2014-2015 NBA Predictions

[Dylan]

I always like to do these because they seem to generate some nice discussion. Considering we could use all the activity and life around here we can get, why not:

Eastern Playoffs:
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8.

Western Playoffs:
1.
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3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Eastern Finals:

Western Finals:

NBA Finals:

NBA MVP:

Dark-horse MVP Candidate:

Rookie of the Year:

Dark-horse Rookie of the Year Candidate:

Defensive Player of the Year:

6th Man of the Year:

All-NBA 1st and 2nd Team:

Most Disappointing Team:

Most Disappointing Player:

Most Surprising Team:

Most Surprising Player:

[Dylan]

Eastern Playoffs:
1. Cleveland Cavaliers (58-24)
2. Chicago Bulls (55-27)
3. Washington Wizards (54-28)
4. Toronto Raptors (52-30)
5. Charlotte Hornets (49-33)
6. Miami Heat (45-37)
7. Brooklyn Nets (45-37)
8. Atlanta Hawks (42-40)

Western Playoffs:
1. San Antonio Spurs (60-22)
2. Los Angeles Clippers (57-25)
3. Oklahoma City Thunder (55-27)
4. Memphis Grizzlies (54-28)
5. Houston Rockets (52-30)
6. Golden State Warriors (51-31)
7. Portland Trail Blazers (49-33)
8. Denver Nuggets (48-34)

Eastern Finals: Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Washington Wizards

Western Finals: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Memphis Grizzlies

NBA Finals: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (OKC in 7)

NBA MVP: LeBron James (who else could I possibly choose?)

Dark-horse MVP Candidate: Russell Westbrook (I think he's going to capitalize on KD being hurt and will go OFF)

Rookie of the Year: Jabari Parker

Dark-horse Rookie of the Year Candidate: Gary Harris + Elfrid Payton (couldn't choose between the two)

Defensive Player of the Year: Anthony Davis

6th Man of the Year: Isaiah Thomas

All-NBA 1st and 2nd Team:
1st team - Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Lebron James, Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard
2nd team - Chris Paul, James Harden, Kobe Bryant, Blake Griffin, Marc Gasol
3rd team - Ty Lawson, Tony Parker, Rudy Gay, Chris Bosh, Lamarcus Aldridge

Most Disappointing Team: Phoenix Suns (after being so surprisingly good last year, I think they struggle this year. Great future, but still very young)

Most Disappointing Player: Carmelo Anthony (OVER-RATED)

Most Surprising Team: Denver Nuggets (I think they're going to surprise a LOT of people and be real good)

Most Surprising Player: Ty Lawson (everyone thinks of him as real good, but I think he's going to go straight beast-mode this year)

[bestnamezRtaken]

You honestly think the Rockets are going to have a better record than the Blazers? After losing key players in Chandler Parsons, Jeremy Lin, and Omar Asik and only gaining Trevor Ariza and Jason Terry during the off season? The Blazers still have their starting 5 together, key bench players in Thomas Robinson, CJ McCollum, Chris Kaman, Steve Blake...which is better than Jason Terry and lower tier players. Portland's starting 5 is better than Houston's starting 5. I also think the Blazers will have a better record than the Grizzlies and perhaps the Warriors too.

[Dylan]

You honestly think the Rockets are going to have a better record than the Blazers? After losing key players in Chandler Parsons, Jeremy Lin, and Omar Asik and only gaining Trevor Ariza and Jason Terry during the off season? The Blazers still have their starting 5 together, key bench players in Thomas Robinson, CJ McCollum, Chris Kaman, Steve Blake...which is better than Jason Terry and lower tier players. Portland's starting 5 is better than Houston's starting 5. I also think the Blazers will have a better record than the Grizzlies and perhaps the Warriors too.

Partially because I think Dwight Howard is going to have a really really big year. I have this feeling he goes back to his Orlando dominant days. If that happens, with a 10x better supporting cast than he had in Orlando, they would be real good.

