West:
1 - Suns
Traditionally, big 3s have always done well in the regular season - GSW finished 1st 4 times out of the 5 times they made it to the finals and MIA finished in the top 2 all 4 times in the Heatles era.
2 - Nuggets
They got weaker in the off-season, but they're still the reigning champs.
3 - Clippers
This is assuming Harden joins them, and Harden-PG-Kawhi is still a scary trio in the 3 games they'll play together.
4 - Lakers
We got stronger from a WCF side, still think there are too many rookies/raw talent for us to finish top 3.
5 - Grizzlies
The Ja ban will be difficult to get over, they'll make a late run in the standings though.
6 - Kings
They didn't get worse, the other teams just got better.
7 - Warriors
They remained somewhat the same, inactivity in FA will hurt them in the long run.
8 - Mavericks
Still not the biggest fan of the Luka-Kyrie tandem, weaknesses in the other positions will hurt them too.
9 - Thunder
Really very unpredictable, remains to see how quickly their talent develops.
10 - Timberwolves
They didn't get worse either, the other teams just got better. Unlike the Kings, they have terrible asset management too and too much money tied up into the frontcourt.
11 - Pelicans
If Zion does play more than 60 games then they go over a couple of these teams, however they didn't make any needle-changing moves.
12 - Spurs
Again very unpredictable, we have no idea how Wembanyama adapts to the league. LeBron missed the playoffs in his first season too, so it's not entirely surprising if Wemby does.
13 - Rockets
Their signings were nothing short of horrible, and it robs Amen of a starting spot to develop as well.
14 - Jazz
They really didn't do anything groundbreaking, they won't make the playoffs but will probably finish higher than 14.
15 - Trail Blazers
Assuming Dame is traded to the Heat Without Dame this team is garbage. A team led by Grant and Simons is destined for the lottery.
East:
1 - Celtics
They were the 1st seed in the East for some time, and got stronger. Tatum and Brown will get better every year too.
2 - Heat
This is assuming Dame joins them. Like the Suns, I'm expecting a strong regular season from a Dame-Butler-Bam trio, just that the Celtics team is more well-rounded.
3 - Bucks
They didn't do much, and the average age of Holiday-Middleton-Lopez is 33. Their championship window is coming to an end soon in the next few years unless they surround Giannis with younger players, but of course you can't count the best player in the world out.
4 - Cavaliers
They addressed their biggest need with a heavily overpaid Strus, but they still did get stronger and added more shooting, and their young core is just going to get better.
5 - 76ers
Assuming Harden is traded to the Clippers Having the reigning MVP means you're definitely qualifying for the playoffs; Maxey will get better too. But Harden-Embiid was the best duo in the NBA and breaking that apart isn't helping anybody.
6 - Knicks
They retooled and got marginally better, nothing that moves the needle though.
7 - Hawks
I wish they would do something worthwhile, this is just going to be another mediocre season and wasting another year of Trae.
8 - Pacers
They did do something worthwhile, and slowly are working their way to relevancy again. Their full roster is playoff-worthy.
9 - Nets
A Bridges led team is always going to finish midtable at best, and this team is very mediocre.
10 - Bulls
I wish they would do something worthwhile too, PLEASE TANK.
11 - Raptors
Another directionless team and they'll owe Siakam a max contract too or risk to lose him for nothing.
12 - Magic
A couple lottery picks and the core (especially Pablo) getting better means Magic could still finish around the 10 seed, don't think they're playoff ready yet.
13 - Hornets
A Lamelo-Miller duo could potentially be very exciting, very hard to predict where they end up especially since the rest of the team is terrible.
14 - Pistons
They got screwed over by the lottery, hopefully they do better this time around.
15 - Wizards
They don't really have anyone that makes noise, a Poole-led team is destined for the lottery too. A lot of young talent I like though.