KANSAS CITY — Kauffman Stadium remains a gorgeous place to watch a ballgame.

Sunk into a sea of asphalt in Jackson County, Missouri, some things at The K have changed since it opened in 1973: the name, the color of the seats, the spaces beyond the outfield walls. Essential parts remain: the fountains, the crown-shaped scoreboard, the upsloping green of the hills that give the home of the Kansas City Royals the most pastoral feel of any Major League Baseball venue.

The K is situated in the Truman Sports Complex, next to Arrowhead Stadium, where the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs have played since 1972. Your feelings about that location might depend on how you view the relationship between baseball and the cities in which it is played. In Kansas City, that relationship might be about to change.

In 2021, so long ago that Bobby Witt Jr. had not yet debuted in the majors, Royals owner John Sherman announced a search for a new venue. The search continues. If all that mattered were the aesthetics of watching a game, or the drive-and-park convenience, the Royals would stay put. But in 2025, that’s not enough.

“We’re after more than a ballpark,” said R. Brooks Sherman Jr., the Royals’ president of business operations (no relation to John Sherman).

The aspirational model these days is the Truist Park/Battery project in Cobb County, Georgia. Teams want the ballpark and the additional revenue streams of an adjacent village.

That requires land, but if just any land would do, the Royals would not be looking elsewhere. The area around Kauffman Stadium, 7.8 miles from downtown Kansas City, has never developed. Location matters. While the Royals haven’t declared where they want to go, they have been clear about what they want.

“The Battery is the best example in our minds,” Brooks Sherman said. “But you look around the league and you’ve seen all these (examples). San Diego, what it did for the Gaslamp (Quarter)) there. Washington, D.C., Colorado are great. We want to be additive to wherever we go. We want the live, work and play environment.”

The live, work and play dynamic. Those other venues have that but in different settings, from the urban core (San Diego, Denver) to a rehabilitated blue-collar district (Washington) to the suburbs (Atlanta).

These are contexts the Royals are sifting through now, making them a test case for ballpark development trends. If The Battery is the model, just where should that model be turned into reality elsewhere?

In “Ballpark: Baseball in the American City,” author and architecture critic Paul Goldberger wrote that a ballpark, “evokes the tension between the rural and the urban that has existed throughout American history.”

That tension has played out through the different eras of ballparks in the game’s history. It’s playing out now in Kansas City. How might this drama be resolved here, and what might that mean when other MLB teams look to the future?

Here are three Battery-inspired models the Royals are considering, and how they currently work — or could work — for your favorite team.

Model 1: The suburbs

Royals’ option: 119th and Nall, Johnson County, Kansas

Sherman’s announcement about a stadium search reeled off an urban-centric wish list. But the Braves’ project throws a monkey wrench into any assumptions about what that means. For the first time in a long time, a baseball team moved away from the city and not toward it. The Braves wanted the full live, work and play effect dynamic of a city, so they built their own.

This puts nether regions such as 119th Street and Nall Avenue in play. The Johnson County site once housed the campus of the Sprint World Headquarters. According to WalkScore.com, the area has a transit score of zero.

A few months ago, an affiliate of the Royals acquired the mortgage of the property, though it has yet to assume ownership. The team is giving itself options.

The 119th and Nall location is about 19 miles from Kansas City’s city hall and sits 37 miles from Kansas City International Airport. To get there, you drive. If this arrangement becomes the new standard, that’s a lot of driving. Kansas City, not just the suburbs, has been car dominant for decades, far from a unique story among baseball’s markets. Every city wants transit, and to varying degrees has acquired it, but in most cities cars remain king.

“We don’t have the greatest public transit, so we have to make it easy,” Brooks Sherman said. “It’s a driving environment. We have to make it easy for folks to get in and out. But we also think that the come-early, stay-late aspect of this, with a development that surrounds the ballpark, will be helpful for that.”

According to our urban-centric location metric (see accompanying chart), Kauffman Stadium ranks 29th among current venues (and last in walk score). Moving to this even-more-distant location would drop the Royals into last place. They might stay there forever, unless the vagabond Athletics decide to move into the middle of the Nevada desert.

When teams choose a site, they are projecting. One projection is what cities and their surrounding communities will become in the future. Another is how people will choose to get around, and what will fuel their ventures. Options are good. Multimodal transit is the ideal. You also need people to want to go there — and not just for baseball. A key part of the Battery’s success, and what other markets want to replicate, has little to do with the revenue from game days.

“It’s not the 81 days you’re playing baseball, it’s the 284 days you’re not playing baseball,” said architect Lamar Wakefield of Nelson Worldwide, whose design credits include The Battery and who is working on the reimagining of the area near Citizens Bank Park in South Philadelphia. “We know how to do that. We’re place makers. Everyone wants to reach as many in their fan base as they can.”

Any team thinking of making a move to the suburbs for its own Battery has to take a careful look at what is different about its market from Atlanta, which in some studies has been measured as the most sprawled-out large metro area in the country. Atlanta also has a metro-area population nearly three times that of the Kansas City region. The dynamics are not necessarily transferable.

Ballparks take on the characteristics of the area around them and serve as icons of their cities. A lack of aesthetic association with the city of Atlanta is, along with the absence of transit, one of the chief nitpicks with the Braves’ project. You feel it when you visit from elsewhere. If you stay on site, you feel as if you were never in Atlanta. This is why Goldberger coined a word to describe the Truist/Battery project: “Urbanoid.”

