The 2021-22 NBA season is upon us!

It’s time to preview the season — division by division — asking two very important questions for each team:

What’s the case for the Over?
What’s the case for the Under?

5. Detroit Pistons

2021-22 Over/Under: 25.5 wins — 31% winning pct (last season winning pct: 28%)

What’s the case for the Over?

Detroit won 20 games last season which would be about 23 wins for a full 82-game season.

So the Pistons only have to win two more games, and this should be an improved team.

The Pistons have the #1 prized possession in a seriously loaded draft, Cade Cunningham. Shady Cade is a big wing who can shoot it, exactly what you want in today’s game.
Jerami Grant’s drop the shoulder and drive down the lane game will have more shooting available to better space the floor. Grant played with the U.S. Olympic team over the summer. Hopefully he picked up on some things.
Saddiq Bey is capable of lighting it up with a good knack for scoring the ball.
Isiah Stewart a.k.a. Beef Stew has quite the motor for a big man. He fouls a lot, yet he can rebound with the best of them.
Killian Hayes can’t really be any worse than his rookie season. (And he has a fro now!)
A full season of iron man Corey Joseph and the arrival of Kelly Olynk in Mo-Town offers some vet leadership.

Half of the Pistons wins last season were against playoff teams.

What’s the case for the Under?

The Pistons only won 20 games last season and the East gotten much better.

Detroit’s average age of the starters: 21.8.
The Pistons could trade Jerami Grant to a contender who really needs him. J-Grant likely isn’t in the Pistons long-term plans.
There was a Wayne Ellington resurgence that took place here last year — a career-high 44 percent from 3 — but he’s now in La La Land with 360.

Super youthful teams like this have trouble winning against formidable and experienced competition.

Final Prediction: There should be nights where this team is fun to watch, but there will likely be plenty more where they are getting wasted. Under 25.5 wins.

4. Cleveland Cavaliers

2021-22 Over/Under: 27.5 wins — 34% winning pct (last season winning pct: 28%)

What’s the case for the Over?

The Cavs are due to hit an Over after hitting the Under an astounding five years in a row.

This has got to be the most exciting Cavs roster since LeBron left for sunny LA.

The excitement starts with the 7-foot rookie, Evan Mobley, taken at #3 overall in the draft. Mobley looks every bit the defensive menace he was touted to be coming out of USC.
The Twin Towers lineups with Mobley and The Fro, Jarrett Allen, will be a terror. Staggering those two can give Cleveland 48 minutes of rim protection.
SEXLAND is still here and should only get better with more defense around them.
Trading for Lauri Markkanen brings in added shooting and trading for Ricky Rubio brings in a competent backup point guard.
There is no way that Cedi Osman can play as bad as he did last season.

The defense is (slightly) trending in the right direction.

They weren’t dead last in the NBA in defense last season for the first time in three years. (They were 25th.)

What’s the case for the Under?

The Cavs have hit the Under FIVE seasons in a row, even going back to two years when they had LeBron.

Sexland is an undersized backcourt that can be exposed on defense.
Isaac Okoro’s three-point shot doesn’t appear any better: 28.6 percent in the preseason after 29 percent as a rookie.
Kevin Love is still here to fuck shit up.

The Cavs had the third worst offense in the league last season.

Final Prediction: The Cavs played like a Young Surprise Team at the beginning of last season, and we really wanted to take this Over, but we can’t take the Over on everybody. Under 27.5 wins.

3. Indiana Pacers

2021-22 Over/Under: 42.5 wins — 52% winning pct (last season winning pct: 47%)

What’s the case for the Over?

From Nate Bjorken to Rick Carlisle, the Pacers have an experienced head coach this year.

Carlisle has been around a while. He’s even coached the Indiana Pacers before.

