2021 NBA Season Preview
BOLD team-by-team predictions and finishes as the NBA tips-off its 75th season
Today’s the day! The start of the 2021-2022 NBA season. I can’t wait to see the likes of LeBron, Giannis, Zion, and more take to the hardwood for the next nine months. Like I did with my MLB preview back in April, I will give my predictions as to who makes the playoffs (including the play-in teams); which teams will be in June’s NBA Finals; all of the predicted awards; and one hot take from each NBA team.
Let’s get started:
Predicted Eastern Conference Standings:
1) Milwaukee Bucks (58-24)
2) Brooklyn Nets (55-27)
3) Atlanta Hawks (52-30)
4) Philadelphia 76ers (50-32)
5) Chicago Bulls (48-34)
6) Miami Heat (47-35)
7) New York Knicks (45-37)
8) Indiana Pacers (40-42)
9) Boston Celtics (37-45)
10) Charlotte Hornets (36-46)
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11) Washington Wizards (34-48)
12) Toronto Raptors (32-50)
13) Cleveland Cavaliers (29-53)
14) Detroit Pistons (26-56)
15) Orlando Magic (22-60)
Predicted Western Conference Standings
1) Utah Jazz (62-20)
2) Los Angeles Lakers (59-23)
3) Golden State Warriors (57-25)
4) Phoenix Suns (54-28)
5) Denver Nuggets (53-29)
6) Dallas Mavericks (51-31)
7) Portland Trail Blazers (48-34)
8) New Orleans Pelicans (45-37)
9) Los Angeles Clippers (42-40)
10) Memphis Grizzlies (41-41)
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11) San Antonio Spurs (38-44)
12) Minnesota Timberwolves (35-47)
13) Sacramento Kings (30-52)
14) Houston Rockets (26-56)
15) Oklahoma City Thunder (21-61)
NBA Finals Prediction:
Bucks over Warriors in six
NBA Awards
MVP: Stephen Curry, Warriors
Defensive Player of the Year: Jrue Holiday, Bucks
Most Improved Player of the Year: Robert Williams, Celtics
Sixth Man of the Year: Carmelo Anthony, Lakers
Rookie of the Year: Jalen Green, Rockets
Coach of the Year: Nate McMillan, Hawks
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NBA Hot Takes by Team
Milwaukee Bucks: Grayson Allen (yeah, that Grayson Allen) will play major minutes for the Bucks at some point this season (he agreed to a 2-year, $20 extension with the team just yesterday, for what it’s worth).
Brooklyn Nets: Kyrie Irving will surprisingly get vaccinated for COVID-19 in November and thus be eligible to play for the team the rest of the season.
Atlanta Hawks: The team will win 20 straight home games from January 2020-onward, at the typically half-packed State Farm Arena.
Philadelphia 76ers: The team will find a suitor for Ben Simmons… in the San Antonio Spurs (former Washington Wizards reporter Quinton Mayo made this same prediction last month, and I feel that this story may be more fact than fiction).
Chicago Bulls: The duo of Lonzo Ball and Zach LaVine will combine for 45 points per game, 15 assists per game and 14 rebounds per game on what should be a highly-entertaining offensive team.
Miami Heat: Victor Oladipo will play in 60+ games for the Heat and be a premier 6th man for the team, as Vic will total more games than the past two years combined (49).
New York Knicks: Newly-acquired Kemba Walker will average 24-5-5 to form one of the best point guard-big man tandems in the NBA with teammate Julius Randle.
Indiana Pacers: Diminuitve reserve point guard T.J. McConnell will average 10-7-5-2 (points-assists-rebounds-steals), all career-bests in a season, and start a dozen or so games, as starting PG Malcolm Brogdon will miss time due to injury.
Boston Celtics: This New England team will go on a 10-game losing streak (with first-year head coach Ime Udoka on the hot seat) sometime in February-March 2022.
Charlotte Hornets: High-flyer Miles Bridges will win the 2022 Dunk Contest in Cleveland.
