Phoenix is the worst team in the West.

I hope the George thing happens. Celtics could take advantage, hopefully.

[Chris22]

Celtics get 50 wins.

[trickybilly]

Minnesota grab 8 spot.

[jpotter33]

My bold predictions - at least two of the following things will happen:

1) win 50+ games
2) one of Smart or Bradley makes the leap and gets MIP Award
3) one of Smart or Bradley makes All-Defense team
4) one of IT/Lee/Johnson (whoever isn't starting) wins Sixth Man of the Year Award
5) win a playoff series
6) trade for a star/major upgrade without giving up Smart

[Redz]

My bold predictions - at least two of the following things will happen:

1) win 50+ games
2) one of Smart or Bradley makes the leap and gets MIP Award
3) one of Smart or Bradley makes All-Defense team
4) one of IT/Lee/Johnson (whoever isn't starting) wins Sixth Man of the Year Award
5) win a playoff series
6) trade for a star/major upgrade without giving up Smart

If it's like a Chinese menu I'll take the 5/6 combo platter please

[fairweatherfan]

1. Our other picks wind up good but not great - Brooklyn finishes 4th worst but gets leapfrogged in the lotto, leaving us with #5.  Dallas misses the playoffs but not by a lot, giving us the #10 or 11.  Minnesota does not do well enough to convey the pick.

2. Smart makes enough of a leap that he gets some All-Star buzz, but fails to make the team.  He does make 2nd team all-Defense.

3. Our most common crunch-time lineup winds up being IT/Smart/Crowder/Jerebko/Amir.

4. We finish with a better record than the #8 seed in the West.

5. Lose in the 2nd round to Cleveland or Chicago.

[LarBrd33]

Avery Bradley leads the Cs in scoring and shoots 39% from 3.
We do a major trade with Cleveland, getting Kevin Love in the process.
We finish with 47 wins, face Cleveland in the conference semifinals and only lose in game 7 when Love gets injured.
Brooklyn's pick is #3 (originally #7, but for once the lottery is in our favour)
A draft day trade with Indiana gets us Paul George.

I was actually going to make a prediction that Kevin Love gets traded, but I see you already made it.   I think it's a real possibility.   I'm sure there was some handshake agreement that Love would re-sign in Cleveland.  They gave up a superstar prospect in Wiggins to get him, afterall.  I imagine it came down to not burning bridges between sports agents... so he signs up.   But I don't think it's a guarantee they keep him.  With Thompson's emergence last year and Love seemingly still a less than ideal fit (his skills are underutilized), I could see a big move mid season.

[viulo]

Avery Bradley leads the Cs in scoring and shoots 39% from 3.
We do a major trade with Cleveland, getting Kevin Love in the process.
We finish with 47 wins, face Cleveland in the conference semifinals and only lose in game 7 when Love gets injured.
Brooklyn's pick is #3 (originally #7, but for once the lottery is in our favour)
A draft day trade with Indiana gets us Paul George.

I was actually going to make a prediction that Kevin Love gets traded, but I see you already made it.   I think it's a real possibility.   I'm sure there was some handshake agreement that Love would re-sign in Cleveland.  They gave up a superstar prospect in Wiggins to get him, afterall.  I imagine it came down to not burning bridges between sports agents... so he signs up.   But I don't think it's a guarantee they keep him.  With Thompson's emergence last year and Love seemingly still a less than ideal fit (his skills are underutilized), I could see a big move mid season.

Yeah, plus it's a numbers game - Cleveland are way into luxury tax, with 36 million commited for the future in two power forwards. Even if they're willing to remain above the tax line, it makes little sense to do so because of two players who play the same position. The fact that David Lee is expiring and Amir Johnson has a team option for next year give us good trade chips.

Of course, Cleveland might be willing to ride the current team till the end of the season and only then trade one of their PFs, but I think that they'd lose value in a possible deal if they do...

[max215]

Avery Bradley leads the Cs in scoring and shoots 39% from 3.
We do a major trade with Cleveland, getting Kevin Love in the process.
We finish with 47 wins, face Cleveland in the conference semifinals and only lose in game 7 when Love gets injured.
Brooklyn's pick is #3 (originally #7, but for once the lottery is in our favour)
A draft day trade with Indiana gets us Paul George.

I was actually going to make a prediction that Kevin Love gets traded, but I see you already made it.   I think it's a real possibility.   I'm sure there was some handshake agreement that Love would re-sign in Cleveland.  They gave up a superstar prospect in Wiggins to get him, afterall.  I imagine it came down to not burning bridges between sports agents... so he signs up.   But I don't think it's a guarantee they keep him.  With Thompson's emergence last year and Love seemingly still a less than ideal fit (his skills are underutilized), I could see a big move mid season.

Completely agree. Love is a much better player than TT, but a much worse fit in Cleveland. I definitely don't expect Love to finish out the life of his contract on the Cavs.

[PhoSita]

Avery Bradley leads the Cs in scoring and shoots 39% from 3.
We do a major trade with Cleveland, getting Kevin Love in the process.
We finish with 47 wins, face Cleveland in the conference semifinals and only lose in game 7 when Love gets injured.
Brooklyn's pick is #3 (originally #7, but for once the lottery is in our favour)
A draft day trade with Indiana gets us Paul George.

I was actually going to make a prediction that Kevin Love gets traded, but I see you already made it.   I think it's a real possibility.   I'm sure there was some handshake agreement that Love would re-sign in Cleveland.  They gave up a superstar prospect in Wiggins to get him, afterall.  I imagine it came down to not burning bridges between sports agents... so he signs up.   But I don't think it's a guarantee they keep him.  With Thompson's emergence last year and Love seemingly still a less than ideal fit (his skills are underutilized), I could see a big move mid season.

Trading Kevin Love because you've just got to make sure Andy Varejao and Tristan Thompson get their minutes . . . that'd be the height of incompetence.

But hey, we are talking about Cleveland.

[max215]

I'll bump this up as it's pretty fun to look at these a little over a quarter of the way in. Some of the predictions are really spot on... others not so much.