Really Early NBA Finals Predictions
This NBA season will be very different, and the NBA Finals are a long way away. With all of that said, I’m making my very early Finals predictions. The two teams that I pick to make the Finals aren’t necessarily the best teams, but they are the teams best geared for the playoffs. Here are my very early Finals predictions.
Eastern Conference
I’ve put a lot of thought into this, but one team comes to mind for me. The Boston Celtics. They have added some pieces and they are better than last season. Here’s why I think they are title contenders.
They have 3 All-Star caliber players with veteran PG Kemba Walker, and wings Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Walker will be out until January with a knee injury, so the Celtics might start a little slow, but even with just Tatum and Brown, I think they are fine.
Brown is an excellent slasher with decent handles and a decent jumper, which can be good or bad depending on the day. Tatum is a superstar, as he can score for anywhere with his size and guard-like handles. Both Brown and Tatum are also excellent defenders, making them two-way studs.
Marcus Smart offers some tough defense and he can shoot to stretch the floor. He is one of the leaders of this team. They added Tristan Thompson, a solid offensive rebounder and a guy who can defend. Daniel Theis can stretch the floor and is also a solid defender.
Aaron Nesmith is the sharp-shooting rookie who will help Boston off the bench. Payton Pritchard is a very talented scoring rookie, and Jeff Teague offers veteran presence off the bench. Robert Williams is very young and raw, but he has a lot of potential as he can be a powerful paint beast.
Here is the Celtics roster going into 2020-21:
PG: Kemba Walker (Jeff Teague starter until January)
SG: Marcus Smart
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Daniel Theis
Bench: Nesmith, Pritchard, Williams, Thompson, Teague, Langford
And the Celtics are well prepared to beat some of the better Eastern Conference teams. They stack up well against the Bucks, who are likely to be the top seed in the East once again.
The Celtics have a lot of perimeter scoring, and the Bucks don’t have defenders for all of them. The Celtics have Kemba Walker, who will be guarded by Jrue Holiday. Jaylen Brown might be guarded by Khris Middleton. And Tatum will have to be guarded by Giannis, and this is a good thing for the Celtics.
Giannis is usually a help defender, and doesn’t guard star players usually. This can pull him out of the paint, and then this opens up driving lanes for other players. The Celtics are at a size disadvantage, but they did add Tristan Thompson this offseason, so that problem was been fixed slightly.
And if the Bucks keep running their poor offensive schemes in the playoffs, Brad Stevens and Boston can gameplan. Mike Budenholzer hasn’t showed that he can make adjustments when he needs to, so if the Celtics find things that work, it will work throughout the course of a series.
Miami Heat
The Celtics and Heat were very closely matched in their Eastern Conference Finals series last season, but the Celtics problem was that they couldn’t stop Bam Adebayo down low. Now they have some extra bodies for him, and the Celtics really burned the Heat on the perimeter in that series. The Heat did add some perimeter defense with Avery Bradley and Mo Harkless, but Miami did lose Jae Crowder.
The Celtics just have to play better defense, and they can beat this Heat team. They had no problem scoring last season, and that was with a banged up Kemba Walker. If Walker is healthy, I don’t see this Heat team beating Boston.
But these two teams are very evenly matched, both with excellent coaches. I would love to see this teams battle it out in the post-season.
Philadelphia 76ers
Assuming that Philadelphia 76ers live up to their potential and make a playoff run, they could pose problems for Boston. But their weaknesses can be taken advantage of by the Celtics.
Joel Embiid is the 2nd best center in the league, and guarding him will be a challenge. But Ben Simmons cannot stretch the floor, therefore the Celtics don’t have to guard him out there. The 76ers did add shooters, but similar to Russell Westbrook, you just don’t have to guard him on the perimeter as he is not a threat.
The 76ers lost a perimeter defender in Josh Richardson, so the Celtics’ perimeter stars can feast. Ben Simmons can only guard one of them while Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker have favorable matchups. I think that this series will go the Celtics way.
Toronto Raptors
The Raptors got a lot worse this offseason, but they are still a playoff team. But they lost most of their defense and toughness down low, which was one of their major advantages against the Celtics last season.
The Raptors have decent matchups for Boston on the perimeter. Lowry on Walker. Anunoby on Tatum. Siakam on Brown. But VanVleet is the one matchup that the Celtics can take advantage of, as they can him. They can just keep forcing switches and get favorable matchups. The Celtics should have beaten the Raptors by a lot more last season, but I don’t view the Raptors as contenders anymore.
The Celtics are on the same level as everybody in the East. They can take advantage of things against every team in the East. They can draw out the Bucks defense, and lets be honest, the Bucks will self-detonate before the Finals. The Heat and Celtics were on the same level last season, and the Celtics got better down low. The 76ers have their Ben Simmons problem, and the Raptors aren’t contenders anymore.
So I view as the Celtics as the best team in the East, based on talent and their matchups with everybody else in the East. I’m picking the Celtics to come out of the East.
Western Conference
The Western Conference is the loaded conference, and whoever comes out of the West is going to be a very good team. But I think that the team most likely to make it to the Finals it obvious, the Lakers.
The Lakers were the champions from last season, and they got better this offseason. They already have the best duo in the league with AD and Lebron. Lebron….is Lebron, and AD is a two-way monster. But the Lakers got some extra help aside from their stacked duo this summer.
They traded for 6th Man of the Year candidate Dennis Schroder. Schroder is a very efficient scorer, and he can also be a solid playmaker. This is an upgrade over Rajon Rondo, and this is quite the upgrade for the Lakers. I think that Schroder will be perfect starting for the Lakers.
