2008-2009 Predictions Thread - Preseason Edition

[Dan's Brain]

Time to make those educated guesses as to who will be the NBA's awards winners for the upcoming season. The season is now only 3 weeks from being underway.

MVP - Chris Paul, New Orleans. He was so, so close last year, and with his Olympics experience, becoming a year better, and with his team also improving, the little guy should run away with the award this year. Runners-up: LeBron James (CLE), Kobe Bryant (LAL).

DPY - Ron Artest, Houston. The Rockets will be much improved, and Artest will be the primary reason for it. I'm expecting him to keep his head in place, and the Rockets to round out the West's top 3 teams with the Lakers and Hornets. Runners-up: Tim Duncan(SAS), Kevin Garnett(BOS).

ROY - Michael Beasley, Miami. Heart and sentimentality has to say Rose, but he'll be competing for minutes with Gordon, Hinrich, Sefolosha and Larry Hughes. Beasley, on the other hand, fills a great need for Miami, and will round out one of the better three-punches in the NBA. Runners-up: O.J. Mayo(MEM), Greg Oden (POR).

Sixth Man - Ben Gordon, Chicago. Sentimentality doesnt enter into this one, because i'm not a Ben Gordon fan. But i do predict that he will play his arse off, hoping for next year's payday. He could average 22 ppg off the bench this year. Runners-up: Lamar Odom(LAL), Manu Ginobili(SAS).

Most Improved - Amir Johnson, Detroit. All reports are that he'll be starting for the Pistons, and while he will not move beyond being the 5th option on offense, he should still provide some good energy, good rebounding, putbacks and good shot blocking. Runners-up: Al Thornton (LAC), Marcus Williams (GSW)

Eastern Conference Champions - Cleveland Cavaliers (4-3 over Boston). The addition of Mo Williams was a brilliant one and just what the doctor ordered. The Celtics will push them hard in the conference finals, but number 23 will be able to do enough to squeeze the Cavs into the Finals.

Western Conference Champions - Los Angeles Lakers (4-2 over New Orleans). Can't underestimate the impact that a full year of Bynum and Gasol will have. Kobe will be Kobe, and Lamar Odom will be the Sixth Man of the year runner-up.

NBA Champions - Los Angeles Lakers (4-2 over Cleveland). An epic finals matchup if ever we've seen one. The Cavs could easily, easily push them to a seventh game, but the Lakers depth will prove just too much for them.

Finals MVP - Kobe Bryant. With no Paul Pierce to defend him, Kobe will go to town on the Cavaliers and could potentially average close to 40 ppg in the Finals.

Standings

East:
1. Cleveland
2. Boston
3. Detroit
4. Philadelphia
5. Orlando
6. Toronto
7. Miami
8. Washington

9. Chicago
10. New Jersey
11. Atlanta
12. Milwaukee
13. Indiana
14. Charlotte
15. New York

West:
1. Los Angeles Lakers
2. New Orleans
3. Houston
4. San Antonio
5. Utah
6. Phoenix
7. Portland
8. Dallas

9. Los Angeles Clippers
10. Golden State Warriors
11. Denver
12. Minnesota
13. Sacramento
14. Memphis
15. Oklahoma City.

[Lamrock]

How fun!

MVP: LeBron James, Cleveland - He is the best player in the NBA. The stats have always been there, and I predict that with the addition of Mo Williams (not the best player, but I believe he will flourish next to LeBron), the Cavs will have a 50+ win season, and LeBron will finally take in. (Runners up: Chris Paul, Tracy McGrady)

DPOY: Kevin Garnett, Boston - Boston will once again be the top seed in the East, and so Garnett will take the award again, as a team is always rewarded by the media with something if they win over 60 games. (Runners up: Ron Artest, Marcus Camby)

ROY: OJ Mayo, Memphis - After Rudy Gay and OJ Mayo, who else will score? Mayo will be the only rookie to average 20 PPG, and be this year's Durant. (Runners up: Michael Beasley, Greg Oden)

6th Man: Lamar Odom, Los Angeles* - If he really is coming off the bench, then he will be a shoe-in, as he will still post 15 and 10 for the #1 seed in the West. If not him, Floppu again. (Runners up: Manu Ginobili*, Kwame Brown)

MIP: Marcus Williams, Golden State - He will start, put up solid numbers, and the Warriors will sneak into the playoffs. I honestly have no idea about this award, but Williams makes sense. (Runners up: Shaun Livingston, Brandon Bass)

COY: Rick Adelman, Houston - Because Byron Scott won't win it. (Runners up: Nate McMillan, Phil Jackson)

East Champs: Boston Celtics (Over Cavs in 6) - The Celtics will have their shit together in the playoffs this time, and coast through the East bracket. The Pistons and Cavs will give their all, but the Celtics are too good.

