6. Houston Rockets Record: 40-24 Conference Seed: T-5th in West The Rockets, after falling to the Warriors four times in five years, made some major changes. The first was age-based, as they swapped the 34 year old Chris Paul for…
Author: Michael Regan
7. Denver Nuggets Record: 43-22 Conference Seed: 3rd in West The Nuggets were basically a slightly worse version of themselves from last year. Nikola Jokic, after a bit of a rough start, was his usual dominant self, but a drop-off…
8. Oklahoma City Thunder Record: 40-24 Conference Seed: T-5th in West The Thunder entered the fall in a weird spot. After a rough playoff exit at the hands of Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers, they had traded Paul George…
9. Miami Heat Record: 41-24 Conference Seed: 4th in East The Heat, like the Mavs, jumped out to a faster start than most were expecting. Jimmy Butler emerged as a star after sharing the load in Philadelphia for much of…
10. Dallas Mavericks Record: 40-27 Conference Seed: 7th in West The Mavericks exceeded expectations and put themselves in good playoff positioning from start to finish. They boasted the league’s best offense, led by the impressive Luka Doncic and the deep…
11. Philadelphia 76ers Record: 39-26 Conference Seed: T-5th in East The 76ers went into the season as one of the four leading favorites to win it all with the Bucks, Lakers, and Clippers. It made a lot of sense at…
12. Utah Jazz Record: 41-23 Conference Seed: 4th in West The Jazz pulled off their own off-season remodel after following three straight great regular seasons with a playoff series loss in five games or less. Derrick Favors, Jae Crowder, Kyle…
13. Indiana Pacers Record: 39-26 Conference Seed: T-5th in East The Pacers executed a makeover last summer, swapping out six of their top ten players by minutes played for TJ Warren, Malcolm Brogdon, Jeremy Lamb, Justin Holiday, TJ McConnell, and…
14. Memphis Grizzlies Record: 32-33 Conference Seed: 8th in West The Grizzlies turned in maybe the most surprising effort of the season, as their young core stepped up to guide the team into the West’s 8 seed before play was…
15. New Orleans Pelicans Record: 28-36 Conference Seed: T-9th in West The Pelicans couldn’t have started the season any worse. First there was the announcement that Zion Williamson, the number one pick, would miss six-to-eight weeks with a knee injury….