With the NBA season getting started this month, it’s time to take a look at the Northwest Division win totals. The win totals come courtesy of Bovada, and will set the expectation for each team heading into the 2019 season. However, many of the actual win totals won’t play out as projected.
Win Totals in the Northwest Division
Denver Nuggets
The over/under for the Denver Nuggets is set at 53. The correct bet here is the under. The main reason for that is this would be only one less win than last season, and Denver didn’t do much to improve this offseason.
Denver will be a good team this season. With Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray back and looking to take their games to yet another level, Denver will win a good amount of games. Paul Millsap is also back for what should be another strong season.
Denver will be a threat to make the Western Conference Finals as they came one game away from doing last season, but this team is largely the same as it was last season, and the Western Conference is deeper this season.
Minnesota Timberwolves
The over/under for the Minnesota Timberwolves is set at 35.5. Just like Denver, take the under here.
This team is still led by Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. At this point in both of their careers, there’s no reason to believe they can lead a team to a good season. While talented, these two have left a lot to be desired.
Having Robert Covington certainly helps, as will rookie Jarrett Culver, but again, in a loaded Western Conference, Minnesota is looking at winning closer to 30 games.
This is a team that would be a risky bet, however. That win total isn’t astonishingly high, and this team has plenty of talent to be in games. If they can find a way to win more close games they could hit the over.
Oklahoma City Thunder
The over/under for the Oklahoma City Thunder is set at 32. The correct bet here is the over, which would come as a surprise to most people.
Oklahoma City had an interesting offseason, to say the least. It started when they traded Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers. It continued when the franchise traded cornerstone Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets.
Westbrook being traded was no surprise. However, a surprise was the team appearing to go into the season with Chris Paul. Most assumed that Paul would quickly be dealt after the Westbrook trade. And he still might. But at this point, he’s still a member of the Thunder.
There are other pieces to like on this team as well. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari are nice pieces they got in the Paul George trade, and Steven Adams is still on the roster.
Many are underrating the Thunder, but this will be a team that plays hard each night and finds a way to hit the over.
Portland Trail Blazers
The over/under for the Portland Trail Blazers is 46.5. Take the over here. Portland is generally undervalued before each season starts.
Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are still in Portland, and in the regular season, that’s pretty much all that matters. Since the team has been led by those two in the backcourt, this team doesn’t take nights off.
There are some new pieces this season in the form of Hassan Whiteside, Kent Bazemore, Mario Hezonja and a few others. However, Portland has an established culture that the new players should be able to fit into.
The depth and culture in Portland will lead them to win around the same amount of games as the Nuggets, which is why Denver hits the under and Portland hits the over.
A huge part of their final win total, however, will be how quickly Jusuf Nurkic returns and can play a bigger role.
Utah Jazz
The over/under for the Utah Jazz is 53.5. This is a bet that should be stayed away from. However, if you’re going to bet, bet the over.
The Jazz did a ton to improve in the offseason. The big headliner was Mike Conley, but they also added Bojan Bogdanovic, who was a nice pickup that will help out the offense significantly.
Utah also added Ed Davis, who is one of the top offensive rebounders in basketball. Make no mistake about it though, the reason the over is the right bet is because of the additions of Conley and Bogdanovic.
Since Quin Snyder has been in Salt Lake City, the Jazz have been able to play defense. The reason they haven’t been able to get over any sort of hump, however, is because of their offense bogging down. Those two pickups will go a long way in improving the offense and making it more consistent.
Donovan Mitchell should also be expected to take the next step as the leader of this franchise, and Joe Ingles is a guy who plays a huge role on both ends of the floor. And that doesn’t even include perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate Rudy Gobert.
This division is deep, but if Utah doesn’t win it, it should be viewed as a disappointment.
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