The NBA "Experts" Have Made Their Predictions...

Stephen A Smith is certainly one of the "experts" of all time

Not only will Wemby be a lot better out-of-the-gate this upcoming season, he'll be playing significantly more minutes. That was a major reason their losses kept mounting: Wemby would get the team within striking distance and the reserves would immediately blow it with an all-time terrible defense

51-53 wins in the East is really not that much. The Sixers won 47 games last year with Joel Embiid missing months. And that was with without Paul George. Unless we think PG and Embiid's injuries will overlap perfectly, I don't see how they don't fall backwards into 6+ more wins even if they don't care. When Embiid and Maxey were both available last year, they won at a far higher pace than that. Plus, do we really think that Boston is going to win the conference by 14 games again? Those wins have to go somewhere. Put me down for 55-57 Philly wins. And I say that as someone who hates watching Embiid and isn't a fan of the Sixers whatsoever. They're going to be really good whether they value the regular season or not.

Half of me wants the spurs to do better and the other half of me wants the spurs to be in the lottery again because I really want Cooper flag

Though I agree that the 76ers biggest concern is the post season, I have a feeling they will be scrambling and kicking themselves during the final 15 game stretch of the year when they find themselves in the play-in range again. Boston, New York, Cleveland, Orlando, Indiana, and Milwaukee are all pretty safe bets to be ahead of a team where George and Embiid each only play 50 games.

Embiid is gonna blow a gasket if the team denies him a shot at MVP.

Wemby is shooting over 40% in the Olympics. The spurs are a different world if he shoots like that in the NBA

The "experts" seem to always be on the side of Sacramento collapsing. I understood it because of the idea that maybe you saw year one under Mike Brown as a fluke and expected them to go back to winning 25-35 games again. But they won 46, upgraded over Harrison Barnes to DeMar DeRozan. I get the question about if they can be good enough to be in the top 8-15 range instead of 17-22 range. But they showed some real signs of improvement as a team defense last season. No, individually they aren't great in iso defense. But as a team, they showed improvement. DeRozan has been saying he is committed to working hard to be at his best, both to help the young guys develop and to make an impact on both sides of the ball because he feels like he can help the Kings get to a new level. I honestly think they have the talent to get in the 50-55 win range. Will they stay motivated and healthy enough to do it? I don't know. But I don't see the Lakers, Clippers or Warriors as being much of a threat this year. I just don't buy into what they are doing. I don't buy into the Suns either. Now, they might prove me wrong. But I don't see it right now. I see a team in flux with the Warriors. I see a team that took a step back in the Clippers. I see a team hampered by the worst contract in the NBA in the Suns. I see a team that moves the ball better when LeBron James isn't on the floor in the Lakers. Dallas, Denver, Minnesota and OKC ..yeah. I get them being the likely top 4 this season. I can see the Kings finishing between 4-6 very easily. In the East, clear favorite is the Celtics. But, the Knicks, Cavs, Magic, 76ers, Bucks and Pacers aren't going anywhere. All of them are going to be really tough teams to beat.

This season will determine the narrative for Joel Embiid's career. Dude has a full squad now & they are deep. If he can't stay healthy or he falls off once the playoffs hit, dudes gonna get clowneddddddd.

L take on Kings. Shows he didn't watch anything on them last year. They finished 14th in defense and the last two months they were ranked 3rd defensively

1st. OKC 55-27 2nd. Dallas 53-29 3rd. Minnesota 52-30 4th. Denver 51-31 5th. Pels/Phx 49-33 6th. Kings 48-34 1st. Celtics 60-22 2nd. Knicks 56-26 3rd. 76ers 53-29 4th. Bucks 51-31 5th magic 50-32 6th pacers/Cavs 48-34

Bucks are going to be scary, have you seen Giannis in these Olympics? He’s been arguably the best player and easily the most valuable considering the teammates he has

All of these crappy teams are getting a lot of leeway from the linesetters. Under all the way on Spurs, Pistons, Hornets, and Bulls

Surprised you didn’t talk about the clippers, I feel like they have a wide range of outcomes

Agree with your 76ers take about them not caring in the regular season, however history says stinking in the regular season then “turning it up” come playoff time does not work. Lakers tried it 2 years ago and made the conference finals to get swept. Heat tried it that year as well and made the finals as an 8 seed to all but get swept. Shoot even Denver took a slight step back during the regular season and struggled to turn it back on during the playoffs and got bounced by the Wolves. To win the whole thing you gotta be dominate basically the whole year. Mavs pieced things together towards the end, but they were good all year just lacking pieces which they got at the deadline. I hate this whole “resting our guys to be ready come playoff time” because that mentality does not win

Mavs gonna be better. Djj is the only really important guy they lost while adding klay, marshall and grimes

I LOVED watching the Mavs during the postseason and I was really excited to see what they can do when they have a full season with their trade deadline additions, but then with DJJ gone and Klay added, I feel like that significantly changes their identity and I'm pessimistic about how well that will work out for them

“The 76ers have the best big 3 in the league “ did the Celtics die? Like genuinely in what world are the 6ers better?

Some of my thoughts: The Spurs are probably the 13th-best team in the Western Conference, behind the Thunder, Nuggets, Wolves, Clippers, Mavs, Suns, Lakers, Pelicans, Kings, Warriors, Rockets, and Grizzlies. They are pretty similar to Utah in terms of talent. So I see them still missing the playoffs and going 32-50. For the Cavs, I have always believed that the two bigs is the biggest issue with the Cavs that teams will exploit come playoff time. Spida is a scoring ball handler. He needs a playmaking ball handler like Garland in the backcourt to maximize his game. Their fit, at least offensively, is not a concern. The Cavs concern is that Mobley and Allen are two similar players and that hurts the offense come playoff time. I like the Cavs move to extend Mobley and Allen but if a new coach isn't enough to move the needle for this team I think that Allen is the odd man out. To make this work, Mobley has to either develop a jumper, be utilized by the coach as a playmaking big, or ideally, both. I think the front office wants to give Atkinson and Mobley-Allen a chance before making a move. Memphis is back and even with Ja missing significant time over the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, the Grizzlies finished Top 3 in the West. With full health, I am confident they will be a playoff lock and a Top 3 seed. I predict that they will finish better than the Mavs.

No way Embiid and Luka ain't competing for MVP. I know both, especially Luka want that shi. Also since he made the finals he should have a pretty good fundament now. If Embiid stays healthy he is gonna get his 30+ and 10+. Just look at his last season he had those number while mostly sitting out the 4th. With how weak the west is, i can see Philly finish 2nd and if Embiid stays healthy, he is getting that trophy imo. My MVP Top 3 if everyone stays healthy would look like this: 1.Embiid 2.Shai 3.Luka Jokic is Jokic, but he will prolly get the Bron treatment, no matter how good his next season will be he ain't winning anymore. Giannis might be a sleeper which sounds crazy, but Milwaukee ain't looking good right now.