The 2019-20 NBA season begins on Tuesday, and to get you ready for what has the potential to be a chaotic year, Dime’s staff came together for a series of roundtables to preview the campaign. Today, we pick the winners of each conference and select the team we think will become NBA champions.
Previous roundtables: 2019-20 Eastern Conference preview, 2019-20 Western Conference preview.
Who wins the Eastern Conference?
Nekias Duncan: The Sixers. Ben Simmons will take an MVP-like leap, and I’m not sure Giannis has enough behind him to help him overcome the new-look behemoths in Philadelphia.
Konata Edwards: The Bucks. Coaching and guard play are the differences between them and the Sixers.
Chris Barnewall: Give me the Sixers. They were four bounces off the rim away from knocking off the eventual NBA champs last season. Now they have Al Horford. This team is going to be impossible to score on.
Jamie Cooper: I’ll take the Sixers. They were already close last year, despite their many deficiencies, and they’re even deeper now.
Christian Rivas: The Sixers have the most talent on paper, but I just can’t imagine Giannis Antetokounmpo letting another team but the Bucks go to the NBA Finals.
Brad Rowland: I have more confidence in the Bucks getting the No. 1 seed than I do in the Bucks winning the East, but I’ll still take them. There is just too much uncertainty with Philadelphia’s offense, but Milwaukee’s playoff question marks are worth broaching.
Katie Heindl: Milwaukee. Giannis just wants it too bad to let whatever flip-flop the East’s seeding will work out to to matter.
Robby Kalland: Sixers. I just think that defense is going to be filthy and I don’t trust Eric Bledsoe in the playoffs.
Bill DiFilippo: Milwaukee. I do not feel good about this, but I just don’t know if I can predict that the Sixers can make enough shots to win four times in seven games. Of course, if they can, or if they acquire some shooting, that changes. But for now, Milwaukee gets it done.
Who wins the Western Conference?
Duncan: The Clippers. This is a wings league, and the Clippers have two of the six-best wings in the NBA on top of incredible depth pieces.
Edwards: The Lakers. I really wanted to put the Clippers here, I really did. But I have a hard time trusting one of the key wings (Paul George) to be healthy.
Barnewall: The Rockets. I am the fool that thinks this is the year the Rockets finally break through and push into the NBA Finals. Their isolation style of basketball is insufferable but it works and their Bay Area boogie men will spend much of this season recovering from devastating injuries.
Cooper: The Lakers. I think LeBron is gonna feel like he has something to prove after last season’s debacle, and that’s bad news for everyone else.
Rivas: Unless “Train Wreck 2: Off the Rails” gets green lit, the Lakers.
Rowland: My head says the Clippers because they have so many outs.
Heindl: The Clippers, though it’ll be close with all the proving it LeBron will be doing this season.
Kalland: The Jazz. Clips-Lakers in the semis wear each other out and I just kinda think Utah’s going to be nasty this year if Gobert stays healthy. I could be incredibly wrong here, but this is more fun than taking an L.A. team.
DiFilippo: The Clippers. Their mix of shooting, defense, and superstars makes me think they’re best suited to navigate what should be an absolutely brutal Western Conference. The lack of bigs, however, is concerning.
Who wins the NBA Finals?
Duncan: I … think I’m going to roll with the Sixers. If we get Clippers-Sixers, I’m not sure who on the Clippers could dream of defending Joel Embiid.
Edwards: The Bucks. LeBron passes the torch to the next dominant wing in Giannis. Elton John starts playing “Circle of Life” and everyone’s happy.
Barnewall: James Harden wins NBA Finals MVP to a chorus of boos after he trips over Adam Silver and we discover he wasn’t flopping. He just has horrible balance.
Cooper: Lakers. They still have problems with their roster, but I think they’ll make a couple more moves before the trade deadline to load up, and LeBron and his experience will win out over the Sixers in a Finals showdown.
Rivas: It’s entirely possible that LeBron James has a “No Country For Old Men” moment against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, but the Lakers have Anthony Davis, and he could very well be the best player in that series when the time comes.
Rowland: I can’t express how little confidence I have in this pick but give me the Clippers. The combination of flexibility and high-end talent is enough for me, even while acknowledging that there is no real “favorite” this season.
Heindl: Flinging my brain this far forward makes me so tired already, but, the Clippers, if only because Kawhi Leonard in the Finals is indefatigable. A pleasant, unrelenting terror.
Kalland: I have allowed myself to be talked into the Sixers winning the NBA title. The bloodbath of the Western Conference playoffs is going to be much more taxing on whoever comes out of there and I just think Philly has the size to bother any team in the league to the point where, in a 7-game set, I think they can get the best of anyone.
DiFilippo: If Kawhi Leonard makes the NBA Finals, I am not betting against him. Ergo, the Clippers win. I have Bucks-Clippers here, and while Milwaukee would feast down low, watching Kawhi and Paul George (and probably Patrick Beverley) check Giannis Antetokounmpo would rule.
