2027 NBA Season

[OgNasty]

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When a team has a lot of star players, the biggest possible problem that can stop them from succeeding is chemistry. Honestly, I haven't seen many fully loaded teams become champions lately. The last one I can really remember was Durant with the Warriors, after that we haven't seen another superteam that dominant and consistent.

So I understand why expectations are high, especially with LeBron there, but having big names alone doesn't guarantee a championship.

Speaking of that "Warriors dynasty", yes I do agree that it was really stacked with all-star players, but you know what made them a better team against others during that time? They have a lot of good role players back then. They have the likes of Iguodala, Livingston, West, McGee, McCaw, and Looney. Correct me, but their 2nd 5 is a lot better than other teams back then, and that's what made them a dynasty team back then.

We are now in an era where loading a lot of star players isn't an automatic title anymore. We are in an era where role players, and bench matter way more than the all-star players. The best example of this is when the Nuggets won. They have Jokic and Murray back then, but they have role players like Gordon, MPJ, Braun, KCP, Brown, Watson. In short, the team is filled with good role players, and that's the era that we have right now. Looking at the roster of Philly, TBH they have a good bench players as well. They have Simons, KCP, Wade, Bona, Hukporti, and I know that this isn't the best bench right now, but let's just see how they'll perform when the regular season starts.

Overall, stacking all-star players isn't a guaranteed title anymore. 2 -3 all-star players plus stacked role and bench players matters more right now.

They were not a second they were sometimes better than the first five most of the time they are the one who is chasing the lead and the 1st five is the one who comes back when the margin is already close, iggy livingston is a starter player they were not just a second unit, they were top picks and they are the one who makes the difference in every finals and playoffs.
I think the sixers are fine they will have problem if embiid goes down which i wish will not happen to the guy, he has been through a lot just lord give the guy a chance to crack in the title, but lets see how healthy he is in this coming season good luck.

My buddy lives in the Bay Area and I remember when the Warriors traded for Iguodala.  My buddy called me and asked if he was any good.  I told him that he was the most underrated player in the NBA and the Warriors just secured themselves multiple championships.  I wish I could have recorded that conversation because it 100% happened.  Later, Iggy got the Finals MVP and kicked off the dynasty.  If they hadn't picked him up, the Warriors would have probably never won a championship in my opinion.

[Harkorede]

My buddy lives in the Bay Area and I remember when the Warriors traded for Iguodala.  My buddy called me and asked if he was any good.  I told him that he was the most underrated player in the NBA and the Warriors just secured themselves multiple championships.  I wish I could have recorded that conversation because it 100% happened.  Later, Iggy got the Finals MVP and kicked off the dynasty.  If they hadn't picked him up, the Warriors would have probably never won a championship in my opinion.

I couldn't agree more on the impact of Iggy on the Warriors dynasty, and maybe this might be a bit of an unpopular opinion, but I doubt any championship team have won solely off of the strength of their best players(s), it's always players that are considered the X-factor that often get to make plays and their numbers are often the biggest difference making ones, when it matters the most. It's just like speaking with reference to the latest NBA champions, Jalen Brunson is the team leader, no doubt and he set the pace for the team at every point of each series, but every team they faced were probably ready for him to score 30 or 40 points each night, and they knew that might not guarantee the Knicks a win, but how often would a guy like Josh Hart score 20 and the Knicks loses, or OG Anunoby with a 25+, If my memory serves me right, there were at least 5 or 6 games during the Knicks run in the playoffs where Brunson didn't score up to 25 points, some were even well below 20, and Knicks didn't lose a single one of the games.

[OgNasty]

Per Shams, the Kawhi trade is a done deal.

“The LA Clippers and Raptors have both agreed to complete the trade sending Kawhi Leonard to Toronto for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, one first-round pick swap and two second-rounders.”

[AHOYBRAUSE]

Per Shams, the Kawhi trade is a done deal.

“The LA Clippers and Raptors have both agreed to complete the trade sending Kawhi Leonard to Toronto for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, one first-round pick swap and two second-rounders.”

