NBA predictions for 2023 — community-style
Already know what will happen in the coming calendar year? Call your shot here
Happy New Year, friends!
Our first post of 2023 is unlikely to surprise regular readers. You guys know how I tend to stick with a routine when I trust it and I'd say we've managed to establish a pretty sensible cadence when it comes to NBA prognostication in the short history of this 18-month-old Substack.
To christen the start of every new season, I always publish my Eight (Almost) Fearless Predictions in October — one man's proclamations about what will happen next in #thisleague that, well, sometimes connect and sometimes don't.
Then when the calendar flips and New Year's Eve becomes New Year's Day, getting closer to the midpoint of the regular season, we make it a community affair and invite everyone in our sphere to partake.
I saw a few wild ones recently in a Sports Illustrated Crystal Ball Compilation for 2023, which included my good pals Chris Mannix and Howard Beck respectively asserting that the Lakers will trade LeBron James and that Kevin Durant will ask the Nets to trade him. Again.
Not sure I would have gone as bold as they did — Brooklyn has been too scorching hot lately to even contemplate such a development and I still say that the Lakers will trade LeBron in the offseason only if he is the driving force pushing for it — but the floor is now open. Be as bold as you like in the attached Substack chat (via the Substack app) and I will jump in here and there to join the group forecasting.
Do you already know who will win the East? Or the West? Or the actual championship?
Can you tell us when the trade market will finally start moving? Or maybe where John Collins and Jae Crowder are finally headed?
Ready, perhaps, to tell us all who will win the MVP race? Have a good premonition instead about which team will win the Victor Wembanyama Draft Lottery in May?
Share any and all of it with us in the chat below.
Lots of good stuff here. Dare I say give the app a try and weigh in there ...
Atlanta - a new coach before the all-star break
Boston - won't make the Eastern Conference Finals
Brooklyn - will make the ECF
Charlotte - won't have a top-5 pick
Chicago - DeMar DeRozan won't be on their roster at the start of next season
Cleveland - will give the Bucks all they can handle in the first round
Dallas - Luka gets his first top-3 for the MVP (but doesn't win)
Denver - makes the WCF, Jokic finishes 2nd in MVP voting
Detroit - gets the best odds for VW, misses the bus again
Golden State - makes the NBA Finals
Houston - trades at least two of their first-round picks
Indiana - wins the play-in tournament
LA Clippers - finally moves on from Kawhi by the start of next season
LA Lakers - absolutely nothing changes by NYE 2023
Memphis - fails to secure an opportunity to Griddy in the second round
Miami - makes the ECF finals after beating the Celtics
Milwaukee - Giannis wins MVP, Finals MVP, ECF MVP, and a 2nd title
Minnesota - misses the playoffs this year, has a new GM by the start of next year
New Orleans - top-4 seed, loses in the second round to the Warriors in 7 games
New York - trades Derrick Rose to a contender
Oklahoma City - wins the VW sweepstakes
Orlando - makes the play-in with Bol Bol as a top-3 scorer
Philadelphia - Embiid misses the top-3 for MVP and whispers about wanting a trade
Phoenix - loses in the play-in tournament
Sacramento - beats Phoenix in the play-in tournament
Toronto - trades Pascal Siakam to a Western Conference team
Utah - ends up with two top-7 picks
Washington - hangs on to Bradley Beal for another confusing offseason