Opening Day Predictions and Game Thread

From the players, to the coaches, to the fans, everyone feels the same way: let's get this party started.

We've talked ad nauseam about competition, fouling less, and taking defense personally. We've heard the same sound bites about Bruce's defense and Obi's transition scoring. That Mathurin wants to be coached hard and Tyrese just wants to win.

Well, all that talk becomes cheap starting tonight. It's time to walk the walk and it hasn't come a moment too soon (especially for Bruce Brown who feels like Carlisle tried to kill the team with training camp conditioning workouts).

Season Predictions

I'm deferring to NortheastNightmare who did a comprehensive pre-season ranking for the entire league.

Here's his methodology:

[This is more of a] personal preference and eye test... Only league rankings I didn’t do was bench, just because I can’t pretend to know every teams bench but legit think ours is #1. I ranked 6-10 and if it was close the tie breaker was 11-15 which we crushed on.

Backcourt

1. Mavs
2. Suns
3. Cavs
4. Grizz
5. Hawks
6. 76ers
7. Pels
8. Warriors
9. Thunder
10. Pacers
11. Kings
12. Bucks
13. Knicks
14. Clippers
15. Celtics
16. Nuggets
17. Wolves
18. Pistons
19. Bulls
20. Hornets.
21. Rockets.
22. Nets.
23. Lakers
24. Heat.
25. Blazers
26. Raptors
27. Wizards
28. Spurs
29. Magic
30. Jazz

Frontcourt

1. Celtics.
2. Nuggets.
3. Bucks.
4. Lakers
5. 76ers
6. Wolves
7. Kings
8. Raptors
9. Heat
10. Pels
11. Warriors
12. Magic
13. Nets
14. Clippers
15. Suns
16. Cavs
17. Bulls.
18. Thunder.
19. Knicks.
20. Jazz
21. Grizz
22. Blazers.
23. Rockets
24. Spurs
25. Hawks.
26. Pacers
27. Pistons.
28. Wizards.
29. Hornets
30. Mavs

Starting 5

1. Celtics.
2. Nuggets.
3. Suns.
4. Bucks.
5. 76ers.
6. Kings.
7. Cavs.
8. Warriors.
9. Pels
10. Lakers.
11. Wolves
12. Grizzlies.
13. Thunder
14. Clippers
15. Heat.
16. Knicks.
17. Nets.
18. Hawks.
19. Pacers
20. Bulls.
21. Raptors
22. Magic
23. Mavs.
24. Blazers.
25. Rockets
26. Jazz.
27. Pistons.
28. Spurs
29. Hornets
30. Wizards

League Rankings

(75% starter, 20% bench, 5% intangibles)

1. Celtics
2. Nuggets.
3. Bucks.
4. Suns
5. 76ers
6. Cavs
7. Pels
8. Kings
9. Warriors.
10. Lakers.
11. Wolves.
12. Grizzlies.
13. Thunder.
14. Pacers.
15. Knicks.
16. Heat.
17. Clippers.
18. Nets.
19. Hawks.
20. Raptors.
21. Magic.
22. Mavs.
23. Bulls.
24. Jazz.
25. Rockets.
26. Pistons.
27. Spurs.
28. Blazers
29. Hornets.
30. Wizards.

East Rankings

1. Celtics.
2. Bucks.
3. 76ers
4. Cavs.
5. Pacers
6. Knicks.
7. Heat.
8. Nets.
9. Hawks.
10. Raptors.
11. Magic
12. Bulls.
13. Pistons.
14. Hornets
15. Wizards  

Wizards

Speaking of the 15th best team in the East, they just happen to be our opponent tonight. With a new GM and and some splashy off-season moves, the Wizards are trying to break out of the cycle of mediocrity that they've come to represent.

Washington's new direction was evident when they paid our very own Pacers two second round picks to move up one spot in the draft to select late-riser Bilal Coulibaly.

They then engaged in a series of moves that sent out Monte Morris, Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis and brought in Jordan Poole and Tyus Jones (among many other assets). The new front office didn't totally clean house, however, as it shelled out cash to re-sign Kyle Kuzma and extend Deni Avidja.

Washington's new depth chart should look something like the following:

PG: Tyus Jones / Delon Wright / Ryan Rollins

SG: Jordan Poole / Corey Kispert / Landry Shamet / Johnny Davis

SF: Deni Avdija / Bilal Coulibaly

PF: Kyle Kuzma / Danilo Gallinari / Patrick Baldwin Jr. / Anthony Gill

C: Daniel Gafford / Mike Muscala

All in all, we should see a younger faster Wizards that plays a lot like we do. Expect this to be a track meet with no shortage of transition offense and a ton of quick threes.

How To Watch

Tipoff is at 7:00 PM ET and the local broadcast is on Bally Sports. Radio is on 93.5/107.5 The Fan.

See ya in the comments!