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The Whiteboard: 2018-19 NBA Season Predictions — West playoff teams

By Ti Windisch

CLEVELAND, OH - JUNE 08: Stephen Curry #30 and Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors react after a play in the first quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers during Game Four of the 2018 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on June 8, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - JUNE 08: Stephen Curry #30 and Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors react after a play in the first quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers during Game Four of the 2018 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on June 8, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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After going through the other 22 teams in the NBA, time to get to the really good ones — the best of the best in the West.

Okay folks. Everybody who has been paying attention this week, such as my loyal and fantastic subscribers, knows that after going through all of the lottery teams in both conferences and the playoff teams in the NBA’s East, it’s time for the fun part. The best eight teams in the Western Conference, ranked. (Subscribe here if you’d like to be loyal and fantastic too.)

Predictions are made based on all sorts of things, including statistics, pending roster moves (hello, Jimmy), the probability of a team imploding (looking at you, Washington), and more. Let’s get ready to rumble.

  • 8. New Orleans Pelicans
  • 7. Portland Trail Blazers

This was a challenging pairing to decipher because these two teams faced off in a first-round series last postseason, and the Pelicans shellacked the Blazers in an embarrassing sweep. If these two teams played another series, it wouldn’t surprise me if the same result happened.

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The difference between picking the Pelicans in a seven-game series and the Blazers in an 82 game season comes down to the simple fact that Anthony Davis can’t play nearly 39 minutes per game every night for 82 games like he can in a single series. Davis carries the Pelicans to wherever they go, and the Blazers have a more balanced, complete team than New Orleans. The Pellies just have the superior individual talent.

  • 6. Los Angeles Lakers
  • 5. Denver Nuggets

There are real cases out there for the Lakers missing the postseason, and it’s not impossible that they do. As I’ve covered in The Whiteboard before, it’d be a shock if a player of LeBron James’ caliber missed the postseason altogether. So I’ve got LeBron in.

I don’t have his Lakers as a better team than the Nuggets, though. Denver is stacked with useful players, something Los Angeles cannot say. Nikola Jokic will feast on inferior defenses, even as he centers a pretty bad defense of his own. Similarly to Davis and the Pelicans, LeBron can’t afford to impose his will for 82 straight games, which will cost the Lakers in the standings. The playoffs will be a different story.

  • 4. Oklahoma City Thunder
  • 3. Utah Jazz

Waiting until the very end of the offseason to do team rankings does have its benefits, such as knowing that Russell Westbrook will be entering the 2018-19 NBA season banged up at best after getting knee surgery in early September. With a healthy Russ, the Thunder probably would’ve been the third seed.

Without him at full strength for all of the season, the Utah Jazz should be able to wrestle that spot away. The Jazz didn’t make any huge additions, but Grayson Allen will help, and Donovan Mitchell should only get better in his second season.

The Thunder’s biggest strength is defense, which the Jazz can say as well. Utah handled Oklahoma City pretty easily in the playoffs last season, and if Rudy Gobert and Ricky Rubio can be healthier this year the Jazz will make it tough for bad teams to score 100 points on any given night. That will get Utah a lot of wins, and as high as third in the conference.

  • 2. Houston Rockets
  • 1. Golden State Warriors

The Houston Rockets aren’t as deep as they were last season. Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute were important players on the 2017-18 Rockets, and their absence will be felt. Still, Chris Paul and James Harden are still here. A lot of this team is intact. The Rockets are still going to shoot the lights out and blow a lot of teams out next season.

The gap might have gotten smaller between the third- and fourth-best Western Conference teams and the Rockets, but it’s not closed quite yet. Unfortunately for Houston, the gap between the Rockets and the first seed widened a bit.

The Warriors are still the NBA’s best team. DeMarcus Cousins will probably help, but even if that experiment doesn’t work out Golden State will still be running out lineups with Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Until somebody beats that four in the playoffs and they’re all together, they get the first spot.

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