Every NBA Team's Playoff Odds

Now that we can finally breathe in some nice, NBA air with the season two days deep and every team having at least a game under its belt (except the Utah Jazz and the Atlanta Hawks), I can finally smile.

The past five months have been wrought with hints that the season might, could and very possibly would be cancelled. The only thing that could have gotten my mind in the right state to look forward seriously would be actual basketball being played on real, live professional courts.

Sure, we had some fun watching Kevin Durant go crazy in summer league games and a charity game here and there entertaining us, but there's something right about seeing players on the teams that pay them. That, and there was actual defense being played.

So, with basketball under way, let's take a look ahead all the way to the playoffs: Which teams are in, which teams are out, and what are the odds that each team makes the playoffs?

Some, obviously, are a guarantee, but some teams are on the fence, and even some teams that you would think to be a lock are going to be shaky throughout the season. Let's take a look.

Atlanta Hawks: 85 Percent

The Hawks should be a lock for the playoffs given their current situation, something we can see without them even playing a single game.

Sure, they lost Jamal Crawford, but playing in the Eastern Conference, and therefore playing most of their games against Eastern Conference foes (and playing the bottom feeders), gives them that many more wins.

Unless Atlanta decides to blow up its team and rebuild on the fly this year (by trading Josh Smith and then making a few crazy moves from there), it'll be a lock in the East.

Boston Celtics: 80 Percent

There are two things that were made obvious about the Celtics in their Christmas Day game against the Knicks.

One, Rajon Rondo is without a doubt their best player now, and two, their lack of depth is troubling.

That being said, they were without Paul Pierce (and started Sasha Pavlovic) and still nearly beat one of the top teams in the East.

They should be just fine to make the playoffs unless they are hit with the injury bug early and often (something that's not out of the question).

Charlotte Bobcats: 11 Percent

I don't want to read too much into this (mostly because a 6'9" Boris Diaw is playing center for them) but the Bobcats just beat a pretty good Bucks team.

They survived an off night from Corey "Bad Porn" Maggette with surprisingly good play from Gerald Henderson and not terrible play from Byron "Trash 'Stache" Mullens and DeSegana "Why Is Any NBA Team Still Paying Me" Diop.

Then they should see improved play from Kemba Walker (who played very well last night despite his 3-of-10 shooting) and Bismack Biyombo, who played just six minutes.

Still, they are the Bobcats, so they should be a lottery team unless utter chaos breaks loose in the NBA.

Chicago Bulls: 99 Percent

It's hard to fault the Bulls for a loss last night to the Golden State Warriors. They played back-to-back away games to start the season and looked a bit sloppy both nights, but that's far from a reason to worry.

Reigning MVP Derrick Rose and the rest of their squad are too good to miss the playoffs unless their whole team is stricken with pneumonia and has to sit out for three weeks.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Seven Percent

Cleveland rushed out last night to attempt a rare wire-to-wire last-place finish with a loss to what looked like the worst team in the NBA, the Toronto Raptors.

On a bright note, Tristan Thompson looked great for a rookie playing in his first game given how little training camp he went through, but there were far too many negatives to make me happy about this one.

Kyrie Irving struggled shooting, and their three best players (Anderson Varejao, Ramon Sessions and Antawn Jamison) could be shopped at some point over the next few months, which could make them even worse.

Still, I can't rule any team out after one game, but I'm close with the Cavs.

Dallas Mavericks: 82 Percent

I'm sure an 0-2 start to the season at home wasn't the way the people in Dallas pictured their team starting out their title defense, but that's where they sit.

They were throttled by the Heat on Christmas and just couldn't keep up with the Nuggets last night, which shouldn't be cause for concern yet but could be going down the line.

Lamar Odom isn't fitting in quite right yet, they're going to have to lean too much on Dirk Nowitzki over the next few weeks and they don't have the same edge without Tyson Chandler.

Still, this team is too talented to miss the playoffs.

Denver Nuggets: 70 Percent

Denver was a team that I knew I wasn't going to be able to put a finger on until I saw it play. In the offseason the Nuggets could have fallen apart, but they somehow kept their team together and possibly even made it better.

Andre Miller is a great option coming off the bench, Al Harrington looked good off the pine as well and the team ran like a well-oiled machine against the tired Mavericks.

They should see some help added by March when Wilson Chandler comes back from China, which will help them immensely.

This team should be able to grab one of the playoff seeds in the West.

Detroit Pistons: 30 Percent

Detroit ran into an Indiana team last night that everybody has picked as the sleeper in the East to a point where it turned into a screamer, and obviously the Pistons lost.

The fact is that although they are deep, they are deep with mediocre basketball players, and it's going to be hard to figure out who's hot early on and keep them in the game. Basketball teams just don't work when they run 10 deep.

That being said, I think I've been too harsh on them over the past few weeks, but while they could be better than I expected, they still won't make the playoffs.

