Ty's NBA Restart Preview

The second round of recent tests just came out in the NBA bubble and there were zero positives. This is a good sign, and it leads me to believe, at the current moment, we are going to get basketball, and maybe, just maybe, we can get a long run of games with no interruptions. I plan on watching basketball all day tomorrow. Real games, that will count towards real standing that will lead into the real playoffs kickoff in the afternoon, and games go through the whole night. I plan on parking myself on a couch and watching as much of these games as possible.

With that being said, I want to do a restart preview and playoff prediction. I already gave everyone my award winners, except for Rookie of the Year, it is Ja Morant in a landslide by the way, so those will not be mentioned. I will pick my playoffs, conference title matchups and Finals winner and MVP. The fact that there are only 22 teams makes it easier. I am not going to go through each team, but the absence of eight teams just makes this so much easier to do.

I am going to start with the East, or as we call it on the pod, the JV. The East isn't bad, it just isn't as good as the West. The East invited the current 8 playoff teams, and added the Wizards. Sure, they had a chance to make a push to possibly get in the playoffs, but the real draw was Brad Beal, and he opted out of the restart. The Wizards will see what kind of young talent they have, but that is it. I wouldn't be surprised if they don't win a single game while in Orlando. The East playoff will be good though. The Bucks are the clear favorite, and they should be. I wouldn't expect Giannis to play much in the first eight games so he can be fully ready for the playoffs. The Raptors are good too. They are the new era Pistons, not the Bad Boy Pistons either, but the team that had Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace. They are gritty and they beat the hell out of you on defense. Then it gets kind of jumbled. The Celtics are good, but very young. The Heat have a great, loaded defense, but can they score enough? The 76ers, my preseason pick to come out of the East, have been wildly underwhelming, and they are not good on the road. All the games in Orlando are away from Philly. Then we have the Magic and Nets. The Magic are a nice story, and it's cool that they are playing in their home city, but they won't do much. The Nets are a shell of themselves, and if they win a game in the playoffs, I'd be stunned. As much as I cannot quit the 76ers, I am going to finally bury that and pick the Bucks and Heat to play in the East Finals, with the Bucks winning in 5. Giannis is the MVP, the Bucks are the best team in the NBA by record, they are deep and they can pretty much do it all. It is their turn.

Now for the varsity, the West. The West is loaded. I mentioned the Wizards were the one extra East team, the West has the Spurs, Suns, Pelicans, Kings and Trailblazers. Add that to the Grizzlies, who currently sit in the 8 spot, and the fight for the 8 seed in the West is going to be the most fun thing to watch in these first eight games. It is going to be an all out brawl. Every game is going to matter. Every team is going to want to win and get in. The Suns and Kings are the only teams I look at and think they don't have a real chance, but hey, they have looked okay during the scrimmages. The Spurs have the best coach, so who knows what he will pull out. The Trailblazers have Dame, and he alone can carry that team. He also plays his best when his back is against the wall. And the Pelicans, before the shut down they were figuring it out, the NBA wants them in the playoffs and Zion is officially back as of today. Also, the Grizzlies have a two game lead, they have the ROY, Jaren Jackson has looked good and they only have to win 3 of the first 8 games to secure their spot. But, it is going to be tough. In the end, while I think it is going to be a great, great ride to the final playoff spot in the West, the Grizzlies are going to hold onto that 8 spot. Maybe it is the fan in me, but they have a pretty big lead, and their schedule isn't nearly as rough as it was going to be had the league not had a stoppage.

The rest of the West is so good. The Lakers and Clippers are so goddamn good. I think the Clippers are deeper and play better defense, but the Lakers have LeBron and AD. Two of the five best players in the league are in their starting lineup, and that is a humongous deal. The Nuggets are a very solid team, they have great ball movement, and as I wrote yesterday, Bol Bol is the new face of the league. Dallas is historically great on offense and at full strength. They also have a great coach, but who knows if their defense can stop anyone. The same thing with the Rockets. They can score in bunches, but they can also go ice cold and they are so, so small. PJ Tucker, while being their only good defender, is only 6'8, and he is going to have to guard centers and power forwards. That is a tough task. The Thunder are the best story in the league, and they will put a scare into whoever they face in the first round, but no more than just a scare. They do have the building blocks for a great future, and while this season has been fun, just wait until next season. I am sticking with the Clippers to come out of the West, but they will have to fight to get there because the Lakers are a very, very, very good team, and LeBron is going to want to prove that he is still the dude in the NBA. Also, AD, while only being in the playoffs twice, he has shined both times. The Clippers do have a ton of guys they can throw at both of them, and in the end, I just don't think the Lakers have enough outside AD and LeBron to get to the Finals. Clippers will win the West Finals in 7.

This gives us a Clippers-Bucks finals. I think they are the two best teams, I think this is the best matchup, I think it will get the most eyeballs on the screens and it will be a dynamite Finals. As much as I'd like to pick the Bucks and make my dad's dream come true to see another Bucks championship team, the Clippers have so much firepower on both offense and defense. It will be another hard fought, fun series to watch, and I think it will go 7 and I think all of the games will be close, but the Clippers will always have one better guy on the floor than the Bucks will, and that will bring the title to LA. The Clippers will exorcise past playoff demons and they will win the title. As for the MVP, it is going to be Kawhi. He has proven to be the best overall player in the league the past 2 years, he is rested, he is always ready and he has already shut down Giannis once before.

There you have it, my restart preview. The NBA is almost back people. Now let's just hope it sticks around. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the best damn basketball writer on all the internets.

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