As the NBA All-Star Break wraps up, we look ahead to our championship predictions for the season. With one of the craziest trade deadlines in basketball history, the possible champions this season are still entirely up in the air.
There is no “super team” currently, and the amount of teams outwardly tanking seems less than ever. The league has trended towards parity this season in a way that it rarely does, and the Western Conference in particular is still a competitive race for almost every playoff spot.
Our preseason pick to win it all remains our pick to win it all after more than half the season has passed.
After an NBA Finals appearance and with a core of star wings still under 26, the Celtics went ahead and pulled the trigger on a Malcolm Brogdon deal. The only real cost to attain him was a future first-round pick.
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He boosted their odds to the title favorite, as the perfect complementary guard in their system, and the Celtics haven’t looked back as Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have made their case as the best tandem in basketball.
After their first taste of the finals, there’s no reason to believe Tatum and Brown won’t be right back in the mix. The Boston Celtics are the safe pick at +270.
While the Cavaliers have the longest odds of the top 10 teams in the league, they also have some of the most top-end talent, and one of the more balanced rosters.
Between Evan Mobley, Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and their cast of supporting talent, it’s difficult to understand why the Cavaliers are such heavy underdogs to win it all, after pushing their way to the fourth seed in the East.
Understanding that much of the Cavaliers team is young and lacking in big-game experience, I do understand why they’re behind teams like the Bucks and Suns, but this is a team that can absolutely get hot in the playoffs. Plus if injuries affect their opponents in a way that they manage to avoid, the Cavaliers can absolutely make it to the final series of the season.
Whether they could win it all remains to be seen, but they’re not lacking in the necessary talent to do so.
When healthy, the core of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton have not lost a playoff series. They complement each other incredibly well and have already shown to be a championship-level core.
A rejuvenated Bucks and Antetokounmpo is still my prediction to win the 2023 NBA championship — the odds may not reflect them as the favorite, but with a multi-time MVP, and the likely runner-up for DPOY this year, there are few (if any) teams with a stronger starting five than the Bucks.
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