NBA Preseason Rankings - 2015-2016

Last year I opened the season picking the Los Angeles Clippers to upset Cleveland to win the first championship in their history, and until midway through their second round series, it looked like a real possibility. It turns out that Golden State, their division rival, stepped in and beat LeBron to win the first title for the Warriors in 40 years. Here are my projections for every team's final record and playoff seeding, with my picks for the playoffs and championship below that:

				Rec		Proj
TW	LW	Team	Rating	W	L	W	L	PO Seed
1	3	LA Clippers	-11.64			66	16	W1
2	1	Golden State	-11.36			66	16	W2
3	2	San Antonio	-9.628			63	19	W3
4	4	Cleveland	-9.578			65	17	E1
5	7	Memphis	-6.821			57	25	W4
6	6	Atlanta	-5.853			57	25	E2
7	9	Chicago	-4.157			53	29	E3
8	12	New Orleans	-3.928			50	32	W5
9	5	Houston	-2.948			47	35	W6
10	11	Oklahoma City	-2.571			47	35	W7
11	14	Toronto	-0.975			45	37	E4
12	15	Washington	-0.799			44	38	E5
13	18	Phoenix	-0.722			42	40	W8
14	8	Portland	-0.588			41	41
15	10	Dallas	-0.304			40	42
16	21	Miami	-0.172			42	40	E6
17	17	Boston	0.5811			41	41	E7
18	24	Sacramento	0.8922			38	44
19	13	Utah	1.1002			37	45
20	19	Milwaukee	1.6204			38	44	E8
21	16	Indiana	2.8969			34	48
22	22	Brooklyn	3.118			35	47
23	26	Orlando	3.2789			34	48
24	20	Detroit	3.6431			32	50
25	25	Charlotte	4.121			32	50
26	28	Minnesota	8.8203			19	63
27	23	Denver	8.9124			19	63
28	27	LA Lakers	10.63			16	66
29	30	New York	12.827			14	68
30	29	Philadelphia	15.965			12	70

The Clippers were one of the top teams all season long in 2014-2015, but fell apart after taking a 3-1 lead over Houston in the second round last year. In the offseason, their biggest acquisition was Josh Smith, who could be a great addition, but has had problems in his last few stops in the NBA. Even bigger was the resigning of DeAndre Jordan, who was moments away from signing with Dallas before the Clippers stole him back, keeping their starting lineup intact and making them the top team in my preseason rankings.

The New Orleans Pelicans are starting the season in my top 10, projected to reach 50 wins and earn a playoff berth, which will be their 4th straight year of an improving record. Anthony Davis is the early favorite to be this season's MVP, and if he is able to get the Pelicans into the top 4 seeds in the West, he should have a pretty good shot at it.

The Oklahoma City Thunder should be back to normal this year after both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook spent significant time on the sideline with various injuries a season ago. If both perennial MVP candidates are able to stay healthy throughout the season, this could be a championship contender, but they should make the playoffs even if one or the other misses some time.

Playoff Picks

First Round

(1) Cavaliers over (8) Bucks
(2) Hawks over (7) Celtics
(3) Bulls over (6) Heat
(5) Wizards over (4) Raptors
(1) Clippers over (8) Suns
(2) Warriors over (7) Thunder
(3) Spurs over (6) Rockets
(4) Grizzlies over (5) Pelicans

Second Round

(1) Cavaliers over (5) Wizards
(3) Bulls over (2) Hawks
(1) Clippers over (4) Grizzlies
(3) Spurs over (2) Warriors

Conference Finals

(1) Cavaliers over (3) Bulls
(3) Spurs over (1) Clippers

NBA Finals

(3) Spurs over (1) Cavaliers

LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard will lead the way alongside the Medium Three as the Spurs meet LeBron James in the Finals for the 4th time, and James loses in the title round for the 5th time in 7 tries.