Golden State Warriors: 46 Percent

I'm sure if you told Mark Jackson that he'd be coming out of his first two games of his coaching career at 1-1, he would be somber on the outside but downright giddy on the inside, because it would mean the Warriors earned a win over a top team in the league.

They hung with the young, exciting Clippers all game until they took off in the second half, and then the next night they turned around and beat the Bulls.

I like this Warriors team. They played decent defense for two nights and still were able to show off some offensive skills.

There's definitely a possibility that they could compete for that eighth spot in the West. 

Houston Rockets: 44 Percent

This offseason really hurt the Rockets.

Let me rephrase that: David Stern really hurt the Rockets.

They thought they had Pau Gasol in the bag, and when he was sent back to the Lakers in the Chris Paul trade, they had lost time to negotiate with another big man.

Now they are stuck with Samuel Dalembert (who I don't think is that bad) when Chuck Hayes fit their team much better last season. Hayes made them a scrappy team, and now they don't seem to have that identity.

Houston could sneak into the eighth playoff spot, but I just don't see it happening this year.

Indiana Pacers: 79 Percent

This team is miles away from where it was last season, when it stole the final playoff spot in the East with a sub-.500 record.

The Pacers are the right kind of deep, with plenty of bigs, an energy guy and a good backup point guard that will take them far this season and possibly deep into the playoffs.

Psycho T is the exact guy I want to come off the bench in the NBA, as he gets the crowd hyped up and doesn't let the second unit slack and ruin what the first team built.

This team is making the playoffs, possibly getting a high seed.

Los Angeles Clippers: 85 Percent

The Los Angeles Clippers looked sloppy in their game against Golden State on Christmas, and that's to be expected from a team that was sewn together in two weeks and thrown onto the floor.

However, their weakest link has to be Vinny Del Negro.

In their first game Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan couldn't get the putbacks to go in the hoop, which will eventually begin to fall, but if Del Negro doesn't rule with an iron fist, Chauncey Billups will continue to shoot 10 threes a game and make three.

That being said, this team is still one of the four best teams in the West.

Los Angeles Lakers: 73 Percent

I think we saw a perfect example of the biggest problem this Lakers team is going to have when they played the Kings last night.

On the second night of a back-to-back, coming off a loss that hurt (but was by no means painful) to a Bulls team that they played great against, they came out flat and looked like a team that was four players deep, losing to the Kings.

Now, they were without Andrew Bynum, which could be huge, but this team could get into some trouble if its bench can't help it out.

Memphis Grizzlies: 70 Percent

You know what the Memphis Grizzlies looked like last night? A team that had two weeks of training camp before it was thrown into a professional basketball game against a team with enough experience to be in a nursing home.

Memphis was sloppy at times and not really sure of itself as a team when working Rudy Gay back into its defensive sets and ended up turning the ball over 24 times.

The Grizzlies didn't seem to want to step on each other's toes at times, which can be frightening, but I think they'll put it all together sooner rather than later.

Miami Heat: 100 Percent

The Miami Heat demolished the reigning champs on opening day and looked comfortable with the tiny amount of training camp they had.

If you're putting together a list of playoff teams, don't pencil this team in—write it in pen. There's not going to be a need to erase its name.

Even if their superstars take turns getting injured, the Heat will be able to make the playoffs. There's just too much talent here.

Milwaukee Bucks: 49 Percent

These Bucks aren't a bad team. Unfortunately, they went down to the Bobcats last night, who definitely are a bad team, and that's not exactly going to help their reputation.

Stephen Jackson struggled against his old team, and they seemed out of rhythm like the rest of the league when they tried to move the ball.

They should improve, but they'll struggle to make the playoffs unless they hit a magical run like they did after the All-Star break two seasons ago.

Minnesota Timberwolves: 17 Percent

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you a Minnesota Timberwolves team that isn't completely gawd-awful, something we haven't seen since the likes of Kevin Garnett were roaming the court in Minny.

This Timberwolves team isn't going to set anyone's world on fire, but they looked exciting last night. Ricky Rubio looked like he was going to come along sooner or later, and they nearly took down Oklahoma City.

New Jersey Nets: 62 Percent

My problem here isn't that I don't think New Jersey has the players to make the playoffs. It's just that I don't know which team in the East that made the playoffs last year is going to drop out.

Obviously I'm high on the Pacers, and I think the 76ers will be able to make it in once again. Pair those two with the Bulls, Celtics, Heat, Hawks, Magic and Knicks, and that's eight teams right there.

However, I do think the Nets have a shot at the playoffs with the team they have right now, although Dwight Howard would help.

New Orleans Hornets: 22 Percent

Last night's Suns-Hornets game was the most useless in terms of figuring the two teams out.

I don't know if the Suns are going to be able to compete for a playoff spot in the West, and I just flat-out don't know what the Hornets are, so I learned nothing.

However, I do know that the Hornets play in the West, which means they're competing with the likes of Phoenix (who they beat), Houston and Utah to be the party crashers in the West, which will be tough.

