« Reply #519 on: November 20, 2017, 01:54:37 PM »
Still early but it's hard to imagine the Lakers falling behind Atlanta, Chicago, or Sacramento right now. I'm basically writing those 3 teams off. Dallas looks awful but who knows with a Rick Carlisle team.
I'm still anticipating a big falter from the Lakers just like last season but it's looking like the best we can reasonably hope for would be #4 odds.
I could see the Hawks winning some games. Their net rating is between the Nets and Heat, and closer to the Lakers than they are the Suns. Heck, they’re closer to the Sixers and Cavs than they are Phoenix (and Dallas, Chicago, and Sacramento are all below or well below Phoenix).
So far they look like a poor team that’s lost some games, but not bottom of the league bad. I’d be much more worried about LA’s ability to finish behind Dallas than Atlanta.
That's interesting. Maybe I'm underestimating Budenholzer to get everyone playing together and within their roles but I just don't trust any of the talent on that Atlanta team.
Dallas doesn't look like they have any less talent than they had last season when they won 33 games (except for Dirk's continued slide toward retirement) and I have a really high opinion of Carlisle.
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