The new NBA season is upon us. The 2018/19 season kicked off October 16 and the regular season will run till April 10, 2019. The playoffs will begin April 13, 2019 with the NBA Finals concluding in June. Will Golden State Warriors defend their title or will a new force emerge this season? LeBron James made a huge move to the West and will be leading the Los Angeles Lakers charge.
Who are our top picks for each conference? Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors lead the way in the Western conference while the East has Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors battling to win the conference.
Let’s take a look into each conference:
WESTERN CONFERENCE
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS.
They are defending champions and have got the best talent available in the league. With a starting five of Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and DeMarcus Cousins when fit… only Golden State can stop Golden State.
HOUSTON ROCKETS.
Houston showed last year, that they are the second best team in the league. Unfortunately, they are in the same conference as Golden State. They finished top of the conference and were by far the best three point shooting team in the league and they took the Warriors to seven games in the conference finals and a lot of people think the result could have been different if Chris Paul wasn’t injured in game six. With Carmelo Anthony, they have more isolation players available and that might prove a masterstroke later but that remains something to look out for.
The battle for the third to eight would be interesting as ever. The west will be as wild as ever; a lot of team the battle for the fourth to eight.
Utah Jazz look like the best to take over the third spot as they have kept their core and they should be better this year. Oklahoma City Thunder look good as well with the acquisition of Denis Schroeder for cover for the injured Russell Westbrook. It just sets up for a great Paul George year. San Antonio Spurs lost a big part of their team with the retirement of Manu Ginobili and the trades of Leonard Kawhi and Tony Parker, but they got a good enough player in DeMar Derozan. However, Spurs have the magical one Gregg Popovich and with him all things are possible. Teams like, New Orleans Pelicans have an MVP candidate in Anthony Davis and Dallas Mavericks with highly rated new comer Luka Doncic formerly of Real Madrid and Denis Smith Jnr who is prime to have an amazing second season. Portland Trail Blazers with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum will make their presence felt. And the comeback of Mike Conley and Marc Gasol will make Memphis Grizzlies as gritty as ever. Can we forget to talk about the King and the promise LeBron James brings to Los Angeles Lakers? King James has taken part in the last eight NBA finals and that is a huge factor to consider for the Lakers. He has the ability to bring forth the best in the young players and veterans on that team and they will definitely be an interesting team to watch. If their preseason games is anything to go by, they will play with a lot of pace up the court! Should be fun.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Boston Celtics can breathe easier knowing fully well that LeBron James is gone to the West now the East if for the taking. Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors will fancy their chances.
BOSTON CELTICS.
Boston is deep and talented; young studs like Jaylen Brown, Jason Tatum and Terry Rozier showed what they were all about last year when two of their all-stars (Kyrie Irvin and Gordon Hayward) were out. Now they seem pretty scary and with a coach as good as Brad Stevens drawing up the X and Os, it is likely they can win the East and push Golden State as far as anybody can.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS.
Philly have talent in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid; both Unicorns of some sort but they sorely lack the depth to challenge a team like Boston. They will be as good as those young guys carry them and that may be as far as possible in the Eastern conference finals or semifinals. With so much cap space for them, 2019 free agency should be fun for the 76ers once they can get their front office issues sorted out during the season and no more Collangelo drama they hope.
TORONTO RAPTORS.
Toronto are looking like the real deal though, it’s difficult to say they got a bad deal done for Kwahi Leonard as they replaced a good player with a great one; a top-three player when fit. Furthermore, they’ve got Danny Green who is Am orders day 3 and Defense Guy. They’ve kept most of their core which is good but it remains to be seen what the psychological trauma of losing a key guy like Derozan the way he was traded will have on the team. Masai Ujiri put his career on the line for that deal and they have a year to convince Leonard to stay and it should be interesting to sound bites hear from a very shy player. We are sure that the journalists will have plenty of speculation flying around.
The battle for play-off spot?
Washington Wizards added a dwindling Dwight Howard to their toaster and to be honest it is difficult giving a verdict on such an acquisition as he has really failed to bring back that three time defensive player of the year we saw at Orlando Magic. John Wall seems fitter from the work done all summer and it should be good to see Otto Porter Jnr back after last season’s injury. Milwaukee Bucks should make some noise in the East with Giannis Adetokunbo “the Greek Freak” leading the line with support from Eric Bledsoe and Kris Middleton, how they fare against the better teams in the NBA would be a good barometer for them. Indiana Pacers are back with the same team less Lance Stevenson, but they’ve got Victor Oladipo coming back after being the most improved player and with a newly minted contract for Myles Christian Turner, the Wizards will make some noise out East.
Miami Heat are known for their grit and with a heavy payroll loaded with average talent. Erik Spoelstra will have his work cut out as usual, but with returning future hall of famer Dywane Wade, they will definitely ruffle some feathers in the conference. The Cleveland Cavaliers have never done well post LeBron and to be honest, we will see who these guys are without the best player in the world. They are an unknown quantity at this point and it will be fun to see how they fare this year.
The new season has kicked off already with games but we are set for another six months of NBA action. Go out there and enjoy your favorite team provide you with excitement. Visit our Sports shop Babaijebu.ng for best odds all games during the 2018-19 NBA season.
Special mention to an NBA expert, Oluwasegun Olotu (@OLOTUdante) for his insightful analysis…