NBA Preseason Rankings

The NBA season is only 3 days away, and things have sure changed. LeBron James has returned to Cleveland, where he played his first 7 seasons, and Kevin Durant, last year's MVP, is hurt and will miss several weeks to open the season. One thing that hasn't changed is the Spurs' lineup, which is as strong as it has always been and will keep San Antonio in contention for yet another season. Here are my preseason ranks, including each team's projected final record and playoff seed:

				Rec		Proj
TW	LW	Team	Rating	W	L	W	L	PO Seed
1	1	San Antonio	-9.3268	62	20	64	18	1W
2	2	LA Clippers	-8.27899	57	25	62	20	2W
3	4	Golden State	-4.84046	51	31	54	28	3W
4	9	Toronto	-4.61172	48	34	55	27	1E
5	20	Cleveland	-4.29087	33	49	53	29	2E
6	11	Memphis	-3.42563	50	32	50	32	4W
7	7	Dallas	-3.31462	49	33	50	32	5W
8	10	Washington	-3.11928	44	38	51	31	4E
9	15	New York	-3.0017	37	45	51	31	3E
10	8	Phoenix	-2.98438	48	34	49	33	6W
11	5	Oklahoma City	-2.46164	59	23	48	34	7W
12	12	Chicago	-2.43301	48	34	49	33	5E
13	3	Miami	-2.19292	54	28	49	33	6E
14	14	Portland	-1.39374	54	28	45	37	8W
15	6	Houston	-1.17206	54	28	44	38
16	16	Charlotte	-0.94113	43	39	44	38	7E
17	17	Indiana	-0.36741	56	26	43	39	8E
18	24	Detroit	0.100418	29	53	42	40
19	19	Atlanta	1.155735	38	44	39	43
20	13	Minnesota	1.459585	40	42	37	45
21	21	Denver	1.475349	36	46	37	45
22	23	Sacramento	2.213746	28	54	35	47
23	25	Boston	3.929506	25	57	31	51
24	18	Brooklyn	4.235746	44	38	31	51
25	22	New Orleans	5.905425	34	48	25	57
26	29	Milwaukee	6.656739	15	67	25	57
27	26	Orlando	6.74096	23	59	24	58
28	28	Utah	6.894136	25	57	22	60
29	27	LA Lakers	10.7863	27	55	15	67
30	30	Philadelphia	17.9761	19	63	10	72

The biggest story of the offseason has been the Cleveland Cavaliers, who brought back LeBron James, the greatest player of his generation, then traded for Kevin Love, a great scoring and rebounding big man, which made them an immediate championship favorite. Those two moves weren't the only ones made by the Cavs, who also brought in Mike Miller and James Jones, 3-point specialists who have played with LeBron in the past, and Shawn Marion, a former All-Star who is still a solid NBA player.

New York is also looking to make the playoffs this year after falling just short last year, but they didn't make a ton of big offseason moves like the Cavs. The biggest move was a swap of centers and point guards with Dallas, bringing in Samuel Dalembert and Jose Calderon for Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton, and while there is a small step down at center, Calderon is a more consistent and trustworthy point who should help the Knicks get over the hump this year.

Phoenix is the third team to miss last year's playoffs that I am picking to make it this season. The Suns made very few moves in the offseason, with the resigning of Eric Bledsoe taking most of the headlines, but they also acquired Isaiah Thomas from the Kings, giving them yet another point guard who can score 20 points per game and will allow them to play with two point guards on the court at almost all times.

Playoff Predictions

First Round

(1) Raptors over (8) Pacers
(2) Cavaliers over (7) Hornets
(6) Heat over (3) Knicks
(5) Bulls over (4) Wizards
(1) Spurs over (8) Trail Blazers
(2) Clippers over (7) Thunder
(6) Suns over (3) Warriors
(5) Mavericks over (4) Grizzlies

Second Round

(1) Raptors over (5) Bulls
(2) Cavaliers over (6) Heat
(1) Spurs over (5) Mavericks
(2) Clippers over (6) Suns

Conference Finals

(2) Cavaliers over (1) Raptors
(2) Clippers over (1) Spurs

NBA Finals

(2) Clippers over (2) Cavaliers

Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, and the Clippers will each earn a championship for the first time, taking out LeBron James and the Cavs in the Finals, with James making his 5th straight Finals appearance and 6th overall, but losing for the 4th time in those 6, but the first loss to a team from outside Texas.