1. The Portland Trail Blazers being the eighth seed is a virtual lock
Very, very rarely do I consider things as virtual locks. We have seen time and time again that anything can happen in the sports world (like the Suns going undefeated in the Orlando bubble) and even the biggest locks are broken.
Not this one.
There is no way that the Portland Trail Blazers are not the eighth seed in the Western Conference. They currently hold the half-game advantage over the other teams in the running and their final seeding game is against…. drum roll please… the Brooklyn Nets.
The Brooklyn Nets are not the same Nets that they were during the season and while they have played better than expected, they are still one of the least talented teams in the bubble. That team, coming up against a team that is actually playing for something with a star in Damian Lillard that is playing with a chip on his shoulder? No chance.
We can dream that the Blazers somehow lose this game and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Milwaukee Bucks, the Spurs beat the Utah Jazz and the Suns lose to the Mavericks. That would be ideal as it would pit the Grizzlies against the Spurs, the two worst teams of this group, against each other for the eighth seed.
That is not going to happen. The Blazers are undoubtedly the eighth seed in the West and we instead have to turn our attention to who is the ninth seed, which is where the Suns come into play.