I finished my preseason countdown of the NBA teams yesterday, and I come to you today with playoff predictions, award winners and some surprises, both bad and good, for the upcoming season. I think, like last year, there is no definitive favorite, although the Lakers are close. But, I could see upwards of five or six teams winning it all, and none would surprise me. I think the West is still much, much better too, but the East's top five or six teams are going to be very competitive. With that, let's get to my playoff picks.

I'll start with the East as usual. Also, I know they have the play in tournament back this year, and that rules, but I am going to go with the top eight teams in both conferences to further my picks. Okay, from eight to one in the East I have, Orlando, Atlanta, Toronto, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Boston, Miami and Milwaukee. This is pretty much the same as last season, with Atlanta taking Indiana's place. I just don't think Indiana is quite good enough to make another playoff push. I also think they will trade some key guys during the year. And Brooklyn could very easily be a top three seed if KD and Kyrie play like themselves, or they could fall off if either guy isn't as good or focused or gets hurt. The other teams seem pretty solid to me.

In round one Orlando will get easily dispatched by Milwaukee in five games. Orlando always wins one game. Atlanta will be a fun first round opponent, but Miami is too good on defense to let it go no longer than six games. Toronto and Boston will be the best first round matchup in the East, and it will go seven games and be a bloodbath, but Boston has too much talent not to win the series. And I love the Philly-Brooklyn 4-5 matchup. It will be fun, probably brutal at times, but if KD is 75 percent of himself, and Kyrie shows up, the Nets best two players are better than the 76ers two best players. I will be rooting for Philly all year, but Brooklyn, if fully healthy, is just too good. I have the Nets in seven.

That would leave us with a Milwaukee-Brooklyn and Miami-Boston in the East semis. These are two good matchups, and I think it is the best four teams in the East. This was where Milwaukee blew it last year, and maybe they will again. I personally do not think they will. Giannis is going to be even better. Getting Jrue Holiday was a major upgrade, and Milwaukee is deeper and better defensively than Brooklyn. KD will give them a run, if he is healthy, but I don't see Milwaukee letting it go more than six games. Miami and Boston will be a rematch from the bubble, but this time I think Boston will get the better of Miami. Their matchup last season was great, and due to the fact that Boston will be pushed by Toronto makes me think that they will beat the Heat. It will go seven, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo will give the Celtics fits, but the Celtics are so young, so talented and have gritty playoff experience.

That leaves us with Boston and Milwaukee in the East Finals. I have picked Milwaukee to get this far the past two seasons, but not to the Finals. This is the year it changes. Giannis is more locked in, they upgraded the point guard position in a major way with Holiday, and they are the best defensive team in the league. This is the year the Bucks finally get over the hump and make the Finals. That pick is for you dad.

Now for the Varsity. The West has every team vying for a spot, save maybe for the Thunder. But SGA may have something to say about that. The other fourteen teams have legitimate cases for making the playoffs, and the play in tournament is going to be awesome. It may be better than the actual West playoffs. With that, in order from eight to one, I have Phoenix, Houston, Utah, Dallas, Portland, Denver, LA Clippers and LA Lakers. This could have been different if Klay was healthy, or if Sacramento could ever figure it out, or if the Spurs get coached the hell up, or if the Pelicans super young, super athletic talent figures it out. But right now, this is how I see the West playing out. The sprint of a season will make it a brutal run to get here, but these are the top eight teams to me. I wanted to put Memphis in there, and I hope they prove me wrong, but I just think they are going to take a teeny step back.

That means the 8-1 is Phoenix and the Lakers. This would be a sweep if Chris Paul wasn't on the Suns. He will not let this team get swept, and I feel like he will win them two games. But the Lakers will prevail in six, and I don't think they will have to use LeBron as much, saving him for later rounds. Houston, and this is totally dependent on if they keep Harden or not, will get easily passed over by the Clippers. The Clippers are on a revenge tour, they are a much better defensive team, and can score for days. That series will go no more than five games. Utah and Denver will be a very fun first round matchup. This was the first round in the bubble, and it was an incredible series. This time around, and I know I said I was going to stop doubting Denver, I think the Jazz will win. They will have everyone, hopefully, and they only lost last year when Conley's three pointer lipped out. I think Utah wins in a hard fought seven game series. Dallas and Portland is going to be a fun, defenseless, series. The scores of every game could be 150-145. Each team will light it up. Luka Doncic and Dame Lillard will go at one another. But I am going with Portland in seven. Dame is good in early round playoff series. Portland is deeper and a touch better on defense, and I feel like having Nurkic is going to be big for the Trailblazers.