Was only a matter of time. Kawhi successfully destroyed the franchise and moves on, just as the robot like character he appears like, hahaha. Of course it's their own fault doing all this to pay him but I really feel the NBA let Kawhi off the hook WAY too easy. I feel like his whole camp, including him, should have been punished much harder. Yet he only had top pay peanuts and now gets a final big payday, hopefully stress free this time.
Sill amazes me LA gets so many assets is return, players aside there are plenty of picks involved which is surprising for a 35 year old injury prone guy like him. Obviously he is still a superstar type player, yet I think they overpay.

[OgNasty]

Taj Gibson has announced his retirement from the NBA after 17 seasons. He has taken a new position as an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls. I didn’t know he was into coaching or still in the league, but I guess he was in the league more as a role model coach type position in the locker room and now he’s just a coach.

[bhadz]

I believe that this is true and with CP's last run on the Spurs didn't make it. I think if he's with the team during the finals, it might have a different setting and result. But with respect to that man, if the Clippers won't retire his jersey, then there's nothing wrong and they don't see him like that. People may hate CP but this is a nice guy who's also loved by the fans and I was one of those people when he didn't make his last run trying to get a ring.

He won't be called the PointGod if he ain't good. This is one of the point guards that I looked up to. He, Nash, and Kidd all changed how I looked at basketball and even tried to become like them. The last run that he definitely proved how good he is was with the Thunder. That team was a sinking boat, and when he came in, it all changed.

I agree that the impact he's made with the OKC did the team good, I think there can be also some props to him when he's stayed with the Spurs. I really can't imagine if he's the one playing ball and mandating the plays with Wemby. Both can be a good combination but in different era and he has already made his legacy as a pg. While those other legends that you've mentioned have their respective legacy left also to the game. I'm sure that we'll see him again somehow doing his contribution to a team, maybe being a coach like Reddick, Kidd and the others.

[Harkorede]

Per Shams, the Kawhi trade is a done deal.

“The LA Clippers and Raptors have both agreed to complete the trade sending Kawhi Leonard to Toronto for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, one first-round pick swap and two second-rounders.”

Was only a matter of time. Kawhi successfully destroyed the franchise and moves on, just as the robot like character he appears like, hahaha. Of course it's their own fault doing all this to pay him but I really feel the NBA let Kawhi off the hook WAY too easy. I feel like his whole camp, including him, should have been punished much harder. Yet he only had top pay peanuts and now gets a final big payday, hopefully stress free this time.
Sill amazes me LA gets so many assets is return, players aside there are plenty of picks involved which is surprising for a 35 year old injury prone guy like him. Obviously he is still a superstar type player, yet I think they overpay.

I might say his bad days might be behind him, maybe I'm utterly naive here... Kawhi was a superstar last season with LA, and he played 65 games at almost 28 ppg and 50+ FG%, that's elite in my books, and I can't argue that the Raptors are giving up a considerable amount of assets to land him, but I believe they're can afford to do so without being at huge compromise. They still have a really young group of guys that are getting closer to their prime age, and trading for a guy like Kawhi is seeming to me like a move that's necessarily pushing them towards being a better contender "in the now situation", they'll have to do it at some point.

He's also reported to be waiving off his 15% trade kicker, which means the Raptors aren't the only one giving up too much to get him, the commitment is happening both ways.

Taj Gibson has announced his retirement from the NBA after 17 seasons. He has taken a new position as an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls. I didn’t know he was into coaching or still in the league, but I guess he was in the league more as a role model coach type position in the locker room and now he’s just a coach.

He was still playing some garbage minutes last season, might have been doing some work behind the scenes enough for the Bulls to scoop him up immediately, likely the reason he was said to have been traded to the Bulls earlier this month.

[arwin100]

Per Shams, the Kawhi trade is a done deal.

“The LA Clippers and Raptors have both agreed to complete the trade sending Kawhi Leonard to Toronto for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, one first-round pick swap and two second-rounders.”

Was only a matter of time. Kawhi successfully destroyed the franchise and moves on, just as the robot like character he appears like, hahaha. Of course it's their own fault doing all this to pay him but I really feel the NBA let Kawhi off the hook WAY too easy. I feel like his whole camp, including him, should have been punished much harder. Yet he only had top pay peanuts and now gets a final big payday, hopefully stress free this time.
Sill amazes me LA gets so many assets is return, players aside there are plenty of picks involved which is surprising for a 35 year old injury prone guy like him. Obviously he is still a superstar type player, yet I think they overpay.

