2UP 2DOWN’s: NBA BOLD PREDICTIONS FOR 2018-19!
By:Tyrone Montgomery Jr.
Headline Photo From SportingNews.com
• Lebron James won’t play in the NBA Finals
Over the summer, The King of the league who made the finals the last 8 seasons made a bit of a change. He started from the bottom, and now he’s here, in Los Angeles. His team in Cleveland was built to win now. The Lakers are a team of the future, and its going to take some time to build chemistry both on and off the court. He is the oldest player on his team, playing alongside a bunch of kids with a ton of potential. Lebron should definitely be considered the GOAT if he can manage to bring this team to success. However, this team is not ready for the finals just yet.
• The Golden State Warriors will win, Again
The Warriors have proven to be a team about their business, and Warriors Owner Joe Lacob has proven that he is a man of his word. He told the world in an interview with Bruce Schoenfeld of the New York Times that this team was lightyears ahead of the league back in 2016. While Lebron made a move this offseason, The Warriors had a trick up their sleeve as well with the signing of Demarcus Cousins. They got Boogie at a discounted rate at that, signing him to the veteran minimum 1 Year, $2.4 Million deal. With this move, the Warriors literally have a starting lineup full of All-Stars, 1 Defensive Player of The Year, 2 League MVP’s, 2 Three Point Contest Winners, along with a Finals-MVP coming off the bench. Lebron is the best shot at beating the Warriors, and he failed to get it done this past season. In fact, The Warriors handled business fairly easily too. With the addition of Demarcus Cousins, the only way the Warriors can lose is if they beat themselves. The Warriors will 3-Peat and win yet another championship.
• The Boston Celtics will dominate The Eastern Conference
Last season didn’t quite go the way The Celtics had planned on it going. At the very start, the Celtics were in Cleveland, and there they lost their big free agency signing, Gordon Hayward, for the season with a gruesome and severe knee injury. Even the Cavalier players couldn’t bare the site of it. Prayers went up to Gordon Hayward and his family that night. To add to the pain, their star player who they traded for, Kyrie Irving, failed to remain healthy throughout the season. This happened at the wrong time, as they Celtics were gearing up for a long playoff run when it was decided for Irving to have season ending knee surgery. Surprisingly, despite the injuries, The Celtics managed to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, meeting Lebron James and the Cavaliers, pushing them to 6 games, coming up just short of the NBA Finals. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were pleasant surprises for The Celtics. If it wasn’t for Ben Simmons, and Donavan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum probably should have been our KIA NBA Rookie of The Year. This Celtics team is deep at every position, they have excellent coaching, and they are a matchup nightmare for the entire league, matching up perfectly with the Golden State Warriors. The Cavs, Sixers, and even the Raptors have all taken steps backwards. Look for The Celtics to run things in the East, at least during the regular season that is.
• Pop, Spurs will miss the Playoffs
Not only is The Duncan Era over, The Parker Era and The Kawhi Era is over too. Additionally, The Ginobili Era appears to be over as well as the 4X Champion mulling retirement. Losing Dejounte Murray with the torn ACL doesn’t help either. Acquiring Demar Derozan after Leonard demanded was the best solution. Derozan may not be Kawhi Leonard, but he is still an All-Star and brings A LOT to the table. Despite losing the better player, dealing Kawhi still makes The Spurs the winner of this deal largely due to medical reasons from Kawhi Leonard. However, with Leonard out in San Antonio, this could be the beginning of the end of the Spurs Dynasty. Look for Coach Popovich to call it a career soon, as this will be the first time in awhile the Spurs will be on the outside looking in. Derozan and Lamarcus Aldridge will be on the move soon. The rebuild is officially in effect in San Antonio.
• Giannis Antetokounmpo will win MVP, make the finals
With the beast out of the East, someone has to mark their territory, and his name is Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Greek Freak had the most All-Star votes in the entire Eastern Conference last season, surpassing the Great Lebron James. He was amazing last season, averaging 27 PPG, 10 RBP, and 5 APG. The scary thing is he managed to put up those numbers shooting only 30% from beyond the ark. Every great player puts in the work every summer to perfect their craft, and he is only going to get better. He is only 23 years of age, and he seems to be at the top of his game ready to take over the league already. The acquisition of Eric Bledsoe last season was good news, but bad timing. Giannis was running the offense as a point forward, so it was hard to incorporate Bledsoe into the flow of things. An offseason and a good training camp will be good for this team. Starting the season completely also helps.
The firing of Head Coach Jason Kidd was unfortunate and unrewarding to the Milwaukee Bucks, but they have to get over that. One way is to add an even better coach. This offseason, they signed former Atlanta Hawks Coach Mike Budenholzer to a contract. Budenholzer led a 60 Win Hawks team a few years ago. He did so defensively as the Hawks were in the Top 5 for their opponent’s points per game. Another way the Bucks improved is the fact they added more talent. Brook Lopez and The Bucks agreed to a contract over the summer. The Bucks are now a complete team who offer good floor spacing as well as exceptional production off the bench. Defense wins championships and this team will be tough to score on this season. If this team is healthy, they can easily meet The Warriors in The NBA Finals.
