NBA Expert Picks and Predictions for the 2014-2015 Season

Football, baseball, hockey, make some room as the NBA is set to give us some much needed hoops action. The 2014 NBA offseason was a wild one that changed the entire landscape of the league. The Cleveland Cavaliers started from the bottom, and have now shot up to the championship favorites with blockbuster acquisitions of LeBron James and Kevin Love. Meanwhile, the defending champions, the San Antonio Spurs remained quiet as they kept their roster intact.

The Chicago Bulls are also in the hunt for a championship with a healthy Derrick Rose and a key signing of former Laker, Pau Gasol. Which team will rise up and take the 2015 NBA Championship? We’ve listed what the experts think below. These experts aren’t the only ones with their predictions, check out our complete 2014-2015 NBA Preview for our take on the exciting season to come.

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Experts Predict the 2014-2015 NBA Season

NBA.com

Atlantic	Central	Pacific	Southwest	Southeast	Northwest
Toronto	Cleveland	Los Angeles Clippers	San Antonio	Washington	Oklahoma

Eastern Conference Champions	Western Conference Champions	2015 NBA Champions
Cleveland	San Antonio	San Antonio

Aside from the oddsmakers, the GMs also believe that the Cleveland Cavaliers have built a championship caliber team after 70.4 percent picked them to win a shallow Eastern Conference. The Cavs surely made waves in the offseason. They nabbed LeBron James and Kevin Love from Miami and Minnesota, respectively, to go along with Kyrie Irving. Their strong offseason has paid dividends to their chances of winning the 2015 NBA Championship, at least odds-wise as they are +250 favorites to win it all.

The Chicago Bulls were a far second to win the Eastern Conference garnering 25.9 percent of the picks. However, the Bulls have a strong chance of contending for the Cavs’ Central Division as well as the conference as a whole.

[sc:NBA240banner ]Chicago have their own big three of Derrick Rose (assuming he remains healthy), Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah. A healthy Rose exploded for 30 points on 12 of 18 shooting to go along with five rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes in the Bulls’ preseason game against Cleveland on October 20. If he keeps healthy, expect Rose to be as dominant in the regular season.

Meanwhile, Noah was the 2014 Defensive Player of the Year after he averaged 1.2 steals and 1.5 blocks per game in the regular season. He also set a career-high of 11.3 rebounds per game.

An offseason acquisition from the Lakers, Gasol may see less playing time with a solid roster behind him with the Bulls. He should still be able to rack up double-doubles with a strong supporting cast around him.

The Chicago Bulls are priced at +150 to win the Central Division.

ESPN

Eastern	Western	2015 NBA Champions
Cleveland	San Antonio	San Antonio

Much like the GMs, ESPN believes that the Cavaliers’ blockbuster acquisitions will pay off as they enter the 2015 NBA Finals. Meeting them there are the defending champions the San Antonio Spurs.

The Spurs kept their championship-winning team intact throughout the offseason. Of their roster, 2014 Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard will only get better with his first championship already under his belt. Leonard finished the series with 17.8 points per game on 61 percent shooting.

However, the Spurs may become vulnerable if age catches up to Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. Duncan may have less time on the court to save him up for the playoffs when he’s needed the most. Ginobili should continue driving through open lanes, that is if he’s still as sharp despite injuries and age.

The Spurs have a team built to last, as they have several important role players in the team, including Boris Diaw and three-point sharpshooter Danny Green. Expect the Spurs to be dominant once again.

The Spurs are +400 favorites to win back-to-back titles. Create a betting account now and start betting on NBA futures.

Sports Illustrated

Atlantic	Central	Pacific	Southwest	Southeast	Northwest
Toronto	Cleveland	Los Angeles Clippers	San Antonio	Washington	Oklahoma

Sports Illustrated still doesn’t have picks for the entire season, but they’ve released their picks for each of the divisions. Sports Illustrated’s division picks are very straightforward, and follow the trend of the GMs’ survey.

The Oklahoma City Thunder may be a liability to defend their Northwest title with Kevin Durant’s injury (will miss six to eight weeks). Two more key cogs in their team, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka are not immune to the injury bug, both losing time last season.

If Westbrook and Ibaka can remain healthy, then they should be able to keep things flowing for the Thunder. Westbrook averaged 21.8 points and 6.9 assists per game last season, while Ibaka had 27 double-doubles. When Durant does return, then the Thunder should just be as dominant as they were last year when they made the Western Conference finals.