Looking at the decision happened, it seems the NBA usually gives severe penalties to the front office and not with the player. This is the reason why Clippers lost lots of thing and receive those heavy fines. While from player side he only asked to pay small fines.

But looking how big the controversy they are facing, Kawhi really deserve to get a heavy penalty.

It seems that NBA look at the popularity or his star status. This is maybe the reason why he only receive much lighter sentence.

[fullfitlarry]

Per Shams, the Kawhi trade is a done deal.

“The LA Clippers and Raptors have both agreed to complete the trade sending Kawhi Leonard to Toronto for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, one first-round pick swap and two second-rounders.”

So at the end of the day, the NBA still approves of this trade. Good for Kawhi, coming back to Toronto for maybe a good final run again. And so Toronto will be a good dark horse in the Eastern conference in paper.

And I'm hearing Kawhi's laughing in the background, lol. After that publicized investigation. Anyhow, maybe someone can compare Toronto's lineup in their championship run with Kahwi with today's team? They had a solid team before, they got Danny Green with Kahwi in a trade, then Siakal, Marc Gasol and Lowry at PG and then he will be replaced by Fred VanVleet. And others coming from the bench, so it's pretty much a solid team.

[OgNasty]

Per Shams, the Kawhi trade is a done deal.

“The LA Clippers and Raptors have both agreed to complete the trade sending Kawhi Leonard to Toronto for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, one first-round pick swap and two second-rounders.”

So at the end of the day, the NBA still approves of this trade. Good for Kawhi, coming back to Toronto for maybe a good final run again. And so Toronto will be a good dark horse in the Eastern conference in paper.

And I'm hearing Kawhi's laughing in the background, lol. After that publicized investigation. Anyhow, maybe someone can compare Toronto's lineup in their championship run with Kahwi with today's team? They had a solid team before, they got Danny Green with Kahwi in a trade, then Siakal, Marc Gasol and Lowry at PG and then he will be replaced by Fred VanVleet. And others coming from the bench, so it's pretty much a solid team.

They did make Kawhi waive his trade kicker to make the deal happen. That’s nearly a seven and a half million dollar penalty. Not to mention he now has to live and play in Canada. The NBA has basically banished him for the rest of his career. I think his career winning %, which has been his claim to fame, will suffer as a result.

[RazerMouseMobile]

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Was only a matter of time. Kawhi successfully destroyed the franchise and moves on, just as the robot like character he appears like, hahaha. Of course it's their own fault doing all this to pay him but I really feel the NBA let Kawhi off the hook WAY too easy. I feel like his whole camp, including him, should have been punished much harder. Yet he only had top pay peanuts and now gets a final big payday, hopefully stress free this time.
Sill amazes me LA gets so many assets is return, players aside there are plenty of picks involved which is surprising for a 35 year old injury prone guy like him. Obviously he is still a superstar type player, yet I think they overpay.

I can only think of one reason as to why the Clippers demanded too much for this trade. Kawhi had probably his best season last regular season. He played 65 games with almost a 50-40-90 stats and averaged 27.9 PPG. The last time that he played for 65 games? the NBA 2023-2024 season. That's enough for the Clippers' management to leverage it hence, asking for more draft picks, and since the Raptors really wants to get the "Fun Guy" back, that added to the leverage of the Clippers.

Well, I guess both parties are satisfied with this trade. Raptors got Kawhi again which makes them a better team while the Clippers got players and draft picks that could cover their punishment of not getting 5 future 1st round picks. As for Kawhi destroying the franchise, he's partly the reason yes.

[Mr. Magkaisa]

Per Shams, the Kawhi trade is a done deal.

“The LA Clippers and Raptors have both agreed to complete the trade sending Kawhi Leonard to Toronto for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, one first-round pick swap and two second-rounders.”

So at the end of the day, the NBA still approves of this trade. Good for Kawhi, coming back to Toronto for maybe a good final run again. And so Toronto will be a good dark horse in the Eastern conference in paper.

