AD: What’s up everybody? Welcome back to yet another episode of EE-SPN. My name is Arjun Dhruv and I’m joined here with my co-host, Manas Kottakota. Today, we’re going to be diving into some of our predictions for the upcoming season, including the end of season awards, in-season tournament and just overall standings and how we think this year is going to play out. Manas?
MK: The first thing we should talk about is who we think are going to make the finals for each conference first. Who do you think are the top three teams for each conference?
AD: So far we’ve seen the Cavs on their 15-0 undefeated streak. I think they’re definitely a contender in the East. The Celtics, obviously. For my third team, I’m gonna have to go with the Knicks. I think they really picked up some star power with the addition of Karl Anthony Towns and they’ve been playing not to their best potential, but I feel like they have more potential to really gel as a team and become a true contender in the East.
MK: So far, with what I’ve seen, I feel like the Knicks haven’t really lived up to the hype, especially with acquiring a talent like Karl Anthony Towns, so I don’t see as much upside as I think you’re seeing. I’m mostly between the Cavaliers and the Celtics, but I’m still thinking the Celtics over the Cavaliers. I don’t really see much postseason success for the Cavaliers in their history recently, so I’m not thinking that they have the veteran experience that can carry them through.
AD: Yeah, that is true. The Celtics are coming off of a championship run and they have really established their stars as some of the best players in the league, with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown as well and even their depth with Payton Pritchard. I also think they’re going to be a force to be reckoned with in the East. And what about the West, Manas?
MK: Well, with the West, I think there’s a lot of top contenders and it’s a lot closer than the East. You can’t make such bold statements, I think. But I think the Warriors have really surprised us this season. The OKC Thunder have been doing what most people have expected and the Lakers also are quite a surprise. I don’t think people saw those teams, the Warriors and Lakers, being as good as they have been, so I wouldn’t be surprised if those teams make deep runs in the playoffs.
AD: Yeah, I think the West is a little hard to predict right now, just because all the teams are so competitive, especially with the Warriors playing so well, the Lakers, the Rockets too. The number 10 scene in the West is 7-7, which is ridiculous. But anyways, the West is really a powerhouse this year and I think, like you said, the Warriors, the Thunder, the Lakers, even the Nuggets and Timberwolves — I think there are a bunch of contenders coming out of the west.
MK: The Timberwolves have been expected to have a lot of success this season. So what are your thoughts on them not being a top six seed and being the play-in-tournament so far?
AD: I think it’s still really early in the season. I think we have a lot of basketball left to play. Their new acquisition of Julius Randle has been playing great for them. He’s really paired with Anthony Edwards. He recently hit a game winner, and he’s filled the role that Karl Anthony Towns left in Minnesota, and so I think they still have their best yet to come.
AD: Let’s take a minute and talk about some of the end of season stats. So who do you think is going to take home the MVP this year?
MK: Before the season started, I really thought it was going to be Luka [Doncic], but seeing the Mavericks’ success so far, I’m not sure if the regular season record will help him get the MVP. I know that Luka can fill the stat sheet, so I thought he would be the leader. But so far, it’s looking like another Jokic season with the way he’s filling the stat sheet and also the Nuggets being pretty successful.
AD: Yeah, I have to agree that Luka is pretty good, but I think the MVP this year might go to someone like Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] or Jokic, who have been carrying their teams and putting up great numbers. We’ve seen Jokic do this every year and I think he hasn’t taken a step back in terms of his production, so I think he’s still up there as an MVP candidate.
MK: I still think, though, that voter fatigue may come in, preventing Jokic from winning another MVP, because he’s running for his fourth one now. In the past four years, he’s won three I think, so there’s going to be a lot of voter fatigue regarding him winning another MVP. So I think players like Shai Gilgeous Alexander just may get their first MVP this season.
AD: Moving on, let’s talk about Defensive Player of the Year. So for me, personally, it’s pretty obvious that it’s Victor Wembanyama. He’s been doing unreal things on the court in terms of his blocks and just overall presence on defense. But I also think a dark horse candidate could be Dyson Daniels. We’ve seen him play great defense as a guard on the Hawks, leading the league in deflections, on record pace for deflections as well as steals, so I think that he could also maybe steal it from Victor, depending on how the rest of the season goes.
