Tier 1: Title Favorites
LA Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers
Last season there was only one preseason “title favorite” in the Golden State Warriors and most seasons have just one or two. This year the title picture is flattened out, with three tiers of teams with some hope of winning it all. This first tier are those teams with at least a 25 percent chance of making the NBA Finals.
The Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers are effectively splitting 95 percent or more of the Eastern Conference odds among them, as every other team in the East is well back.
The Bucks won 60 games a year ago, have heavy continuity to lean on and the reigning MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo. They are, slightly, the team with the best chance to win a championship this season.
The 76ers may be perfectly crafted to stop them, however. Their starting lineup is massive and this team if healthy should field the best defense in the league, with multiple bodies to throw at Antetokounmpo. Joel Embiid can make a run at MVP himself if he plays 70 games.
This team needs to figure out how to space the floor to win it all, but opposing teams may have to win without approaching the rim themselves.
Out West, the LA Clippers should be the best team by the time April rolls around. They will likely not own the conference’s best record due to injuries and rest, but if Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are healthy come the postseason this team is better equipped to win than any other.
The downside for the Clippers is that they play in a true gauntlet of teams out West, and will need to win three difficult series to make it to the NBA Finals, not just 1.5.
While there are other teams with a shot to win the title, the championship will most likely go to one of these three teams.