A steady one-two inside-outside punch with Malcolm Brogdon and Domantas Sabonis. Brogdon is the table-setter. Sabonis is tougher than bear’s breath.
Myles Turner’s outstanding rim protection is back, he missed the last month and a half of last season as the Pacers defense dropped off without him.
T.J. Warren will hopefully return at some point. Warren should play more than four games which is all he managed in 2020-21.
A full season of Caris LeVert (current back injury withstanding) will also add to the scoring.
Chris Duarte and Isiah Jackson are promising rookies. Carlisle says he’s going to play them.
T.J. McStealy is coming for your inbounds pass. Justin Holiday a.k.a. Mr. Reliable has played every game for three seasons running.

If anybody can get Sabonis and Turner to fully coexist, it’s Rick Carlisle.

What’s the case for the Under?

The injuries are already a concern again with Warren still out after foot surgery and Caris LeVert suffering a stress fracture in his back.

The Pacers lack shooting, kind of important in today’s game. They also aren’t a good rebounding team which is surprising considering they have Sabonis. (Turner needs to step up his board-game.)
Carlisle very well might have to play the rookies out of necessity. If they don’t perform up to snuff, he could bury them.
The Pacers have a redundancy of bigs: Sabonis, Turner, Goga Bitadze and Jackson.

The Pacers usually finish near the middle — an incredible 16 times in the last 32 seasons they have been within five games of .500.

Final Prediction: In Brogdon, Sabonis and Carlisle we trust. Over 42.5 wins.

2. Chicago Bulls

2021-22 Over/Under: 43.5 wins — 53% winning pct (last season winning pct: 43%)

What’s the case for the Over?

The Bulls were the surprise free agency splash team of the summer, improving the roster significantly.

Zach LaVine not only has some help, but he has legitimate weapons.
Vooch and DeRozan will ease the scoring burden on offense.
Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso will set LaVine up, moving him more off-ball, and they will help him out on the wing on defense as well. The Bulls haven’t had perimeter defenders like that who can actually shoot.
Derrick Jones Jr. also helps bolster the defense. (And the power dunks!)
Tony Bradley and Alize Johnson had some moments last season, managing to pull that off in Philly and Brooklyn. Alize Johnson seemed to be everywhere in the preseason.

Chicago’s offense has already looked fun and seriously dynamic so far.

The Bulls were world-beaters in the preseason. And they didn’t even have Pat Willy or Coby White.

What’s the case for the Under?

Chicago begins the season without Pat Williams and Coby White.

The defense is going to be an issue. Any lineups with Lavine, DeRozan and Vooch are going to be challenging on that end.
The Bulls are kind of light on shooting. And the spacing might take some time to get figured out.
There is basically zero continuity here with the entire team over-hauled.

The bench is thin, especially in regards to shooting, and most notably with Coby White out until possibly the new year.

Final Prediction: We were leaning towards the under until we saw the Bulls light up the preseason. Over 43.5 wins.

1. Milwaukee Bucks

2021-22 Over/Under: 54.5 wins — 66% winning pct (last season winning pct: 64%)

What’s the case for the Over?

Giannis and Milwaukee have a Championship swagger to them now.

Giannis is the best regular season two-way player in the league.
The defending Champs still have all of the core pieces from last season and they’ll get DiVincenzo back soon enough.
Holiday and Middleton not only have the Championship confidence-boost, but they have an Olympic Gold medal shining back at them.
Grayson Allen is going to be a solid contributor, especially until The Big Ragu returns.
The People’s Champ, Bobby Portis, is back and on a super team-friendly contract to boot.

The Bucks are motivated to prove it wasn’t a Covid-season fluke. They probably still feel like they don’t have the true respect they deserve.

Milwaukee might prefer to have home-court advantage this time.

What’s the case for the Under?

The Bucks know they can take the regular season with a grain of salt, finishing 3rd last season in the East and winning the Ship after finishing in 1st place the two seasons prior when they didn’t even make The Finals.

The defense will likely lose a step with P.J. Tucker in South Beach.
There isn’t a plethora of shooting.
The Bucks might be too reliant on George Hill and… Semi Ojeleye.

The Champs are always the most hunted, circled on the calendar.

Final Prediction: Putting this one down as a Pure Lock. Over 54.5 wins.

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Northwest season preview.

Southeast preview. | Southwest preview.

Atlantic preview. | Pacific division preview.

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