Will Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks fly high this coming season as they continue their current rebuild, led by their sweet-shooting second-year point guard? Will Victor Oladipo make a successful return to lift the ‘dangerous’ Indiana Pacers to brand new heights? Last but not least, are Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors primed to take a huge step backwards after parting ways with Andre Iguodala and watching Kevin Durant bolt for the Big Apple?
With the 2019-20 NBA regular season just over 24 hours from getting underway, now is a perfect time to take a look at five teams that I believe all have an excellent chance of playing over their respective win total odds this coming season. With that said, let’s get started.
2019-20 NBA Regular Season Wins Odds Favorites
Atlanta Hawks
- 2019 NBA Regular Season Wins Odds: 35
The Hawks won a modest 29 games last season, but I believe they are primed to make a seven-game jump at the very least this coming season. Point guard Trae Young (19.1 ppg, 8.1 apg) was nothing short of amazing over the second half of his rookie season a year ago and the Hawks have one of the game’s most impressive young big men in power forward John Collins (19.5 ppg, 9.8 rpg). Not only that, but Atlanta also nabbed a pair of rookies in the lottery that both have extremely bright futures in forward De’Andre Hunter and swingman Cam Reddish.
The Hawks also brought in two veterans with a ton to prove in Chandler Parsons and Jabari Parker while also adding a nice-two-way in veteran two-guard Evan Turner. Second-year shooting guard Kevin Huerter looks primed to take a big step forward this coming season ad Atlanta also added a couple of athletic young big men in Damian Jones and Bruno Fernando. Oh, did I forget to mention that the ageless Vince Carter still has some gas left in the tank and that he’s undoubtedly one of the best locker room leaders in the entire league? I’m going with the Hawks to reach 36 wins in 2019-20.
Orlando Magic
- 2019 NBA Regular Season Wins Odds: 40.5
The Magic won 42 games last season, so I’m a bit surprised that their win total odds for the upcoming season are just a bit lower than that figure. Orlando made a pair of smart moves by re-signing all-star center Nikola Vucevic (20.8 ppg, 12.0 rpg) and high-flying veteran two-guard Terrence Ross (15.1 ppg) while adding underrated do-it-all veteran forward Al_Farouq Aminu in free agency.
I’m expecting small forward Aaron Gordon to take another step forward in his evolution after averaging a respectable 16.0 points per game last season and I like athletic big men Mo Bamba and Johnathan Issac and I believe the Magic are in great shape to reach 41 wins this coming season.
Indiana Pacers
- 2019 NBA Regular Season Wins Odds: 47.5
The Pacers managed to win an impressive 48 games last season despite losing their best player, all-star shooting guard Victor Oladipo 36 games into last season. Now, with the heady two-way star back on the court, I’m thinking the Pacers will challenge for 50 wins. Yes, Indiana lost veteran forward Thaddeus Young and veteran wing Wesley Matthews while veteran point guard Darren Collison unexpectedly retired, but the Pacers did acquire another two-way star in former Bucks shooting guard Malcolm Brogdon while also adding sweet-shooting veteran Jeremy Lamb, heady floor leader T.J. McConnel and a near all-star swingman T.J. Warren (18.0 ppg).
I’m expecting talented big man Myles Turner to take another step forward this coming season and I love the multi-faceted contributions of fellow big man Domantas Sabonis, not to mention the no-nonsense ways of veteran head coach Nate McMillan. A reap of 48 victories looks quite possible for Indy this coming season if you ask me.
Sacramento Kings
- 2019 NBA Regular Season Wins Odds: 37.5
I know the Western Conference is loaded with talent and that the Clippers, Lakers and Rockets made some stunning moves to become ‘dynamic duo’ based title hopefuls this coming season, but the Sacramento Kings won 39 games last season and they are trending upward heading into the upcoming campaign for several reasons. The Kings have an absolutely electrifying point guard in flee-footed floor leader De’Aaron Fox (17.3 ppg), plus the growth of shooting guard Buddy Hield (20.7 ppg) since his first year in the league with New Orleans has been nothing short of phenomenal.
Young power forward Marvin Bagley III has stardom written all over his career after the second overall pick in last year’s draft put up 14.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in just 25 minutes of action per night. Sacramento also has two good veteran starters in Harrison Barnes and Dwayne Dedmond, not to mention Sacramento can lean on other newly acquired veterans like Trevor Ariza and Cory Joseph, so yeah, I’m expecting the Kings to reach the 40-win mark this coming season.
Golden State Warriors
- 2019 NBA Regular Season Wins Odds: 49.5
Last but certainly not least, you’d think the Golden State Warriors saw all of their best players walk out the door according to their critics. However, I’m not falling for the ‘fake news’ that the Dubs are dead in the water after losing Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala and Shawn Livingston from their perennial championship-winning and contending teams. While Klay Thompson is out until the new year, I love Golden State’s addition of combo guard D’Angelo Russell and I genuinely believe that he’s going to combine with Steph Curry and Draymond Green to keep the Warriors relevant until Thompson returns.
I love Golden State’s addition of athletic big man Willie Cauley-Stein to back up or play alongside of fellow big Kevon Looney, plus I’m expecting decent contributions from former Villanova frontcourt stars Omari Spellman and Eric Paschall as deep reserves as well as veteran wings Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III. Yes, the Warriors are no longer the dominating team that we could automatically book into the NBA Finals, but this is also a team that still has four all-stars, and arguably the best head coach in the game today.
I’m thinking 50 wins is quite possible for the Warriors, even in a deeper Western Conference that will see them challenged far more often than they have been in the recent past.
