West:
1. Clippers (best all around team in the league imo)
2. Rockets (same team but they replaced a past prime CP3 with a prime Russ - watch out for Houston)
3. Nuggets (Jokic is gonna be an MVP candidate and the whole team got some valuable experience last year; don’t sleep on Denver)
4. Lakers (35 year old LBJ will take it easy in the RS and AD might too given his injury history; the playoffs will determine how great this team really is)
5. Jazz (Great all-around team but they’re still missing the “it” factor imo)
6. Warriors (once Klay gets back, they’ll be a force once again)
7. Blazers (they’re a great team but the west is just too damn stacked for them to do much damage imo)
8. Spurs (a lot of teams in the running for the 8th seed but when you’ve made it for over 20 years straight, you get the benefit of the doubt)
On the line: Kings, Mavs and Pelicans
East:
1. Bucks (Giannis got more experienced, rip to the rest of the east)
2. 76ers (they got a bit worse imo but with Kawhi in LA, philly should be a lock for the top 2)
3. Celtics (they also got worse but since the east also got worse, I can see Boston as the 3/4 seed)
4. Pacers (depending on Oladipo’s health, the pacers should be a lock for the playoffs)
5. Raptors (losing Kawhi sucks but the east sucks even more, hence the raps should still be a solid playoff team)
6. Heat (adding Jimmy along with the development of some of their younger players should be good enough to get the Healtes back in the playoffs)
7. Nets (no Kd for the whole year hence I see Brooklyn as a 6/7 seed)
8. Pistons (idk there’s something about having D-Rose and Blake Griffin on the same team that makes me hella nostalgic so I’ll put them as a playoff team)
On the line: Magic and Hawks