20 Maybe Ridiculous 2019-20 NBA Predictions! 🏀
The NBA season is coming and I’m getting excited. There are a lot of story lines. There are a lot of questions. And for the first time in a long time, there isn’t a super-strong favourite for the NBA championship.
As Toronto Raptors fan, my expectations are tempered. I know that people are low on the team with Kawhi gone. I know that. But I’m still excited to watch the games and cheer for the team and enjoy NBA basketball.
To get myself ready, and hopefully you too, I’ve got 20 predictions for the 2019-20 NBA season. Some of them are out of left field. I’m not putting any money on any of these things because that would be foolish. But there is a chance.
Let’s get to it!
20 Maybe Ridiculous 2019-20 NBA Predictions!
🏀 1. The 2019 NBA Champion Toronto Raptors will make the playoffs, earning the Eastern Conference 4th seed.
AND / OR
🏀 2. Masai Ujiri will take step one in his blow-it-all-up rebuild by moving some or all of Ibaka, Gasol, Lowry.
🏀 3. The Boston Celtics do not click as planned and either Gordon Hayward gets moved or one of the young bucks (Tatum or Brown) gets packaged in an ill-advised trade.
🏀 4. Without KD and Klay, Steph Curry will set the record for most 3-pointers in a season (again).
🏀 5. The Los Angeles Clippers will finish with a better record than the Los Angeles Lakers.
🏀 6. But the Los Angeles Clippers won’t finish the regular season with the #1 seed in the Western Conference.
🏀 7. Reports surface sometime during the season that Russell Westbrook and James Harden have had at least one screaming (and maybe shoving) match at a Rockets practice.
🏀 8. Chris Paul will land in Miami in a mid-season trade.
🏀 9. Vince Carter will land in Toronto to finish his career either in the buyout market or in a trade from the Atlanta Hawks in a deadline move.
🏀 10. Jamal Murray or Andrew Wiggins will score 50 points in a regular season game this season.
🏀 11. The Milwaukee Bucks will earn the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference (again).
🏀 12. Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans will win more games this season (41-43) than last season (33), but won’t be in the playoffs in year one.
🏀 13. RJ Barrett shows New York that he was the right pick in the draft by the Knicks. And about the only thing right with the team.
🏀 14. Ben Simmons will hit at least three but no more than five 3-pointers this season for the Philadelphia 76ers.
🏀 15. Pascal Siakim will be an All-Star.
🏀 16. We will get at least one feature story about Golden State Warriors fans in Oakland that are upset because they are priced out / removed from their place in the fandom with the team moved to San Francisco.
🏀 17. Giannis Antetokounmpo will accidentally jump higher than he intends and hit his head on the rim.
🏀 18. Kyrie Irving – I don’t know exactly what the prediction is here – but something is going to happen with Irving and the New York media either with some wild philosophical ramblings or a reporter saying the team needs Kevin Durant or he’s ranting about the play of the younger members of the Brooklyn Nets.
🏀 19. Markelle Fultz plays in 72 games for the Orlando Magic, has a breakout game against Philly on December 27, and wins Comeback Player of the Year.
🏀 20. The Toronto Raptors will not repeat as NBA Champions – but I’m totally okay with that because they won the Larry O’Brien trophy last year and banners hang forever.
2019-20 Eastern and Western Conference Playoff Team Predictions
| Eastern Conference Playoff Teams | Western Conference Playoff Teams |
|---|---|
| – Toronto Raptors | – LA Clippers |
| – Milwaukee Bucks | – LA Lakers |
| – Philadelphia 76ers | – Houston Rockets |
| – Boston Celtics | – Denver Nuggets |
| – Miami Heat | – Utah Jazz |
| – Indiana Pacers | – Portland Trail Blazers |
| – Brooklyn Nets | – Golden State Warriors |
| – Orlando Magic | – Dallas Mavericks |
not in seeded order
