It seems like only yesterday that the Nuggets were lifting the Larry O'Brien trophy after finishing off the Miami Heat. Now were have turned to the offseason where there have been moves a plenty, the draft is over, and its time to look to the future. That's right! We are about to do our way to early NBA predictions and I got the Brickhouse crew to give me their thoughts on the upcoming season! So here we go!
Who is the favorite for MVP next season?
Matt - Hi, Spurs fan here, preparing you that literally every question I will mention the Spurs. So I must say, 20 year old Wemby winning his first MVP as a rookie sounds pretty nice… But I think coming off an NBA Title, Finals MVP and a year where he should’ve won his 3rd straight Regular season MVP, Jokic has gotta be the favorite. If he can get that triple double next year, that he barely missed last year by .2 Assists per game, and they get the Wests top seed again, it’s him. A Giannis revenge tour MVP also seems likely. Just for the love of god don’t give Joel Embiid another pity MVP because he was crying about it in the media. Ain’t nobody wanna see that.
Nick - Giannis- with a hungry and determined Giannis the Bucks should be a favorite in the East and Giannis is eager to show the world again that he is one of the top players if not the best player in the world.
Ceaso - I think Giannis would be the favorite for MVP next season if healthy seeing as the only reason he didn't last year was due to injury. I can see him going crazy when he comes back. The Bucks were the favorites to win the title and he was top 3 MVP voting so I can see him winning it next year.
Joe - I kind of like Matt's take with Wemby winning ROTY and the MVP. Why not, lets go CRAZY! Seriously though folks, it is hard to pick against Giannis. He is the most imposing force in the NBA when healthy and if it wasn't for injuries he probably gets it over Embiid (even though it should have been a 3-peat by the Joker). Speaking of the Joker, who says he isn't the favorite? I mean recency biased cost him last year. Pencil the Joker in for me as the favorite entering this coming season!
Which playoff team from last year fails to make it this year?
Matt - For the sake of not taking the easy way out and picking the Nets, I will stay in the West. Wemby’s rookie year = Spurs 7 seed. Take that to the bank. Book it. But also if OKC isn’t a top 6 seed this year, I’ll be surprised. SGA is unbelievable, Giddey is a rising star as well, lots of good young role players. And Chet Holmgren has incredible potential if that skinny body can stay on the court. OKC is not gonna sneak up on anyone next year. Everyone knows they are a problem now. That means someone there regresses. I got the T-Wolves as the odd men out.
Nick - The Nets- Unless the Nets make a major move, I don’t expect them to be a big factor in the East. The Nets will hover around .500 and end up building for the future as Mikal Bridges will find success but it won’t equate to much winning.
Ceaso - The Nets won’t make the playoffs next season. They just don’t have any depth or any real scoring option outside of Mikal Bridges. KD & Kyrie gave them that boost beginning of the season but they were 12-15 after the trade deadline. I think that record gets worst upcoming season
Joe - Everyone wants to pile on the Nets and for good reason. Out of all the playoff teams, it is easy to say they will miss them next year due to a lack of talent. If you are on that side of the fence you would have a good argument. I just don't know who else is really better in the East out of the teams that made it in this past season. There is a significant drop off from the top 10 teams in the East to the rest. That is why I feel the answer here is the T-Wolves. This could be rooted in my disdain for Rudy Gobert, but the teams in the West are a lot closer together than the teams in the East in the back end.
What is going to be the biggest signing/trade of the off-season?
Matt - LeBron traded to the Spurs for a 2095 3rd round pick (there will be 3 rounds in the NBA draft by then). But for real, there’s some options that already happened, main one being Bradley Beal going to Phoenix. I think that will be superseded by one move, and I think this is finally the year, even though Lakers fans have been photoshopping this dude into their uniform for years… Damian Lilliard is going to get traded to the Heat. It makes too much sense for everyone involved. The Blazers not winning with Dame and just drafted his replacement in Scoot Henderson need to go full rebuild and go young. Miami needs offense to put them over the top for a potential title. Dame fits Heat culture perfectly. Make it happen. Then we can finally see one of the NBA clutchest players make a deep playoff run.
