NBA playoff predictions

Sidenote - I wrote these thoughts before the playoffs started.

Here are my thoughts on the NBA playoffs. In no real order: 

First, the Vegas odds for the winner: 

Heat 3/2 

Bulls 3/1 

Thunder 4/1 

Spurs 6/1 

Lakers 12/1 

Celtics 15/1 

Knicks 18/1 

Clip 20/1 

Griz 25/1 

Pacers 40/1 

So the Heat are the favorite again, but if they miss out again, what do they do? Do you just keep playing and assume you’ll get the breaks eventually, or jump for a big move? If I’m the Heat I’m dealing Dwayne Wade for a big guy. Unleash LeBron as the alpha dog, use Bosh as the secondary scorer, add the third guy who can grab rebounds and score from the post, and surround them with a bunch of guys that can knock down jump shots and run around on defense. Couldn’t you swing Wade for Dwight Howard? Keep Wade in Florida, drop Howard off to a contender, everyone’s happy. Or what about Wade for Blake Griffin? If CP3 leaves Blake isn’t sticking around anyways. 

I went to ESPN.com and researched random statistics. The Spurs are the only team with three players in the top twenty for PER. I don’t know what that means – but it must mean something. 

Here are my teams that could win it all: Heat, Bulls, Thunder, Spurs, Lakers, Celtics. The Celtics are the only sleeper team that could win it all. They have three or four players that could absolutely take over a game (KG is a maybe). Couldn’t you see Ray Allen sinking eight 3’s in a game? Rajondo triple doubles are a norm. I’ll definitely be rooting for one last run from the big3. 

Sidenote – I love that the Celtics are still considered a big 3, when their alpha dog player isn’t even part of the big 3. At this point that team is like Rondo and friends. 

If anyone could be a catch-lightning-in-a-bottle type teams, I could see the Knicks. Carmelo – despite his lack of hustle is one of my favorite players. If he decided to take up jogging as an off-season hobby, took some responsibility and stopped complaining so much, he’d be a perennial MVP candidate. I swear, intangibles are so freaking important. How much would NBA teams be willing to pay if I could discover a way to instill intangibles? 

If I was a gambling man, I’d pick the Spurs. They seem like the one team that could sustain a big injury and still dominate. I watched them only once, and they have some great role players but they’re just so small, so they could get steamrolled by a Grizzlies or Lakers. At the same time, they have to be the best rested team – Ginobili’s barely been unleashed. 

I wouldn’t consider myself a Celtics fan, even though I grew up near Boston, so I’ve been hoping to adopt an NBA team. Does anyone have any suggestions? I’m leaning towards watching half a decade of Linsanity/Melo. 

See you on the other side, 

from ken  

Feel free to comment! I would love to hear your thoughts.