2016-17 NBA Season Preview

Well another fall, another chance to take the hardwood. The chase for the Larry O'Brein Trophy starts now, with an 82 game schedule. That's right the National Basketball Association is back in business. Last time we saw the NBA in action, Lebron had just help lead the Cavs to their first ever NBA title. There's been quite a few changes that have been made in the league since we last saw an NBA game. Tim Duncan, Amar'e Stoudemire, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce all have called it a career and hung up their sneakers. Some of the teams around the league decided it was time for a change, thus leaving us with some new bench bosses. Brooklyn (Kenny Atkinson), Minnesota (Tom Thibodeau), Washington (Scott Brooks), Los Angeles Lakers (Luke Walton), Sacramento (Dave Joerger), Indiana (Nate McMillan), Orlando (Frank Vogel), Memphis (David Fizdale), Houston (Mike D'Antoni), and New York (Jeff Hornacek) all have new bench bosses.

 As with any other sport, there are going to be some familiar faces playing in new cities this year. José Calderón, Jerian Grant and Robin Lopez were sent to the Chicago Bulls so that way Derrick Rose and Justin Holiday could land with the New York Knicks. Ersan İlyasova and Victor Oladipo got shipped from Orlando to Oklahoma City, so the Magic could land Serge Ibaka. Jeff Teague got traded to the Pacers as part of a three team deal that saw George Hill land with the Jazz. Then there was the player movement. A lot of money was spent in the offseason to try and either keep players or get the right players into the right system. Kevin Durant is now in Golden State, Matthew Dellavedova is a Buck (via sign and trade with Cleveland), Matt Barnes went to the Kings, Al Horford moved along to Boston, Joakim Noah came over to the Knicks, Al Jefferson went to Indiana, Dwight Howard moved on to Atlanta, Pau Gasol went to San Antonio, they are just some of the players who have changed uniforms for this year.

There's a lot of stories to be told between now and April. In total, there will be 1,230 games played in that time frame. The players will travel millions of miles, log thousands of minutes and hope they get the right bounce, basket or turnover that helps them win enough games to make the playoffs. Being able to correctly pick who's going to finish where during the regular season is a bit of a challenge, but its a fun one at that. So with that being said, here's how things go down in the NBA this season.

Solly:
Western Conference:
1. Golden State Warriors 
2. San Antonio Spurs
3. Los Angeles Clippers
4. Memphis Grizzlies
5. Utah Jazz
6. Portland Trail Blazers
7. Oklahoma City Thunder
8. Houston Rockets

Eastern Conference: 
1. Cleveland Cavaliers
2 Toronto Raptors
3. Boston Celtics
4. Atlanta Hawks
5. Detroit Pistons
6. Washington Wizards 
7. Indiana Pacers
8. New York Knicks

Steve:
Western Conference:
1. Golden State Warriors
2. San Antonio Spurs
3. Los Angeles Clippers
4. Utah Jazz
5. Portland Trail Blazers
6. Memphis Grizzlies
7. Oklahoma City Thunder
8. Dallas Mavricks

Eastern Conference:
1. Cleveland Cavaliers
2. Toronto Raptors
3. Boston Celtics
4. Detroit Pistons
5. Charlotte Hornets
6. Atlanta Hawks
7. Washington Wizards
8. New York Knicks

3rd Mic Dan:
Western Conference:
1. Golden State Warriors
2. San Antonio Spurs
3. Oklahoma City Thunder
4. Los Angeles Clippers
5. Dallas Mavricks
6. Portland Trail Blazers
7. Houston Rockets
8. Utah Jazz

Eastern Conference:
1. Cleveland Cavaliers
2. Boston Celtics 
3. Washington Wizards
4. New York Knicks 
5. Atlanta Hawks
6. Toronto Raptors
7. Indiana Pacers
8. Charlotte Hornets

(All Predictions made BEFORE the start of the NBA Season)