The new NBA season officially begins on Tuesday, and you are too impatient to wait and see what happens. We understand your predicament, and because we are compelled to help you, we have elected to predict what will happen this season. Below you'll find our predictions for the final standings for both conferences plus award winners and the last two rounds of the playoffs.
Your prediction providers are Tom Ziller, Paul Flannery, Mike Prada, Ricky O'Donnell, Elena Bergeron, Zito Madu and Seth Rosenthal. Enjoy.
EAST STANDINGS
Here is how we think the Eastern Conference standings will shake out.
| RANK | ZILLER | FLANNERY | PRADA | O'DONNELL | BERGERON | MADU | ROSENTHAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cavs | Cavs | Cavs | Cavs | Cavs | Cavs | Cavs |
| 2 | Bulls | Heat | Hawks | Bulls | Bulls | Bulls | Heat |
| 3 | Wizards | Hawks | Wizards | Hawks | Hawks | Wizards | Hawks |
| 4 | Heat | Wizards | Bulls | Wizards | Wizards | Hawks | Bulls |
| 5 | Hawks | Bulls | Heat | Heat | Heat | Raptors | Raptors |
| 6 | Raptors | Celtics | Celtics | Celtics | Raptors | Heat | Wizards |
| 7 | Celtics | Raptors | Bucks | Bucks | Bucks | Bucks | Celtics |
| 8 | Bucks | Bucks | Pistons | Pacers | Celtics | Celtics | Magic |
| 9 | Pistons | Pacers | Raptors | Magic | Pacers | Pacers | Bucks |
| 10 | Pacers | Pistons | Pacers | Raptors | Magic | Pistons | Knicks |
| 11 | Knicks | Magic | Knicks | Pistons | Pistons | Magic | Pacers |
| 12 | Magic | Hornets | Magic | Knicks | Knicks | Hornets | Pistons |
| 13 | Nets | Knicks | Nets | Nets | Nets | Knicks | Hornets |
| 14 | Hornets | Nets | Sixers | Sixers | Sixers | Nets | Nets |
| 15 | Sixers | Sixers | Hornets | Hornets | Hornets | Sixers | Sixers |
WEST STANDINGS
Here is how we think the Western Conference standings will shake out.
| RANK | ZILLER | FLANNERY | PRADA | O'DONNELL | BERGERON | MADU | ROSENTHAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warriors | Warriors | Thunder | Warriors | Warriors | Thunder | Warriors |
| 2 | Thunder | Thunder | Rockets | Rockets | Spurs | Warriors | Thunder |
| 3 | Rockets | Clippers | Warriors | Clippers | Rockets | Clippers | Rockets |
| 4 | Spurs | Rockets | Spurs | Thunder | Thunder | Spurs | Spurs |
| 5 | Clippers | Spurs | Clippers | Spurs | Clippers | Rockets | Clippers |
| 6 | Grizzlies | Grizzlies | Pelicans | Grizzlies | Pelicans | Pelicans | Jazz |
| 7 | Pelicans | Pelicans | Grizzlies | Pelicans | Grizzlies | Grizzlies | Grizzlies |
| 8 | Suns | Jazz | Jazz | Jazz | Jazz | Suns | Pelicans |
| 9 | Jazz | Suns | Suns | Suns | Kings | Jazz | Suns |
| 10 | Kings | Nuggets | Kings | Nuggets | Blazers | Kings | Wolves |
| 11 | Nuggets | Kings | Nuggets | Kings | Suns | Wolves | Nuggets |
| 12 | Mavs | Blazers | Blazers | Wolves | Lakers | Lakers | Lakers |
| 13 | Lakers | Mavs | Lakers | Blazers | Nuggets | Nuggets | Kings |
| 14 | Blazers | Lakers | Wolves | Lakers | Wolves | Blazers | Blazers |
| 15 | Wolves | Wolves | Mavs | Mavs | Mavs | Mavs | Mavericks |
NBA FINAL FOUR
Here are the teams we each see make the conference finals.
| TEAMS | ZILLER | FLANNERY | PRADA | O'DONNELL | BERGERON | MADU | ROSENTHAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | Cavs | Cavs | Cavs | Cavs | Cavs | Cavs | Cavs |
| East | Wizards | Heat | Wizards | Bulls | Bulls | Bulls | Heat |
| West | Warriors | Warriors | Warriors | Warriors | Warriors | Warriors | Spurs |
| West | Thunder | Clippers | Spurs | Clippers | Spurs | Thunder | Thunder |
FINALS & CHAMPIONS
Here are our Finals predictions. Predicted winner in bold.
| TEAMS | ZILLER | FLANNERY | PRADA | O'DONNELL | BERGERON | MADU | ROSENTHAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | Cavs | Cavs | Cavs | Cavs | Cavs | Cavs | Cavs |
| West | Thunder | Clippers | Warriors | Warriors | Spurs | Thunder | Spurs |
AWARDS
And finally, here are our awards predictions.
| AWARDS | ZILLER | FLANNERY | PRADA | O'DONNELL | BERGERON | MADU | ROSENTHAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MVP | Durant | Davis | Durant | James | Davis | Davis | Harden |
| ROOKIE | Okafor | Mudiay | Mudiay | Towns | Towns | Mudiay | Towns |
| DEFENSIVE | Gobert | Leonard | Ibaka | Green | Leonard | Leonard | Leonard |
| SIXTH MAN | Iguodala | I. Thomas | T. Evans | I. Thomas | T. Thompson | I.Thomas | I. Thomas |
| COACH | Gentry | Donovan | McHale | Kerr | Popovich | Gentry | Snyder |
| MOST IMPROVED | ... | Meh | Player we didn't see being any good |
Porter | Wiggins | no idea | Aaron Gordon |
| EXECUTIVE | D. Griffin | Buford | Buford | Griffin | Griffin | Buford | Buford |
Be sure to check out our comprehensive NBA preview for features on Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, Kevin Durant, the NBA's youth movement and more.
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SB Nation video archives: How the Warriors built an NBA champion (2015)