Yes, I know I am a day late. But hey, the NBA season began two weeks earlier! What can I do?

Eastern Conference

1. Boston Celtics (60-22): As much as everyone wants to push the narrative that the East is wide open, the Celtics are far and away the best team in the Conference. Remember they almost went to the Finals missing Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. Undervalued as the favorite in the Eastern Conference. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are only going to be better, and Al Horford is an experienced playoff banger who doesn’t have to face LeBron anymore.
2. Philadelphia 76ers (53-29): Still the future of the East obviously. Still disappointed I picked them to beat Boston in the playoffs last year. They’ll need Markelle Fultz to figure things out to challenge Boston.
3. Milwaukee Bucks (50-32): Hate to say it, but I think Giannis is leaving. But he’ll finish this season with Milwaukee and they’ll lose to Boston at some point, if not Philly. They only improvements will come from Giannis and Khris Middleton.
4. Toronto Raptors (49-33): Following things that worry me about Toronto: Kawhi Leonard’s commitment to the team (and how healthy is he really?), Kyle Lowry and his disappointed with DeMar DeRozan being gone and a new head coach. Despite the talent upgrade this feels like another disappointment in Toronto.
5. Indiana Pacers (48-34): Exciting team that looks quite good in the post PG era. Fully expect them to be in the mix again and wouldn’t shock me if they were better than this. I think a lack of a true stretch four will hinder them. Not sold on Tyreke Evans being a positive either.
6. Washington Wizards (44-38): The Wizards are who they are. Although theoretically Dwight Howard should make them better, I think we’ve played that game enough to see how that works over the past few years.
7. Miami Heat (42-40): Toughest one for me to judge because I feel like Jimmy Butler will end up here. Hassan Whiteside could always get it together I guess. A well coaches team that has just enough to be good but won’t bottom out.
8. Detroit Pistons (36-46): The rest of the East is a bit of a mess. Detroit is not a well-structured team and every season I’m down about bad their spacing should be. And with Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin in the frountcourt, that spacing should be worse than ever.
9. Cleveland Cavaliers (34-48): I don’t expect Kevin Love to revert to his pre-Cavs self, but he should allow Cleveland to win some games. Don’t be surprised if he’s traded at the half-way point though.
10. Charlotte Hornets (33-49): Sounds about right. Going to be weird seeing Tony Parker in a uniform that isn’t the San Antonio Spurs.
11. Chicago Bulls (31-51): Jabari Parker is an interesting offensive addition, and Wendell Carter should be a decent piece. While Chicago seems like a team on the rise, I wonder about the money Zach LaVine just got though.
12. Brooklyn Nets (30-52): Getting rid of Mozgov is a plus. Sad Jeremy Lin didn’t make it. Upcoming Free agency is huge for the Nets.
13. Orlando Magic (27-55): A long way to go here. Aaron Gordon is pretty much the only exciting piece on this mess of a franchise.
14. New York Knicks (25-57): I am truthfully ecstatic for the Knicks to be honest. Finally, a real rebuilding process! Only took 18 years.
15. Atlanta Hawks (17-65): Another rebuild. If Doncic becomes the man though they would have set themselves back a bit.

Western Conference

1. Golden State Warriors (63-19): The chemistry cracks are showing, but there’s way too much talent here to think they’ll fall off much. I think they get another ring in June, especially because…
2. Houston Rockets (56-26): …the Rockets replaced Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute with Carmelo Anthony. That’s going to be quite the hit on the Rockets defense. Chris Paul isn’t getting younger either.
3. Los Angeles Lakers (52-30): I kinda have to see LeBron fail before I drop a team led by him to an under 50 win prediction. Team is a bit of a mess to be honest (Rajon Rondo should not be starting over Lonzo Ball), so I expect a slow start. But it’ll fix itself by the end.
4. Utah Jazz (51-31): Love the way this team is built, especially on defense, but unless Donovan Mitchell becomes a true big time scorer this is their ceiling.
5. Oklahoma City Thunder (50-32): They should be better without Carmelo Anthony’s inefficient offense gobbling up possessions, but Dennis Schroder isn’t anything to write home about either so it feels like a wash.
6. New Orleans Pelicans (48-34): Anthony Davis should make a strong MVP candidate this season. West is just stacked. There’s just not much else here except Nikola Mirotic. Davis and Mirotic is a better combo than Davis and Cousins, for what it’s worth.
7. San Antonio Spurs (47-35): Fun fact, there is one NBA team this season that has two players were on either All-1^st or All-2^nd NBA teams last season. And that team is the Spurs (Aldridge and DeRozan). They are practically adding DeRozan for free compared to last year (as Leonard barely played), so all this missed playoffs stuff is nuts. I actually wish I had some courage and ranked them higher.
8. Portland Trail Blazers (46-36): I was a bit underwhelmed by how they finished last season, and losing Ed Davis isn’t a positive thing either.
9. Denver Nuggets (43-39): Fun team that could break out. Jamal Murray might be a real keeper.
10. Minnesota Timberwolves (41-41): What a mess. Jimmy Butler doesn’t want to be there and while I am a big fan of KAT, Wolves need Butler to be good. I think he ends up in Miami before the trade deadline.
11. Dallas Mavericks (38-44): A bit under the radar. Dirk Nowitzki can still play at a decent level, and if he matches last season’s production that’s a solid role piece. DeAndre Jordan is a sneaky grab. Let’s see how far along Dennis Smith is, and if Luka is the real deal.
12. Los Angeles Clippers (33-49): Not going to lie, I have no idea what happens here this season except they won’t make the playoffs. They could bottom out to 15-67 and I wouldn’t be surprised. I’ll guess Doc Rivers does what he can to win games and then leaves/gets fired (despite the contract extension).
13. Memphis Grizzlies (32-50): Kudos to the Grizzlies for still going against the grain with the Mike Conley-Marc Gasol combo. If Conley stays healthy they should be a bit better than last year.
14. Sacramento Kings (28-54): I like Fox and Bagley. Team is a disaster otherwise.
15. Phoenix Suns (23-59): Devin Booker had more PPG than Suns’ wins last season. I know that the Suns want to win or something, but unless DeAndre Ayton is a monster right away, which I doubt, it isn’t happening.

Warriors over Celtics in 7 in the Finals. Boston is better than people are giving credit for.