****The Official 2017-18 NBA Thread****

My predictions for this season:
My team: NYK - 21-61 top 3 pick.
I'll be pleasantly surprised if: 35 wins and meaningful games in March and April happen. Also if they allow under 105ppg...they were at 108 and actually got worse defensively with the Melo trade.
I'll be disappointed if: Not much you can be disappointed in when you think the team is going to be bad that year...or decade. KP wilts under the pressure of being "the guy". We know the team is short on talent but if KP, Willy, or Ntilikina don't live up to expectations.
Best possible trade: Lee, Kanter and McDermott all get traded for picks and cap space; NYK hang on to KP, Willy, Ntilikina, 2nd round pick Damyean Dotson (keep an eye on him) and future 1sts...Knicks actually become intriguing for future years.
Hornacek's Hot Seat: Lit but not yet warm.

League MVP: Leonard (Russ adding Melo and PG will decrease usage...same for Harden adding CP3)
COTY: Pop
Most improved player: D'Angelo Russell who will flourish being used as a 2 guard as I said he should be when he came out.
ROTY: Josh Jackson. Runner up: Jayson Tatum
East Champs: Boston. No love for either Boston or Cleveland but Bostons lineup they went and got to match up with Cleveland will be deadly when they run with Kyrie, Brown, Hayward, Tatum and Horford. That's death.
Most surprising development in season: 24 players who were eligible for contract extensions will be RFA's...many, including Jabari Parker, Doug McDermott etc will get moved. Expect a lot of trades.
West Champs GSW over OKC
NBA Champ: GSW

MVP - LeBron
COY - Quin Snyder
6th Man - Eric Gordon
Most Improved - Clint Capela
DPOY - Rudy Gobert
ROY - Ben Simmons
Biggest shock - OKC will be 5th seed behind Warriors, Rockets, Spurs, and Jazz.

West - Warriors vs Rockets
East - LeBron walks thru playoffs again because the east is trash.
Champ - Rockets (yeah...I said it)

"Boik14 wrote:

My predictions for this season:
My team: NYK - 21-61 top 3 pick.
I'll be pleasantly surprised if: 35 wins and meaningful games in March and April happen. Also if they allow under 105ppg...they were at 108 and actually got worse defensively with the Melo trade.
I'll be disappointed if: Not much you can be disappointed in when you think the team is going to be bad that year...or decade. KP wilts under the pressure of being "the guy". We know the team is short on talent but if KP, Willy, or Ntilikina don't live up to expectations.
Best possible trade: Lee, Kanter and McDermott all get traded for picks and cap space; NYK hang on to KP, Willy, Ntilikina, 2nd round pick Damyean Dotson (keep an eye on him) and future 1sts...Knicks actually become intriguing for future years.
Hornacek's Hot Seat: Lit but not yet warm.

League MVP: Leonard (Russ adding Melo and PG will decrease usage...same for Harden adding CP3)
COTY: Pop
Most improved player: D'Angelo Russell who will flourish being used as a 2 guard as I said he should be when he came out.
ROTY: Josh Jackson. Runner up: Jayson Tatum
East Champs: Boston. No love for either Boston or Cleveland but Bostons lineup they went and got to match up with Cleveland will be deadly when they run with Kyrie, Brown, Hayward, Tatum and Horford. That's death.
Most surprising development in season: 24 players who were eligible for contract extensions will be RFA's...many, including Jabari Parker, Doug McDermott etc will get moved. Expect a lot of trades.
West Champs GSW over OKC
NBA Champ: GSW

Good call on Russell. I agree with that. When they were shopping him, I said I'd like to see the Heat make a run at him. I loved him coming out of Ohio State, and think this could be a nice fit for him. I actually think that team will surprise some people and won't deliver the Cavs the top pick they think they're getting.

Worst leg injury I have ever seen in fast motion.

"Fin-O wrote:

Worst leg injury I have ever seen in fast motion.

Fucking awful. Sad to see, really like Gordon's game.

Brutal.

And just like that, it’s over for Boston. How tragic, prayers for Gordon and his family. Hope his kids didnt witness that.

Jeez that was nasty.
Poor guy. That’s the type of injury that can end your career.

I hate Boston and their fans. Feel bad for Gordon.

I loved Bobby Portis coming out of college. If he really cheap shotted his teammate, fracturing the guy's face, wow, what a shit head.

HELL YEAH!!!!

Rockets 1-0 on Warriors. No one saw that coming...lmao

"phinswolverinesrockets wrote:

HELL YEAH!!!!

Rockets 1-0 on Warriors. No one saw that coming...lmao

Impressive. Congrats.

"GARDENHEAD wrote:

Impressive. Congrats.

:up:
Good luck on your season.

Too bad for Hayward, but I think he could come back after a couple months. The NBA season is very long.

Survived the season opening road back-to-back. I'd like to change my most improved prediction to Eric Gordon (yup...6th man of the year & most improved). Somebody really worked on their handles this off season. He's crossing people up and dunking on anybody in the way. Didn't see that coming. Averaging 25 ppg so far and hardly any coming from three pointers.

2-0

Dion Waiters says he “tweaked” his ankle three times against the Magic...

"Serpico Jones wrote:

Dion Waiters says he “tweaked” his ankle three times against the Magic...

He may just have a degenerative ankle...

"CaribPhin wrote:

Clippers looked very good last night. They have a great corps of bigs including Gallo. Blake Griffin looked especially good, especially with the ball in his hand (!) and from deep (!!). They could be a matchup nightmare against certain teams.

I don't know. They beat the Lakers. I thought the Lakers would be an improved, fun team to watch this year, and they still could be, but they looked awful last night. It was a sloppy game.

"sports24/7 wrote:

I don't know. They beat the Lakers. I thought the Lakers would be an improved, fun team to watch this year, and they still could be, but they looked awful last night. It was a sloppy game.

The LAL are going to be bad. Very bad. Their best player is still Brook Lopez. And I've said from the get go, Lonzo is not only overrated but his big mouth blabbering dad didn't make things easier for him. They are going to be every bit as bad as the Knicks, Nets, Bulls etc.

Pretty sure the Knicks are showcasing Kanter....what other logic is there for playing that slow footed sloth 7x as many minutes as Willy Hernangomez who is a better player with more upside? #FireHornacek

"Boik14 wrote:

The LAL are going to be bad. Very bad. Their best player is still Brook Lopez. And I've said from the get go, Lonzo is not only overrated but his big mouth blabbering dad didn't make things easier for him. They are going to be every bit as bad as the Knicks, Nets, Bulls etc.

Lonzo really doesn't seem like a bad kid, but because of said "big mouth blabbering dad", I am rooting pretty hard against his success. The hope for LA has to be Ingram. He could take a big step.

Kyrie.....

Bahahahaha...

Careful what you wish for youngster.

Really like OKC, feel like they will give teams problems out West. Knicks? Well....Porzingis looked good but THJR the 80M man is just nothing more than a guy who can occasionally get hot. Long year, whats new. #CavsOKC

"Fin-O wrote:

Kyrie.....

Bahahahaha...

Careful what you wish for youngster.

because Hayward got injured? They still almost won. They'll probably end up top 5 in playoffs in east as it is.

"aesop wrote:

because Hayward got injured? They still almost won. They'll probably end up top 5 in playoffs in east as it is.

Not sure aspiring to be top 5 in the East is the way to go for a player who's team is about to goto their 4th straight finals.