It’s wide open. Let’s start there.
Heading into Saturday’s playoff opener, at least seven teams can plausibly claim to have championship aspirations. The defending champions barely survived in the Play-In Tournament, last year’s East finalists are seeded sixth and seventh, respectively, and the likely runaway MVP winner just lost his wingman. The closest thing to a favorite, the Brooklyn Nets, has had their three best players on the court together for all of eight games and 202 minutes.
Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Milwaukee, Utah, Phoenix, the L.A. Lakers and the L.A. Clippers all can make realistic claims to championship aspirations. Denver, Miami, Boston, Portland and, should it qualify, Golden State, all have recent conference finals or NBA Finals visits on their resumes. Somehow, the Hawks and Knicks are here, too.
