The Golden State Warriors were able to retain all of their key players during the offseason and are clearly heavy favorites, if not a lock, to win the Pacific division. With the departure of Chris Paul, the Los Angeles Clippers will definitely miss their top playmaker and leader, and will surely regress this season. The Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers, and Phoenix Suns drafted three highly-touted rookies in De’Aaron Fox, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Jackson – there should be some interesting battles among these rookies even though none of these three teams will likely make the playoffs in the absurdly stacked Western Conference. There really won’t be too many surprises in the Pacific division, but we’ll take a look at how these teams will likely perform.
One Team That Will Overachieve: Phoenix Suns
Regular Season Win Total: 28.5
I’m pretty sure that one of the young teams in the Pacific division will overachieve this season, but I’m just not sure whether that team will be the Kings, Lakers, or Suns.
The Kings added three key veterans in George Hill, Vince Carter, and Zach Randolph, but with Carter approaching his 41st birthday and Randolph involved in a marijuana bust, I’m not entirely convinced that they’ll be able to bring as much to the team as the Kings hoped for. They have promising young players in Fox, Buddy Hield, and Justin Jackson, but it’ll take a few seasons before they’ll be able to make huge splashes in the NBA.
The Lakers also seem to be a better team compared to last season, but the question remains – how much better? Ball has received plenty of hype coming into this season and the success of the Lakers will likely hinge on how Ball performs. There’s also question marks as to how much Brandon Ingram has improved this season following a disastrous 2016-2017 season. The addition of Brook Lopez will help the Lakers, but that’s about it. They’re too young and too inexperienced.
Lastly, we arrive at the Phoenix Suns. With their young roster remaining intact, I believe that the Suns will be the most likely team to overachieve out of the three. Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker, Tyson Chandler, Marquese Chriss, T.J. Warren, and Alan Williams are all returning players – along with a lot of others – from last year’s roster, in addition to rookie Josh Jackson. The Suns have a good mix of experienced and young players and if Booker can continue his torrid end to last season, they should be a surprise team and overachieve.
One Team That Will Disappoint: Los Angeles Clippers
Regular Season Win Total: 44
The Los Angeles Clippers lost one of the best point guard and playmaker in the league in Chris Paul. That could have a ripple effect as players like DeAndre Jordan will not be the same offensive player without Paul there to set him up. Instead of Paul, it’ll be Patrick Beverley – certainly a huge downgrade. While the Clippers were able to nab Beverley, Danilo Gallinari, and Lou Williams during the offseason, They’ll need at least one year to recover from losing Paul and make adjustments to a significantly overhauled roster. Additionally, Doc Rivers is way too overrated as a head coach and for those reasons, we’re picking them Clippers to disappoint. What’s new?
Best Bet To Win The Division: Golden State Warriors
Is it even remotely possible that another team besides the Warriors will win the Pacific division? At -10000 odds to win the division, the Warriors are all but guaranteed to finish off as the top seed, not only in the Pacific division, but also in the league. Their core four players of Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are only 28, 29, 27, and 27 respectively – all clearly in midst of their prime years and clear All-Stars. They didn’t give up anyone important this offseason as well, retaining their best plus/minus player and sixth man, Andre Iguodala. Don’t even bother betting on any other team aside from the Warriors to win the Pacific division – it’s just not going to happen this season.
The 2017 NBA futures are out. It’s been a wild offseason already, but keep an eye on the betting lines as they move around at Diamond Sportsbook! Get the latest NBA betting lines right here.