MK: What about players like Chet Holmgren, because we’ve seen that Defensive Player of the Year also takes into account the success of the team’s defense as a whole, as well as individual players. With Rudy Gobert, his teams have been a lot better with him off the court, especially in regards to its defense and like the OKC are by far one of the best defensive teams in the NBA compared to the Spurs or the Hawks.
AD: Yeah, I do think Chet would have been up there for Defensive Player of the Year, but we recently saw him go down with that injury and so he’s out for, I believe it’s eight to 10 weeks, so that’s going to be devastating for that team. And we’ve seen them struggle against the Warriors in their game that they’ve played without Chet, and I think he is a star defensive player who will affect the Thunder because of his absence.
MK: Talking more about your Dyson Daniels take. I feel like right now he’s on a little bit of an unsustainable run, unlike Wembanyama, who can carry over his success that he’s been having from the beginning of the season. I don’t think he’s going to continue averaging like almost four steals a game.
AD: Yeah, I do think it’s still too early in the season, but I’m just saying, based on what we’ve seen in the past few games, I think he could be just a dark horse candidate to take it away from Wemby, but I do think that Wembanyama is the front runner for that Defensive Player of the Year.
MK: I definitely agree that Wembanyama is the favorite for DPOY. I don’t think it’s going to be that close, especially for all the future years coming he’s definitely going to be a favorite. I just want to cycle it back to the NBA championship and who you think is going to win, because that’s really the most important thing. So what are your thoughts?
AD: So let’s talk about the East first. Like I said before, the Celtics and Cavs are both a powerhouse, but the Cavs have really just been looking unstoppable. Not only have they been beating teams, they’ve been beating good teams by a lot. We saw them beat the Warriors by a lot recently too, which is pretty impressive for a young team like them. And also, we’ve never seen a team start 15-0 or better and not make the finals. So I think they’ll still make a deep playoff run, and I think they’re the team to be out of the East rather than the Celtics. What about you?
MK: I disagree. I still think the Celtics will win just due to their experience in the playoffs. They already won one ring last year. The Cavaliers were a bit of a disappointment last year, so even though they’re having a really good season this year, I don’t think they’ll be able to carry that all the way to the NBA Finals.
AD: But the Cavaliers, they recently acquired a new head coach, Kenny Atkinson, and he’s really been turning it around. So I don’t think you can just compare their disappointments last year to how they’re playing this year, because I think this is a completely new Cavaliers team.
MK: If I’m being honest, I think the Cavaliers are just on a little bit of a Mickey Mouse run right now and as soon as their luck runs out, we’ll see the real team and their real skill level.
AD: You could say that, but they have been beating real teams and playing real opponents that they’ve been beating. We’ve seen them. They’re about to face off against the Celtics this week, so we’ll see how they do in that matchup. But I think they’ve still shown that they’ve been able to beat good teams and by a lot too.
MK: Yeah, so between the Cavaliers or the Celtics, but I guess we’re just gonna have to agree to disagree, because I’m more confident in the Celtics’ ability.
AD: Let’s turn it over to the Western Conference. Now we have a few powerhouse teams in the Western Conference, but who have you got coming out of the West?
MK: For the West, I’m still confident in the Warriors. I think we’re gonna see a Boston Celtics warriors rematch this season. The Warrior success has just been really surprising, but also they’ve been really confident in their abilities. Their depth is crazy. They’re always putting players off and they’re being able to put their max energy in, because there’s always going to be another player on the bench who’s ready to play, which has really helped propel them to the top of the Western Conference.
AD: I do feel like the Warriors could be a threat in the West, but I don’t really see them coming out of the West entirely, because they were not a great basketball team last year and this year, they suddenly turned it around versus a team that’s been consistently good, like the Thunder, the Nuggets or even the Mavericks, I feel like they have a higher chance of coming out of the West.
MK: Well, that’s pretty much what happened in 2022. The years before, first they didn’t even make the playoffs and then they got bumped out of the play-in tournament and then the next season, they immediately won the ring. And I feel like we’re seeing a similar path with the way the Warriors GM has played with this team and the roster and they’re going to see similar success to that season.
AD: OK and that’s all we have for you. Thank you so much for tuning in to Episode 7 of EE-SPN. We’ll see you guys next time.