Washington Wizards: Former starting center Thomas Bryant is traded… to the Golden State Warriors for little-used second-year center James Wiseman at the February trade deadline.
Toronto Raptors: The only Canadian NBA team wins more games against above-0.500 teams than games against below-0.500 opponents; their length/wingspan and versatility of their players is what causes issues against opponents (no player on the roster is shorter than 6’1” and none are taller than 6’9”).
Cleveland Cavaliers: The hosts of the 2022 NBA All-Star weekend, this Midwestern team will have zero participants that February break.
Detroit Pistons: Luka Garza, the 6’10” plodding center and 2021 NCAA Player of the Year for the Iowa Hawkeyes a year ago, will average 10 points and 10 rebounds (and a made three) per game as a backup to Isaiah Stewart.
Orlando Magic: The Wagner brothers (veteran big man Moritz Wagner and rookie wing Franz Wagner) will find themselves both in a Magic starting lineup at least once this season.
Utah Jazz: Donovan Mitchell will average 30-5-5 on 40% shooting from beyond the arc for the team, resulting in a career-high season average in points, rebounds and three-point percentage.
Los Angeles Lakers: The Big Three (Russell Westbrook, LeBron James and Anthony Davis) will collectively average 75 ppg, 30 rpg and 20 apg, but shoot only 72% from the line as a whole. And yes, they will bow-out in the Western Conference Finals to the Warriors.
Golden State Warriors: Klay Thompson returns earlier than usual (on the Christmas Day matchup against the Phoenix Suns), and goes back to his pre-injury form (19 ppg with 41% on eight three-point attempts) in the 50 or so games played with the Bay area team.
Phoenix Suns: Chris Paul starts only 60-65 games this year (due to ‘load management’/pre-scheduled off-days), and only averages 15-7-5 due to staying healthy over the long-term for the Suns, at age 36.
Denver Nuggets: Michael Porter Jr., and not Nikola Jokic, will lead the team in points by season’s end.
Dallas Mavericks: Kristaps Porzingis will start a season-best 75+ games this season, as this injury-prone big man will have his best season to-date.
Portland Trail Blazers: The addition of pogo stick jumper Larry Nance Jr. will be one of the best 2021 free-agent acquisitions for first-year head coach Chauncey Billups, as Nance will bring his relentless rebounding and finishing around the rim as a great clean-up big man for the Trail Blazers.
New Orleans Pelicans: Oft-injured Zion Williamson will play and start under 50 games this season, due to ailing foot and other injuries.
Los Angeles Clippers: The loss of Kawhi Leonard to a season-ending ACL tear during last season’s playoffs would be too big of a void to fill this coming season, as the team goes on a 10-game losing streak.
Memphis Grizzlies: Ja Morant continues to grow into a superstar player, averaging 20-8-5 (points-assists-rebounds) and a season-best 80% from the free throw line, and teammate Jaren Jackson Jr. will receive Defensive Player of the Year votes with 3.0 stocks/game (steals + blocks).
San Antonio Spurs: Head coach Gregg Popovich will retire at seasons’ end, this after his 26th season as HC of the Spurs. The replacement will be none other than current assistant coach Becky Hammon.
Minnesota Timberwolves: The Big Three of Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russell will have a combined 70 ppg, 20 rpg, 15 apg and an average of 37% from three on 10 threes per game.
Sacramento Kings: After a terrible start to open the season, the Kings will fire head coach Luke Walton a week prior to Christmas 2021.
Houston Rockets: Big man Christian Wood, and not heralded #2 overall pick, guard Jalen Green, will lead the team in points per game for the lottery-bound Rockets.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Rookie Aaron Wiggins, who played for the Maryland Terrapins last season, will be the de facto starter at the two come season’s end.
There you have it! That’s 30 teams’ worth of BOLD predictions, as well as my thoughts on how the standings will shake out come next spring. I hope you enjoyed this post.
Until next time.