The Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas released its NBA regular season win totals today with a few notable risers and fallers from last year.
The Portland Trailblazers were tagged with the biggest disparity from last year’s wins to this year’s totals. After winning 51 games and earning the No. 4 seed from the Western Conference as the champs of the Northwest Division last season, the Blazers were hit with a bevy of losses over the summer and are pegged for just 26.5 wins in the 2015-16 season.
“That was one of the tougher ones,” said Jeff Sherman, assistant manager at the SuperBook. “Them and the Nuggets were the two that basically had more variability than the others when we were making our numbers. They just lost so much, between (Robin) Lopez, (Aaron) Afflalo, (Nic) Batum, and obviously (Lamarcus) Aldridge, and they didn’t replace them with any key parts. So to us, in a tough Western Conference, it looks like you’ve got Damian Lillard and not much else besides that.”
On the other end of the spectrum, the New York Knicks make the biggest jump. Of course, after winning only 17 games last season, improvement should be all but guaranteed. Nonetheless, a 14.5-win swing represents a significant increase.
“Carmelo missed a lot of time last year and he’s cleared to play now,” Sherman said. “So you get him back. It’s Derek Fisher’s second year coaching, so you’d expect some improvement upon any mistakes that they came across, and they got Afflalo and Robin Lopez in free agency, and adding Kristaps Porzingis as an early draft pick, it just looks a lot more solid than what they had.”
Unsurprisingly, the defending champion Golden State Warriors are penciled in for the most wins at 60.5, followed immediately by a trio of Western Conference foes—San Antonio (58.5), Oklahoma City (57.5) and the Clippers (56.5).
Also at 56.5, defending conference champ Cleveland is the only team from the East with a total over 50.
2015-16 NBA regular season win totals (via Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook)
| Team | 14-15 wins | 15-16 totals | Totals disparity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blazers | 51 | 26.5 | -24.5 |
| Mavs | 50 | 38.5 | -11.5 |
| Hawks | 60 | 49.5 | -10.5 |
| Nets | 38 | 28.5 | -9.5 |
| Warriors | 67 | 60.5 | -6.5 |
| Grizzlies | 55 | 50.5 | -4.5 |
| Raptors | 49 | 45.5 | -3.5 |
| Nuggets | 30 | 26.5 | -3.5 |
| Suns | 39 | 36.5 | -2.5 |
| Rockets | 56 | 54.5 | -1.5 |
| Wizards | 46 | 45.5 | -0.5 |
| Hornets | 33 | 32.5 | -0.5 |
| Bulls | 50 | 49.5 | -0.5 |
| Clippers | 56 | 56.5 | 0.5 |
| Kings | 29 | 30.5 | 1.5 |
| Pistons | 32 | 33.5 | 1.5 |
| Jazz | 38 | 40.5 | 2.5 |
| Bucks | 41 | 43.5 | 2.5 |
| Pelicans | 45 | 47.5 | 2.5 |
| Celtics | 40 | 42.5 | 2.5 |
| Cavs | 53 | 56.5 | 3.5 |
| Spurs | 55 | 58.5 | 3.5 |
| 76ers | 18 | 21.5 | 3.5 |
| Pacers | 38 | 42.5 | 4.5 |
| Magic | 25 | 32.5 | 7.5 |
| Lakers | 21 | 29.5 | 8.5 |
| Heat | 37 | 45.5 | 8.5 |
| Wolves | 16 | 25.5 | 9.5 |
| Thunder | 45 | 57.5 | 12.5 |
| Knicks | 17 | 31.5 | 14.5 |