2021 NBA Playoffs: Contender or pretender with all 16 teams

If the 2020-21 NBA Playoffs are anything like the regular season, they will be chaotic, unpredictable, and incredibly fun to watch. Even with unprecedented player absences due to a shortened season in the midst of a pandemic, countless games this year provided a high level of entertainment, culminating in the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers going down to the wire in the play-in game Wednesday night.

After a chaotic season, it’s even more difficult to predict the 2021 NBA playoffs. Which teams are contenders and which are pretenders?

With the Boston Celtics, Lakers, Washington Wizards and Memphis Grizzlies now advancing out of the play-in tournament, the playoff field is set. 16 teams will now compete to reach to the NBA Finals and to hoist the trophy at the end. How many of them can reasonably expect to have a chance at doing so?

What is a true contender in the NBA playoffs?

Not every team can be reasonably called a contender. Some seasons it seems locked from the start of the playoffs who will reach the NBA Finals; it felt inevitable we would see the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors each year for a few seasons. Other years, parity is pressing onto the bracket and more teams have a shot at the title.

This year is in more of the latter category, as no team has escaped the season without injuries and inconsistency affecting them to some extent. The top two seeds in each conference combined to win 0 series last year and just three total games. Conversely the two teams that played in the NBA Finals a year ago come into the playoffs as sixth and seventh seeds.

Theoretically anything could happen in the playoffs and anyone could win the title. Realistically a smaller circle of contenders exist. Which teams in the playoff field can put together a run to the NBA Finals? For those on the fence, what factors could propel them one way or the other?