NBA Handicapping Articles

2017-18 Miami Heat Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/12/2017

Last season for the Miami Heat was, in a word, weird. In the first half of the season they were a dismal 11-30, and they seemed determined to outdo Brooklyn for the first overall pick. In the second half, though, they went 30-11 and were one of the better teams in the entire league. It was a truly bizarre reversal. Management was left with the tough task of figuring out which team was closer to reality and what to do as a result.

2017-18 Detroit Pistons Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/12/2017

Going into last year it seemed like the Detroit Pistons had something going on. Don't get me wrong - they weren't a threat to win the division or even a playoff series in all likelihood. But they seemed to be moving in the right direction. They were at least a little loveable. On that basis, then, last year was a massive disappointment. The team was a long way from great. They won 37 games and finished 10th in the East, and they just weren't relevant in any way at all. In a generally underwhelming year for the Eastern Conference they were among the more disappointing squads.

2017-18 Charlotte Hornets Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/12/2017

I'd love to do a survey of people who identify themselves as at least casual NBA fans. I would bet that a pretty strong majority wouldn't be able to tell you who Steve Clifford is. He is about to begin his fifth year as the head coach in Charlotte, but he is a very anonymous guy for a team that is surprisingly anonymous given the owner. His first and third seasons were winning years, but his second and fourth were disappointments. If the pattern continues then this should be a playoff team this year - one that will lose in the first round. But can they rebound from a 36-win season last year that followed the 48 wins the year before?

2017-18 Toronto Raptors Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/12/2017

The Raptors are in a tough spot right now. They are good enough to consistently win 50 or so games, sell a lot of tickets, and win a playoff series most years. But they would need a miracle - like about 25 debilitating injuries for the stars of other teams - in order to win a title or even make a deep run. They are well behind two teams in the East and probably five or so in the West. So, they are too good to blow it all up but not good enough to do any real damage. And, given that they only made tweaks this offseason, and that they have locked in their core and given up any financial freedom as a result, what we have seen is probably mostly what we will get.

2017-18 Philadelphia 76ers Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/12/2017

This isn't the year that we are going to see the full results of The Process. Philadelphia isn't going to win a title, and it's quite conceivable that they won't even make the playoffs. But what we need to see is progress. We need to see that they are working towards something and that they are closer to the promised land now than they were at any point in this seemingly endless period of struggle. Now, it's easy to say that, but will it actually happen?

2017-18 Boston Celtics Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/9/2017

The Boston Celtics were mad as heck and they weren't going to take it anymore. They had improved significantly, hired the second-best coach in the game, and were easily the second-best team in the conference. The gap between them and Cleveland was still significant, though, and it wasn't going to shrink unless they got radical or LeBron James moved to the West. The latter might happen, but not for another year.

NBA Season Win Totals Predictions: Over and Under Picks for Every Team
by Ricky Dimon - 10/6/2017

The 2017-18 NBA campaign is fast approaching after a wild offseason that saw plenty of all-stars change locations. A lot of teams appear to have gotten markedly better, just as many others seem destined to be much, much worse. How will the Cleveland-Boston trade shake out in the win-loss column? Can Oklahoma City and Houston compete with Golden State for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference? Those questions, and more, will be discussed in the form of "over/under" win totals.

2017-18 Golden State Warriors Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/6/2017

I've waited until I was done previewing every other Western Conference team before I did this one for one simple reason - I was hoping the extra time would allow me to figure out what to say. I mean, what can you really say? A team that was very dominant en route to a title last year is largely intact and will likely be even better if they stay healthy because they have had more time to play together and because there is at least a good chance that their coach will be available for more of the season. How cutting edge and bold of me.

2017-18 Milwaukee Bucks Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/6/2017

The Milwaukee Bucks are a team on the rise. Or at least they hope that this is the case. The "Greek Freak" is one of the most exciting players in the league - the epitome of a point forward with seemingly limitless upside. They have a nice complement of players around him. They play in a division that lost Paul George, Jimmy Butler and Kyrie Irving, so things aren't quite as tough as they have been.

2017-18 Brooklyn Nets Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/6/2017

How not to rebuild a team in the NBA - trade away all your first-round picks and then tank better than any team outside of Philadelphia ever has. When you write it down the approach doesn't make any sense at all, yet for some bizarre reason it is exactly what Brooklyn seems to think would work. Without the addition of young talent that they otherwise would have, the Nets have been forced to cobble together a group of has-beens, never-beens and hopefully-will-bes to try to climb back to respectability after two years in the league's cellar.

2017-18 Los Angeles Clippers Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/5/2017

There are some offseasons that are easy to evaluate - the Celtics and Thunder had really good ones, and the Knicks really didn't. And then there are teams like the Clippers, who did so much that it's hard to really know for sure. Some of what they did was awful - they can spin it all they want, but there is no upside to losing Chris Paul. And some of what they did is brilliant, though it came much later than it should have - stripping Doc Rivers of his front office duties is a move that could only have been exceeded but not being dumb enough to give him the duties in the first place.

