Welcome to the 2021-22 NBA season, folks! And welcome back to FiveThirtyEight’s NBA forecast, which is based on our RAPTOR player ratings. Before we get into the results of this year’s model and how our forecast sees the battle to dethrone the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks playing out, let’s quickly address a few of the […]
Build An NBA Contender With Our Roster-Shuffling MachineMove players around and make “trades” to change FiveThirtyEight’s NBA predictions. More NBA:2020-21 NBA predictionsOur RAPTOR player ratings By Ryan Best and Jay Boice How would adding a superstar change your favorite team’s title chances? Could a specific role player be the missing piece for a certain squad? […]
As the NBA shifted away from two-big lineups in recent seasons, we saw a relative devaluation of the center position. While big men used to be the centerpieces of teams’ plans on both ends of the floor, they are now more often complementary members. There are exceptions, of course. Reigning MVP Nikola Jokić and runner-up […]
After LeBron James lost in the first round of the NBA playoffs last season for the first time in his career, big changes were bound to come to the Los Angeles Lakers. The splashiest, of course, was the blockbuster acquisition of former MVP and all-time triple-double leader Russell Westbrook. But Dwight Howard and Rajon Rondo […]
Early in the final quarter of the final game of the NBA season, Jrue Holiday took a shot that was unremarkable in 2021 but would have driven a coach apoplectic a decade earlier: Holiday raced up the court in transition and flung up a triple without appearing to think of passing. But his audacity gave […]