Post by frangie on May 18, 2020 6:33:15 GMT -8
Well folks, Season 2 is upon us. What can we expect? More of the same – insane amounts of posts, flurries of deals, and the Jazz dominating. The offseason was crazy and almost impossible to keep up in terms of the amount of deals that happened. Plus, we had a draft, but I paid no attention to it.
Rather than spend 16 hours trying to catch up on the forum, I just pasted the rosters into Excel and crunched some numbers to see who is going to be good this year. I used a combination of ratings and last year’s stats. Obviously, this will all change as trades are made and guys are camped, but last year it was relatively accurate so I feel good about putting this out there again. Below are my findings!
EASTERN CONFERENCE
1. Nets (61-21): They went to game 7 of the finals last year and added MJ. Easy pick for the 1 seed.
2. Cavaliers (55-27): This is a super talented team and maybe the pieces fit together a little better now. My formulas don’t totally account for the positional overlap though.
3. Hornets (52-30): If they trade Zo this is moot, but they still have a strong team even after the Mailman’s retirement. Byron Russell is ready to play a bigger role than he did last year!
4. Heat (50-32): I think my numbers are too low on Miami. Kobe’s done a great job. Then again, the amount of time he spends on the site he should be doing a great job!
5. Bulls (48-34): A very solid team. They can’t be pleased with having lost Massenburg, but they have smart GMs so I’m not worried about them figuring it out.
6. Pistons (47-35): Another solid team. Webber’s ratings look niiiiice now. They would’ve liked to see a bump from Bonzi in TC though.
7. Knicks (46-36): There is still a lot of talent on this team: Mash, Kittles, Crawford, etc. Wouldn’t be surprised if Skillz flips young guys for more established vets to try to make a playoff run.
8. Celtics (44-38): The #’s like Boston more than I do, but who else is the 8th seed here? No one else in the east seems like they are going for it this year.
Playoffs:
I wrote it all out then realized I was going chalk based on my ratings above. So Nets over Cavs in the conference finals.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
1. Jazz (65-17): How did DRob not drop in TC? Houston went to A+ outside? Sheesh.
2. Clippers (57-25): Cupcake schedule but we were +20 in point differential in pre-season.
3. Nuggets (54-28): Might be too high on em but the old squad managed to hold up in TC. They were better with Stockton and Pippen last season for sure.
4. Grizzlies (52-30): Solid team that should be ok after last season’s round 1 disappointment. They didn’t have a great TC either.
5. Kings (45-37): They were already in the playoffs last year, and now have a freakishly good backcourt in Nash and improved Kobe.
6. Mavs (44-38): Seems like I may be low compared to consensus on these guys. Everyone except Kidd is young’in, wonder if they will try to compete or move Kidd for more of a prospect type?
7. Twolves (43-39): These guys are kind of in no-mans land… prove me wrong!
8. Lakers (34-48): Not sure if anybody even wants this spot. A bunch of teams in the West are close here.
Playoffs:
I’m going chalk (based on my above rankings again), with the exception of picking the Kings to upset the Grizz in round 1. Memphis not good in the playoffs!
FINALS PICK:
I have a rematch of last year, but this time I like the Nets to pull it out over Utah. MJ is the key to their revenge!
RACE TO THE BOTTOM
Man I’m not confident in this list at all! Depends on who tanks the hardest. I’ve got 11 of the teams between 27 and 32 wins which obviously won’t happen. It’s just hard to separate most of them right now… here it goes:
13. Raptors (40-42)
12. Bucks (32-50)
11. Super Sonics (32-50)
10. Warriors (32-50)
9. Pacers (30-52)
8. Wizards (30-52)
7. Spurs (30-52)
6. Rockets (29-53)
5. 76ers (29-53)
4. Trail Blazers (29-53)
3. Suns (28-54)
2. Hawks (27-55)
1. Magic (24-58)
Rather than spend 16 hours trying to catch up on the forum, I just pasted the rosters into Excel and crunched some numbers to see who is going to be good this year. I used a combination of ratings and last year’s stats. Obviously, this will all change as trades are made and guys are camped, but last year it was relatively accurate so I feel good about putting this out there again. Below are my findings!
EASTERN CONFERENCE
1. Nets (61-21): They went to game 7 of the finals last year and added MJ. Easy pick for the 1 seed.
2. Cavaliers (55-27): This is a super talented team and maybe the pieces fit together a little better now. My formulas don’t totally account for the positional overlap though.
3. Hornets (52-30): If they trade Zo this is moot, but they still have a strong team even after the Mailman’s retirement. Byron Russell is ready to play a bigger role than he did last year!
4. Heat (50-32): I think my numbers are too low on Miami. Kobe’s done a great job. Then again, the amount of time he spends on the site he should be doing a great job!
5. Bulls (48-34): A very solid team. They can’t be pleased with having lost Massenburg, but they have smart GMs so I’m not worried about them figuring it out.
6. Pistons (47-35): Another solid team. Webber’s ratings look niiiiice now. They would’ve liked to see a bump from Bonzi in TC though.
7. Knicks (46-36): There is still a lot of talent on this team: Mash, Kittles, Crawford, etc. Wouldn’t be surprised if Skillz flips young guys for more established vets to try to make a playoff run.
8. Celtics (44-38): The #’s like Boston more than I do, but who else is the 8th seed here? No one else in the east seems like they are going for it this year.
Playoffs:
I wrote it all out then realized I was going chalk based on my ratings above. So Nets over Cavs in the conference finals.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
1. Jazz (65-17): How did DRob not drop in TC? Houston went to A+ outside? Sheesh.
2. Clippers (57-25): Cupcake schedule but we were +20 in point differential in pre-season.
3. Nuggets (54-28): Might be too high on em but the old squad managed to hold up in TC. They were better with Stockton and Pippen last season for sure.
4. Grizzlies (52-30): Solid team that should be ok after last season’s round 1 disappointment. They didn’t have a great TC either.
5. Kings (45-37): They were already in the playoffs last year, and now have a freakishly good backcourt in Nash and improved Kobe.
6. Mavs (44-38): Seems like I may be low compared to consensus on these guys. Everyone except Kidd is young’in, wonder if they will try to compete or move Kidd for more of a prospect type?
7. Twolves (43-39): These guys are kind of in no-mans land… prove me wrong!
8. Lakers (34-48): Not sure if anybody even wants this spot. A bunch of teams in the West are close here.
Playoffs:
I’m going chalk (based on my above rankings again), with the exception of picking the Kings to upset the Grizz in round 1. Memphis not good in the playoffs!
FINALS PICK:
I have a rematch of last year, but this time I like the Nets to pull it out over Utah. MJ is the key to their revenge!
RACE TO THE BOTTOM
Man I’m not confident in this list at all! Depends on who tanks the hardest. I’ve got 11 of the teams between 27 and 32 wins which obviously won’t happen. It’s just hard to separate most of them right now… here it goes:
13. Raptors (40-42)
12. Bucks (32-50)
11. Super Sonics (32-50)
10. Warriors (32-50)
9. Pacers (30-52)
8. Wizards (30-52)
7. Spurs (30-52)
6. Rockets (29-53)
5. 76ers (29-53)
4. Trail Blazers (29-53)
3. Suns (28-54)
2. Hawks (27-55)
1. Magic (24-58)
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