My stats-based wins projections for all 30 NBA teams, updated after the blockbuster trade sending Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks in exchange for a package that netted the Minnesota Timberwolves Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle, are an attempt to account for a typical scenario of how the season plays out.
In practice, there are plenty of scenarios that can allow a team to beat its projection, from better health to player improvement to making trades. So let's run through one such outcome for each NBA team and see how it can improve its projection -- with a twist.
Leading into what's expected to be a loaded NBA draft, not every team wants to win more games than projected. Rebuilding teams like the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards would surely prefer to win fewer games, maximizing their lottery odds. So we'll look at how pushing down the minutes of their key players might help them accomplish that goal.
With that in mind, here's how each team can do better (or in some cases, worse) than projected.
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ATL | BOS | BKN | CHA | CHI | CLE
DAL | DEN | DET | GS | HOU | IND
LAC | LAL | MEM | MIA | MIL | MIN
NO | NY | OKC | ORL | PHI | PHX
POR | SAC | SA | TOR | UTA | WAS
