Into the Bears’ Den: Our ‘Hot Take’ NBA and Grizzlies predictions

Ryan Schmitz (@XC_Gang_Schmitz)

Trail Blazers will be second best team in the Western Conference

The West may be up for grabs behind the Warriors this season. The Spurs continue to age while also losing Tim Duncan this offseason. The Thunder lost Kevin Durant and won’t be contending with his new team any time soon. The next best team in the West behind the Warriors is up for grabs, and I think it’s between the Spurs, Clippers and Trail Blazers. The Blazers took the fifth seed last year when the oldest role player on the team was 26. Now you add Festus Ezeli and Evan Turner to the core that can still grow, and I think they may shock a lot of the NBA. Damian Lillard can ball and when C.J. McCollum and him are hot, they’re tough to beat. I am going to refrain from listing all the players, but they can outlast injuries with the amount of talented players they have.  Of course an injury to Lillard could hurt this whole thing, but if he stays healthy, I think they finish behind Warriors. Turner can be one of the primary ball handlers, setting up the offense when Lillard is on the bench.

Although I really like the plethora of bigs the Blazers have, Ezeli could shore up that position if he can stay healthy. The Clippers have never been fully healthy in a season and have a few weaknesses, especially the small forward position. The Spurs are the opposite of the Blazers; aside from Kawhi Leonard and a few other players, they are aging rather than growing. As this team grows, their poor assists numbers should rise with the chemistry they have will continue to develop. An underrated point is that the Blazers didn’t lose any real key members to the team from last year, whereas even the Warriors lost guys like Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut.