Top 5 Title Contenders Beginning March 1st

[LaVar Ball]

1. Brooklyn Nets (22-13)

With the exception of their latest loss, these guys led by James Harden & Kyrie Irving are rolling as they still await the return of Kevin Durant! First year coach Steve Nash and his 7 seconds or less Suns compadres Mike D’Antoni & Amare Stoudemire have made this team the most potent and unstoppable offensive force in NBA History!

2. Los Angeles Clippers (24-12)

Despite the injuries and covid protocols, this team is still led by the 2 best wing 2 way players this game has seen in Kawhi Leonard & Paul George. To me Kawhi is still the best player in the NBA and nothing has changed that; he is that dominant on BOTH sides of the ball! They’ve found their identity much more comparable to last season’s and Ty Lue has this team playing elite defense. The additions of Batum, Ibaka & Kennard to supplement the superstars has just worked out.

3. Philadelphia 76ers (22-12)

Led by who is presumed as the runaway league MVP this year in Joel Embiid, and with Ben Simmons by his side. I feel this is Doc’s best coaching season since his Celtic days. They got the necessary shooters in Seth & Green to compliment their superstars, and Dwight has been a great insurance policy to Embiid. Tobias is under the radar balling!



4. Utah Jazz (27-7)

Led by young all stars Donovan Mitchell & Rudy Gobert, and guys like Conley, Ingles, Favors, O’Neil & Clarkson just complimenting the young guys. I would say their youth is why I have them a little lower even though they have the best record in the NBA! Quinn Snyder is definitely my COY & Gobert is my DPOY!



5. Milwaukee Bucks (21-13)

After a slow start to the 20-21 campaign, this team is back! Led by the reigning DPOY and reigning 2x league MVP Giannis, this team has found the chemistry with him, Middleton & Jrue as their top 3 dogs with Bud at the helm. You can see they’re trying to lower Giannis’ usage rate and keep a versatile offense so they can be deadly come playoff time!



Thoughts

[JAZZNC]

Your hate for the Lakers is absolutely hilarious.

[NBA all the way]

Your hate for the Lakers is absolutely hilarious.

Worse yet, he actually loves the Lakers so he makes a bunch of bash threads about them so ppl say how good they are to stroke his ego. It's the most odd, self conscious, no self esteem thing I've ever seen.

[valade16]

This is a good list of 2-6.

[Tg11]

For me my top 5 title contenders

5- Milwaukee Bucks
4- Los Angeles Clippers
3- Utah Jazz
2- Los Angeles Lakers
1- Brooklyn Nets

Philly if anythin...Embiid and them boyz they right there as well

[Kobe1016]

Your hate for the Lakers is absolutely hilarious.

[LaVar Ball]

Suns should be 6th. They are the real deal.

[mightybosstone]

Worse yet, he actually loves the Lakers so he makes a bunch of bash threads about them so ppl say how good they are to stroke his ego. It's the most odd, self conscious, no self esteem thing I've ever seen.

Yeah, I don't get the shtick. Like it made sense at first and I could wrap my brain around it for the first few threads, but the fact that he's kept this going for a couple of years now just doesn't make any sense to me. I have no clue what he gets out of it.

[mightybosstone]

In terms of teams I can legitimately see winning the title this year, right now I would narrow it down to seven teams, in this order:

1. LA Lakers
2. Brooklyn Nets
3. LA Clippers
4. Philly 76ers
5. Milwaukee Bucks
6. Utah Jazz
7. Phoenix Suns

I debated including Utah and Phoenix on the list, but given that both LA teams are far from perfect right now, and they've both played great basketball, I'd give them each a puncher's chance to come out of the conference. I'm definitely not ready to include Boston or Miami among the contenders in the East. They need to play a hell of a lot better in the second half of the season to deserve consideration.

[valade16]

Suns should be 6th. They are the real deal.

Where would you rank the Lakers, just curious? 7th? Or lower?

[LaVar Ball]

Where would you rank the Lakers, just curious? 7th? Or lower?

I think tied with the Nuggets and Blazers for 7th yeah

[More-Than-Most]

I think tied with the Nuggets and Blazers for 7th yeah

is this just to say OMG they won and it was against all odds or are you a clippers fan? Nobody on the planet would have the lakers lower then 3

[Cuban Linx]

I see only 4:

1. Nets
2. Lakers
3. Clippers
4. Sixers

Jazz and Bucks will put up a nice effort but they'll need a lot of luck (injuries, upsets, favorable seeds etc.) to win a title.

[valade16]

I think tied with the Nuggets and Blazers for 7th yeah

So the Lakers that crushed the Blazers last year are now tied with the Blazers without 2 of their top 3 players?

[LaVar Ball]

So the Lakers that crushed the Blazers last year are now tied with the Blazers without 2 of their top 3 players?

The Blazers made significant offseason additions. They are not the same team personnel wise as last season.