Portland Trail Blazers – 40 Wins
Jusuf Nurkic was an excellent find for the Portland Trail Blazers last season, and it’s fair to expect he will improve in a contract year. They remain a very poorly built team with a low ceiling.
While they might be better than the team that won 41 games last season, their opponents will be stronger – especially within the Northwest Division.
LA Clippers – 40 Wins (but slightly better than the Trail Blazers, maybe?)
The Chris Paul trade, ironically, gave Blake Griffin the best supporting cast he’s ever had. Any team would love to have Lou Williams and Patrick Beverly for their bargain contracts, not to mention rookie-scale bench players Sam Dekker and Montrezl Harrell.
Questions remain about Danilo Gallinari’s fit, but with Blake sure to play more point forward, this team can remain above 500. for as many games as Griffin can play (I’m guessing less than 80).