5. Los Angeles Clippers
Vegas Win Projection: 35.5
My Win projection: 43
This one was a huge head-scratcher for me. I think Vegas is anticipating a little bit of a tank for the Clippers this year ahead of a summer where they will have nearly $50 million in projected cap space, but not so fast!
Steve Ballmer and Jerry West have made it very clear that no such tank will take place and they are both playing for the now and the future. Last year the Clippers won 42 games in a “rebuilding year” and saw the franchise both trade their expensive and injury prone franchise player in Blake Griffin and see the rise of Sixth Man of the Year, Lou Williams.
35.5 wins makes no sense to me for these reasons: The Clippers were better without Griffin last year, they actually set an NBA record last year for the most starting lineup changes due to injury, added two lottery picks and they are healthy again.
Even with all the injuries in 2017-18, the Clippers still had a winning record and showed some future promise. Adding guys like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Marcin Gortat helps even with the losses of “Mr. Clipper” Deandre Jordan and Austin Rivers.
When this team is healthy they have a professional scorer, Lou Williams, near 20 point-a-game guys in Danilo Gallinari and Tobias Harris, two of the best perimeter defenders in the league in Patrick Beverley and Avery Bradley and a young guy in SGA that everyone is high on. The future and present are bright in L.A. and setting them at 35.5 wins will result in winning some money for people hitting the over.
Next Up: Team 4
