This year of the NBA has been absolutely surprising. I decided to create a list for the top 5 surprising teams so far and their playoff predictions. When I was making my list, I did not go purely by the record, but also considered the last 2-4 years of those franchises. I also put in the aspect of the overall play of this year compared to other years. 

At number 5 of the list, I put the Portland Trail Blazers. I put the Blazers as one of, but fell short to the Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals. In the 2019 season, they finished leaving a message that they were, in fact, a very strong team in the west. Even during the 2019 free agency, the Trail Blazers made vital signings of getting Hassan Whiteside to fill the role of the injured center, Jusuf Nurkic. However, so far in the 2019-2020 season, they have a 23-28 record and are 9th in the Western Conference. This was surprising to me because of how a semi-finalist team that only lost a few role players quickly went to a team that is fighting for the last seed in the playoffs. Also, a pretty big detail was that Damian Lillard has been playing the best year of basketball of his career averaging 30 ppg on 44% field goal percentage. 

At number 4 of the list, I put the Celtics here because of how the team has been playing even though their star player, Kyrie Irving left this year. After Kyrie left, it actually had a positive impact because of how much Kyrie needed the ball in order to score while giving his teammates difficult scenarios to score when they were given the ball due to the floor spacing and shot clock. The young players, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are having their best years with Jaylen improving his points per game by 8 and Jayson Tatum averaging 22 points per game. The Celtics surprised me very much this year because of how they are playing better without their franchise player. 

For the next number on the list, I put the Miami Heat as the third most surprising team this year. The Miami Heat finished 10th in the east with a below .500 record with 39 wins and 46 losses last year. This year as of February 2020, they are currently 4th in the eastern conference with 35 wins and only 19 losses. I constantly questioned why they were performing so much better this year compared to the previous years. After researching a little, the trade between the Philadelphia Sixers acquiring the star Jimmy Butler has impacted their level of play tremendously. Also, the 2019 draft picks for the Heat have been very beneficial for them so far. The thirteenth pick of the 2019 draft, Tyler Herro is performing insanely well for a rookie, likewise with Kendrick Nunn who was undrafted but still managed to come to the league and have a very important role on the Heat.  

As the second most surprising team, I have put the Phoenix Suns. The Phoenix Suns have been great considering their previous records in the past. In the past 4 years, 2015-2019, their best year was a record of 24-58. In the 2019-2020 season, as of March 3rd, 2020 they already have exactly 24 wins with 20 games left in the regular season. With the addition of Aron Baynes and Ricky Rubio this year and the rising young stars Mikal Bridges and Kelly Oubre Jr, their defensive and scoring ratings have increased tremendously. Rubio is one of the best NBA defensive point guards, but with Kelly Oubre and Mikal Bridges on the wing creates tremendous ball pressure. Also, having the first pick in the 2018 draft certainly helped them too. Deandre Ayton has been averaging 19 points per game and 12 rebounds a game all on shooting an efficient 55% from the field. Devin Booker has been having a career year as well. He has been having the highest points per game and with the most efficient field goal percentage of his career, this year which allows the offense to run more smoothly with more ball touches to everyone on the court. The Phoenix Suns have improved tremendously compared to the previous years which is why I have put them here in second place.

As the most surprising team, I put the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors came off another tremendous year but with a loss in the finals due to injury against the Toronto Raptors. However, even if a downfall was expected in the 2019 season, no one expected the Warriors to have the worst record in the NBA as of March 26th. Even if Kevin Durant left and Klay Thompson was injured, Steph Curry and Draymond Green were still there. However, the entire Warriors roster was injured soon after beginning the season with Curry out for several weeks. The Warriors were forced to put in their rookies and several G-league players which led to inconsistency among players. However, the Warriors seem very confused on the court and it is very hectic compared to previous years. The Warriors have tried to stick with the same offensive strategy as the previous years. However, the Warriors now are not skilled enough to use it effectively. Even with the contract buy out of D’angelo Russell in order to try and minimize the effect of Klay Thompson, D’angelo Russell is too much of a defensive liability compared to Klay Thompson which caused more problems than benefits. With this contract buyout, the Warriors had to find ways to lower the tax bill which led to waiving Shaun Livingston and allowing other key role players such as Jordan Bell and Quinn Cook to freely go into the Free Agency. The loss of players is the main reason why the Warriors are so surprisingly bad this year. Typical G-League players or not-so great players had to forcibly step up in the starting roles among the team which was the main factor on their terrible season thus far.