And I'm hearing Kawhi's laughing in the background, lol. After that publicized investigation. Anyhow, maybe someone can compare Toronto's lineup in their championship run with Kahwi with today's team? They had a solid team before, they got Danny Green with Kahwi in a trade, then Siakal, Marc Gasol and Lowry at PG and then he will be replaced by Fred VanVleet. And others coming from the bench, so it's pretty much a solid team.

They did make Kawhi waive his trade kicker to make the deal happen. That’s nearly a seven and a half million dollar penalty. Not to mention he now has to live and play in Canada. The NBA has basically banished him for the rest of his career. I think his career winning %, which has been his claim to fame, will suffer as a result.

What happen to the Raptors? Why at the first place? This is too much for an old guy that is prone to injury. Actually 1 problem is the injury but more of it is his team management. I dont now but his team will not let Kawhi play even he is clear to play.
For me, this trade should not happen and too much for the exachange.

[OgNasty]

---

Was only a matter of time. Kawhi successfully destroyed the franchise and moves on, just as the robot like character he appears like, hahaha. Of course it's their own fault doing all this to pay him but I really feel the NBA let Kawhi off the hook WAY too easy. I feel like his whole camp, including him, should have been punished much harder. Yet he only had top pay peanuts and now gets a final big payday, hopefully stress free this time.
Sill amazes me LA gets so many assets is return, players aside there are plenty of picks involved which is surprising for a 35 year old injury prone guy like him. Obviously he is still a superstar type player, yet I think they overpay.

I can only think of one reason as to why the Clippers demanded too much for this trade. Kawhi had probably his best season last regular season. He played 65 games with almost a 50-40-90 stats and averaged 27.9 PPG. The last time that he played for 65 games? the NBA 2023-2024 season. That's enough for the Clippers' management to leverage it hence, asking for more draft picks, and since the Raptors really wants to get the "Fun Guy" back, that added to the leverage of the Clippers.

Well, I guess both parties are satisfied with this trade. Raptors got Kawhi again which makes them a better team while the Clippers got players and draft picks that could cover their punishment of not getting 5 future 1st round picks. As for Kawhi destroying the franchise, he's partly the reason yes.

Raptors are delusional and think this is going to make them championship contenders again.  It will probably make their fans happy, so that's nice.  At least for now...  Wait until Kawhi starts losing games and watching his career winning % start sliding...  suddenly that knee is going to be acting up and he'll be limited to playing against bad teams that he knows they'll beat (if any exist at that point in time).

[tech30338]

Per Shams, the Kawhi trade is a done deal.

“The LA Clippers and Raptors have both agreed to complete the trade sending Kawhi Leonard to Toronto for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, one first-round pick swap and two second-rounders.”

So at the end of the day, the NBA still approves of this trade. Good for Kawhi, coming back to Toronto for maybe a good final run again. And so Toronto will be a good dark horse in the Eastern conference in paper.

And I'm hearing Kawhi's laughing in the background, lol. After that publicized investigation. Anyhow, maybe someone can compare Toronto's lineup in their championship run with Kahwi with today's team? They had a solid team before, they got Danny Green with Kahwi in a trade, then Siakal, Marc Gasol and Lowry at PG and then he will be replaced by Fred VanVleet. And others coming from the bench, so it's pretty much a solid team.

They did make Kawhi waive his trade kicker to make the deal happen. That’s nearly a seven and a half million dollar penalty. Not to mention he now has to live and play in Canada. The NBA has basically banished him for the rest of his career. I think his career winning %, which has been his claim to fame, will suffer as a result.

What happen to the Raptors? Why at the first place? This is too much for an old guy that is prone to injury. Actually 1 problem is the injury but more of it is his team management. I dont now but his team will not let Kawhi play even he is clear to play.
For me, this trade should not happen and too much for the exachange.

The trade is already been done before the issue, and they can't back down maybe they are hoping that they could at least remake the last time they do a run in the championship, the problem is they lack players to do this Siakam, freed, and other players are already in the other team, some are already retire and leonard is already old to carry the team, lowry is also not in the raptors and he is not the same player as before and he is already retired if im not mistaken, with ujiri now in the main office, could they get or make a miracle?

