Surprise Teams/Players Next Year?

[rtiff68]

List your "surprise" predictions for this upcoming season in this thread. Which team will surpass expectations the most (like the Hawks and Bucks this past year)? Which team will be far worse than expected? Which player(s) will break out?

I think the wheels come off in TOR, and they become sellers at the trade deadline. I also don't see the Pacers bouncing back, even with a healthy Paul George.

I'll also predict that a big name moves via trade this upcoming season.

[denali4eva]

PLEASE LOVE MY WARRIORS!!!

[rtiff68]

PLEASE LOVE MY WARRIORS!!!

Two more surprise predictions:

1) James Harden shaves, and like Sampson, he loses all of his game and becomes a D-Leaguer.

2) Dwight Howard grows a pair of testicles.

[elmouse03]

Magic still suck.

Bulls win the whole thing with rookie Bobby Portis winning finals mvp

[Thedictator]

Mo Williams breakout year drops 53 points in a game

[denali4eva]

PLEASE LOVE MY WARRIORS!!!

Two more surprise predictions:

1) James Harden shaves, and like Sampson, he loses all of his game and becomes a D-Leaguer.

2) Dwight Howard grows a pair of testicles.

[LoneGranger]

List your "surprise" predictions for this upcoming season in this thread. Which team will surpass expectations the most (like the Hawks and Bucks this past year)? Which team will be far worse than expected? Which player(s) will break out?

I think the wheels come off in TOR, and they become sellers at the trade deadline. I also don't see the Pacers bouncing back, even with a healthy Paul George.

I'll also predict that a big name moves via trade this upcoming season.

Care to make an avatar bet on that?

Surprise players? Myles Turner and especially 2nd round pick Joe Young.

[rtiff68]

List your "surprise" predictions for this upcoming season in this thread. Which team will surpass expectations the most (like the Hawks and Bucks this past year)? Which team will be far worse than expected? Which player(s) will break out?

I think the wheels come off in TOR, and they become sellers at the trade deadline. I also don't see the Pacers bouncing back, even with a healthy Paul George.

I'll also predict that a big name moves via trade this upcoming season.

Care to make an avatar bet on that?

Surprise players? Myles Turner and especially 2nd round pick Joe Young.

We would have to come up with a clear definition of "bouncing back." How many games do you see them winning?

[wailuaFC]

Homer pick? Larry nance jr is gonna be a lot better then expected, I've been impressed with what I've seen from him on both ends. Im going to stick with my last years prediction that the hornets will do quite a bit better, they finally realized spacing the floor might actually help kemba and Al Jeff and added batum, lamb, and kaminsky, and they have my future dpoy winner MKG, they will be a top 6 seed in the east

[rtiff68]

Homer pick? Larry nance jr is gonna be a lot better then expected, I've been impressed with what I've seen from him on both ends. Im going to stick with my last years prediction that the hornets will do quite a bit better, they finally realized spacing the floor might actually help kemba and Al Jeff and added batum, lamb, and kaminsky, and they have my future dpoy winner MKG, they will be a top 6 seed in the east

I've literally never seen Nance play.

The Hornets could have a run in them-- I've always been a big MKG fan. I also wouldn't be shocked to see Utah in the mix for the 8th seed in the west.

[vcsgrizzfan]

List your "surprise" predictions for this upcoming season in this thread. Which team will surpass expectations the most (like the Hawks and Bucks this past year)? Which team will be far worse than expected? Which player(s) will break out?

I think the wheels come off in TOR, and they become sellers at the trade deadline. I also don't see the Pacers bouncing back, even with a healthy Paul George.

I'll also predict that a big name moves via trade this upcoming season.

I think the Raps will be just fine. So will the Pacers. Open to avatar bets on both if you can come up with satisfactory definitions of 'wheels falling off' and how that translates into wins.

[PhutureDynasty]

I'll say Porzingis has a 12 / 9 rookie year.

Just a guess

[rtiff68]

List your "surprise" predictions for this upcoming season in this thread. Which team will surpass expectations the most (like the Hawks and Bucks this past year)? Which team will be far worse than expected? Which player(s) will break out?

I think the wheels come off in TOR, and they become sellers at the trade deadline. I also don't see the Pacers bouncing back, even with a healthy Paul George.

I'll also predict that a big name moves via trade this upcoming season.

I think the Raps will be just fine. So will the Pacers. Open to avatar bets on both if you can come up with satisfactory definitions of 'wheels falling off' and how that translates into wins.

The Raptors got off to a strong start (which surprised me); from February on, they closed the regular season 16-17 and were swept out of the 1st round in a series where they had home court advantage. I think they struggle to make the playoffs (37ish wins).