That leaves us with the Lakers and Trailblazers facing off, and the Clippers and Jazz. I kind of thought this was how the West was going to play out last year before the shutdown. The Trailblazers are better this year. I love that Nurkic is back, and he was incredible in the bubble. But the Lakers are too talented, and with a, hopefully for them, well rested LeBron, they shouldn't have too much trouble with Portland. Dame and McCollum may do enough to pull out one game, but I don't see it going past five. The Clippers and Jazz looked like the West Semis in the bubble, until Conley's three rimmed out. I think a fully healthy Jazz could pose a problem for the Clippers. And given Paul George's inconsistent playoff career, who knows what he will bring to the table. I also think that Rudy Gobert could feast on the Clippers lack of size. But Kawhi is too good, Lou Will will have a game where he goes for 30, Beverly will shut down Conley and I think the duo of George and Kawhi will neutralize Donovan Mitchell. I have the Clippers in six.

This gives us the battle of LA in the West Finals. I thought this was what was going to happen last year. But unlike last year, I think the Lakers will pull out a seven game series win. This will be more competitive, the Clippers will show up, George will be better, Kawhi will give LeBron headaches. But the Lakers got better this offseason, and they have more size, and maybe even more depth now than the Clippers do. I think Davis will go nuts in this series too.

That leaves us with a Lakers-Bucks finals. If you had asked me to pick a winner 10 minutes ago I would have picked the Lakers to go back to back. But, Giannis just signed the super max, and that changes things. He won't be berated with questions about where he will play next season. He will be free to be himself. He won't have some weird burden looming over him. And Jrue Holiday was such a great pickup, I am really over the moon for the Bucks right now. Maybe this is for my dad, maybe I like Giannis too much, maybe I think Mike Budenholzer is due. I don't know why, but I am going with the Bucks to win the title, in a very good, very close seven game series. I have a feeling it will be epic.

As for awards, let's see. It is tempting to go with one of the first three picks in the draft for rookie of the year, but I think each of them have specific reasons why they won't win it. Edwards isn't even close defensively yet, Wiseman will be no more than a role player and LaMelo Ball is playing in Charlotte. I also don't like many other lottery picks to win it. I really, really want to pick Obi Toppin because he was my top prospect, and I love his game, but the Knicks are going to be real bad. I'm going to "go out on a limb here", and pick Cassius Stanley. He was a second round pick, and he may not even start the year. But at some point he will get some real run with the Pacers, assuming they blow it up, and I think he will have a Malcolm Brogdon-esque rookie season. For most improved I always want to give this to a player on the cusp of stardom. For example, I would have given this to Bam Adebayo last year. Hell, he may have won it for all I know. This season I am going to give it to Ben Simmons. I think he will feel more free to play his style with Doc Rivers at the helm and a slew of shooters around him. I think that will make him more prone to shoot from outside, and he already has the rest of his game intact. Sixth Man of the Year will be Norm Powell. No more Montrezl Harrell or Lou Williams. If Norm Powell meets the criteria, he will be instant offense off the bench for the Raptors, he provides solid defense and he is the definition of a modern sixth man. Coach of the Year I am going to go with Mike Budenholzer. Now that Giannis has signed on, and Jrue Holiday is there, and this team shoots threes and plays exceptional defense, I think Budenholzer will let go of the reins a bit, and let this team play to its fullest potential. He will loosen his minutes restrictions, he will let his best players play and his team will reap the benefits of it all. Defensive Player of the Year is going to be a big. I'm just not totally sure which yet. Will it be Gobert? He is the best rim protector and playing in a contract year. Will it be AD? He wanted it last year, didn't get it, so maybe he will go extra hard. Will it be Draymond? While not a big, he does guard every position, looks to be in shape, and if Golden State still has visions of making the playoffs, he will have to be the Draymond of old. Or will it be Giannis again? He won it last year, I'm sure he wants to win it again, and he is becoming a modern day Shaq on both ends of the floor. In the end I'm going to go with Gobert. He, as stated, is the best rim protector and wants to sign a humongous contract this offseason. He is going to be a problem this year.

Finally we have MVP. Will it be LeBron, or Giannis for a third straight year, or Kawhi, or someone way off the radar. I don't think Giannis will win it again. It seems that voters in the NBA are very wary of giving back to back, let alone three straight times, the same award to someone. LeBron may not have enough minutes. The Lakers are coming off a title, they have so many good options that LeBron will be able to sit games and they can still win, and AD will steal votes from him. I don't think Kawhi will get it because he is not that type of player. He just wants to beat the hell out of people and win titles. He could care less about those other trophies. So that leaves us with a total outside option. I'd love to pick Brad Beal, but the Wizards will not be a playoff team. Luka and Trae are awesome, but neither plays a lick of defense. Zion and Ja aren't ready to be MVP options yet. Maybe next year. But, in my mind, the MVP should come from a playoff team, preferably a top three team in either conference. Going by this criteria narrows the list for me, but actually makes it a little easier. I am picking Jayson Tatum to win the MVP this season. Look, I do not like the Celtics, never have, but Tatum has only gotten better each year, he goes hard every night, and this just seems like the next logical step in his career. I feel like he is going to have a great year, and I think the NBA will reward him by giving him the MVP.

Okay, that does it for my NBA preseason predictions. We are officially one week away from the start, and I cannot wait.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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