2017-18 Portland Trail Blazers Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/5/2017

Some things don't make sense when it comes to how teams are managed. Portland is a good example this year. They went 41-41 last year. That was enough to make the playoffs as the 8th seed, but no one - not even anyone in Portland, or the dressing room for that matter - thought that they had any chance at all against the Warriors in the first round. All they did by finishing 8th was cost themselves a chance at a better draft pick in the lottery. And it's not like they dramatically underachieved, either. After losing significantly more than they had gained entering the season the team was about as good as they were capable of being.

2017-18 Utah Jazz Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/5/2017

For the last few seasons Gordon Hayward has been the face of the Utah Jazz - the one player that people outside of Utah knew and cared about. Well, now he's gone to Boston. He played it up like there was drama involved in his decision, and he didn't know until the end if he was staying or going, but from where I was sitting and watching it sure didn't feel that way. Now the team needs to figure out what their identity is with their centerpiece gone. It would be a mistake to assume that the team is doomed, or that they have nothing else going for them, though. They will be different, but if everything went right then there is a chance that they could exceed the expectations of casual bettors and provide some nice profits as a result. They aren't going to win 51 games like they did last year, so the question is how many fewer games it will be.

2017-18 Phoenix Suns Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/5/2017

It was only a year or so ago that the narrative was that the Phoenix Suns were a very exciting team on the verge of a serious breakthrough. They had loaded up on young talent, Devin Booker served notice that he was legitimate, and the future seemed unavoidably as bright as the desert sun. But after a conference-worst 24 wins last year, and a season win total of a lowly 29 wins this year, it seems that that there is an eclipse of that bright future. It is certainly not time to panic or give up on this team entirely - there is all sorts of young talent aboard. It is just necessary to be very patient - something Suns' fans are all too practiced at having to be. What does the year hold for this squad?

2017-18 Sacramento Kings Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/5/2017

Things have been bleak for the Kings for a long time. A really, really long time. And this year is going to be a bleak year again. But, for once, there is bit of hope for the future. They have three first-round draft picks joining the team, a second-rounder who was national player of the year last year for Kansas, and a fifth rookie from Europe who is as intriguing as any of them. There will be inevitable growing pains, but they aren't burdened with the moodiness of Demarcus Cousins, and they have some guys on board that could grow into a foundation for the future. It's still the Kings, so it's reasonable to be pessimistic that they can pull this off, but things have certainly been worse.

2017-18 Los Angeles Lakers Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/4/2017

The Lakers are back - at least in one way. After a couple of years of being so pathetic that they could only be pitied, the arrival of the Ball family circus has returned them to a familiar place for many NBA fans and bettors - they are again the most hated team in the league. They aren't likely to be very good this year, yet, but they are on the way, and they are poised to make a big splash in free agency next summer to speed up the process dramatically. By this time next year they will very likely be back to being both relevant and incredibly worthy of hate - or love if you are one of 'those'. But where will they be this year?

2017-18 Minnesota Timberwolves Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/4/2017

The number of teams that have missed the playoffs for as long or longer than Minnesota has? Zero. In fact, if Minnesota were to miss the playoffs again this year they would be just one year short of the all-time NBA record for futility. Last year they thought they were poised to break the streak. And they won just 31 games in a bit of a disaster of a season. They could have tweaked slightly and hoped for the best. Instead, they blew things up. It was aggressive, and there was a lot to like - especially if you have been a Bulls fan in recent years. But have they done enough? Can they make the playoffs? And can they be any kind of a viable threat once they get there?

2017-18 Oklahoma City Thunder Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 10/3/2017

You can fault the Oklahoma City Thunder for a few things, but one of them certainly isn't a willingness to experiment. They built a team based around two superstars, and it worked reasonably well, but it wasn't going to get all the way to the promised land, and Kevin Durant realized that and bolted. So they went with one superstar. It got them an MVP title, but never in a million years was it going to win them a title.

2017-18 Houston Rockets Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/27/2017

James Harden had one heck of a season last year, but it wasn't nearly good enough. They beat Oklahoma City in five games in the first round - something that will be much tougher to do this year than it was last year. But then they lost four of six games against the Spurs and were blown out in three of those games. They knew their window wasn't going to stay open forever, and they knew they weren't going to beat Golden State as they were, so they had to get aggressive.

2017-18 Dallas Mavericks Predictions and NBA Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/27/2017

The Dallas Mavericks were bad last year. Really bad. Their strategy seemed to consist mostly of hoping that Dirk Nowitzki got 10 years younger and a point guard appeared out of thin air. Nether happened. Dirk is pretty good - for a guy who has played 19 years in the NBA. He's not him at him best, though, or anywhere near it. The Mavs are stuck in an arms race in the West, with the Warriors all but untouchable, and Houston, Oklahoma City and Minnesota taking very significant steps to try to get closer to success.