DBB Boredcast 2.0: The NBA Awards Part 3

Here we are, with the final installment of our DBB NBA Awards. Here we predict the standings at the end of the 2017-18 season, the conference champions, and of course, the NBA Finals Champion.

We all know what is supposed to happen here. Again. But let’s just pretend we don’t and enjoy the...”suspense.”

For the playoff seeding we voted seeds No. 1 through No. 8, with the top seed getting 8 points, the second seed getting 7 points, and so on.

Eastern Conference Standings

1 - Cleveland Cavaliers (60)

2 - Boston Celtics (51)

3 - Washington Wizards (47)

4 - Toronto Raptors (40)

5 - Milwaukee Bucks (30)

6 - Charlotte Hornets (21)

7 - Miami Heat (20)

8 - Detroit Pistons (16)

In our prediction, the Cavs take the top seed back from the Celtics. But these two teams are very up in the air until the fallout from the Kyrie Irving/Isaiah Thomas trade shakes out. If Kyrie buckles under the pressure he asked for, things could get ugly. If Thomas isn’t ready for the beginning of the season, and Derrick Rose is the starting point guard, that could make for ugly or mediocre start to the season for Cleveland (and if Rose returned to his MVP form alongside LeBron, that would be an even bigger story). Who knows? At least it will be more interesting than if both teams stood pat.

Washington hopes to see both Kelly Oubre and Otto Porter take big steps this year to help out John Wall. This team is the only real wild-card to challenge Boston and Cleveland.

Toronto, well...I could see a million outcomes for them, but they haven’t gelled yet so for now they seem like Clippers East (great on paper, in reality a disappointment). DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry shit the bed every offseason, and there’s no reason to think they won’t again.

Milwaukee will be a fun team to watch, especially if Jabari Parker returns in decent form by the All-Star break. The Greek Freak, Giannis Antetokounmpo, training this summer with Thon Maker should make people very afraid.

Charlotte should be better - a return to the mean after a surprisingly off year last year. Dwight Howard being more Magic Dwight than Lakers/Rockets Dwight would go a long way to helping.

Miami and its young guys are a year older, and Erik Spoelstra showed he wasn’t just LeBron’s nurse maid last year, when he got a ragtag bunch to play way over their heads. This year could see them building on that.

Oh and hey, we predict Detroit to squeak in!! More on them ad nauseam over the coming months.

Western Conference Standings

1 - Golden State Warriors (64)

2 - Houston Rockets (54)

3 - San Antonio Spurs (46)

4 - Oklahoma City Thunder (41)

5 - Minnesota Timberwolves (29)

6 - Denver Nuggets (15)

7 - Utah Jazz (12)

7 - Portland Trailblazers (12)

Well, that was not a big surprise - The Warriors got 64 out of 64 points. Their only real issue is the aging of their two top bench guys, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. Otherwise it’s all gravy for them during the season, tuning up for the playoffs from games 1 through 82.

Houston is going to be extremely interesting to watch. Having two players like Chris Paul and James Harden share the floor is an experiment the likes of which we’ve never really seen. It could be magical, transcendent even, or it could be a monumental clash of egos (see: Harden/Howard or Paul/Griffin/Jordan) leading to a monumental flop. Potentially adding Carmelo Anthony to the mix? Shhhheeeeit.

San Antonio will be boringly good. Again. Everyone will talk about how we always count them out blah blah blah.

Oklahoma City is the other wild card in the West. The magnifying glass will be even closer, as this team after Russell Westbrook and Paul George is as thin as Brandon Ingram’s arms. Can these two coexist, or will George be asking to be traded to the Lakers by the All Star Break?

Minnesota almost HAS to be better. The big question is, how do the incumbent youngin’s deal with the introduction of a bunch of new vets? If Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns can co-exist with Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson and Jamal Crawford, this team could be pretty fierce. If not, Tom Thibodeau is going to burst a vocal chord.

Denver is another team seemingly on the rise, with the addition of the older but ever steady Paul Millsap to the budding young stars Nikola Jokic, Gary Harris and Jamal Murray. If only Emmanuel Mudiay could show a teensy bit of the promise so many saw in him before the draft.

Utah needs someone to step up in the wake of the Gordon Hayward departure. You know Rudy Gobert will be better, but one or more of Dante Exum, Rodney Hood, Derrick Favors and Alec Burks need to take the reigns of this team offensively. Donovan Mitchell just might get a chance at that, too.

Portland is an odd one. They made no real moves, but the move they made at the end of last season, acquiring Jusuf Nurkic, might see dividends. Having Damian Lilllard and C.J. McCollum is never a bad thing.

Eastern Conference Champions:

Cleveland Cavaliers (7)

Washington Wizards (1)

What? No Boston? Hard to see anyone in this spot besides the Cavs, even with Kyrie gone and a potentially gimpy Isaiah Thomas. Even if there is no guarantee he’ll stay, if LeBron wants roster moves this year he’ll get them. After all, once LeBron leaves the Cavs chariot turns back into a pumpkin.

Western Conference Champions:

Golden State Warriors (8)

Unless you have a psychic gift and you know that multiple players are going down lengthy amounts of time, there is no logical reason to not see this result.

Or, for that matter, this one:

NBA Champions:

Golden State Warriors (7)

LeBron James (1)

Mike Snyder voted LeBron James...it’s the only chance imaginable of beating this juggernaut. Maybe he can fall into water and multiply, Gremlins-style?

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There you have it...the shocking results. Do you think things turn out any differently?

Please let us know in the comments below and look out for Boredcast 2.0: The Pistons Edition, coming soon.