NBA Season 2021/22: Preview, Analysis, and Predictions
A few months ago Giannis and the Bucks lifted the NBA Championship after some intense finals against the Suns. Will the 75th NBA season have the same heat as the previous one? Let’s find out! The NBA season is approaching at warp speed with the big tip-off just a couple of weeks away. There have … NBA Season 2021/22: Preview, Analysis, and Predictions
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A few months ago Giannis and the Bucks lifted the NBA Championship after some intense finals against the Suns. Will the 75th NBA season have the same heat as the previous one? Let’s find out!
The NBA season is approaching at warp speed with the big tip-off just a couple of weeks away.
There have been big players announce retirements, hot prospects drafted, and huge names trade teams but what does it all mean for the year ahead?
Even if you think you know the answer just hold fire on running over to the CoinPoker sportsbook to place your NBA bets and check out this in-depth NBA season preview first.
We’ll be looking at every division, touching on both key players and potential stars flying under the radar before making our predictions as to who will make it to the Championship game.
NBA Season Preview – The Eastern Conference
Central
Where else would we start our NBA season preview than with the reigning Champions, the Milwaukee Bucks? It’s not just the Bucks alone that makes this division intriguing though. The Bucks are obviously the best team in there and by some distance too.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is the main man of the roster but don’t for a second think the Bucks are a one-man team because Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton are elite talents too. Injuries are the only thing that will stop the Bucks from pushing very hard for a title defense.
From last year’s winners, we quickly switch to the other end of last year’s table with the Detroit Pistons. Will they trouble anyone in respect of the Championship? No, absolutely not. They’ll attract a lot of eyes though with Cade Cunningham coming through the door.
He’ll be the standout man amongst a roster of youthful talent and could be a real contender for the Rookie of the Year award. The other team in the division that can forget about battling at the top end of the standings is the Cavaliers.
That leaves us with two other sides to look at in the Central Division. The Chicago Bulls are perhaps the most likely to have a tilt at a top season. Zach LaVine has been with the Bulls for four years now and his numbers are getting better every season.
With Lonzo Ball, DeMar DeRozan, and Alex Caruso all arriving, Chicago should expect a decent season.
Then we have the Pacers. They could give things a whirl this year but, ultimately, we expect them to fall short.
Obviously, the Bucks are the favorites to win the Central Division winners at 1.10 in CoinPoker’s sportsbook.
Atlantic
There will be plenty of punters out there backing the Atlantic Division to contain the 2021/22 Champions in the shape of the Brooklyn Nets. It is hard to disagree; they will undoubtedly be right in the mix.
Defensively there are perhaps still question marks but the trio of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving should be as good as anything in the league.
The Philadelphia 76ers might want to throw their name in the hat as potential winners from the Atlantic though; they had the fifth-best points differential in the whole NBA last season and with Joel Embiid they can give anyone a game.
Embiid is amongst the best players in the league both in respect of scoring and defending. It’s not all been plain sailing though and the Ben Simmons saga continues to rumble on. Andre Drummond, however, could prove a shrewd acquisition.
Completing the Atlantic division are the Knicks, the Celtics, and the Raptors. The Celtics are the most likely to challenge the two aforementioned teams. They’ve had a good off-season adding a talent like Dennis Schroder and tying down their own stars.
Their roster still looks short of a playmaker though, which could hamper them in this season. If they are addressing that home then they’ll become a real force. The Knicks and Raptors aren’t strong enough to mix it up especially now the latter don’t have Kyle Lowry.
Back up the Nets as Atlantic Division winners at 1.33 in CoinPoker’s sportsbook.
Southeast
There are two sides that stand out from the five in the Southeast division; that’s Miami and Atlanta. The Hawks will again look to Trae Young to lead their charge after his offensive exploits took them so agonizingly close to the Finals last year.
There are plenty of good players around him too though with De’Andre Hunter seemingly over his injury troubles and the likes of Bogdan Bogdanovic capable of lightening the load placed on Young.
Where Miami Heat is concerned their best piece of business since last year is the acquisition of Raptors man Lowry; we mentioned his loss as a blow to the Raptors earlier but their loss is Miami’s gain.
One area Lowry doesn’t really address though is physicality; specifically, we mean speed. The Heat looked vulnerable against explosive attacks last season and a similar problem could derail them again.
Washington and the Charlotte Hornets probably have similar expectations at this stage of things. Washington has plenty of talent in people like Bradley Beal, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Daniel Gafford but they do have a big hole to worry about.
Russell Westbrook, who has led the league in assists in three of the last four years, is an enormous loss to the LA Lakers. We’re not sure they have the quality to create in the same way, which will hamper their ability to win games.
The Hornets case for success is largely pinned on LaMelo Ball. It will be interesting to see how he follows up his Rookie of the Year campaign. Finally, we have the Orlando Magic but we won’t talk about them; they’ll be the bottom of this division for sure.
Choose the Heat as Southwest Division winners at 1.80 in CoinPoker’s sportsbook.
NBA Season Preview – The Western Conference
Northwest
We switch to the west and begin with the Northwest. The Utah Jazz, who posted the best points differential in the NBA last year, are the ones to beat.
Lots of people are talking about Donovan Mitchell after an impressive season last year but, for our money, the key thing the Jazz has done best is roster continuity.
A couple of names have gone out but not anybody that will be missed whilst additions bring a nice depth to things without having the potential to upset the apple cart. After winning so many games last season they’re surely doing something right!
