I think there are 4 real title contenders this year. Bucks and Celtics from the east and Nuggets and Suns from the west. Every other team is at least a tier lower.
Heat - Had a nice Cinderella story last year but with the upgrades that the bucks and celtics made, they wont be close this year.
Sixers - Can God even get them out of the 2nd round?
Lakers- still no where near the nuggets and barely beat a hobbled Suns. They have 0 chance
Clippers - always a threat IF they can stay healthy which is basically no chance.
warriors - too old and small
Mavs- Kyrie will mess things up somehow
Pelicans - always looks good on paper but never works out
Kings - Probably make some noise but not really a threat
4 real title contenders (2 from each conference) is great parity. I think we will see a bucks vs nuggets finals.
The Suns are in the Lakers/Warriors tier until proven otherwise. Call me crazy but putting a team in the same tier as the NBA champions when they changed every single aspect of the team and when there are so many unknown is a bit too much hype for me