West Champs: Los Angeles Lakers (Over Hornets in 7) - They are the best team in the NBA now that Bynum and Gasol will be in the lineup together. A little help from the refs will help get them past the Hornets and back to the Finals.

NBA Champions: Los Angeles Lakers (Over Celtics in 7) - It will be epic, but with less to play for, a weaker bench and a stronger Laker team, the Celtics will fall short. Staples go wild as the Lakers win the title, and the Celtics consider rebuilding with their big 3 all on the wrong side of 30.

Finals MVP: Kobe Bryant - Its Kobe. Come on.

Standings:

Western Conference:

1. LA Lakers (2 more wins than Boston)
2. Houston
3. New Orleans
4. Utah (But with worse record than Spurs)
5. San Antonio
6. Phoenix
7. Portland
8. Golden State
--------------------
9. Denver
10. Dallas
11. Sacramento
12. Minnesota
13. LA Clippers
14. Memphis
15. Oklahoma City

Eastern Conference:

1. Boston
2. Cleveland
3. Orlando
4. Detroit
5. Philadelphia
6. Miami
7. Washington
8. Toronto
--------------------
9. Indiana
10. Milwaukee
11. New Jersey
12. Chicago
13. Charlotte
14. Atlanta
15. New York

[Dan's Brain]

Lamrock, you put Memphis twice and forgot the Wolves. And i forgot the coach of the year. I'll go for Rick Adelman as well. For keeping the Rockets on track, and guiding them to their best season since the Olajuwon era.

[Lamrock]

My bad. Its fixed now.

I am slightly surprised that Adelman didn't win it last year, but as long as the Rockets stay healthy and have another 55+ win season, it should be his.

[Matthew]

NBA Champions: Los Angeles Lakers (Over Celtics in 7) - It will be epic, but with less to play for, a weaker bench and a stronger Laker team, the Celtics will fall short. Staples go wild as the Lakers win the title, and the Celtics consider rebuilding with their big 3 all on the wrong side of 30.

orly

[Andrew]

My early guesses:

MVP: LeBron James. It seems almost a given he'll put up the numbers to put him in the running, it's just a matter of whether the Cavs win enough games. If the Cavs do improve in the W column, the media will notice and vote in LeBron's favour.

DPOY: Marcus Camby. Assuming he stays healthy (by his standards, he has been the last couple of years) and motivated to prove the Nuggets made a mistake by trading him, I think he'll have a great opportunity to post some impressive rebounding and blocking numbers with the Clippers and lock up another DPOY award.

ROY: Greg Oden. Beasley's a difficult choice to pass up and I hope Rose will prove to be a good idea but I'm going to buy into the Greg Oden hype.

Sixth Man: Really taking a stab in the dark with this one since the likely candidates could very well start (or at least start regularly enough to be ineligible for the award) but if Odom comes off the bench then he's probably the frontrunner since Ginobili and Gordon have both won the award before and they haven't had a back to back Sixth Man winner since 1992.

MIP: Amir Johnson. I'm copying off JN13's paper with this one but I like the pick, with the reports that he'll be starting he should be seeing far more than 12 minutes per game which should allow him to post numbers that blow last year's figures away, seemingly assuring that he'll be one of the frontrunners for the award.

COY: Doc Rivers. This one depends on the Celtics coming out and having another strong regular season but if they do, I could see Rivers getting the nod not only for the team's continued success but also as a hangover from the Celtics winning the championship.

Eastern Champions: Boston Celtics. They lost a key bench player in Posey but it's too early to write them off. Some other Eastern teams have made a couple of moves but I don't think they've unquestionably moved ahead of Boston before the season's even begun.

Western Champions: New Orleans Hornets. I know, picking anyone other than the Lakers this year seems foolish and there's a very good chance I'll be proven wrong. However, I don't think a healthy Bynum makes the Lakers a lock; they had a more impressive foursome in 2004 and they still lost. The Hornets made a solid move in picking up James Posey and if they remain healthy I believe they can hang with anyone in the West. And the season hasn't started yet, so why not make a wild guess?

NBA Champions: Boston Celtics. I'll pick them, just for the "one and done" whispers. I think they deserve more credit than that.

[benji]

I don't care enough to go back and update for injuries, rotation changes, rookie progress, etc. But I would like to reserve the right to comment on others. So whatever I posted in that other thread will do. With only a minor, ever so slight, edit for Monta Ellis' current physical state.

