NBA Handicapping Articles

2017-18 Washington Wizards Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/13/2017

The last couple of years the Eastern Conference of the NBA has been a Big One followed by a Smaller But Still Significant Three. Boston has made a clear move to join Cleveland, but it still feels like Washington and Toronto are in the second tier, and that the gap between them and the rest isn't shrinking. Washington hasn't improved this offseason, and their depth isn't exactly inspiring, but they should be hosting a first-round playoff series as they have in three of the last four years. They have also won each of those playoff series, only to fall in the second round. Again, that would feel far from surprising this year.

2017-18 New York Knicks Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/13/2017

The Knicks are the funniest team in the league. Hilarious. As long as you aren't a fan. They made the obvious and incredibly necessary move to get rid of Phil Jackson. But they are still the organization that thought it was a good idea to hire Jackson in the first place. They finally dealt with their Carmelo Anthony problem. But then they used their offseason to promptly back themselves into a different corner. They are in one of the world's great cities, and they have literally everything going for them, but their incompetence is insurmountable. They are going to be a bad team this year. And next year. And probably in 30 years. And it will never not be funny.

2017-18 Atlanta Hawks Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/13/2017

In the 2014-15 season the Atlanta Hawks won 60 games, Mike Budenholzer was named coach of the year, and they made it to the conference finals before being swept by the Cavs. It felt like the team was really accomplishing something - that the future was bright. And they have been on a downhill plane ever since. They won 48 games and lost in the second round in 2016. Then the won 43 and lost in the first round last year.

2017-18 Indiana Pacers Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/13/2017

This is the year that Myles Turner becomes an asset that other teams will covet and who will eventually leave Indiana. It's what the Pacers do - develop top young talent and then watch them leave when they enter their true prime. The Pacers are essentially a farm team at this point. Paul George became the latest to leave this offseason, leaving Turner as the star of the team. He is going to face a whole lot more pressure, and his opportunities will be harder to come by without George to play behind. However, if Turner can keep on the trajectory he has been on to date then he'll be up to the challenge.

2017-18 Chicago Bulls Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/13/2017

There is only one thing you need to know about the Chicago Bulls right now - they have the lowest season win total in the league. And even at 22.5 wins the oddsmakers feel like they are being gracious. This was a pretty underwhelming team last year - a playoff team that was gone in a flash - and they have been gutted of their only good players. They didn't get close to even value in return - at least in the short term. And they were uninterested in, or incapable of, replacing Jimmy Butler with another star. Their payroll is the lowest in the league by a fair margin, and the team should get what they pay for this year. This team is just plain tanking. Blatantly. Obviously. And, given the talent available in the draft next year, logically.

2017-18 Orlando Magic Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/13/2017

I went to a game in Orlando last year while on a family vacation. Beautiful new arena. Amazing parking. And the loudest P.A. I have ever heard in a sporting venue by a wide margin. Almost deafening. And it has to be so that the place doesn't feel like a mausoleum. The place was far from full on a Friday night, a good portion of the crowd was tourists, and people were so quiet that it was almost eerie. But can you blame them?

2017-18 Miami Heat Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/12/2017

Last season for the Miami Heat was, in a word, weird. In the first half of the season they were a dismal 11-30, and they seemed determined to outdo Brooklyn for the first overall pick. In the second half, though, they went 30-11 and were one of the better teams in the entire league. It was a truly bizarre reversal. Management was left with the tough task of figuring out which team was closer to reality and what to do as a result.

2017-18 Detroit Pistons Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/12/2017

Going into last year it seemed like the Detroit Pistons had something going on. Don't get me wrong - they weren't a threat to win the division or even a playoff series in all likelihood. But they seemed to be moving in the right direction. They were at least a little loveable. On that basis, then, last year was a massive disappointment. The team was a long way from great. They won 37 games and finished 10th in the East, and they just weren't relevant in any way at all. In a generally underwhelming year for the Eastern Conference they were among the more disappointing squads.

2017-18 Charlotte Hornets Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/12/2017

I'd love to do a survey of people who identify themselves as at least casual NBA fans. I would bet that a pretty strong majority wouldn't be able to tell you who Steve Clifford is. He is about to begin his fifth year as the head coach in Charlotte, but he is a very anonymous guy for a team that is surprisingly anonymous given the owner. His first and third seasons were winning years, but his second and fourth were disappointments. If the pattern continues then this should be a playoff team this year - one that will lose in the first round. But can they rebound from a 36-win season last year that followed the 48 wins the year before?

2017-18 Toronto Raptors Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/12/2017

The Raptors are in a tough spot right now. They are good enough to consistently win 50 or so games, sell a lot of tickets, and win a playoff series most years. But they would need a miracle - like about 25 debilitating injuries for the stars of other teams - in order to win a title or even make a deep run. They are well behind two teams in the East and probably five or so in the West. So, they are too good to blow it all up but not good enough to do any real damage. And, given that they only made tweaks this offseason, and that they have locked in their core and given up any financial freedom as a result, what we have seen is probably mostly what we will get.

