The NBA’s 2021/22 regular season will tip off on Tuesday night, as the defending-champion Bucks host the Nets in the early game and the Warriors visit the Lakers in the late game.
With opening night finally here, the Hoops Rumors writing team is sharing our predictions for the coming year.
Listed below are our picks for the Eastern and Western Conference playoff teams, the major awards, and – of course – the eventual champions. Disagree with our takes? Head down to the comment section to weigh in with your own predictions!
Luke Adams
|
East |
|
Eastern Finals |
| 1 |
Bucks |
|
Nets over Heat |
| 2 |
Nets |
|
Western Finals |
| 3 |
Hawks |
|
Jazz over Lakers |
| 4 |
Heat |
|
NBA Finals |
| 5 |
Celtics |
|
Nets over Jazz |
| 6 |
Sixers |
|
MVP |
| 7 |
Knicks |
|
Kevin Durant |
| 8 |
Pacers |
|
Rookie of the Year |
|
West |
|
Jalen Green |
| 1 |
Jazz |
|
Defensive Player of the Year
|
| 2 |
Nuggets |
|
Rudy Gobert |
| 3 |
Lakers |
|
Sixth Man of the Year
|
| 4 |
Suns |
|
Tyler Herro |
| 5 |
Mavericks |
|
Most Improved Player
|
| 6 |
Blazers |
|
OG Anunoby |
| 7 |
Warriors |
|
Coach of the Year |
| 8 |
Pelicans |
|
Michael Malone |
Dana Gauruder
|
East |
|
Eastern Finals |
| 1 |
Hawks |
|
Nets over Heat |
| 2 |
Bucks |
|
Western Finals |
| 3 |
Nets |
|
Jazz over Mavericks |
| 4 |
Heat |
|
NBA Finals |
| 5 |
Pacers |
|
Jazz over Nets |
| 6 |
Celtics |
|
MVP |
| 7 |
Sixers |
|
Luka Doncic |
| 8 |
Bulls |
|
Rookie of the Year |
|
West |
|
Jalen Green |
| 1 |
Jazz |
|
Defensive Player of the Year
|
| 2 |
Suns |
|
Rudy Gobert |
| 3 |
Mavericks |
|
Sixth Man of the Year
|
| 4 |
Nuggets |
|
Jalen Brunson |
| 5 |
Lakers |
|
Most Improved Player
|
| 6 |
Warriors |
|
Terance Mann |
| 7 |
Grizzlies |
|
Coach of the Year |
| 8 |
Blazers |
|
Rick Carlisle |
Arthur Hill
|
East |
|
Eastern Finals |
| 1 |
Nets |
|
Nets over Bucks |
| 2 |
Bucks |
|
Western Finals |
| 3 |
Hawks |
|
Suns over Nuggets |
| 4 |
Sixers |
|
NBA Finals |
| 5 |
Heat |
|
Nets over Suns |
| 6 |
Celtics |
|
MVP |
| 7 |
Knicks |
|
Kevin Durant |
| 8 |
Bulls |
|
Rookie of the Year |
|
West |
|
Cade Cunningham |
| 1 |
Suns |
|
Defensive Player of the Year
|
| 2 |
Jazz |
|
Rudy Gobert |
| 3 |
Lakers |
|
Sixth Man of the Year
|
| 4 |
Mavericks |
|
Patty Mills |
| 5 |
Blazers |
|
Most Improved Player
|
| 6 |
Nuggets |
|
Kevin Porter Jr. |
| 7 |
Warriors |
|
Coach of the Year |
| 8 |
Clippers |
|
Nate McMillan |
Alex Kirschenbaum
|
East |
|
Eastern Finals |
| 1 |
Nets |
|
Hawks over Nets |
| 2 |
Bucks |
|
Western Finals |
| 3 |
Hawks |
|
Suns over Nuggets |
| 4 |
Heat |
|
NBA Finals |
| 5 |
Sixers |
|
Suns over Hawks |
| 6 |
Bulls |
|
MVP |
| 7 |
Celtics |
|
Donovan Mitchell |
| 8 |
Hornets |
|
Rookie of the Year |
|
West |
|
Jalen Green |
| 1 |
Suns |
|
Defensive Player of the Year
|
| 2 |
Jazz |
|
Anthony Davis |
| 3 |
Nuggets |
|
Sixth Man of the Year
|
| 4 |
Lakers |
|
Jordan Clarkson |
| 5 |
Mavericks |
|
Most Improved Player
|
| 6 |
Warriors |
|
Michael Porter Jr. |
| 7 |
Clippers |
|
Coach of the Year |
| 8 |
Grizzlies |
|
Steve Nash |
Rory Maher
|
East |
|
Eastern Finals |
| 1 |
Nets |
|
Bucks over Nets |
| 2 |
Bucks |
|
Western Finals |
| 3 |
Heat |
|
Suns over Mavericks |
| 4 |
Hawks |
|
NBA Finals |
| 5 |
Celtics |
|
Bucks over Suns |
| 6 |
Sixers |
|
MVP |
| 7 |
Bulls |
|
Giannis Antetokounmpo |
| 8 |
Knicks |
|
Rookie of the Year |
|
West |
|
Alperen Sengun |
| 1 |
Suns |
|
Defensive Player of the Year
|
| 2 |
Jazz |
|
Draymond Green |
| 3 |
Mavericks |
|
Sixth Man of the Year
|
| 4 |
Nuggets |
|
Tyler Herro |
| 5 |
Warriors |
|
Most Improved Player
|
| 6 |
Lakers |
|
OG Anunoby |
| 7 |
Clippers |
|
Coach of the Year |
| 8 |
Grizzlies |
|
Monty Williams |
Did Luke Adams just use his same predictions from last year? Looks like he just wrote down the same suspects.
