As the 2017-18 NBA season approaches, it’s time to make some predictions on who will be making the playoffs in the Western and Eastern Conferences.
After a flurry of player movement bombarded NBA fans this summer, it’s hard to tell which conference’s playoff field will be more difficult to predict.
The Western Conference is more talent-heavy than ever thanks to Paul George, Jimmy Butler, Carmelo Anthony and Paul Millsap all migrating West, but the top eight in the Eastern Conference may be just as difficult to forecast.
Barring injury, the West is absolutely stacked, with four “locks” in the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder, plus as many as seven teams vying for the other four playoff spots.
The East has four locks with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors, but from then on, it’s fair game to guess who will be qualifying for the other four spots.
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In order to sort out which teams are most likely to make the playoffs in 2017-18, we’ve compiled predictions from 26 HoopsHabit staff writers for each conference (including my own). The question is, which teams made the cut on our ballots and which teams fell just short of the playoff picture?
The Western Conference
Bourguet picks:
- Golden State Warriors
- Houston Rockets
- San Antonio Spurs
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Denver Nuggets
HoopsHabit picks:
- Golden State Warriors
- Houston Rockets
- San Antonio Spurs
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Denver Nuggets
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Los Angeles Clippers
The Golden State Warriors have won an average of 70 games over the last three seasons, were one win away from sweeping all three titles and won 67 games last year despite Kevin Durant missing 20 games. With everyone back and new bench shooters signed in the offseason, it’s no surprise the Dubs were the consensus 1-seed on all 26 ballots.
Replacing another Texas team at No. 2 is the Houston Rockets, who added another star to their MVP candidate James Harden in Chris Paul, not to mention shored up the defensive end with P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute. Clutch City received 16 votes for the No. 2 spot in the West, and 10 votes for the 3-seed, falling no further than No. 3 on anyone’s ballot.
The San Antonio Spurs failed to improve like their Western brethren this summer, but Kawhi Leonard and Gregg Popovich are enough to keep faith in this undying franchise. The Spurs received 11 votes for the 3-seed, nine votes for the 4 seed and one surprising vote at No. 7, but only got five votes for the 2-seed.
Gaining ground on both the Spurs and Rockets in recent weeks were the Oklahoma City Thunder, and it’s no surprise with the summer general manager Sam Presti had. Adding Paul George, Carmelo Anthony and Patrick Patterson to the reigning MVP makes the top four in the West as stacked as ever. OKC got the most votes for the 4-seed with 11, but also received five votes for No. 2, five votes for No. 3, four votes for No. 5 and one vote for No. 6.
Pelican Debrief
The Minnesota Timberwolves come in at No. 5, because despite the youth of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, both appear poised for career years with the additions of Jimmy Butler and Jeff Teague. The Wolves got a whopping 16 votes at No. 5, plus four votes at No. 4, three votes at No. 6 and one vote at No. 8. They were also left off two ballots, however.
This is where the consensus seems to end, which is no surprise considering the Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans all appear to be vying for those last three playoff spots out West.
The Nuggets earn the popular vote with 11 votes for the 6-seed, five for the 7-seed, one for the 5-seed and 2 for the 8-seed. Though they were left off seven ballots, that was the lowest exclusion tally among these fringe playoff teams, as the people seem to agree Paul Millsap joining Nikola Jokic will help end the franchise’s four-year postseason drought.
Rip City comes in at No. 7, and despite being left off nine ballots, earned votes as high as the 4-seed (one), 5-seed (two) and 6-seed (two). Most of their votes came at No. 7 (six) and No. 8 (six), but with a fully healthy Jusuf Nurkic, this is one team that feels slept on among this group, which is why they came in at No. 6 on my ballot.
Both the Clippers and Jazz were left off 12 ballots, but Lob City received more votes for the 6-seed (six to one), giving them the slight edge. L.A. also got four votes for the 7-seed and three votes for the 8-seed, while Utah got six for the 7-seed and six for the 8-seed.
It’s a toss-up at this point, but Utah’s stifling defense is still going to struggle to replace Gordon Hayward‘s offense, and people seem to be overlooking how much experience and passing is on this Clippers team if Blake Griffin and Danilo Gallinari can just stay healthy.
Finally, the Pelicans fall well out of the playoff picture. Despite the tandem of Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, the supporting cast doesn’t inspire much faith, which is likely why the Pellies only earned one vote at No. 5, two votes at No. 6, two votes at No. 7, four votes at No. 8 and were left off a whopping 17 ballots.
Rounding out the voting the West were the Memphis Grizzlies (one vote for the 7-seed, two votes for the 8-seed and left off 23 ballots), the Los Angeles Lakers (one vote at No. 7, one at No. 8), the Dallas Mavericks (one outlier vote at No. 4) and stunningly, the Phoenix Suns (one vote at No. 8).
