The NBA’s Top Division

October is the greatest month to be a sports fan — football is in full swing, the MLB playoffs are in effect, and the NBA starts back up again. Making sense of this time can be difficult, so we’re here to provide an early preview of the latter. Let’s break down what should easily be the most competitive division in basketball: The Pacific, aka last year’s 3-7 in the West 👀

Last year all five teams from the division made the playoffs, and only the Lakers had to go through the play-in to get there. LAL started out 2-10 and completely reconfigured after the trade deadline, shipping off Russell Westbrook for a handful of better-fitting parts. The results were evident 👇

Now, with an extra year of continuity and marginal upgrades to boost their depth — Taurean Prince, Gabe Vincent, Cam Reddish, Christian Wood and Jaxson Hayes — LAL will look to maintain their edge in what will be the best roster during the Bron + AD era 👑

Speaking of teams that shook things up midseason, the Suns added a guy by the name of Kevin Durant, who only played 8 games with the team. A full season of integrating one of the greatest scorers ever, along with the addition of Bradley Beal, will make Phoenix a regular-season machine 🤝

Aside from the Lakers and Suns, the Clippers, Warriors and Kings feature a ton of talent. Sacramento in particular will only get better, considering their core group is young. Expect a big year from Keegan Murray, who enters his second season and showed out in Summer League this year, even though I’m not sure why he was even playing 😅

Lastly, the Warriors are always going to be contenders as long as Steph Curry is on their team, and while the Clippers are the weakest team of the bunch in my opinion, they only earn that distinction because of a star duo that cannot seem to stay healthy. If this is the finally the year they can get injury luck, expect a bloodbath in the Pacific 🤺

Odds To Make The Playoffs

• Phoenix Suns: -1500

• Golden State Warriors: -400

• Los Angeles Lakers: -320

• Sacramento Kings: -245

• Los Angeles Clippers: -250

All five teams are favored to get back to the postseason, and of the five lines I would definitely hammer the Lakers. LAL is poised to be the best regular season team of the bunch, considering their depth, continuity and what they were able to address in the offseason 📝

Trivia Question: Since the NBA adopted six divisions and five teams in each, when was the last time an entire division made the playoffs (besides last year)?

For My Parlay Gurus

I’m going to be expanding the scope of this parlay to another division in the Western Conference: The Northwest. Right now, I think oddsmakers are underestimating what should be a competitive OKC Thunder squad, and a Minnesota team with leaps in store for Ant and Jaden McDaniels. Give me both teams to make the playoffs 👇

• OKC Thunder To Make The Playoffs: -132

• Minnesota Timberwolves To Make The Playoffs: -128 

$100 on this bet would win you $213 — if we hit, make sure you email [email protected] for a chance to win up to $100*. Many will enter, only some will win 😉

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Trivia Answer: The six division/five teams in each format was introduced in the 2004-05 season, with the entire Central Division making the playoffs in 2006 and the Southwest Division doing so in 2015

*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Many will enter, only some will win. Giveaway ends 12 hours after the completion of the final game references within the giveaway. The winner will be notified via the email address used to enter. Restrictions apply. See the General Conditions and Releases sections of Overtime's Terms of Use at https://overtime.tv/terms for additional giveaway terms

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