Enter Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. The Cavaliers fell victim to the Splash Bros, the amazing breakout season from Draymond Green, and the veteran Swiss army knife that is Andre Iguodala in a 4-2 NBA Final ser

The Cavaliers will go to work against Paul George, Lance Stephenson and the Indiana Pacers in the first round, where James has been absolutely dominant his entire career. Not going in as the top-seeded club may seem ominous, but that's never stopped LeBron from succeeding bef

The 2011-2012 season was a strange one, though, with the NBA having a shortened regular season following a nasty lockout. Players and league executives engaged in a bitter standoff that cut the NBA season down by 16 games and condensed the schedule sever

By the final update to the NBA 2K12 game, Melo saw his overall rating plummet to an 81. From there, things didn't get much better for the former elite player, as his overall ratings never again rose above an

Rumors abounded that Melo could be on the move at this year's trade deadline, but nothing serious ever materialized. Though Anthony loves living in New York City, the best thing for his career (both real and virtual) may be a move to a team where he can be part of a big three (maybe the Cleveland Cavaliers or Los Angeles Clippe

Clearly, while he was with the Nuggets, Melo was one of the game's elite all-around offensive players (though his defensive stats definitely left a lot to be desired). But, once he forced his way to the Knicks, the steady decline be

It didn't take long for LeBron to make his first NBA Finals appearance, accomplishing the feat in just his fourth season since jumping to the league straight out of high school. The Cavaliers did it as the No. 2 s

Coached by Erik Spoelstra, who is still in charge of the Heat, the 2011-12 squad delivered the first of the back-to-back titles of the Big Three era. Here's where the starting five and key contributors from that year's team are

Next up is the Los Angeles Lakers, who have the most at stake here. Their 2017 first-round pick belongs to the Philadelphia 76ers, but they attached top-three protection to it. This means if it falls out of the top-three, the 76ers will take the pick and the Lakers are left empty-han

There are tantalizing talents at the top, like Lonzo Ball, Markelle Fultz, Josh Jackson, Malik Monk and a number of other top picks. That's without considering the typical risers whose stock is elevated during the combine and pre-draft worko

Speaking of Philadelphia, they have the fourth-best odds going into lottery night. They're the last team with double-digit odds of being No. 1 (11.9%), with a 24.5 percent chance at a top-two pick, and 37.8 percent shot at a top-three p

Now back with the Cleveland Cavaliers, James is back to his title-winning ways. He led the Cavs to their first-ever title last year and is gearing up to make a run at his seventh-straight NBA News|https://nbaactioninsight.com/ Finals this y

LA has a 15.6 percent chance of winning the No. 1 pick, 38.7 percent chance of it being a top-two pick and 46.9 percent chance of it remaining in the top-three. This is exactly why Lakers fans were panicking with each late-season win during their five-game winning str

Once again, though, he entered the playoffs as the No. 2 seed. Similarly, it was a non-issue again. The Cavaliers swept the Celtics in the first round, easily elimiminated the Bulls (4-2) and brought out the brooms again against the Atlanta Ha

After coming into the league with the Denver Nuggets, Anthony became a star in his 7.5 years with the team. But, as the trade deadline approached in the 2010-11 season, Melo decided he wanted out and forced a trade to New York to play for the Kni

When he famously signed with his hometown Chicago Bulls in the offseason, the general thought was that Wade joining forces with Jimmy Butler and Rajon Rondo in Chicago would result in success in the Eastern Confere

After spending last season with the Shandong Golden Stars in China, Cole signed a contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder in March. He is now averaging 2.3 points and 1.1 assists in limited action as the team's third-string point gu

The team in the absolute best position is the Boston Celtics, which seems a bit crazy considering they're the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference heading into the playoffs. The Brooklyn Nets were crazy enough to trade their own unprotected first-round pick to Boston years

They balanced things out and finished the season as the No. 2 seed, then dominated the Eastern Conference. They beat the Philadelphia 76ers (4-1), Boston Celtics (4-1) and Chicago Bulls (4-1) before they were stopped in their tracks by German engineer

LeBron is set to make a run at a fourth NBA title as the Cleveland Cavaliers head into the playoffs. Strangely enough, despite the Cavaliers staying intact, they're going into the postseason as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Confere