[Cointxz]

What happen to the Raptors? Why at the first place? This is too much for an old guy that is prone to injury. Actually 1 problem is the injury but more of it is his team management. I dont now but his team will not let Kawhi play even he is clear to play.
For me, this trade should not happen and too much for the exachange.

They probably think that Kawhi is still the same or their system is fit for Kawhi to become a championship contender again. Raptors lost a lot with this trade especially their long term development in case Kawhi will suffer injuries again this season.

I’m surprised too that there’s still like this which is willing to risk on old star players despite the current winning formula on NBA is invest on young talent development for a much better result.

Kings is the living example on way old star will not gonna work on the league anymore.

[Shinpako09]

What happen to the Raptors? Why at the first place? This is too much for an old guy that is prone to injury. Actually 1 problem is the injury but more of it is his team management. I dont now but his team will not let Kawhi play even he is clear to play.
For me, this trade should not happen and too much for the exachange.

They probably think that Kawhi is still the same or their system is fit for Kawhi to become a championship contender again. Raptors lost a lot with this trade especially their long term development in case Kawhi will suffer injuries again this season.

I’m surprised too that there’s still like this which is willing to risk on old star players despite the current winning formula on NBA is invest on young talent development for a much better result.

Kings is the living example on way old star will not gonna work on the league anymore.

Not to mention the East is also stacked now. They would be as good as a first or second round exit even with a healthy Kawhi. While his PPG is still good, it's hard to say if that is enough for the Raptors to become a threat or a title contender.

Aside from Kawhi, no other player on their roster averaged more than 20 points last season. Certainly, he can't lift the Raptors all by himself.

Maybe the Raptors thought bringing back Kawhi was enough. They didn't realize that aside from Kawhi, their 2019 lineup was good.

[Cointxz]

They probably think that Kawhi is still the same or their system is fit for Kawhi to become a championship contender again. Raptors lost a lot with this trade especially their long term development in case Kawhi will suffer injuries again this season.

I’m surprised too that there’s still like this which is willing to risk on old star players despite the current winning formula on NBA is invest on young talent development for a much better result.

Kings is the living example on way old star will not gonna work on the league anymore.

Not to mention the East is also stacked now. They would be as good as a first or second round exit even with a healthy Kawhi. While his PPG is still good, it's hard to say if that is enough for the Raptors to become a threat or a title contender.

Aside from Kawhi, no other player on their roster averaged more than 20 points last season. Certainly, he can't lift the Raptors all by himself.

Maybe the Raptors thought bringing back Kawhi was enough. They didn't realize that aside from Kawhi, their 2019 lineup was good.

They will be lucky if they manage to enter the playoffs now that some team on East already recovered like the Pacers with Haliburton already playing and newly acquired center Zubac.

It will be tough for a team like Raptors with no deep bench players to have good run this season especially if Kawhi will do all the heavy lifting during the regular season.  

[tech30338]

They probably think that Kawhi is still the same or their system is fit for Kawhi to become a championship contender again. Raptors lost a lot with this trade especially their long term development in case Kawhi will suffer injuries again this season.

I’m surprised too that there’s still like this which is willing to risk on old star players despite the current winning formula on NBA is invest on young talent development for a much better result.

Kings is the living example on way old star will not gonna work on the league anymore.

Not to mention the East is also stacked now. They would be as good as a first or second round exit even with a healthy Kawhi. While his PPG is still good, it's hard to say if that is enough for the Raptors to become a threat or a title contender.

Aside from Kawhi, no other player on their roster averaged more than 20 points last season. Certainly, he can't lift the Raptors all by himself.

Maybe the Raptors thought bringing back Kawhi was enough. They didn't realize that aside from Kawhi, their 2019 lineup was good.

They will be lucky if they manage to enter the playoffs now that some team on East already recovered like the Pacers wi5 Haliburton already playing and newly acquired center Zubac.

It will be tough for a team like Raptors with no deep bench players to have good run this season especially if Kawhi will do all the heavy lifting during the regular season. 

I don't think the Knicks will be the same team last year they will have some games, but for sure it will be different, they might already check brunson, and yes the east is loaded this year, not to mention the sixers is already a 2nd playoff bound in my opinion, i would like to see knicks and sixers again, if lebron will play brunson can brunson outplay lebron, since some are saying lebron always lose to small guys?
Raptors will not be in the playoffs unless they acquire someone who can also carry the team, leonard can't but his presence is still crucial.

