NBA Title Favourites (and no-hopers)

The 20 teams that could win the NBA championship have been confirmed. 12 in the playoffs proper, and eight in the play-in tournament. Whilst it’s not confirmed where certain teams will land in terms of seeding, we know who’s going and we know who’s not.

I’ll be sorting the teams into 4 very distinct categories, they are as follows:

• You’ve got no hope, mate
• Miracle needed
• You’ve got a shot!
• OKC Thunder

You’ve got no hope, mate

Golden State, Orlando, Miami, Atlanta, Portland and Houston all fall into this category for a myriad of different reasons. Mostly the affliction of Kinda-sucks-itis. Golden State are hurt massively by the absence of Jimmy Butler, the unfitness of Kristaps Porzingis and the debatable availability of Steph Curry. Orlando are just kind of bad, relying on Paolo Banchero as massively as they do is a death sentence. Miami are in a similar state. As much as they look better with a healthy Tyler Herro, not better enough I’d say. The Hawks and Trail Blazers are all just not quite good enough for this level just yet, but have some young pieces and future draft picks to be very excited about. Houston however must seem like a rather hot take, as they’re the only team in this section currently in the top 6 of their respective division, but the team is a massive mess. A lack of true point guard, a lack of real shooters outside of Durant, and some massive defensive holes in Reed Shephard and Alperen Sengun all make for an absolutely awful time up ahead for those boys in Houston. Better luck next year, Twitter user @gethigher77!

Miracle needed

This category belongs to Charlotte, Minnesota, Phoenix, Toronto and Philly. Those who know me will scream ‘BIASED!’ from the highest of rooftops for having Charlotte here but frankly, that doesn’t matter. The tear the Hornets went on during January could very well happen again into the play-in, that’s how lethal their shooting can be. That could’ve been my roguest pick here. That’s not to discount Phoenix (with a newly back Dillon Brooks) and Philly (with a newly back Paul George AND Joel Embiid) as very credible and could very easily put a couple wins past a bigger team in their respective conferences. Toronto are strange in a way I can’t quite put my finger on, though. The chemistry that team has is absurd, but individually they aren’t actually as elite as say, Philadelphia. Again, not to discount their stars like Scottie Barnes and especially the big time shooter Brandon Ingram. Though they really do need a miracle. That brings us to Minnesota. Anthony Edwards does work here. That’s the only reason they even have a sliver of a chance. The team would get 25 wins at best without him.

You’ve got a shot!

This category contains Denver, the Lakers, Cleveland, Boston, Detroit and the Wembanyama led Spurs. These guys are the ones I consider to be the best of the rest when it comes to championship candidacy. All of them have at least one superstar to their name. Jokic, Luka, Mitchell, Tatum (and Brown, if you want), Cade and of course, that big alien freak from France that crash landed in San Antonio. Everyone has a chance in this category, probably around equal for all. Except the Lakers, who could probably go down a rung or two but you never know just how hard Silver can rig his league. As such, that leaves only one more category to sort, let’s see who’s left!

OKC Thunder

Well, duh. They’re winning.

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