NBA Preseason Rankings - 2017

The NBA season is starting earlier this year to allow fewer back-to-back games, so it's time for my preseason rankings. I analyzed every roster move made since the end of last season to determine how much better or worse each team became, then analyzed the full schedule to determine each team's projected final record and playoff seed. The top 2 teams are no surprise, but you can see that a couple of young teams are looking ready to make a big leap this year, while a few perennial contenders have taken a step back. Here are my full preseason ranking and playoff picks:

				Rec		Proj
TW	LW	Team	Rating	W	L	W	L	MOV	SOS	PO Seed
1	4	Cleveland	-13.9			71	11			E1
2	1	Golden State	-12.8			69	13			W1
3	3	Houston	-7.44			60	22			W2
4	19	Minnesota	-6.79			58	24			W3
5	12	Oklahoma City	-5.41			54	28			W4
6	2	San Antonio	-5.02			53	29			W5
7	9	Washington	-4.72			54	28			E2
8	11	Denver	-4.14			51	31			W6
9	5	LA Clippers	-4.04			51	31			W7
10	21	New Orleans	-3.08			48	34			W8
11	6	Utah	-2.47			46	36
12	17	Milwaukee	-2.13			48	34			E4
13	10	Miami	-2.1			49	33			E3
14	16	Charlotte	-0.5			44	38			E5
15	7	Toronto	-0.31			44	38			E6
16	14	Portland	0.731			38	44
17	8	Boston	1.371			39	43			E7
18	22	Detroit	2.298			36	46			E8
19	23	Dallas	2.804			32	50
20	15	Indiana	3.219			33	49
21	25	New York	3.446			33	49
22	13	Memphis	3.591			30	52
23	29	Orlando	4.194			31	51
24	26	Phoenix	5.049			27	55
25	27	Philadelphia	5.331			27	55
26	30	Brooklyn	6.007			26	56
27	20	Atlanta	6.062			26	56
28	28	LA Lakers	6.826			22	60
29	18	Chicago	9.844			18	64
30	24	Sacramento	11.19			14	68

Playoff Picks

First Round

(1) Cavaliers over (8) Pistons
(2) Wizards over (7) Celtics
(6) Raptors over (3) Heat
(5) Hornets over (4) Bucks
(1) Warriors over (8) Pelicans
(2) Rockets over (7) Clippers
(3) Timberwolves over (6) Nuggets
(5) Spurs over (4) Thunder

Second Round

(1) Cavaliers over (5) Hornets
(2) Wizards over (6) Raptors
(1) Warriors over (5) Spurs
(3) Timberwolves over (2) Rockets

Conference Finals

(1) Cavaliers over (2) Wizards
(1) Warriors over (3) Timberwolves

NBA Finals

(1) Cavaliers over (1) Warriors