The Ellis signing by Indiana was solid, but I would like it a whole lot more if they hadn't completely disbanded the "EC Grizzlies" squad that made it to back-to-back ECFs. That team beat teams up defensively in the half court, and was desperate for an explosive scoring threat like Ellis. Lance is kind of a headcase, but they allowed him to walk for peanuts. They dumped Hibbert and West signed with the Spurs. Who the hell is going to start for them in the front court? It's not that I necessarily disliked any of those moves in a vacuum, but the total sum of those moves has resulted in them being a completely different team.

I think they end up battling with the Raptors for the 8th seed in the EC with 37-38 wins.

[dunkan5rings]

[youtube]MP-myMQVn5A[/youtube]

[LoneGranger]

List your "surprise" predictions for this upcoming season in this thread. Which team will surpass expectations the most (like the Hawks and Bucks this past year)? Which team will be far worse than expected? Which player(s) will break out?

I think the wheels come off in TOR, and they become sellers at the trade deadline. I also don't see the Pacers bouncing back, even with a healthy Paul George.

I'll also predict that a big name moves via trade this upcoming season.

Care to make an avatar bet on that?

Surprise players? Myles Turner and especially 2nd round pick Joe Young.

We would have to come up with a clear definition of "bouncing back." How many games do you see them winning?

At least 42 and a probable place in the playoffs. That good enough?

[LoneGranger]

List your "surprise" predictions for this upcoming season in this thread. Which team will surpass expectations the most (like the Hawks and Bucks this past year)? Which team will be far worse than expected? Which player(s) will break out?

I think the wheels come off in TOR, and they become sellers at the trade deadline. I also don't see the Pacers bouncing back, even with a healthy Paul George.

I'll also predict that a big name moves via trade this upcoming season.

I think the Raps will be just fine. So will the Pacers. Open to avatar bets on both if you can come up with satisfactory definitions of 'wheels falling off' and how that translates into wins.

The Raptors got off to a strong start (which surprised me); from February on, they closed the regular season 16-17 and were swept out of the 1st round in a series where they had home court advantage. I think they struggle to make the playoffs (37ish wins).

The Ellis signing by Indiana was solid, but I would like it a whole lot more if they hadn't completely disbanded the "EC Grizzlies" squad that made it to back-to-back ECFs. That team beat teams up defensively in the half court, and was desperate for an explosive scoring threat like Ellis. Lance is kind of a headcase, but they allowed him to walk for peanuts. They dumped Hibbert and West signed with the Spurs. Who the hell is going to start for them in the front court? It's not that I necessarily disliked any of those moves in a vacuum, but the total sum of those moves has resulted in them being a completely different team.

I think they end up battling with the Raptors for the 8th seed in the EC with 37-38 wins.

You don't mean get rid of Paul George do you? I'm happy that Hibbert, Lance, West, Watson, Scola, etc are gone. This new Pacers team will be much quicker, and still have defense, albeit maybe not quite as strong.

[rtiff68]

I think the Raps will be just fine. So will the Pacers. Open to avatar bets on both if you can come up with satisfactory definitions of 'wheels falling off' and how that translates into wins.

The Raptors got off to a strong start (which surprised me); from February on, they closed the regular season 16-17 and were swept out of the 1st round in a series where they had home court advantage. I think they struggle to make the playoffs (37ish wins).

The Ellis signing by Indiana was solid, but I would like it a whole lot more if they hadn't completely disbanded the "EC Grizzlies" squad that made it to back-to-back ECFs. That team beat teams up defensively in the half court, and was desperate for an explosive scoring threat like Ellis. Lance is kind of a headcase, but they allowed him to walk for peanuts. They dumped Hibbert and West signed with the Spurs. Who the hell is going to start for them in the front court? It's not that I necessarily disliked any of those moves in a vacuum, but the total sum of those moves has resulted in them being a completely different team.

I think they end up battling with the Raptors for the 8th seed in the EC with 37-38 wins.

You don't mean get rid of Paul George do you? I'm happy that Hibbert, Lance, West, Watson, Scola, etc are gone. This new Pacers team will be much quicker, and still have defense, albeit maybe not quite as strong.

I absolutely don't think that they should get rid of George. I'm not sure how you got that, haha.

They will be a faster team, but are they good enough to play fast? I feel like they broke up a very good bruising/grinding team in order to transform into a pretty "meh" fast paced team.

I feel like they sacrificed their defense, and they're not dynamic enough offensively to out-score teams.

I'll take the under on 42 wins. 1 week avatar bet?

