TrueHoop 2019-2020 NBA West Preview

David Thorpe's brain + machine learning = this preview

We put David Thorpe’s special basketball brain to work assessing the upcoming NBA season for all 30 teams. With help from machine learning experts at Kensho, and the good people at Axios, there’s also a sophisticated, interactive projection of every NBA player. Here are our Western Conference team-by-team previews, in order of predicted finish.

WEST #1: LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
Projected record: 59-23

BY DAVID THORPE

Superstars! Hollywood! There’s a lot of glitz in this team. But they’ll win games by being about as glitzy as a sledgehammer. The defense will be incredible. Combine that with outstanding starter talent and one of the best bench units in the league, and you get the favorite to be the West’s top seed.

On court, there shouldn’t be any problems with how Kawhi Leonard and Paul George play, once George returns from shoulder surgery. Each enters this season already expecting to carry a little less of the load than last season. That’s part of the attraction. Their usage rates can fall, …