2023 - 2024 Teams Tier List Projection

I'm really excited for this upcoming season. We 've had alot of moves and it's looking like the teams are heading in the direction the league executives want it to: towards parity. There is not one team you can clearly say that will win the championship. During the Warriors and Cavs run, it became more and more apparent as the season(s) went on that it was going to be them two in the Finals. Unlike last year, the Lakers wild run to the Western Conference Finals after starting the season 2 - 10. As a Lakers fan, I had lost hope for a time. But enough of the past, let's look ahead to this season. Here are my tiers: Tier A - serious championship contenders, Tier B - middle of the road teams, Tier C - not that great and probably won't be in the Top 16 to make playoffs (not including the Play-In Tournament, which I love). Let's see what we have:

I'm saying it now: Lakers vs Celtics in the championship and the Lakers are winning!!!

Let's dig a little deeper:

Tier A Teams

I think the two obvious "superteams" in the East are the Celtics and Bucks. They just have a boatload of talent and, on paper, they're the obvious favorites right now. The Celtics kept their core together and if, for some reason, Porzingis doesn't work out, you still havea Big 3 of Tatum, Brown, and Holiday. Holiday is step up from Marcus Smart (who is now on the Memphis Grizzlies). The Bucks: Lillard and Giannis. Winning.

In the West, obviously the Lakers and the defending champion Nuggets. The Suns had a full summer of Book and KD to work together and built a team around them, including in bring in a third All-Star Bradley Beal. They're going to win a lot of games. The Warriors might surprise some people being in Tier A. I think you can't doubt Steph and I'm bullish on the Chris Paul addition to the team. Watching them run some of their plays (DHOs and Pick n' Rolls), it seemed like it's going to be a smooth fit.

Tier B Teams: I don't want to go over all of them but I'll just highlight some of them. A lot of the teams have been annual Playoff teams and I think that will continue to this year.

In the East, most of these teams are pretty Mid. I don't think there will be any surprises. The Sixers success depends on Harden, at this point I really don't know what's going to happen with his trade request, but I'm leaning to he doesn't end up to his preferred destination and doesn't play for the Sixers, so it's a lose-lose for him. I'm also really hoping the best for Ben Simmons. He's had his issues, but the potential is there. Also, I'm bullish on Paolo, hence why Magic are in Tier B instead of C.

In the West, I'm thinking the Kings may sneak into a Tier A team if they can continue their strength from last year. The Mavs: a clear Tier B team, but I hope they make it to Tier A led by a strong season from Kyrie. I also think we'll see another surprising season from the Thunder, they're young but they have talent.

Tier C Teams: Yeah, not much to say here. I don't really have much to believe for them.

For the Spurs, I hope Wemby has a great season though and they show some bright spots but I don't think they hav enough. I think the Rockets might sneak into a Tier B team, they brought on a new good coach and their young players are bringing in another year of experience.

The Hornets are an embarrassment of a team and organization. Their players are jokes and I'm very bearish on their future. Everyone else in the East Tier C just don't have enough talent and chemistry to cross into a Tier B team, they won't be winning many games.

Overall, I'm really excited for seeing the surprises and I'm sure this list won't be accurate so I'm looking forward to see where I'l be wrong.