Side note: I don't have anything against them personally, this is just my hoops opinion. I would actually be happy to see Paul George come back fully healthy and prove me wrong.

[vcsgrizzfan]

List your "surprise" predictions for this upcoming season in this thread. Which team will surpass expectations the most (like the Hawks and Bucks this past year)? Which team will be far worse than expected? Which player(s) will break out?

I think the wheels come off in TOR, and they become sellers at the trade deadline. I also don't see the Pacers bouncing back, even with a healthy Paul George.

I'll also predict that a big name moves via trade this upcoming season.

I think the Raps will be just fine. So will the Pacers. Open to avatar bets on both if you can come up with satisfactory definitions of 'wheels falling off' and how that translates into wins.

The Raptors got off to a strong start (which surprised me); from February on, they closed the regular season 16-17 and were swept out of the 1st round in a series where they had home court advantage. I think they struggle to make the playoffs (37ish wins).

The Ellis signing by Indiana was solid, but I would like it a whole lot more if they hadn't completely disbanded the "EC Grizzlies" squad that made it to back-to-back ECFs. That team beat teams up defensively in the half court, and was desperate for an explosive scoring threat like Ellis. Lance is kind of a headcase, but they allowed him to walk for peanuts. They dumped Hibbert and West signed with the Spurs. Who the hell is going to start for them in the front court? It's not that I necessarily disliked any of those moves in a vacuum, but the total sum of those moves has resulted in them being a completely different team.

I think they end up battling with the Raptors for the 8th seed in the EC with 37-38 wins.

So one week avatar bets on each team with the over/under at 38?

[LoneGranger]

The Raptors got off to a strong start (which surprised me); from February on, they closed the regular season 16-17 and were swept out of the 1st round in a series where they had home court advantage. I think they struggle to make the playoffs (37ish wins).

The Ellis signing by Indiana was solid, but I would like it a whole lot more if they hadn't completely disbanded the "EC Grizzlies" squad that made it to back-to-back ECFs. That team beat teams up defensively in the half court, and was desperate for an explosive scoring threat like Ellis. Lance is kind of a headcase, but they allowed him to walk for peanuts. They dumped Hibbert and West signed with the Spurs. Who the hell is going to start for them in the front court? It's not that I necessarily disliked any of those moves in a vacuum, but the total sum of those moves has resulted in them being a completely different team.

I think they end up battling with the Raptors for the 8th seed in the EC with 37-38 wins.

You don't mean get rid of Paul George do you? I'm happy that Hibbert, Lance, West, Watson, Scola, etc are gone. This new Pacers team will be much quicker, and still have defense, albeit maybe not quite as strong.

I absolutely don't think that they should get rid of George. I'm not sure how you got that, haha.

They will be a faster team, but are they good enough to play fast? I feel like they broke up a very good bruising/grinding team in order to transform into a pretty "meh" fast paced team.

I feel like they sacrificed their defense, and they're not dynamic enough offensively to out-score teams.

I'll take the under on 42 wins. 1 week avatar bet?

Side note: I don't have anything against them personally, this is just my hoops opinion. I would actually be happy to see Paul George come back fully healthy and prove me wrong.

My mistake, I thought you wanted them to completely disband the EC Grizzlies. You wanted them to stay more or less together. Got it I think. If things work out, I believe they will have enough scoring punch to win 42 games. That I believe is very possible. Their first round pick Turner looks to be the equal to Hibbert at the rim at least and much much better offensively. Plus he's quicker all around.

I'll take your under bet. Do we need to make it official or is this good?

[rtiff68]

You don't mean get rid of Paul George do you? I'm happy that Hibbert, Lance, West, Watson, Scola, etc are gone. This new Pacers team will be much quicker, and still have defense, albeit maybe not quite as strong.

I absolutely don't think that they should get rid of George. I'm not sure how you got that, haha.

They will be a faster team, but are they good enough to play fast? I feel like they broke up a very good bruising/grinding team in order to transform into a pretty "meh" fast paced team.

I feel like they sacrificed their defense, and they're not dynamic enough offensively to out-score teams.

I'll take the under on 42 wins. 1 week avatar bet?

Side note: I don't have anything against them personally, this is just my hoops opinion. I would actually be happy to see Paul George come back fully healthy and prove me wrong.

My mistake, I thought you wanted them to completely disband the EC Grizzlies. You wanted them to stay more or less together. Got it I think. If things work out, I believe they will have enough scoring punch to win 42 games. That I believe is very possible. Their first round pick Turner looks to be the equal to Hibbert at the rim at least and much much better offensively. Plus he's quicker all around.

I'll take your under bet. Do we need to make it official or is this good?

Nah man, we're good.