This piece today is about the teams that will be forces next season sort of like a big for teams to watch out for as we look at the end of our regular season and gear up for playoffs.

The truth is that we don’t really know who will be good or really good, because there are a lot of things that are bound to change from here till then, like Free Agency, trades, draft, etc.

Even then, after all these things, we never do a good job projecting who will be good on the indicator that has the most weight, that is, of course, the 2k engine.

All of this to say that: there’s a high probability I’m going to get a lot of these wrong, so don’t take it personal if your team is not here, because at the end of the day, what do I know?

Here´s my top 10 teams for next season:

1- Portland Trail Blazers – Of course there’s the Kawhi decision on his PO looming if he’ll opt in, sign an extension or leave. In any case, Portland likely have the best record in history and probably another ring so even if he bolts, should be no problem retaining him. 3 big dogs under contract remains atop the standings.

2- San Antonio Spurs – Again, all 3 big dogs under contract and they’ll only need to deal with the Drummond situation and it could even become 4 of them. They should be great again and just a notch below the Blazers.

3- New York Knicks – Ok, I’m literally scared of how good this team can be next season and for the future. Don’t look now but this team has arguably 3 top 30 talents and still bunch of picks. How is that even possible? Answer: Smokey, yeah. I’m looking for them to rise.

4- Detroit Pistons – They need to get more dynamic at the wing spots after this year, they have the 3 core players under contract plus Lowry and Melo leaving, likely. This might be the top team that’s one of the most dependent on engine performance taking a shine to them. If Gobert and Bam Bam look pedestrian like in engines past, then they sink, if not, they hold the 4th spot. Plus, will we get Irving on steroids next year too?

5- New Orleans Pelicans – Next year might be the year, however, maybe the year after that? Ja is coming into his own, Spida does what Spida does, and Collins is a good 3rd banana. I don’t expect Leeroy to just stay put and not be aggressive with the amount of young pups he’s got. I think there’s another big trade no one saw coming on the way in the off-season. I’m betting they become ridiculous next year.

6- Los Angeles Clippers – Next year might be the year for the Clipper trio to come into their on. Sexton and Sabonis are officially in their primes and Giannis is an unstoppable beast, so if this is to become another big three in this league, they will need internal growth and 2k love to their guys, which I’m projecting it will happen. Might be a big 4 if Barret is a legit star?

7- Denver Nuggets – It’s the Nuggets, of course it is. Their big 3, which seems like a league wide theme at this point, is composed by Curry, Porter Jr., and the other returning Splash Brother, Klay Thompson. I’m so excited to see this 2k team in action. If the engine falls the right way, they can be as good as the #1 team in the league!

8- Washington Wizards – Now we start getting to the duo part of this. KAT and Book are aligned in their window and they will do what they do for a long time! I’m guessing a third banana is what Josh is looking for via draft or FA. Their guys are probably what they are at this point, it’s just a matter of how much 2k likes them.

9- Oklahoma City Thunder – This is a bit of a surprise team, however, stay with me here. Randle just came into his own in the NBA to the point where 2k just couldn’t catch up. He will be a problem next year and so will the uber-talented Christian Wood. Add to that Kemba and, if you’re redy for this, Anthony Edwards. This guy has athleticism for days and we know 2k loves those. The Thnder can be the surprise of next season.

10- Chicago Bulls -  Another duo on this list. This team showed this year that they were not ready for the injury toll they took and Anthony Davis is the posterboy for that. Beal also couldn’t pick up the slack enough for them in his absence. Will we see some sort of rebuild coming here? Things do not look trending up.

As you can see, I’ve left a couple of teams out of this, but that’s mainly cause it was hard to project with their FA situation being tricky or they were a one star team comparing to the others on this list.

Here are a couple of teams on the bubble: Hornets, Mavericks, Raptors, Philly

Peace!