[HitsterParticipant]

 http://www.espn.co.uk/nba/story/_/id/20225286/projected-records-win-totals-standings-every-nba-team-2017-18-season

I hope this link works as it is an interesting article. ESPN has predicdited the win loss records for all teams next season. The figures for the Cavs and the strengthened Celtics are interesting as I cannot quite see how a team like Denver would only be 2 wins behind the Celtics?

Also the amount of losing teams out East would mean they must be considered likely to drop a huge amout of games to Western Conference Teams.

 

[ChoppyParticipant]

 I thought the same thing. Whatever algorithm they use, Denver must have players that suit it. The west just keeps getting stronger and stronger. I won’t be surprised if the east drops a ton of games to the west. 

[joe2324Participant]

 east vs west will be totally lopsided in favor of the west. The knicks are ranked way too high on this list. They aere finishing at the bottom overall

[OhCanada-Participant]

I find it weird that they state loss of Paul George made Indiana amongst the worst teams in the East and the loss of Patterson has Toronto a borderline playoff team yet the gain of both those players has OKC only projected to win 49 games. Either a sign as to how deep the West is this year or its just a poorly written article.

[Anton123Participant]

To be fair, they don’t go into much detail. Obviously, Toronto lost a lot more than just Patterson (they substituted their whole bench for CJ Miles), and ESPN’s stats take that into account, they just didn’t mention it. For Indiana they also highlight the loss of Jeff Teague. So both these teams lose more than OKC gets; plus, as you mentioned, OKC is in a loaded West.

[jerb2011Participant]

truly believes Minnesota will be a top 4 team without having a viable floor spacer, you are smoking d*ck 

[cohenbc1Participant]

 Agreed — although I did not know that dick had hallucinogenic properties.

[Magic JordanParticipant]

So I’ve been told. 

[True_JafiParticipant]

 They definitely can be a top 4 team. Defensively they can be real good. Teague, Butler, Wiggins, Taj and Towns is a real good lineup. Teauge, Butler,Wiggins, Crawford and Towns all shoot about 35% from the three. Its not hot blistering from three but still have to respect it. So there will be spacing.

[cohenbc1Participant]

 Those predictions have a huge bias toward parity. I think the predicted order of finish is reasonable, but no way there will be only 2 55-win teams, or no 50-win teams in the East, or no teams winning fewer than 25 games. 

My understanding is the predicitons are based on projected stats of individual players. The problem with that is it doesn’t take into account that great teams will win some games they probably shouldn’t just because they play hard and they have a system to fall back on. Likewise, bad teams will lose some games they should have won, because they don’t give full effort and don’t have a system.

 

 

[ndbigdaveParticipant]

 You have hit the nail on the head here, the algorithim is undoubtedly set towards parity and no set of numbers can predict those host of variables that go into a season (injuries, trades, players taking nights off, "schedule losses" among other factors that cant be predicted).

What it does show is the relative strength of the teams, the actual predicted win-loss numbers are secondary at best.

I dont disagree with many of the projections and this is a fun exercise.

My knee-jerk feelings are that the Spurs are a bit overrated, OKC didnt get as much love as I think they deserve in the Western Conference. In the East, I am surprised by the relative love for the Pistons and Magic and the understating of things for the 76ers.

 

 

 

 

 

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