New York Knicks: 90 Percent

This is the third Knicks team that's existed since Amar'e Stoudemire came over at the beginning of last year, and it's by far the best.

They existed with just Amar'e, and then they added Carmelo Anthony and were completely different. Now they have Tyson Chandler and eventually Baron Davis, which obviously makes them that much better.

They should be a playoff team for sure with the bottom of the Eastern Conference being as weak as it is.

Oklahoma City Thunder: 98 Percent

I gotta say, I'm impressed with the Thunder already this season. They took down Orlando at home two nights ago and then traveled nearly 1,000 miles to play Minnesota a day later and won there as well.

Sure, Minny isn't a great team, but the Thunder took both sides of a back-to-back and did it after traveling as well. That's what teams are going to have to do to be great this season.

Oklahoma City is also one of the few teams that I think can survive an extended period of time without its best player, which just ratchets it up another notch.

Orlando Magic: 73 Percent

The Orlando Magic are 1-1 after taking down the Houston Rockets last night, which is a win but isn't a terrific win.

At this point, I think that Otis Smith is going to go down with the ship that he built and cling to Dwight Howard hoping that he'll re-sign next season, because he's probably getting fired anyway, so the Magic should have no problem making the playoffs unless Howard goes down with an injury.

But there's still that chance that he gets traded.

Philadelphia 76ers: 59 Percent

There's a problem in the Eastern Conference that this half of the country really hasn't seen in a while: There are more playoff-capable teams than there are playoff spots.

New Jersey is looking to crash into the playoffs after missing out last year, and really, the only team I can see falling out of the picture from last season is Philadelphia unless an injury bug bites some team hard.

The 76ers haven't improved their team nearly as much as Indiana, and their youth could hurt them if they have bad stretches. Only time will tell.

Phoenix Suns: 40 Percent

Right now, the eight best teams in the West are as follows (in no particular order): the Clippers, Lakers, Spurs, Thunder, Mavericks, Grizzlies, Trail Blazers and Nuggets.

Are the Suns really better than any of those eight teams, and are they better than the Rockets or Hornets, for that matter, or even the Jazz? I'm not so sure about that.

Sill, there is the Steve Nash factor, who could take this team on his back and drag it kicking and screaming into the playoffs if he hits a groove. I just don't like Phoenix's odds.

Portland Trail Blazers: 72 Percent

Two good notes about the Blazers from last night's game: LaMarcus Aldridge looks like he'll continue to try to break into superstar status for the Blazers, and Marcus Camby didn't look older than dirt.

Otherwise, they shot the ball nearly 100 times and made it just 40 times (you can do the math on that percentage) in a win over a decent 76ers team.

They're going to have to figure out their identity without Brandon Roy and see what they can do with newcomers Jamal Crawford and Raymond Felton, but they should be a playoff team if things go fine.

San Antonio Spurs: 73 Percent

Those old Spurs took advantage of the Grizzlies last night with their carry-over chemistry that let them come into the season with minimal sloppiness to start the season out with a win.

They're going to need as many of those early wins as possible so they can confidently rest their old dudes when needed and sneak into the playoffs with a No. 5 or 6 seed.

They gave their whole roster a run at the ball on Monday, and Tim Duncan saw limited minutes, a scenario that should come up often over the next five months, so we really saw their whole team out there.

Sacramento Kings: 35 Percent

Honestly, I love the unpredictability that this Kings team has, and I want to see more of them before I write them off, but this is going to be an interesting team this year.

Sure, all they have are chuckers and basketball black holes, but if they all click like they did against the Lakers last night, then they might not be half-bad.

I'm stoked to see Boogie Cousins do his hotheaded thing out in Sacramento, and I'm obviously intrigued by the Stormin' Mormon, Jimmer Fredette. They could surprise some people.

Toronto Raptors: 11 Percent

Let me be the first to say it: Ladies and gentlemen, your first-place Toronto Raptors!

Now, enjoy waiting another year before you hear it again, because there's nowhere to go but down from this point for the Raptors.

What can they really take from this win? That they're better than the Cavs? Great—that means they're not the most embarrassing basketball team in the Great Lakes region.

Congratulations.

Utah Jazz: 37 Percent

If there was one team that I would have liked to have seen at least a game out of before I made any judgments, it would have been the Utah Jazz. So of course, they haven't played a game yet.

Honestly, they could end up having a halfway decent team. Lord knows they have the talented young players to make it happen. However, I just don't know how they're going to fit together.

Still, they could be one of those teams in the mix for the final spot in the West if everything works out.

Washington Wizards: 32 Percent

What went wrong for the Wizards last night was that the Nets made some threes and they didn't, and not much else.

Washington out-shot New Jersey and had fewer turnovers, but it made just one three out of eight, while New Jersey made six. Other than that and a subpar performance by John Wall, the Wizards didn't look half-bad.

These Wizards aren't half-bad—it's just that I don't think they are better than seven teams in the East, unfortunately, which would put them out of the playoffs.

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