It has been an intense summer. The 2019 offseason has been the busiest in recent memory. It has seemed to play out more like a mock offseason, with a larger than usual number of players on the move. There has been an insane turnover with seven teams, having 9 of their players leave in trades of via free agency. It has completely remapped the league in both conferences.
In the west, both LA teams are back on the radar, Golden State has fallen, but not collapsed, the Blazers, Nuggets, and Rockets have made upgrades, while some lower tier teams like Dallas have gotten better. Some have gotten worse or are rebuilding. Kawhi to the Clippers is understandable. Who saw Paul George going their to join him. Chris Paul for Russell Westbrook? Memphis has finally started over as has OKC with all those picks and in the hunt for more. What is going on in Phoenix? Did they get better? How will their moves pan out come the regular season? Sacramento? It is a full on crazy fest! The west is wide open for the taking.
The east has lost Kawhi Leonard and seen some talent spread out. Philadelphia probably has one of the best starting lineups in the league, Kemba Walker hopes to help Boston take the next step, while Durant and Irving joined the Nets. Toronto will not be able to defend their championship without Kawhi, but they are still and OK team, unless they decide to blow it up. How will Butler fare in Miami? If they are able to trade for Wall and Beal and form a super team, things look good, as is, they are in the mix for the playoffs anyway. Milwaukee once again seems to be the number one contender in the conference, hungrier than ever, but really there are three or four teams that could make the finals.
Find out the answers to these questions as I go team by team and analyze incoming and outgoing players, whether they got better or worse, and what their outlook is for the 2019-20 season is. I will start with the West and got from worse to best. Then I will tackle the east in the same manner.
For now I leave you with my prediction of the finals standings in the west and east for the 2019-20 season. Do you agree with them? Am I in the ball park or am I out of my mind? Are there teams you move up or down? What are your predictions? Post your answers in the comments section below.
2019-2020 Predicted Standings
Western Conference
- Los Angeles Clippers 56-26
- Denver Nuggets 53-29
- Portland Trail Blazers 53-29
- Houston Rockets 51-31
- Utah Jazz 50-32
- Golden State Warriors 49-33
- Los Angles Lakers 47-35
- San Antonio Spurs 47-35
- Sacramento Kings 41-41
- Dallas Mavericks 40-42
- Minnesota Timberwolves 40-42
- Oklahoma City Thunder 36-46
- New Orleans Pelicans 31-51
- Phoenix Suns 30-52
- Memphis Grizzlies 18-64
Eastern Conference
- Milwaukee Bucks 58-22
- Philadelphia 76ers 55-27
- Boston Celtics 50-32
- Brooklyn Nets 47-35
- Indiana Pacers 45-37
- Miami Heat 44-38
- Toronto Raptors 43-39
- Orlando Magic 43-39
- Detroit Pistons 41-41
- New York Knicks 35-47
- Atlanta Hawks 35-47
- Chicago Bulls 28-54
- Washington Wizards 25-57
- Charlotte Hornets 21-61
- Cleveland Cavaliers 18-64
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