1. Parity is back
The Clippers, who have never advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs in the 49-year history of the franchise, are now the favorites to win the NBA title in their 50th year. It will be interesting to see how well they perform when the target is squarely on their back.
The Lakers of course also believe they can win the championship this coming season. So Staples Center should now feature an outstanding rivalry between the two LA teams.
But they should have plenty of competition within their own conference. Other Western teams harboring title aspirations include Houston (James Harden, Chris Paul), Denver (Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray) and Utah (Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley).
Golden State also insists they will still contend, even without Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. Portland (Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum), a conference finalist this year, believes their team will be even better this coming season. And you can never count out Gregg Popovich’s San Antonio Spurs (DeMar DeRozan, LaMarcus Aldridge).
And if any of those teams slip, there are three young, improving teams nipping at their heels: New Orleans with top pick Zion Williamson and three former promising Lakers (Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart), Sacramento (De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes, Marvin Bagley III) and Dallas (Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis).
The Eastern Conference, although not as deep as the West, is no longer the weak sister. Both Milwaukee (league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton) and Philadelphia (Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons), and possibly Boston (Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum), are legitimate contenders.
What it all means is that there is truly no clear-cut favorite for the NBA title. Instead, we should have a wide-open season-long quest to see which team is best. And that is exciting news for all basketball fans.
All statistics courtesy of www.basketball-reference.com