Getting Started with the Prediction Project
Okay so I was sitting around drinking coffee last Tuesday morning scrolling through sports news and realized – damn, nobody’s even guessing what teams will dominate basketball in 2029 yet. Five years seems far but in sports time? That’s tomorrow. Grabbed my laptop first thing and started digging.
My Shaky Research Phase
First step was just brute-force googling current NBA roster ages and contracts. Made a messy spreadsheet tracking every starter’s age in 2029 – kept mixing up birth years until I color-coded that tab bright red. Big realization halfway through: teams like Phoenix have zero young backups ready to takeover when Curry/Durant retires. That right there? Massive red flag.
Next I hunted down college recruit rankings. Spent hours cross-checking high school phenom videos against scouting reports. Wrote notes like “17yr old French kid – if he stops eating croissants and lifts weights??? Top 5 material maybe”. My cat walked over the keyboard and deleted half the data. Started over.
The Gut-Check Strategy
After three days drowning in stats my head hurt. Dumped the complicated formulas and switched to pure instinct. Made two lists:
- Teams bleeding talent by 2029 (saw LeBron’s retirement coming like sunrise)
- Teams stacking young guns already (OKC’s haul of draft picks? Chef’s kiss)
Called up my buddy who coaches AAU basketball. We argued for an hour about whether European leagues would poach more stars. He thought yes, I said nah – left that as wildcard factor.
Putting Predictions on Paper
Finally sat down with cold beer last night and ranked top 5 contenders for 2029:
- Oklahoma City Thunder: Their war chest of picks means constant young talent flow
- San Antonio Spurs: Wembanyama plus Popovich’s ghost still coaching? Scary
- Orlando Magic: Those giant forwards will mature into monsters
- Detroit Pistons: If they don’t trade away Cade Cunningham for magic beans
- Denver Nuggets: Joker’s passing DNA will infect new roster
Wrote brutal notes too like “Warriors – unless they clone Steph, prepare for dark years”. Felt harsh crossing them out.
Epic Facepalm Moments
Almost forgot expansion teams! Remembered Seattle rumors mid-shower. Dripped water all over notebook adding “Possible Seattle team?” in smeared ink. Also realized agents now push players to big markets more than ever. Added asterisk: “If NYC gets competent management somehow…” then laughed and scribbled “Yeah right”.
Wrap-Up Thoughts
Finished at 2AM feeling like a mad scientist. Sure injuries or trades could nuke this whole list tomorrow. But here’s my crystal ball takeaway: GMs hoarding draft picks like doomsday preppers will dominate. Veteran teams clinging to glory? Gonna crash hard. Already planning to check this list yearly – fully expecting half to be hilariously wrong. Maybe I’ll frame the worst predictions as cautionary tales.