Nick - If we aren’t including the Bradley Beal trade or KP trade then I think the clippers will shock everyone when they trade Kawhi Leonard and start what will be the rebuild for them. The duo of Leonard and George has been a failure so far and it’s time to break it up. I like keeping Paul George for the season and maybe doing a mid season trade to get rid of him but this duos time is over. (Update - the Clippers brought back Russel Westbrook for 2 years $8 million)
Ceaso - I think the Bradley Beal to the Suns trade was crazy but if the Pelicans trade Zion for a top draft picks that would be crazy. Zion has had some weight and health issues and it might be time for the Pelicans to get some capital and rebuild. For the love of god stop drafting injury prone bigs!
Joe - All the above trades are good options for this question. I think there is one that is going to happen and it keeps becoming more and more of an option in my mind. Jaylen Brown and the Celtics are negotiating a max extension. Issue is he isn't worth that money and I think the Celtics know that. Or is there some other reason they are putting it off? Jaylen Brown will be out of a Celtics uniform by the time the season starts and the C's will be better for it (see their Net ratings when Brown isn't on the floor, they are better without him on both ends)!
What is the NBA Finals matchup for next season?
Matt - Wow Joe, the finals literally just ended… The draft just happened and hasn’t even started yet… Chill bro… But if you really need to know, my gut reaction is Spurs in 0 vs Forfeit because every team who drew the Spurs in the playoffs were so terrified of the Wemby/Devin Vassell/Big Body/Tre Jones quartet they just decided to quit and it wouldn’t be worth the embarrassment. If you want me to give a LAME MAINSTREAM finals pick though, I say Nuggets/Bucks is the safest right now. 2 best players in the world in the finals would be awesome to watch. Nuggets got plenty of assets to improve their team and like I said before, Giannis revenge tour 2024. 2 teams to watch right now, Memphis in the west. I love Marcus smart for them. Gives them the toughness and maturity that team so desperately needed. If Ja can stop being an idiot they could easily at least make a conference finals. While in the East, Trae Young said the Hawks getting that ring next year and I believe… That he’s insane… ATL not sniffing the finals… Cavs are my dark horse in the East. I know the disappointed in the playoffs vs the Knicks last year but they are young. Some roster tweaks and another year of experience will do them a lot of good. Too much talent on that roster to not improve off of last year.
Nick - The NBA Finals matchup next year will be the Boston Celtics vs the Sacramento Kings. With the Boston Celtics ever so close on reaching the NBA Finals last season, the addition of KP and the determination of JB and JT will get the Celtics over the hump. The Kings gained some valuable playoff experience last year and I expect that to carry over and their offense to continue to improve and be dominant. Expect a big year from D Fox and for him to will the Kings to the NBA Finals. The Boston Celtics will eventually win in 6 and cap off what will be there 18th banner and the most in the NBA.
Ceaso - Everyone is bat shit crazy saying the Suns are the favorites out of the West with the Beal trade! I find it extremely disrespectful especially when the defending champs didn’t go to 7 games in any series in there playoff run. I think if all are healthy it will be Bucks vs Nuggets. The 2 true best teams in the NBA! 2 well oiled machines led by league MVPs and Finals MVPs, that will be a site to see.
Joe - Much like Matt, I wanna go with my team. Issue is that I think the Celtics lack a facilitator right now to really make that team click the way its going to need to to beat the best teams in the East. That being said, the Bucks come back healthy with something to prove and absolutely go on a tear and advance to the Finals out of the East. On the West side of things, how can I go against the defending NBA champion Nuggets? Well this is how. They have had major losses to that rotation and I see no one who is filling those minutes right now. So I am going to give LeBron one last ride (as much as I hate saying that for my disdain for the Lakers and LeBron). Lakers, Bucks, NBA Finals!