Full 2023-24 NBA Season Predictions!
Chapter 8 (Standings, Playoffs, Awards, and more!!!)
And we’re back! It’s YourFavoriteCasual here with another edition of the blog. I don’t have any NFL posts or content for you guys this week (the Steelers had a bye week so I decided to do the same haha). This is good news for all of you basketball heads though. Today’s post is going to highlight my league-wide predictions for this upcoming NBA season. I already did my OKC Thunder predictions in chapter 7, so if you’re not caught up you can go ahead and check that out if you want. With all of that out of the way, let’s get into it!
Regular Season Predictions
As seen in the image above, this is how I believe the standings for the NBA regular season will shake out. Trying to predict this season was a difficult task to take on, there are so many talented teams in the NBA that most teams if they can stay healthy have a legitimate case to find themselves into a top 6 seed and avoid the Play-In Tournament. I also want to add that “injury luck” is key to team success during the season. I don’t want to sit here and justify why I put each team where I did, but I’ll highlight some of the things I found most interesting from my predictions.
The top of each conference has a clear-cut class of contenders. What I mean by this is, I only have 3 teams in each conference reaching 50 wins and I feel these are the teams that will be controlling their respective conferences. More specifically, the Nuggets, Celtics, and Bucks seem to be class above the rest and I feel their current rosters, playoff experience, and success from last year warrant this opinion.
There is a youth movement in the NBA. If there is one thing I wish I was able to more distinctly represent with these standings, it would be that I believe young and talented teams will take the regular season more seriously than veteran-oriented teams (and also get through 82 games healthier). I have the Indiana Pacers (+7 wins from last season) and the Orlando Magic both qualifying for the play-in tournament this season as both finished in the bottom 5 in the East last season. I also have the OKC Thunder (+4 wins from last season) escaping the play-in completely as the 5 seed in the west, and I have the San Antonio Spurs winning a whopping 9 more games this season after adding 7’5 phenom Victor Wembanyama with the first overall pick in last spring’s NBA Draft. All four of these teams feature young talent that I believe will be ready to help their respective teams win now.
I’m having trouble figuring out some veteran squads. The Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors, and Miami Heat all have teams that expect to make the playoffs. That being said, each of these teams doesn’t necessarily take the regular season seriously and expects their top-end talent to help them cruise through the playoffs. This has come with varying results for each of these teams. The Heat, who get to play in a much weaker Eastern Conference, have the luxury of being in two of the last four NBA finals including last season’s edition. That is why I have them winning more games than the likes of the Clippers and Warriors who have to play in a much more competitive Western Conference and have had less playoff and regular season success in years past. The Clippers’ dynamic duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George fell victim to the injury bug at the tail of last season and in the playoffs yet again leading to more uncertainty for the team’s success this season. Meanwhile, the Warriors decided to get older by trading 24-year-old Jordan Poole for 38-year-old Chris Paul hoping for more of a leadership presence during the playoffs. Unfortunately, I think this decision will backfire for Golden State during the regular season as they may struggle to stay healthy and find enough wins to get them safely into the playoffs.
Playoffs and Awards
Okay, so here is the prediction that matters… The Playoffs!!! As you can see I have my end-of-year awards Predictions along with a mini playoff bracket up above. My awards finalists are in order with my guess of the winner being at the top, and in the bracket, the green represents a series win or single-game elimination win to clear any confusion.
Awards: One thing to watch for the awards season in the NBA this season is the new requirement of 65 games played in order to be eligible to win an award, this is also for the All-NBA and All-Rookie teams as well.
Playoffs: This year’s playoffs will be very exciting (even though I barely predicted any game 7’s). I do see the high-end talent pulling away as the postseason progresses. The offseason arms race between Boston and Miluake will pay off for each team as I believe they’ll face off in the East Finals. On the other side of the bracket, I do have a West Finals rematch of last season between the Lakers and Nuggets who I still think are the two best built teams for the playoffs in the West. At the end of the day, I do believe Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets will win back-to-back championships as I find it hard to believe that any team in the NBA has figured out how to stop the two-man game between Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic that was so potent last postseason.
Outro:
Well, that’s all I have for y’all today. Thank you for reading and supporting this blog as it’s been a blast so far to keep up with. Stay on the lookout for some NFL and NBA content next week. If you’re still here, please leave a like, tell a friend about this blog, and click subscribe if you haven’t already. Also comment on which team you think will win the NBA championship this season, and what player or players you're most looking forward to seeing suit up this year. There was a lot of roster turnover this offseason, and there’s a lot to look forward to in the NBA this year.
As always, thank you, and until next time!
-YourFavoriteCasual