1. Brooklyn Nets
In the past few years, the Brooklyn Nets have added 6 multiple-time All-Stars, and now have 40 combined All-Star Game appearances in what will most likely be their starting lineup. They have what many people think is a superteam, with talented role players, too. In July 2019, the Nets acquired SG James Harden to play with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving and form a big three with those top NBA players. They also signed Blake Griffin, Lamarcus Aldridge, and Patty Mills to give them more depth to make up for injuries, and to be able to rest star players.
2. Los Angeles Lakers
The LA Lakers aren’t said to be at the Nets’ level, but they are building to it. They already have stars Anthony Davis and Lebron James under contract for multiple years, and they made the biggest move of the entire offseason trading for PG Russell Westbrook. The downside of the Westbrook trade, though, is that they lost some great surrounding players like Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell. The Lakers are set to be a force in the Western Conference this year, but anything could happen with teams like the Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, and Utah Jazz ready to surpass them.
3. Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks just won their first championship in 50 years. They had a few moves in the offseason, but they improved the team. The Bucks let go of power forward PJ Tucker but traded for Grayson Allen and signed PG George Hill. Star forward Giannis Antetokoumpo set too many records to count during the Bucks’ championship run, the question is, can he reach a new level in the 2021-22 season.
4. Denver Nuggets
This is most definitely my bold prediction of the ten. The Nuggets have a lot of players returning from last year, including star point guard Jamal Murray who was out for a bit of last season and the playoffs. Last year’s MVP, Nikola Jokic, is expected to lead the team to the playoffs, but not many people think they’ll go far. My case that they will; the Nuggets won a series in the playoffs without Jamal Murray, who is widely regarded to be their second-best player. So who is to say how much damage they could do this season.
5. Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are coming off their best season in over 25 years. They vanquished three great teams in the playoffs; the Lakers, Nuggets, and Clippers, but I don’t think they will do that this year. They had no picks in the draft but added Landry Shamet and JaVale McGee as their only real moves this offseason. They are ranked fourth in the ESPN post-free agency power rankings, but I think that star point guard Chris Paul will not do as well as everybody thinks, and the Suns will drop in the rankings throughout the season.
6. Utah Jazz
The Jazz had a great season last year, having the best regular season record in the league, but they couldn’t finish it off in the playoffs. They lost 4-2 in six games against the LA Clippers in the conference semifinals. The Jazz only had one draft pick, but might have been the steal of the draft. Baylor’s Jared Butler was up in the twenties and even the teens in some mock drafts but for them to get him at pick number forty is amazing. They made a great move in re-signing Mike Conley, and acquired Eric Paschall from the Warriors. I think they will hold their own in the mighty Western Conference and comfortably make the playoffs this season.
7. Miami Heat
In the 2019-20 season, the Heat were Eastern Conference champions, and they’ve only added to that already-talented team. They re-signed some good role players like Duncan Robinson, and also re-signed star player Jimmy Butler. Conceivably the second-biggest move of the offseason was made by the Heat. They acquired Kyle Lowry from the Toronto Raptors to give them a better starting lineup, and now they can push Goran Dragic onto the bench to give it more depth. It’s hard to argue for a conference championship team being on the rise but the Heat definitely improved their playoff chances this past offseason.
8. Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks had a great run in the playoffs last year, making it all the way to a conference championship series but falling short in a 118-107 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. They re-signed all of their key players; Trae Young, John Collins, and Clint Capela, and also had a great draft. They took Jalen Johnson at pick 20 out of Duke and Sharife Cooper at 48 out of Auburn. Johnson is expected to do well and was in the top 10 on some draft boards and Cooper was ranked at an amazing spot in number 8 on the Sporting News big board. The Hawks may not make a run as far as they did last year, but they definitely put themselves in a position to succeed.
9. LA Clippers
The Clippers have a problem within their organization, and that problem is their stars. Not necessarily their skill level or how they’re performing, but the contracts and injuries. Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are the 14th and 15th highest paid NBA players, and that’s two in the top 15 on one team. George has been on and off injuries for a while and Leonard is going to be hurt into at least the beginning of this season. The contract issues probably won’t come into play this season, but with all of the injuries happening on the Clippers, we can’t count on them making that title run that everyone is waiting for this season.
10. Philadelphia 76ers
The Sixers have a lot of drama going on within their franchise, and it all centers around Ben Simmons. According to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Simmons recently told the Sixers that he wants a trade and will not report to training camp. Star center Joel Embiid commented on this topic saying that Simmons’ actions were, “disappointing and borderline disrespectful” to him and the rest of the team. The Sixers made some moves in the offseason, waiving George Hill and acquiring Andre Drummond, but releasing Simmons or even trading him could definitely bring them down as a team.