They signed reigning 6th Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell. Harrell is a solid scorer, but he doesn’t offer any defense. This move was mediocre at best, but Harrell just needs to score 10-15 points off the bench to be effective. But I don’t like the defense on Harrell, and I think of Harrell as very overrated. But it’s still a decent pickup, not a great one.
They signed Marc Gasol down low, a solid defender and passer. He can stretch the floor and gives the Lakers even more offensive versatility. After losing McGee and Howard, this is a solid replacement.
They also signed Wesley Matthews, a solid 3&D shooter, much more reliable than Danny Green. Matthews will help sure up this Lakers bench, and he was one of their best pickups from this offseason.
The Lakers did lose some notable players this offseason as well, however. They lost Avery Bradley, Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard, and Javale McGee. The Lakers did lose a lot of their veteran depth of the bench, but they did a solid job replacing them with solid star talent. Here’s the Lakers 2020-21 projected lineup:
PG: Dennis Schroder
SG: KCP
SF: Lebron James
PF: AD
C: Marc Gasol
Bench: Caruso, Kuzma, Matthews, Harrell, Morris,
The Lakers bench is a little more weak, but their starting lineup got a lot better. I don’t like their big-man rotation as outside of AD and Marc Gasol, there is nobody to defend the paint for LA. Harrell isn’t a good interior defender and the Lakers will have to rely more upon AD down low. This could lead him to get into more foul trouble.
But even with the Lakers having less bench depth, they are still a good team and I don’t see them losing in the West.
LA Clippers
The Clippers and Lakers were supposed to meet last season in the Western Conference Finals, but that didn’t happen. Both teams improved in some facets over this offseason, but the Lakers are still the superior team. The Clippers can beat the Lakers all they want in the regular season, but the playoffs is where it really matters.
The Lakers have Wesley Matthews, Markieff Morris, and Lebron James to try and slow down Kawhi and PG (well not PG anymore). The Clippers do have a sizeable advantage on the perimeter, so not having Rondo or Bradley to help does hurt a bit.
But AD is going to be dominant down low again. The Clippers did add Serge Ibaka which helps out a ton, but its just Zubac and Ibaka against one of the most talented post players in the league. Lebron is Lebron, and he needs to find moments in games to be aggressive and moments to be passive.
The Lakers don’t necessarily have the talent edge with the Clippers, but they do have similar star-power. This would be one heck of a series between two pretty evenly matched teams.
Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets got worse this offseason, and they are at a huge disadvantage vs the Lakers.
They lost their only Lebron stopper in Jerami Grant, giving Lebron free reign on the wing to destroy Denver. He averaged 27.0 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 9.0 assists while shooting 54% from the field and 29% from 3. James was a monster in the playoffs vs the Nuggets, and now the Nuggets got worse at defending wings. This will not help their case in trying to overthrow LA.
AD was also a monster in that series vs Denver last season, as he averaged 31.2 points and 6.2 rebounds with 1.4 steals. He shot 54% from the field and 33% from 3. AD was also a monster, as the Nuggets don’t have a great matchup for the versatile Davis.
The Nuggets didn’t get better this offseason, and they cannot stop Lebron James or AD, not necessarily a recipe for success. The Lakers will likely run through this Nuggets team in the playoffs.
Portland Trail Blazers
The Blazers beat the Lakers in a game last season, and that’s when they were injured and exhausted. If Portland can stay healthy, many believe they will be among the best teams in the NBA. Can the Blazers contend with the Lakers?
If the Lakers can slowdown Dame and CJ like they did in the 2020 NBA Playoffs, they will be fine. But the Lakers have less guard depth to do so, meaning that the Blazers might find more success feeding Dame and CJ. Robert Covington, Rodney Hood, and Melo can guard Lebron, giving the Blazers some wing defense against Lebron James.
AD will be guarded by Nurkic and Zach Collins, a decent matchup but AD should be able to take advantage. If the Blazers stay healthy, they honestly matchup well with the Lakers, and I would love to see this matchup.
Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks are a up and coming team in the West led by Luka Doncic, but they just aren’t there yet and likely won’t contend with the Lakers.
Porzingis is their only real defense against AD, and AD will likely get his way when Porzingis heads to the bench. Dorian-Finney Smith is the only wing defender that the Mavs have, so Lebron will again have his way against the Mavs.
The Mavs explosive offense might win them a couple of games in a series, but I expect that the Lakers will still prevail. The Mavericks just need some better defensive pieces, and they would be able to contend with the Lakers.
Lakers vs Celtics Finals
I think that this matchup would be excellent. Schroder vs Walker. Tatum vs Lebron. Some of these matchups are great. And as of right now, based on the teams on paper, it’s actually pretty even with the needle tilting towards Boston.
Tatum and Brown are a pair of explosive wings, and they aren’t likely to be stopped as the Lakers don’t have the best surplus of wing defenders. Kemba Walker won’t be deterred on the perimeter much as KCP is his best matchup. The Celtics will get bullied down low by AD, but that kind of evens it out.
As of right now, I’m giving the edge to the Lakers in 7 games just because of the experience and willpower of Lebron James, but don’t sleep on this Celtics team. They are very good, and a team that is in contention for banner #18.
There are a lot of contending teams in each conference, and it’ll be interesting to see how everything plays out. This season will be very exciting, as there is a favorite (Lakers), but a lot of things could happen this season. This season might be a bit more normal than the last season, but it’s still going to be crazy. Lets see who wins the 2021 NBA Title!
What Are Your Early Finals Predictions? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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