MVP: Whoever the media decides "deserves" it, or the best player on the team they didn't see coming. Or Kobe/LeBron.
DPOY: Some guy with rep.
ROY: Whoever plays the most.
6TH: Whoever plays the most on a team where the media decides he was a "key player" off the bench. Probably plays more than 3/4ths of the game.
MIP: Whoever gets the biggest increase in minutes. Or the media missed in 2007-08.
COY: Whoever coaches the team that makes the biggest leap in wins...alternatively whoever "deserves" it or whose "time has come."

[Cartar]

MIP: Jeff Green, I think he will put up 15 and 6 in same amount of minutes and that´s going to be enough to win it (Runner ups: Rodney Stuckey, Tyrus Thomas

Eastern Champions: Boston Celtics (over Philly in 6), although they lost Posey, they added Bill Walker, some other role players; Rondo and Perkins will keep improving, Big 3 isn´t declining that much yet and that´s going to get them 60 wins this year

Western Champions: New Orleans (over Utah in 7), with addition of Posey, they gain quality role player, which could´ve been what they needed last year.

NBA Champions: Boston Celtics in 6.

Standings:


Western Conference:

1. Houston Rockets ~60 wins
2. New Orleans ~58 wins
3. LA Lakers ~57 wins
4. Utah Jazz ~55 wins
5. Phoenix ~56 wins
6. Denver ~53 wins
7. Dallas ~53 wins
8. San Antonio ~53 wins
-------------------------
9. Golden State ~48 wins
10. Portland ~45 wins
11. Clippers ~44 wins
12. Minnesota ~34 wins
13. Oklahoma City ~32 wins
14. Sacramento ~29 wins
15. Memphis ~23 wins


Eastern Conference:

1. Boston ~60 wins
2. Cleveland ~56 wins
3. Philadelphia ~55 wins
4. Miami ~51 wins
5. Toronto ~54 wins
6. Detroit ~52 wins
7. Orlando ~50 wins
8. Washington ~43 wins
----------------------
9. Chicago ~40 wins
10. Milwaukee ~36 wins
11. Charlotte ~34 wins
12. Indiana ~31 wins
13. Atlanta ~31 wins
14. New Jersey ~25 wins(Vince misses about half of the games)
15. New York ~25 wins

[Valor]

allow me to join in

MVP: Lebron James, his averages would only get better, and adding mo williams, the team should be able to get more wins. Runners up: Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant

DPOY: Kevin Garnett, i dont see how he wont get this award, hes just too good, and so is Boston. Runners up: Ron Artest, Marcus Camby

ROY:Michael Beasley, he wont be double and triple teamed all night long due to Wade, and most likely would get the feed from Wade to score all day long, he would clean up after his team's misses and lead the rookies in scoring and rebounding just like in the NCAA. Runners up: Greg Oden, OJ Mayo

Sixth Man:Ron Artest, if he does come off the bench behind Shane, the award is his for sure, i dont see Lamar Odom being the 6th man for the Lakers in any way. Runners up: Manu Gibobili, JR Smith

MIP: Yi Jianlian, he's gonna be one of the main offensive guys with the Nets since they really only have one solid scorer in Vince Carter, i look for him to get stronger, continue to improve on that great stroke, and take home the Most Improved Player award.

COY: Larry Brown, that is, if he could turn the Bobcats franchise into a playoff team. Runners up: Bryon Scott, Phil Jackson

Eastern Conference Champions:Miami Heat (Over the 76ers in 5), yeah i know the chances of this, but hey, the Celtics did a turnaround just like this! big 3 of Wade, Marion, Beasley

Western Conference Champions: Houston Rockets(Over the Lakers in 7), the ATM combo would work as Yao stays healthy and TMac would break his curse.

NBA Champions: Houston Rockets in 5, its Yao's turn to get the ring. The Dream number 2!!

[balozunite]

MVP: Kobe Bryant

DPOY: Ron Artest.

