NBA Conference Finals Predictions!

I’m finally back at my desk after a weeklong trip to Chicago for the NBA Draft Lottery and NBA Combine (followed by a quick excursion to celebrate my wife’s birthday over the weekend).

I’ll see what I can put into the Substack from the Combine—the heart of which is networking. Maintaining and building relationships is vital to what I do, and I’m richer for the friends I’ve made over the years. Plenty of wonderful people in this industry, swimming amongst the sharks!

No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. No. 4 Los Angeles Lakers = Thunder in 5 No. 2 San Antonio Spurs vs. No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves = Spurs in 7 No. 1 Detroit Pistons vs. No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers = Detroit in 7 No. 3 New York Knicks vs. No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers = Knicks in 6

As always, I put more weight on getting the winner right; the number of games reflects how competitive I think the series will be. The Lakers and Sixers couldn’t get anything going. The Spurs got it done one sooner, but the Pistons absolutely fell apart in Game 7. At least I had it going the distance!

For the conference finals, I have the Thunder winning in seven. I originally mapped out the Spurs pushing the series to six, but San Antonio has impressed me. I’ve been waiting for this series for a long time. It was the obvious result with the two true contenders in the Western Conference taking care of business until they meet with an NBA Finals bid on the line.

I originally had the Boston Celtics beating the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals, so, yeah—that one didn’t hold in the slightest!

I’ll go Knicks over the Cavaliers in six, though there’s an element of uncertainty after how thoroughly Cleveland dispatched Detroit on the road on Sunday. Let’s just say that New York has a more diversified offensive attack than the Pistons, which should be more problematic for the Cavs.

Regardless of the result, I’m looking forward to two tremendous series ahead of the Finals.

Here are several of my articles that went live this past week, starting with the Lakers’ exit in the second round: Los Angeles Lakers’ Top 3 Priorities During 2026 NBA Offseason and 5 Long-Shot Landing Spots for LeBron James That Actually Make Sense.

The Lakers must decide on Austin Reaves, James, and how to use their potentially ample cap room this summer. The second one on James explores the more wild notions for James. Sure, he could go home to Cleveland or join the Golden State Warriors, but what about reteaming with Anthony Davis with the Washington Wizards?

It’s more of an outside-the-box fun piece. They may “actually make sense” from a certain point of view, but are less likely to reach fruition.

Another is a stab at what the Lakers could look like if the team keeps the group together, including James, while trading “non-core” players like Jarred Vanderbilt, Jake LaRavia, and Dalton Knecht—along with several first-round picks: How the Los Angeles Lakers Can Build the Best Possible Team Around LeBron James and Luka Dončić.

Also, I continued my series on possible destinations for Giannis Antetokounmpo via trade from the Milwaukee Bucks. We set up a landing page, Ranking Top Potential Giannis Antetokounmpo Trade Packages, to see them all in one place.

The timing of this one made slightly more sense when the Cavaliers were down in the series to the Pistons: How the Cleveland Cavaliers Could Land Giannis Antetokounmpo in a Blockbuster Trade. Let’s see how the next round goes for the Cavs.

Finally, I ranked which teams have the most challenging cap situations this offseason. I didn’t write the headline, which came off a bit harsher than I intended in the story!

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