2017-18 Philadelphia 76ers Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/12/2017

This isn't the year that we are going to see the full results of The Process. Philadelphia isn't going to win a title, and it's quite conceivable that they won't even make the playoffs. But what we need to see is progress. We need to see that they are working towards something and that they are closer to the promised land now than they were at any point in this seemingly endless period of struggle. Now, it's easy to say that, but will it actually happen?

2017-18 Boston Celtics Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/9/2017

The Boston Celtics were mad as heck and they weren't going to take it anymore. They had improved significantly, hired the second-best coach in the game, and were easily the second-best team in the conference. The gap between them and Cleveland was still significant, though, and it wasn't going to shrink unless they got radical or LeBron James moved to the West. The latter might happen, but not for another year.

NBA Season Win Totals Predictions: Over and Under Picks for Every Team
by Ricky Dimon - 10/6/2017

The 2017-18 NBA campaign is fast approaching after a wild offseason that saw plenty of all-stars change locations. A lot of teams appear to have gotten markedly better, just as many others seem destined to be much, much worse. How will the Cleveland-Boston trade shake out in the win-loss column? Can Oklahoma City and Houston compete with Golden State for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference? Those questions, and more, will be discussed in the form of "over/under" win totals.

2017-18 Golden State Warriors Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/6/2017

I've waited until I was done previewing every other Western Conference team before I did this one for one simple reason - I was hoping the extra time would allow me to figure out what to say. I mean, what can you really say? A team that was very dominant en route to a title last year is largely intact and will likely be even better if they stay healthy because they have had more time to play together and because there is at least a good chance that their coach will be available for more of the season. How cutting edge and bold of me.

2017-18 Milwaukee Bucks Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/6/2017

The Milwaukee Bucks are a team on the rise. Or at least they hope that this is the case. The "Greek Freak" is one of the most exciting players in the league - the epitome of a point forward with seemingly limitless upside. They have a nice complement of players around him. They play in a division that lost Paul George, Jimmy Butler and Kyrie Irving, so things aren't quite as tough as they have been.

2017-18 Brooklyn Nets Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/6/2017

How not to rebuild a team in the NBA - trade away all your first-round picks and then tank better than any team outside of Philadelphia ever has. When you write it down the approach doesn't make any sense at all, yet for some bizarre reason it is exactly what Brooklyn seems to think would work. Without the addition of young talent that they otherwise would have, the Nets have been forced to cobble together a group of has-beens, never-beens and hopefully-will-bes to try to climb back to respectability after two years in the league's cellar.

2017-18 Los Angeles Clippers Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/5/2017

There are some offseasons that are easy to evaluate - the Celtics and Thunder had really good ones, and the Knicks really didn't. And then there are teams like the Clippers, who did so much that it's hard to really know for sure. Some of what they did was awful - they can spin it all they want, but there is no upside to losing Chris Paul. And some of what they did is brilliant, though it came much later than it should have - stripping Doc Rivers of his front office duties is a move that could only have been exceeded but not being dumb enough to give him the duties in the first place.

2017-18 Portland Trail Blazers Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/5/2017

Some things don't make sense when it comes to how teams are managed. Portland is a good example this year. They went 41-41 last year. That was enough to make the playoffs as the 8th seed, but no one - not even anyone in Portland, or the dressing room for that matter - thought that they had any chance at all against the Warriors in the first round. All they did by finishing 8th was cost themselves a chance at a better draft pick in the lottery. And it's not like they dramatically underachieved, either. After losing significantly more than they had gained entering the season the team was about as good as they were capable of being.

2017-18 Utah Jazz Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/5/2017

For the last few seasons Gordon Hayward has been the face of the Utah Jazz - the one player that people outside of Utah knew and cared about. Well, now he's gone to Boston. He played it up like there was drama involved in his decision, and he didn't know until the end if he was staying or going, but from where I was sitting and watching it sure didn't feel that way. Now the team needs to figure out what their identity is with their centerpiece gone. It would be a mistake to assume that the team is doomed, or that they have nothing else going for them, though. They will be different, but if everything went right then there is a chance that they could exceed the expectations of casual bettors and provide some nice profits as a result. They aren't going to win 51 games like they did last year, so the question is how many fewer games it will be.

2017-18 Phoenix Suns Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/5/2017

It was only a year or so ago that the narrative was that the Phoenix Suns were a very exciting team on the verge of a serious breakthrough. They had loaded up on young talent, Devin Booker served notice that he was legitimate, and the future seemed unavoidably as bright as the desert sun. But after a conference-worst 24 wins last year, and a season win total of a lowly 29 wins this year, it seems that that there is an eclipse of that bright future. It is certainly not time to panic or give up on this team entirely - there is all sorts of young talent aboard. It is just necessary to be very patient - something Suns' fans are all too practiced at having to be. What does the year hold for this squad?