I highly doubt Adams had the Sixers finishing 6thlast season.
We didn’t make predictions last season!
If the criticism is that my picks are too safe, I sort of agree. I would’ve liked to go off the board a little more, but it was hard to find many sleeper teams that I don’t have major doubts about.
How did the Mavs improve? Blazers still have no defense. Lakers need 3pt shooters because they clog up the middle with too many big men. Bulls look like they could be the big sleeper this year. Warriors will finish in top 4 in the west with a much improved bench they have not had in 3 years.
I’d be with you on the Warriors if Klay was playing all year and we knew for sure that he’d be his usual self. I’m just not sure when we’ll see him at 100%, and I’m not sold on the secondary pieces (besides Poole, who would’ve been my second pick for MIP).
I’m counting on the Mavs and Blazers to get more from KP and Nurkic this year. I like the Bullock and Nance additions, and I think both teams will be a bit rejuvenated by new young coaches. But they don’t really need to take big steps forward — they finished 5th and 6th last year too.
As for the Bulls, I had them in the 7th or 8th spot in my early drafts, but I really don’t like their depth and I’m skeptical they’ll be able to stop anyone on defense. I hope I’m wrong about them, because I think they’ll be a fun team to watch.
I think you are over looking Warriors 3 veterans they brought in this year. The bench depth is most they had since championship years. No more G league subs. Nukric will still get you points but his defense is weak. KP looked slow last year so like Nukric he will get points but not enough defense. Mavs just have not much of a bench. Portland needs some players to step it up on defense and get out of the 3 point shoot and run.
I think if Bulls can get the chemistry they will be play in team. Grizzles are another team that could surprise if they keep building on last year.
That’s what I thought, I didn’t remember you doing this last year!
I am surprised that only 2 of you picked the Bucks to make the ECF.
Teams are basically the same as last year, the only changes are Klay coming back and Russ to Lakers. By the way, apparently these guys don’t trust the Lakers, none of them picked them as West winners, ley alone winning It all
Bc adding russ makes lakers a much worse team not a better team ! They are still big 2 with lebron and ad
No one is going to pick the Lakers to win the West, let alone win it all, as long as both LeBron and AD are incapable of staying healthy.
Wait? Huh? What? The Warriors have same roster as last year? Whoa Nelly!!! Half the roster, and coaching staff, are new. I wouldn’t call that the same.
Noel is 100% right. The Big 2 for the Lakers tonight combined for 67 points, the other 8 guys had 47 combined (Russ only had 8 points).
Gonna laugh hard when the Nets go out in the second round again.
Imagine thinking the Lakers won’t be in the Finals if their big 3 are healthy.
Lakers are a big two lebron and ad ! Russ not only is not only no longer a superstar he’s no longer a all star 2019 is the last all star team he will ever make , if lakers make the finals it will be in spite of having russ not bc russ helped them get there ! He needs to be a role player now but won’t accept it
We all know that’s a huge if with both AD and LeBron having difficulty staying on the court the last three seasons missing a combined 129 games.
Dana…give me a shout if you want to put a bet down on the Hawks having the best record in the east.
Oh my sides.
I’m pretty skeptical about that one too. Everyone seems to be overlooking the defending champs here. The Bucks are still a really good team.
I think people might overlook the Warriors. There just might be a bit of Mission Bay Magic left over. If you discount Klay coming back, look at Buster Posey. He came back from two devastating injuries to have the best year of his career. He is older than Klay, and puts his body through more wear and tear.
The goofballs predicting the Portland Blazers being the 5th or 6th seed for the playoffs is putting way too much stock in the Blazers being improved over last season when they most definitely are not & they’ll be lucky to even make the playoffs
They tied for the 5th-best record in the West last year and only had their best lineup (Lillard/CJ/Powell/Covington/Nurkic) from the trade deadline on.
alperen sengun for ROY? yea okay…
He has the 6th best odds to win after Green, Cade, Suggs, Barnes, & Mobley.
ECF
MIL over BRK
WCF
LAL over DEN
NBA Finals
LAL over MIL (if Kyrie can play for BRK, might be BRK in the finals instead of MIL)
MVP
LUKA DONCIC
ROY
JALEN GREEN
DPOY
ANTHONY DAVIS
SMOY
JALEN BRUNSON
MIP
MICHAEL PORTER JR
COY
MICHAEL MALONE
I don’t see how KD can win the MVP when sharing so much of the scoring load with Harden, even if Kyrie doesn’t play.
Also I had a hearty laugh at those who thought the Heat and Hawks would make it past the Bucks to make the East Finals.
Some thoughts on my predictions:
I think the Bucks are the best team in the league, mostly because I believe Giannis will continue to improve. I also think their backcourt depth is significantly better than last season. That’s why I picked them to repeat as champs and for Giannis to win another MVP.
The West has a lot of really good, deep teams. A number of them could make the Finals. The Suns look the best to me on paper to start the season.
I originally had the Lakers as the third seed and making the Finals, but the more I thought about it, the more uncertain I was. I think LeBron and AD are the best duo in the league when healthy, but will they be healthy in the playoffs? My doubts for the Lakers mostly revolve around defense and spacing. They were third in defense two seasons ago and first in 20/21, but I think they’re going to fall off a lot in that area.
I don’t think Alperen Sengun is the favorite to win ROY by any means, but he has a very advanced feel for the game and a polished skill set for such a young player, especially on offense. He should have plenty of opportunities for minutes on a rebuilding Rockets team.