The 2020/21 NBA regular season will get underway on December 22, so it’s time to start getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign.
With the help of the lines from a handful of sports betting sites, including Bovada and BetOnline, we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.
Of course, there are plenty of wild cards to take into account this season. For one, teams are scheduled to play 72 games instead of 82, so if you’re picking a team to win 41 games, you’re not just expecting them to be a .500 club — you’re projecting them to finish 10 games above .500. For each team’s over/under below, we’ve noted the record they’d have to achieve to finish “over” their projection, as a reminder.
It’s also worth noting that the coronavirus pandemic could cause some games to be canceled in 2020/21. We don’t want you to have to take possible cancellations into account when making your picks though, so don’t let that stop you from taking the “over.” If a team has a couple games canceled, we’ll adjust their over/under figure downward, so you’re essentially just projecting that team’s winning percentage.
We’ll turn today to the Northwest…
Denver Nuggets
- 2019/20 record: 46-27
- Over/under for 2020/21: 44.5 wins (45-27)
- Major offseason moves:
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Nuggets poll.
Utah Jazz
- 2019/20 record: 44-28
- Over/under for 2020/21: 42.5 wins (43-29)
- Major offseason moves:
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Jazz poll.
Portland Trail Blazers
- 2019/20 record: 35-39
- Over/under for 2020/21: 41.5 wins (42-30)
- Major offseason moves:
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Trail Blazers poll.
Minnesota Timberwolves
- 2019/20 record: 19-45
- Over/under for 2020/21: 29.5 wins (30-42)
- Major offseason moves:
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Timberwolves poll.
Oklahoma City Thunder
- 2019/20 record: 44-28
- Over/under for 2020/21: 22.5 wins (23-49)
- Major offseason moves:
- Added: Al Horford, George Hill, Trevor Ariza, Justin Jackson, Ty Jerome, T.J. Leaf, Darius Miller, Kenrich Williams, Admiral Schofield, Aleksej Pokusevski, Theo Maledon
- Lost: Chris Paul, Steven Adams, Danilo Gallinari, Dennis Schroder, Nerlens Noel, Terrance Ferguson, Abdel Nader, Deonte Burton, Andre Roberson
Trade Rumors app users, click here for Thunder poll.
Previous voting results:
- Boston Celtics (45.5 wins): Over (66.3%)
- Brooklyn Nets (45.5 wins): Over (58.6%)
- Philadelphia 76ers (44.5 wins): Over (57.4%)
- Toronto Raptors (42.5 wins): Over (54.7%)
- New York Knicks (22.5 wins): Under (59.5%)
Man I don’t know if the thunder win 23 games when they’re purposely tanking….
My prediction
Thunder 13 wins
I can’t help but laugh at the 221 voters who picked the over on OKC.
It’s ridiculously high, even in an 82-game season. 12-60 sounds fair.
I wonder how many of them will be voting under for the Rockets at 35 or so.
Blazers are the best team above
My prediction
Blazers 50-22
It’s a tall order for anyone to win 50 games this season, especially in the West. As far as OKC goes no way they win 20 games, let alone 23.
DEN & MIN will be over.
UTA, POR & OKC will be under.
Just like for the atlantic poll, the plurality went with over, except the bottom team… NYK, OKC.
I push POR & OKC into the unders simply because not all teams can go over. Not enthusiastic about it. POR will try to be a wingy team but that’s not their thing. OKC has decent young players galore and Shai to run things and I can’t picture them being told to tank.
I was tempted to push every over/under number one win higher than it should be, given voters’ tendency to take the over (plus the fact that all these win totals look low, given the 72-game season). Didn’t do it, but I should have! Maybe next year.
Blazers go back to western conference finals this year! Would have last year but with missing key starters putting them in 8th seed, was to short handed. Much improved healthy deep roster, they are in the western conf finals this year. They will enter playoffs top 3. Book it.
They weren’t even the 8 seed. Without the play in game, they would have been a lottery team any other year.