30 teams have already tipped off to get the 2023/24 NBA season underway. We are going to take a look over some of those teams to see who looks like heading to the Finals at the end of the season. You will be able to find your odds at all the top betting sites in Canada for the NBA season so let’s take a look at the season ahead and see if Canada’s own team the Toronto Raptors have any hope of being a contender this season.
On paper, there are only a few realistic contenders for the Eastern title but this is the NBA so there are going to be a few surprises along the way. There are a couple of teams who have the potential to improve on their efforts from last season and could break through into the higher seeds.
Finished top of the East last season after an excellent battle with the Celtics. They were then embarrassed in the opening round of the playoff, falling 4-1 to the Miami Heat. That should have them fired up this year to make sure that nothing like that happens again.
They have added the talent of Damian Lillard to go alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo which is a move that should strike fear into every single team in the NBA. The East is going to have to go through Milwaukee and this year they will be ready for it.
At times last season, the Celtics looked unstoppable but then they would have a downturn, lose some games that they should be winning in their sleep and finished in second place because of it. They almost came back from a 3-0 deficit in the Eastern Final but could not quite get the comeback done.
They made the 2022 NBA Finals only to fall to the Golden State Warriors and having almost made it back last season, they will be determined to make another trip. There have been a few important personnel changes so whether they are good enough to beat the Bucks remains to be seen.
It has been some time since the Knicks had a team that could genuinely contend in the NBA. They made it to the second round of the playoffs and hopes will be high that this team is capable of stepping it up another level this time around.
That is always the problem in New York though, the pressure of expectation causes teams to crumble and the lack of success in the city in general in the last decade has fans desperate. How the team reacts to adversity will be crucial.
The James Harden saga is over, he is now a Clipper. It will be fascinating to see how the 76ers get on without him. There is no question that Harden is supremely talented but now the circus that he is the ringmaster of has gone, that could be a weight lifted off the shoulders of this team.
They will need Joel Embiid to maintain the form he showed last season when he was crowned MVP and some of the bench players to step up with more of a role to play. That is not impossible.
There are four other spots in the Eastern Conference playoffs to win behind the main contenders and these could be the clubs to take them.
Four straight finals from 2015-2018 against the Warriors are long behind them but they have a young core of players who have the promise to take them to that level again before too long. Having to rely on players in the early years of their career will have problems and there is little time in Cleveland for them to be on a learning curve.
Only scrambled into the playoffs, losing a play-in game but then deposited the Bucks in the first round, beating them 4-1. They then saw off the #2 seed in the finals, having to work much harder to beat the Celtics 4-3 before they eventually fell in the finals themselves against the Nuggets.
It remains to be seen if they can catch lightning in a bottle the same way twice. They made the majority of that run without Tyler Herro which will at least give them some confidence that they are going to at least make the playoffs again. Their main problem is that if you put their starting line up against the big players in the East man-to-man, they are seriously inferior. They need to gain plenty of luck along the way to go as far as last season.
The Hawks could be a bit of a dark horse in the East. They finished last season with a record of 41-41. They were solid at holding on to a lead when they took it in games but they lacked the necessary class to come from behind when they needed to make a comeback.
Offensively they were a solid unit, averaging more than 118 points per game. Their issue was on defence as they were also allowing 118 points per game at the other end of the court. They took the Celtics to six games in the opening round of the playoffs so the ability is there if they are able to tighten things up.
The rebuild is picking up pace in Indiana with 23yo Tyrese Haliburton starting to shape into a potential star. He averaged more than 10 assists a game last season and has the skill set to take another step forward on that this season.
There is an easy way for them to add some more wins to their record and that is to make the Fieldhouse a fortress. They were only 20-21 on their own court last season, if they can build a little on that, it is easy to see them much closer to a .500 season and on the cusp of a place in the playoffs.
Unfortunately, the majority of the rest look set for a difficult season in the East and that includes our Raptors. They struggled last season and things do not look like being much better this time around. Scottie Barnes remains a high point in the roster but it’s hard to see this team playing important games down the stretch.
In seven of the last ten years, the #1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs has made it to the Finals. While betting is rarely as straightforward as that, it is still an interesting thing to note that the top seed in the West is a very good place to sit heading into the playoffs.
Things are similar here to how they are in the East with only a few teams who will have genuine hopes of winning the conference. The rest are playing for the rest of the playoff spots which would be a good year for them.
The defending champions will be looking to produce a strong defence of their crown. Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic will lead the charge for a team that will be hungry after finally getting that first taste of success.
At times, they looked almost unbeatable, making Ball Arena a fortress, going 10-1 at home in the playoffs. It took the team almost 50 years to gain that first NBA title, it is easy to think that it will take them considerably fewer to double that tally.
Made the NBA Finals in 2021 but a yard sale since leaves Devin Booker as the only member of that team still in Phoenix. The addition of the experienced Kevin Durrant should ensure that the Suns are a team that has some class.
It’s the supporting pieces here, as it is in so many places, that will determine how far this team goes. There is going to be a lot of pressure on the likes of Bradley Beal to feed the big pair with enough quality to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
No match for the Nuggets in the playoffs last season, swept without raising too much of a fight. LeBron James turns 39 in December and has missed 25+ games in each of the last few seasons. Still one of the best in the NBA but age is catching up.
That means that others are going to have to step up if the Lakers are to make their way back to the NBA Finals. Austin Reeves added an extra six PPG to his rookie figures last season, another step up to supplement the ultra-reliable Rui Hachimura would be a big help.
While the dynasty has probably come to an end, the quality of Steph Curry is enough to carry the Warriors deep into another season. The problem the Warriors have is the minutes when Curry is not on the court.
It is not like there are no other classy players in the squad but there are none who can live up to a generational talent like Curry. Until they can find a way to play him for 48 minutes or clone him, there will be stronger teams.
There are a host of teams who are on the verge of things in the West.
The new home of James Harden who joins the star power of Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. On paper, the Clippers have a lineup that would make a lot of other teams jealous, if this was 2018!
Westbrook is 34, George is 33 and Leonard 32, add Harden at 34 and it has the potential to fall apart quickly if they do not stay healthy. That was the issue last year and it could be what holds them back again.
Perhaps the most interesting dark horse in the West having made it to the playoffs last season for the first time in 16 years. They were not able to overcome the Warriors in the opening round but they pushed them all the way to a deciding game 7.
In general, they have a young squad that should be hungry to build on that success from last season. The combination of De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis can flourish and with it the Kings could step closer to the NBA crown.
Took a huge step back in the right direction last season, narrowly failing to make it to .500 and losing in a play-in game. It was a surprise to many that they got that far given how little experience there is within the team.
One of the youngest squads in the NBA, they are still going to be a few seasons away from being a genuine contender but the core of talent is there for them to ruffle a few feathers on the way to a playoff berth.
Arguably the biggest flop last season, even trading for Kyrie Irving was not enough to stop them from missing the playoffs. Now that Irving has had some time to settle in, things should be brighter this year.
Luka Doncic is the face of the franchise and combined with Irving should produce some attractive play this season. It might not be enough to make them into a contender but they cannot possibly be worse than they were last season.
There is nothing much between the strongest couple of teams in the East and West this season so the Finals will likely be a superb matchup no matter who it is that gets there. The Bucks against the Nuggets look the most likely final at present but don’t write off the Hawks and the Kings as dark horses to outperform their odds.
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