ROY: OJ Mayo

6th Man: Manu Ginobili

MIP: Joey Graham

COY: Jerry Sloan

East Champs: Detroit Pistons

West Champs: Utah Jazz

NBA Champions: Jazz

Finals MVP: Deron Williams

Standings:

Western Conference:
1. Los Angeles Lakers
2. San Antonio Spurs
3. Utah Jazz
4. Phoenix Suns
5. Houston Rockets
6. New Orleans Hornets
7. Dallas Mavericks
8. Portland Trailblazers
9. Denver Nuggets
10. Los Angeles Clippers
11. Minnesota Timberwolves
12. Golden State Warriors
13. Sacramento Kings
14. Memphis Grizzlies
15. OKC Thunder

Eastern Conference:
1. Boston Celtics
2. Detroit Pistons
3. Washington Wizards
4. Toronto Raptors
5. Miami Heat
6. Philadelphia 76ers
7. Milwaukee Bucks
8. Orlando Magic
9. Atlanta Hawks
10. Chicago Bulls
11. New York Knicks
12. Cleveland Cavaliers - I smell a Tom Brady for LeBron and I kind of forgot Cleveland and I like my top 8
13. Indiana Pacers
14. Charlotte Bobcats
15. New Jersey Nets

[[Q]]

Ramon Sessions for Most Improved becuase Mo is gone and he tore shit up at the end of last year in the starting lineup plus Luke Ridnour sucks balls.

[Lamrock]

COY: Jerry Sloan

East Champs: Detroit Pistons

West Champs: Utah Jazz

NBA Champions: Jazz

Finals MVP: Deron Williams

Oh man that would be so sweet.

[Andrew]

Ramon Sessions for Most Improved becuase Mo is gone and he tore shit up at the end of last year in the starting lineup plus Luke Ridnour sucks balls.

I forgot about him, he's definitely another good pick for MIP.

[Fresh8]

MVP: Kobe Bryant. Everyone is saying LeBron but I've say Kobe. I've got to admit that LeBron is the favourite to win it but if Lakers can come first in the league and Kobe doesn't have too bad a statistical drop this season (compared to last season); I can see him winning it.

DPOY: Kevin Garnett. Much like everyone has been saying, I think Boston will still have the NBA's best defensive record and thus, Garnett will win the award again.

ROY: Greg Oden. Look at him in the preseason. He is ready to dominate... not quite but he will be quite the force to be reckoned with.

Sixth Man: Lamar Odom. Odom will stick to Jax's plan, score in double figures and still grab enough boards. He will end games so minutes won't be much of an issue and he will win the Sixth Man award.

MIP: Andrew Bogut. I'm putting Bogut in because no one comes off the top of my head right now... however, will a playoff berth, All-Star appearance, a 5 point per game increase, rebounding in double figures and averaging career highs in blocks and possibly assists be enough to net Bogut an MIP award? Maybe not but I can still hope.

COY: I really can't state who I think will win Coach of the Year. I can toss a few names around like Byron Scott, Rick Adelman, Phil Jackson, Jerry Sloan. Depends on who comes first; I think Gregg Popovich and the Spurs might surprise a few. I will go with the safe bet though, Doc Rivers.

Eastern Champions: Boston Celtics. I can see Detroit giving Boston a good fight in an Eastern Finals showdown however, the Celtics are going to be back in the Finals. My darkhorse to dethrone the Celtics would be the Sixers.

Western Champions: Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers will face a tough road to the crown of Western Champions. I see them fighting off the likes of Phoenix in the first round, followed by the Hornets and then the Rockets in the Western Finals. Or in another order similar to that. My point is that it's going to be a hard time to repeat as champions. The Lakers have the depth, experience, and the talent to get here again.

NBA Champions: Los Angeles Lakers. After getting through the tough Western Conference, would the Lakers have fresh enough legs to overcome Boston in a 7 games series? Provided that Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom step up and the Lakers have an improved defensive scheme, I think they can. This is the Lakers' year. (As is every other year according to most Lakers fans... but I truly think this season is different.)

[Valor]

edited my MIP

[jonthefon]

MVP: LeBron James - His time for an MVP is coming, and this season may be the first of many, especially with the addition of Mo Williams meaning a better set of teammates and possibly the record that should get him the MVP. Expect the similar strong stats to the last few years though. I'd like to see CP3 get it, but...

DPOY: Kevin Garnett - It's hard to see KG not get another one of these in Boston's ridiculously good defensive system, with him cleaning up all the soft stuff being thrown inside.

ROY: Michael Beasley - Mayo might win on the back of scoring a ton of points, but Beasley should be able to put up the numbers of Horford last season with a little more scoring, which should push him over the edge (in the mind of the voters).

6th Man: Ben Gordon - contract year phenomenon, anyone? He's going to do all he can to get the massive contract that he reckons he deserves.

MIP: Marcus Williams - he'll be starting while Monta is out, and in Golden State's system, he'll have plenty of chances to put up big stats. Sleepers for this could be Brandon Bass and Yi, and maybe a known commodity like David Lee (starting, I hope, finally). Voters are going to see those increase in minutes and "importance" to a team rather than actual production/minutes.

