2022-23 NBA Finals predictions: Expert picks range from Clippers to Bucks to

It seems like every year since the Warriors-Cavs saga of the mid-2010s, we find ourselves saying, “this is the most wide-open the NBA has ever been.” Well, folks, with another season about to tip off Tuesday night, the 2022-23 campaign has kindly asked you to hold that thought.

There are at least nine teams in the Eastern Conference that most would consider locks for a playoff spot — that means one of them isn’t even getting out of the play-in. Out West, the competition is just as stiff, with 11 teams having a legitimate case to make the postseason.

Kawhi Leonard’s return to the Los Angeles Clippers and Jamal Murray rejoining the Denver Nuggets means that there will be a significant battle for the top spot in the Western Conference, especially considering that the 64-win Suns are returning most of their core and the defending champion Golden State Warriors could be even better than they were a season ago.

In the East, the fight for the No. 1 seed will be just as vicious, with the Philadelphia 76ers making significant improvements and the Brooklyn Nets potentially having Ben Simmons for a full season. They’ll be serious threats to the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics, the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Milwaukee Bucks and last year’s No. 1-seeded Miami Heat. That’s not even to mention the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers, who both acquired All-Star guards to bolster their rosters.

If the races at the top weren’t intriguing enough, this season also presents a riveting downhill plunge to the bottom, with rebuilding teams hoping to land a shot at two of the most coveted draft prospects in recent memory — Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson. Teams like the Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz and Orlando Magic will likely pile up the losses as they hope to land a potential franchise-changer.

That makes crafting predictions an extremely difficult and rewarding exercise, so our NBA scribes at CBS Sports decided to give it a shot. We’ve picked our favorites to emerge from each conference, who’ll be the last team standing and the player who’ll be holding up both the Larry O’Brien…