Heading into the 2016-17 NBA season, here’s a look at five teams that could be due for regression after relatively successful 2015-16 seasons.
The NBA is a constant whirlpool, with ripple effects that spread far and wide throughout the league with every free agency signing, trade or new draft pick that sets a new wave in motion.
Unlike the NFL or even the MLB, the path to team success in the NBA is far more formulaic and predictable. Entering each new season, you pretty much know who the championship contenders are. You know who will be fighting for a playoff spot, you know who will be tanking for a high draft pick, and you can usually identify the teams that will be somewhere in the middle.
As much as that predictability went out the window with the Golden State Warriors’ 3-1 NBA Finals collapse in 2016, there are always teams that become trendy picks for breakout years entering each new season, just as there are candidates for regression.
Heading into the 2016-17 NBA season, Kevin Durant‘s free agency decision isn’t the only major transaction that will play a part in some teams’ rise and other teams’ fall in both conferences.
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To try and make sense of what happened this summer — and what we can expect this upcoming season — here’s a look at five teams that could be due for some regression in 2016-17.
NOTE: We’re excluding the Oklahoma City Thunder from this list because duh. They lost Kevin Durant. Of course they’re going to regress!