COY: Rick Adelman - Jerry Sloan's COY is loooooong overdue (a million wins in twenty or so years apparently doesn't cut it) but this guy hasn't won one either, and it might be a case of the team with the better record. Urgh.

East Champs: Boston Celtics - Cleveland got a little better, but it's hard to see Boston lose in the Least, especially with their initial playoff "inexperience" faded off and they kicked into gear last season.

West Champs: New Orleans Hornets - It's a huge mixed bag out West, as any team who gets hot in the playoffs could get through (a team getting hot in the East still won't beat Boston).

NBA Champions: New Orleans Hornets - Lol, biased pick simply because I hate Boston and the New England area in terms of their sports teams (those %#*$ing Red Sox, those #%^$ing Patriots).

Finals MVP: Whoever the media deems as "epic win" during the Finals.

Standings:

Western Conference:

1. New Orleans
2. Utah
3. LA Lakers (something bad will happen...really. Maybe Kwame Brown will come back to haunt them.)
4. Houston (sorry, I ain't buying into the hype...yet)
5. Dallas (could surprise people)
6. Phoenix (might pull something out of the bag, could vary from 4-8 in record)
7. San Antonio (they're old. Okay, that's not a viable reason, but may be limping out of the blocks without Manu and their bench not exactly young.)
8. Portland (will only get better over coming years)

--------------------The line of epic fail------------------------------

9. Denver
10. Golden State
11. LA Clippers
12. Sacramento
13. Minnesota
14. Memphis
15. Oklahoma City

Eastern Conference:

1. Boston
2. Cleveland (may jump the pack, pipping Detroit)
3. Orlando (should win a weak Southeast)
4. Detroit (that's still a tough defensive unit...can they still win in the playoffs)
5. Philadelphia (I'd pick them higher, but they're still young and will be Brand's first season)

--------------------Line of "I shouldn't even be in the playoffs"

6. Toronto (I really don't trust J O'Neal to blend into that good situation going on in Toronto involving ball movement.)
7. Chicago (should really bounce back, but don't hold your breath.)
8. Washington (Luckless, but should be good enough to remain in the playoffs and suffer another early exit.)

9. Atlanta
10. Miami
11. Indiana
12. New Jersey
13. Milwaukee
14. Charlotte
15. New York

[OrlMagic]

MVP: Lebron James

DPOY: Kevin Garnett

ROY: Bayless

Sixth Man: Lamar Odom.

MIP: C.Villanueva

COY: Doc Rivers

Eastern Champions: Detroid Pistons

Western Champions: Los Angeles Lakers

NBA Champions: Denver Nuggets

[Martti.]

MVP - Chris Paul.
Runner-up - Kobe Bryant.

DPOY - Josh Smith.
Runner-Up - Kevin Garnett.

ROY - Michael Beasley.
Runner-Up - Greg Oden.

Sixth Man - Ben Gordon.
Runner-Up - Lamar Odom.

Most Improved - Amir Johnson. (If starting.)
Runner-Up - Ramon Sessions.

Eastern Conference Champions - Boston 4-2 over Cleveland.

Western Conference Champions - New Orleans 4-3 over Lakers.

NBA Champions - New Orleans 4-2 over Boston.

Finals MVP - Chris Paul.

Standings

East:
1. Boston
2. Cleveland
3. Philadelphia
4. Detroit
5. Miami
6. Orlando
7. Toronto
8. Chicago

West:
1. Los Angeles Lakers
2. New Orleans
3. Houston
4. San Antonio
5. Utah
6. Phoenix
7. Portland
8. Dallas

[bowdown]

MVP - Chris Paul
Runner-up - Kobe Bryant.

DPOY - Ron Artest
Runner-Up - Kevin Garnett.

ROY - Greg Oden (Only if ROY award is not all based on stats. most effective)
Runner-Up - OJ Mayo (Michael beasely oozes coolness and i dont like that)

Sixth Man - Ben Gordon.
Runner-Up - Lamar Odom.

Most Improved - Lamarcus Aldridge (Greg Oden in the middle will only open it up more for him from last year when he nearly doubled his stats from his rookie year)
Runner-Up - Ramon Sessions.

Eastern Conference Champions - Boston

Western Conference Champions - Lakers

NBA Champions - Lakers

Finals MVP - Kobe

Standings

East:
1. Boston
2. Detroit
3. Cleveland
4. Orlando
5. Philadelphia
6. Toronto
7. Washington
8. Chicago

West:
1. Los Angeles Lakers
2. New Orleans
3. Houston
4. San Antonio
5. Utah
6. Phoenix
7. Portland
8. Dallas