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.
I think Boston v Denver final
Nuggets, Celtics, Bucks and Thunder
3 - Nuggets, Bucks, Celtics.
Suns can get in there if they can prove they can ever be healthy. But we are 3 days into the season and they already have 3 games missed by their top guys. Doesn’t bode well.
The suns have both the players injury histories & the Arizona Sports Curse 💀
Ya, it is a rough combo!
The Bucks, Celtics and Suns all have superteams and if any of them lose in the playoffs to anyone except the other superteams they should be embarrassed. Nuggets are obviously a contender too because Jokic is incredible but he doesn’t have anywhere close to as much help as the 3 superteams.
TIER 1 (contenders)
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Nuggets
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Bucks
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Suns
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Celtics
TIER 2 (near playoff locks)
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Lakers
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Warriors
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Cavaliers
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Heat
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Kings
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Clippers
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Mavericks
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Grizzlies
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76ers
TIER 3 (playoff contenders)
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Knicks
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Pelicans
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Thunder
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Pacers
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Hawks
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Magic
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Bulls
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Raptors
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Timberwolves
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Nets
TIER 4 (rebuilding or retooling)
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Spurs
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Hornets
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Pistons
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Rockets
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Wizards
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Trailblazers
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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