[OgNasty]

They probably think that Kawhi is still the same or their system is fit for Kawhi to become a championship contender again. Raptors lost a lot with this trade especially their long term development in case Kawhi will suffer injuries again this season.

I’m surprised too that there’s still like this which is willing to risk on old star players despite the current winning formula on NBA is invest on young talent development for a much better result.

Kings is the living example on way old star will not gonna work on the league anymore.

Not to mention the East is also stacked now. They would be as good as a first or second round exit even with a healthy Kawhi. While his PPG is still good, it's hard to say if that is enough for the Raptors to become a threat or a title contender.

Aside from Kawhi, no other player on their roster averaged more than 20 points last season. Certainly, he can't lift the Raptors all by himself.

Maybe the Raptors thought bringing back Kawhi was enough. They didn't realize that aside from Kawhi, their 2019 lineup was good.

They will be lucky if they manage to enter the playoffs now that some team on East already recovered like the Pacers wi5 Haliburton already playing and newly acquired center Zubac.

It will be tough for a team like Raptors with no deep bench players to have good run this season especially if Kawhi will do all the heavy lifting during the regular season. 

I don't think the Knicks will be the same team last year they will have some games, but for sure it will be different, they might already check brunson, and yes the east is loaded this year, not to mention the sixers is already a 2nd playoff bound in my opinion, i would like to see knicks and sixers again, if lebron will play brunson can brunson outplay lebron, since some are saying lebron always lose to small guys?
Raptors will not be in the playoffs unless they acquire someone who can also carry the team, leonard can't but his presence is still crucial.

I didn't think the Knicks were that great last year but they got it done.  I hope they sent a thank you gift to the Minnesota Timberwolves, as they are the true heroes that made it happen...

I suspect the Knicks were probably celebrating all offseason and are going to get destroyed on opening night (not totally uncommon for champions on their next game).  We'll see, but it seems like in today's NBA, the path through the playoffs and who is healthy are the most important factors of who wins the championship.

[Oasisman]

They probably think that Kawhi is still the same or their system is fit for Kawhi to become a championship contender again. Raptors lost a lot with this trade especially their long term development in case Kawhi will suffer injuries again this season.

I’m surprised too that there’s still like this which is willing to risk on old star players despite the current winning formula on NBA is invest on young talent development for a much better result.

Kings is the living example on way old star will not gonna work on the league anymore.

Not to mention the East is also stacked now. They would be as good as a first or second round exit even with a healthy Kawhi. While his PPG is still good, it's hard to say if that is enough for the Raptors to become a threat or a title contender.

Aside from Kawhi, no other player on their roster averaged more than 20 points last season. Certainly, he can't lift the Raptors all by himself.

Maybe the Raptors thought bringing back Kawhi was enough. They didn't realize that aside from Kawhi, their 2019 lineup was good.

They will be lucky if they manage to enter the playoffs now that some team on East already recovered like the Pacers wi5 Haliburton already playing and newly acquired center Zubac.

It will be tough for a team like Raptors with no deep bench players to have good run this season especially if Kawhi will do all the heavy lifting during the regular season. 

I don't think the Knicks will be the same team last year they will have some games, but for sure it will be different, they might already check brunson, and yes the east is loaded this year, not to mention the sixers is already a 2nd playoff bound in my opinion, i would like to see knicks and sixers again, if lebron will play brunson can brunson outplay lebron, since some are saying lebron always lose to small guys?
Raptors will not be in the playoffs unless they acquire someone who can also carry the team, leonard can't but his presence is still crucial.

The NBA didn't have repeat champions in the last 8 years. So, it is most likely that dynasties are not a thing in the current NBA today. With a lot of major changes/trades and free-agent signings, the Knicks repeating could be a lot harder than their first try.
Not underestimating them, just stating facts.
I'm not only concerned with their conference rivals, but the Western Conference powerhouse teams would surely make major adjustments in the upcoming season. I think the OKC and Spurs were just too focused on how they beat each other and underestimated the Knicks.
In the last 8 years, the only team that I considered repeating was OKC, but they didn't get past the Spurs.