Memphis is a team I absolutely love. Two years ago they went to the conference finals for a reason. A healthy Marc Gasol, a nice added scoring punch off the bench in Vince Carter and I think this team is going to be really good. I have them in the conference finals for a reason.

They could be higher than GS, but in the west, it's just so tough. The thing about the west is, teams 1-7 could pretty much finish anywhere in the top 7. I think the Shaun Livingston addition for GS is going to be really big; he'll make a bigger impact than most expect. I watched him play 76 games for Brooklyn last year, and he'll do wonders for the chemistry and keeping it all together. Terrific glue guy. I also in general, love the pieces on that roster (minus David Lee).

I wasn't trying to take anything away from the Blazers. The west is just so tough to rank in general. Portland is a real good team and has just a good a chance as getting to the West Finals as anyone else.

[Dylan]

You honestly think the Rockets are going to have a better record than the Blazers? After losing key players in Chandler Parsons, Jeremy Lin, and Omar Asik and only gaining Trevor Ariza and Jason Terry during the off season? The Blazers still have their starting 5 together, key bench players in Thomas Robinson, CJ McCollum, Chris Kaman, Steve Blake...which is better than Jason Terry and lower tier players. Portland's starting 5 is better than Houston's starting 5. I also think the Blazers will have a better record than the Grizzlies and perhaps the Warriors too.

Partially because I think Dwight Howard is going to have a really really big year. I have this feeling he goes back to his Orlando dominant days. If that happens, with a 10x better supporting cast than he had in Orlando, they would be real good.

Memphis is a team I absolutely love. Two years ago they went to the conference finals for a reason. A healthy Marc Gasol, a nice added scoring punch off the bench in Vince Carter and I think this team is going to be really good. I have them in the conference finals for a reason.

They could be higher than GS, but in the west, it's just so tough. The thing about the west is, teams 1-7 could pretty much finish anywhere in the top 7. I think the Shaun Livingston addition for GS is going to be really big; he'll make a bigger impact than most expect. I watched him play 76 games for Brooklyn last year, and he'll do wonders for the chemistry and keeping it all together. Terrific glue guy. I also in general, love the pieces on that roster (minus David Lee).

I wasn't trying to take anything away from the Blazers. The west is just so tough to rank in general. Portland is a real good team and has just a good a chance as getting to the West Finals as anyone else.

[Myles]

Eastern Playoffs:
1. Chicago Bulls (56-26)
2. Cleveland Cavaliers (54-28)
3. Toronto Raptors (49-33)
4. Washington Wizards (49-33)
5. Charlotte Hornets (47-35)
6. Atlanta Hawks (45-37)
7. Brooklyn Nets (43-39)
8. Miami Heat (42-40)

Western Playoffs:
1. San Antonio Spurs (59-23)
2. Los Angeles Clippers (58-24)
3. Oklahoma City Thunder (54-28)
4. Golden State Warriors (52-30)
5. Portland Trail Blazers (51-31)
6. Dallas Mavericks (51-31)
7. New Orleans Pelicans (48-34)
8. Houston Rockets (46-36)

Eastern Finals: Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Chicago Bulls

Western Finals: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Golden State Warriors

NBA Finals: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Chicago Bulls

NBA MVP: Blake Griffin

Dark-horse MVP Candidate: John Wall

Rookie of the Year: Andrew Wiggins

Dark-horse Rookie of the Year Candidate: Marcus Smart

Defensive Player of the Year: Joakim Noah

6th Man of the Year: Andre Iguodala

All-NBA 1st and 2nd Team: Chris Paul, Steph Curry, LeBron James, Blake Griffin, Dwight Howard
Russell Westbrook, John Wall, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Joakim Noah
Derrick Rose, James Harden, LaMarcus Aldridge, Anthony Davis, Al Jefferson

Most Disappointing Team: Memphis Grizzlies

Most Disappointing Player: Kawhi Leonard

Most Surprising Team: Golden State Warriors

Most Surprising Player: Al Horford