The Jazz isn’t everybody’s pick. The Nuggets have a fair few fans too. Why? Well, they have Nikola Jokic for one thing; he’s a three-time All-Star and last season’s MVP.
As much as Michael Porter and Will Barton can support the likes of Jokic it’s hard to ignore how much difference a fit Jamal Murray would make to the Nuggets. If they can keep pace from the off and Murray recovers then they’ll have a real booster shot to keep them ‘at it’ all season long.
The Timberwolves and the Thunder can be scrapped too. They’re simply not good enough. The Timberwolves are easy enough on the eye but their shot conversion is questionable whilst the roster lacks an ‘all rounder’ or two.
As for the Thunder, quite bluntly, they cannot defend well enough to win at a frequency that’s anywhere near good enough. The last team in the Northwest is the Trail Blazers.
Backing them to topple either of the Jazz or Nuggets is a long shot by any stretch of but they’re closer to those two than they are to the other duo. With Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, they will be a very capable side.
The Jazz is favorite to top Northwest Division at 1.38 in CoinPoker’s sportsbook.
Pacific
This division is the most loaded in the NBA with three of the four favorites for the Western Conference all here; the Suns aren’t completely out of the picture either.
We’ll start with the dross. Harsh? Perhaps but the Kings don’t stand a chance; their fans do at least have De’Aaron Fox to enjoy but they won’t have many wins to celebrate.
The Lakers are the biggest hitters in the division and will expect to fight for the Championship. They already have Anthony Davis and LeBron James; now they’ve added Russell Westbrook to the mix they’ll be a force!
They’ll need to be good offensively though because they’ll be far from watertight on the other end. Despite all the quality they’ll take to the court the burden of delivering will still fall to 36-year-old James.
The Clippers will be in the fight too. They have scorers throughout their team but you wonder just how much they’ll lose with Kawhi Leonard likely to miss a large chunk of the season.
Does his absence mean they can kiss goodbye to any chance they had of lifting the crown?
We’ve not yet touched on the Suns. Chris Paul will be hoping he can coordinate some more genius as he did for large parts of last season. Devin Booker and Cam Payne are another couple that can keep them sharp towards the top.
The doubt over the Suns is they’re unlikely to shine as bright as they did last season – and that wasn’t good enough. Finally, you have the GSW; or is it just Steph Curry and co?
We jest. Curry was insane last year but he has quality around him too with Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. None of them are youngsters though and they’ll need a clean bill of health to go close.
Back up the Lakers as Pacific Division winners at 1.85 in CoinPoker’s sportsbook.
Southwest
Down in the Southwest, there is one team that clearly leads the way; the Dallas Mavericks. Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway are decent players but, if we’re honest, their hopes of glory lay solely on Luka Doncic.
The former Real Madrid man already has EuroLeague MVP honors to his name and he’s capable of earning them in the NBA too.
It’s not all sunshine and roses though because any team so reliant on one player will need a big slice of luck to transition from good to legendary; it won’t hamper them in the division but in a Championship race they could fall short.
If anyone is going to challenge the Mavericks then it’s going to be the Memphis Grizzlies. Ja Morant is their main man with Dillon Brooks in a supporting role but they’ll need the stars to align to topple the Mavs.
We see the consistency of results again becoming the main problem the Grizzlies face, which hasn’t been helped by the loss of Jonas Valanciunas, not an easy one to swallow.
In all honesty, the Southwest is the worst division in the Western Conference both in quality and competition stakes. The fact the other three teams can already be flagged as purely making numbers up tells you all you need to know.
The Pelicans have lost Lonzo Ball and that puts all their eggs in the Zion Williamson-shaped basket but he’s not even fit yet! They’re a long way off challenging. In San Antonio, things look even bleaker.
Their best scorer, DeMar Derozan, has joined the Bulls revolution meaning there is big pressure on Dejounte Murray and Derrick White to step up. Finally, you have the Houston Rockets. They’ll be asking Kevin Porter and rookie Jalen Green an awful lot to get close to contention.
Pick the Mavs as Southwest Division winners at 1.47 in CoinPoker’s sportsbook.
Who Leads The NBA Championship Future Odds?
When we started our NBA season preview we said we’d call out our winners and here goes. Drumroll please…
We’re backing the Brooklyn Nets to get their hands on a first-ever NBA Championship. The dream trio – Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving – have more games under their belts of playing together.
If they can get on the court at the same time on a regular and consistent basis then they will take some serious stopping.
The odds at CoinPoker’s sportsbook for NBA Futures outright winner are as follows:
| Odds | Team |
| 3.30 | Brooklyn Nets |
| 4.35 | LA Lakers |
| 9.00 | Milwaukee Bucks |
| 13.00 | Golden State Warriors |
| 15.00 | LA Clippers |
| 15.00 | Utah Jazz |
| 17.00 | Phoenix Suns |
| 19.00 | Denver Nuggets |
| 21.00 | Miami Heat |
Final Thoughts
There are plenty of reasons to follow the NBA this season. Either if you follow a specific team or you have a favorite player, the 75th edition of the biggest and most important basketball league in the world will definitely be remarkable.
Remember you can bet on all the games of the NBA, as well as the NBA future. Choose the outright winner, the Manager of the Season, and who do you think will make it into the playoffs.
With so many possibilities, why not make a combo bet and increase your chances of winning? Download CoinPoker’s app and start betting on dozens of different sports across the globe!
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