The Eastern Conference
Bourguet picks:
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Boston Celtics
- Toronto Raptors
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Washington Wizards
- Miami Heat
- Charlotte Hornets
- Philadelphia 76ers
HoopsHabit picks:
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Boston Celtics
- Washington Wizards
- Toronto Raptors
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Miami Heat
- Charlotte Hornets
- Detroit Pistons
It wasn’t as unanimous for the No. 1 seed as it was out West, but LeBron James powered the Cleveland Cavaliers to 16 votes for top spot in the East.They also received six votes for the 2-seed, two votes for the 3 seed and fell as far as No. 4 on two ballots.
Even with Isaiah Thomas out until January, the presence of the King, Kevin Love, Jae Crowder and Dwyane Wade should keep the Cavs afloat. The Boston Celtics remain Cleveland’s biggest competition for Eastern supremacy, receiving eight votes at No.1, 13 votes at No. 2, four votes at No. 3 and one vote at No. 4.
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This is a great team on paper, with Gordon Hayward, Kyrie Irving and rookie Jayson Tatum entering the fold, but whether they got better remains to be seen. Younger? Certainly. But are they an actual threat to end LeBron’s Eastern reign, even with IT out half the season?
The HoopsHabit staff is higher on the Washington Wizards than I am, giving them one vote at No. 1, four votes at No. 2, 10 votes at No. 3, nine votes at No. 4 and only two votes at No. 5, where I placed them. John Wall and a healthy Bradley Beal are one hell of a tandem, but the Wizards did nothing to fix their bench woes from last year and will miss Markieff Morris for a few weeks.
The Toronto Raptors clock in at No. 4, which sounds about right for a team that retained its core but lost vital bench pieces in P.J. Tucker and Patrick Patterson. They earned one vote for the 1-seed, three for the 2-seed, six for the 3-seed, six for the 4-seed, seven for the 5-seed and three for the 6-seed.
Making a push for the top-four are the Milwaukee Bucks, who actually earned the 4-seed on my ballot simply because Giannis Antetokounmpo is ready to devour universes in 2017-18. With a healthy Khris Middleton, he’ll have help too, even with Jabari Parker recuperating. The Bucks got three votes at No. 3, six at No. 4, and overwhelming 14 votes at No. 5, one at No. 6, one at No. 7 and were left off one ballot.
Though the Miami Heat were left off more ballots (four) than the Charlotte Hornets (three), Erik Spoelstra earns the popular vote at No. 6 since they earned two votes for the 4-seed, 12 for the 6-seed, six for the 7-seed and two for the 8-seed, compared to Charlotte’s one vote for the 5-seed, nine votes for the 6-seed, eight votes for the 7-seed and five votes for the 8-seed.
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If the Heat can replicate their winning formula when they closed the 2016-17 season on a 30-11 tear, this might be too low for them. The Hornets will be hoping Dwight Howard can help them bounce back and return to the playoffs in a weakened Eastern Conference.
The Detroit Pistons round out the top eight in the group vote, earning one vote at No. 5, one at No.6, seven at No. 7 and six at No. 8. They were left off 11 ballots, but the popular opinion seems to be that Avery Bradley will help Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond bounce back.
The Philadelphia 76ers narrowly miss out on the 8-spot among the crowd, finishing with one vote as high as No. 5, three votes at No. 7, nine votes at No. 8 and being left off 13 ballots. I put them in the final 8-spot simply for the sake of being optimistic that Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons will stay healthy.
The New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers received two votes apiece for the 8-seed, while likely tankers Chicago Bulls (one vote at No. 7) and Atlanta Hawks (one MAJOR straggler at No. 3) snuck onto the ballot as well.
Final voter tallies
Here’s a look at how each of our 26 writers ranked the playoff field in the West and the East:
Gerald Bourguet, Editor-in-Chief/Suns beat writer:
Joshua Cornelissen, Bucks beat writer:
Eric Snyder, Knicks beat writer:
Angelo Mendoza, Blazers beat writer:
Simon Smith, 76ers/Heat beat writer:
Eric Spyropoulos, Rockets beat writer:
Greg Cassoli, Grizzlies beat writer:
Ed Easton, Knicks beat writer:
Adrian Lawhorn, Pacers beat writer:
Brendan Galella, Hawks beat writer:
Gavriel Wilkins, Rockets beat writer:
Jerran Anderson, Wizards/76ers beat writer:
Simon Cherin-Gordon, Warriors beat writer:
Nicholas Agar-Johnson, Clippers/Nuggets beat writer:
Warsame Abdi, Pelicans beat writer:
Michael Dugger, Lakers beat writer:
Raymond Simms, Blazers beat writer:
Karintha Styles, Pistons beat writer:
Randy Porga, Wizards/Knicks beat writer:
Quentin Haynes, Lakers beat writer:
Christopher Kline, NBA Draft writer:
Drew Zlogar, Suns beat writer:
James Tillman, Bulls beat writer:
Tevin Williams, Raptors/Celtics beat writer:
Jordan Treske, Kings beat writer:
Next: HoopsHabit 2017-18 NBA Awards predictions
Kenneth Teape, Thunder beat writer: