east: [assuming everyone is healthy]
1. boston
8. new york
boston wins because they can play defense.
2. miami
7. cleveland
miami wins because they have much more better talent than cleveland defensively and offensively
3.orlando
6. milwaukee
orlando dominates out on the perimeter, bogut has to step it up to have any chance.
4.chicago
5. atlanta
ronnie brewer will be able to shut down joe johnson and boozer and noah will dominate the glass.
ec semi finals:
boston vs chicago: boston has too much size and i dont think deng will be able to take pierce and that will decide that series.
orlando vs miami: if dwight howard dominates there is no way orlando loses because miami have no way to stop him. if he gets in foul trouble, miami's perimeter play will outshine the magic, i'd say howard steps it up and miami become a laughing stock.
ecf:
boston vs orlando: with a healthy perkins and KG, boston got this easy. lewis isnt looking the same to stretch the floor and vince carter won't win you a championship.
west: this is gonna be so hard to pick the seedings because its so competitive
1. LA
8. portland
los angeles has too much post firepower for portland and with brandon roy possibly out for a long time with limited minutes i dont see how the blazers win it.
2. Utah
7. denver
this one could go either way if you have a really healthy nuggets team and carmelo anthony is still there, but i think utah takes this one the back of al jefferson and deron williams being too much for denver to handle
3. San antonio
6. dallas
san antonio is one of the best teams in the nba, they have so much depth and can dispatch dallas pretty easily even with a team that wasnt playing til full capabilities last year
4. new orleans
5. oklahoma city
really close one, i think kevin durants lifts it for the thunder in the playoffs because new orleans have no scoring answer to him. ariza will get dominated.
semi finals
LA vs oklahoma city:
la in 6 games, the thunder are good but still wont be able to compete with LA. gasol will run riot.
san antonio vs utah;
again san antonio has far more depth than the jazz and their bench wins it for them, with guys like tiago splitter, george hill and gary neal coming off for the spurs.
wcf:
this is the one i really want to see.
the lakers will have a tough match up because they have 2 good perimeter defenders in kobe and artest but the spurs have 3 excellent perimeter scorers in parker, ginobli and jefferson. if duncan continues his renaissance the spurs i think are the only team that can stop the lakers in the west.
but it works both ways kobe is a monster and i can see him stepping it up, this series would go to 7 games its that tight.
NBA FINALS: just for the sake of it say LA wins the west.
boston vs la: pierce and ray are a bit older and i think the lakers win it on the perimeter. boston picked up some interior size to compete in the paint, but this game will be won and lost on the perimeter play of rondo, ray allen and pierce. rondo is deciding factor because the lakers have no answer to him. if they cant shut him down boston will win, but i think they will so LA should win in 6 or 7.