The Utah Jazz seem to always exceed expectations almost every year. They have guys that a casual NBA fan wouldn’t probably know about, but they are constantly in the hunt for the playoffs. This coming season will be a test of how much of an overachieving bunch they really are, with their best player Gordon Hayward out at least until late November (hand).
Due to the injury, they are expected to have blocking machine Rudy Gobert be a part of the offense more. In five preseason action this October, the French averaged 16 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks per game on just 24.4 minutes of play.
Helping Gobert are low post comrade Derrick Favors, sweet-shooting Rodney Hood, and off-season pick-ups Joe Johnson and George Hill.
Projected wins: 45.0 Writer’s prediction: 49 – OVER
Warriors coach Steve Kerr sang Blazers star Damian Lillard some high praises during the preseason, as he predicted that the All-Star guard will be the league’s MVP this year. Considering how well the guard has lifted the franchise in the last couple of years, you can’t disagree with the coach, at least for now.
Lillard just released a great rap album (especially for an NBA player), and he’ll also release a lot of points and threes in the months to come. ‘Dame Dolla’ should be able to match his offensive production from last year, where he averaged 25 points, four rebounds, and seven assists. Aiding him, as always, is backcourt partner CJ McCollum, who can also light up the defense with his abilities.
The Blazers signed Evan Turner in the summer to provide a another offensive facilitator aside from Dame and CJ. Head coach Terry Stotts’ up-tempo offense can be good for his all-around style.
The Thunder prepared for life without Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka in the best way they can, landing Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova, and promising college player Domantas Sabonis. They still have Russell Westbrook and the mustache brothers (Steven Adams and Enes Kanter) on top of that. We’ll soon find out if that’s good enough to make them remain as West contenders.
What’s sure for OKC is that Westbrook is poised to have a super stat-stuffing season. If he averaged 23 points, eight rebounds, and 10 assists with Durant by his side, just imagine how much it’ll increase when he has less talent to share the ball to.
The second and third scorer for OKC appears to be Oladipo, a guard who’s as fearless as Russ, and Kanter, who averaged, 18 points and nine rebounds on 28 minutes of play in the preseason.
Projected wins: 42.5 Writer’s prediction: 44 – OVER
There’s no doubt that the Wolves are the most fascinating team heading into the season. They simply have a boatload of talent – Ricky Rubio, Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine, Andrew Wiggins, Gorgui Dieng, and Karl-Anthony Towns. Plus, they have defensive guru Tom Thibodeau as coach, he’ll be a perfect mix to the core, since most are mostly offense-minded players.
Towns will provide offense and defense, Wiggins will give all-around offense, while the other guys are for scoring support, defense, and highlight reels.
Minny can reach 40-plus wins, we just don’t know if that’s good enough to secure a playoff berth.
Projected wins: 37.5 Writer’s prediction: 28 – UNDER
Rounding out the list are the Denver Nuggets. The team is still in rebuilding mode and their record by season’s end will be quite evident of that.
On paper, they have a good set of young talent – Mudiay is a young Rondo, Nikola Jokic can play offense and defense, Jusuf Nurkic can be a double-double guy, and their 2016 first-round pick, Jamal Murray, is a good shooter and scorer. It’s just that none of these guys appear to be ready in taking their team to the next level just yet.
The crowded three spot is also not helping the Nuggets. The front office has to free Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, or Will Barton, or at least make the coach regularly play one of them at the two.