Nevertheless, if the Royals follow the Braves’ example and flourish, baseball’s owners might not worry about any of that. They will worry about finding the space to create a live-work-and-play baseball Shangri-la of their own.

Teams this model currently works for: Braves, Rangers

Whether or not you think the Braves should have left the Summerhill neighborhood — which has boomed since the team left — there’s no questioning whether the Truist/Battery project has succeeded, during the baseball season and outside of it.

The Rangers’ suburban locale makes more sense than in any other MLB market. The downtowns of Dallas and Fort Worth are both growing, but they are about 33 miles away from each other. The power brokers in Arlington have talked about urbanizing the area around Globe Life Field, but it’s awfully low density. Still, this location makes the most sense for the most people in one of the country’s most entropic, car-centric regions.

Teams this model could work for: Angels

The Angels have been in the same location for nearly six decades and have been working to redevelop the site for years. They recently extended their lease at Angel Stadium through 2032 and surely hope to have a Battery-like dynamic in the works by then. Baseball has worked well in Anaheim for the most part, and there’s no reason to think that won’t continue in a future iteration.

Other than this subset of teams, it’s hard to see the suburban option as preferable for any other market, including Kansas City.

Model 2: In the city, but not downtown

Royals’ option: North Kansas City

When we think about baseball’s classic venues — Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Ebbets Field, Forbes Field, Tiger Stadium, Crosley Field, Shibe Park, Polo Grounds and others — they have been neighborhood parks.

This model fell from favor as American cities became increasingly surrounded by suburban sprawl and cars became the dominant mode of transit. Fenway and Wrigley were the only classic parks spared the eventual wrecking ball, and many still mourn the loss of the others.

North Kansas City, where the Royals have reportedly submitted a term sheet that outlines their needs, would be a throwback to the neighborhood park era.

The potential site is 3.6 miles from Kansas City’s city hall but it’s in Clay County, not Jackson County. The site’s renderings spotlight the downtown skyline a few miles to the south. Sports architects are urbanist by nature, so you often see that kind of setting in their imaginings. Each type of site suggests something unique.

“They’ll all be different because a lot of it’s just the demands of the client,” said Earl Santee, the legendary architect from Populous, whose résumé reads almost like a register of baseball’s highest-profile stadium projects. His next stadium project will be No. 20. “My job is for them to pick a site and then I’ll give them the best possible project.”

The Clay County rendering depicts a version of North Kansas City that isn’t currently there. It’s a blue-collar neighborhood with a population of less than 5,000, per the 2020 census. There isn’t as much industry as there used to be, so there is a lot of post-industrial property ripe for development to the south, toward downtown. Enter the Royals.

The town itself is charming in an almost classic Main Street sort of way, even though it is nestled into an urban location only a few miles from downtown. The streets are dominated by independent businesses, one of which is the Kansas City institution that is Chappell’s Restaurant & Sports Museum, where you see, among other relics, one of the Oakland Athletics’ championship trophies, a gift to restaurant founder Jim Chappell from eccentric A’s owner Charlie Finley.

Chappell’s would probably benefit by getting the Royals as a neighbor, but, then again, the Royals would be opening venues of their own. That kind of omnipresence is both the blessing and the bane of having a 21st-century baseball team as a neighbor.

“It’s 81 days and hopefully two and a half million fans,” Brooks Sherman said, regarding the transformational potential for the park development, wherever it goes. “Why not show them the best that you have and build around it and make it this vibrant environment? Be additive to the community all year long.”

A positive example of this is Nationals Park and the blocks around it, which rehabilitated a neglected area. This would have been a virtue of the ill-fated Howard Terminal proposal that once seemed the destiny of the then-Oakland Athletics.

“Some of the proposals that they were working on for the Howard Terminal waterfront site in Oakland were actually pretty good,” Goldberger said. “The idea of combining a ballpark with the larger transformation of an urban neighborhood that would be transformed anyway over time is actually a really good one.”

The North Kansas City site is not much to see now, just empty parcels and massive surface parking lots. There are potential issues in the need for significant infrastructure upgrades and more transit options. The basic reality is that the Royals’ arrival would transform the character of the area.

Baseball can certainly work in post-industrial neighborhoods like this, but the citizens there have to be on board. The Royals might decide they want North Kansas City, but the people there must want them back.

Teams this model currently works for: Brewers, Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, Mets, Nationals, Phillies, Red Sox, Yankees

These are all pretty self-evident successes. The South Philly location of Citizens Bank Park puts the Phillies in this class, and given the development underway around their venue and those of the city’s other major sports teams, they’ve only scratched the potential of the site.

American Family Field in Milwaukee merits special mention. It’s more suburban than urban in design, with plenty of surface parking to accommodate the renowned tailgating culture of Wisconsin sports fans. But it’s not that far from downtown. The Brewers probably could develop some of the parking area and beyond, but it has worked for them pretty well as it is, ballpark village or not.

Teams this model could work for: Athletics, Diamondbacks, Marlins, Rays, White Sox

The now-abandoned Battery-style Rays proposal in St. Petersburg would have fit this model, though the market is forever going to be a geographic puzzle since the two largest municipalities (Tampa and St. Pete) are connected by a long bridge.

At present, it’s hard to understand what the White Sox’s plan for a post-Rate Field future might be. The White Sox could have seized upon the chance to anchor The 78 development alongside the Chicago River, though for now that ship seems to have sailed. A ballpark on that property would have tied them with Toronto atop the urbanity ratings by our urban score method.

Miami’s LoanDepot Park is a fascinating stadium that hulks over Little Havana and doesn’t connect that well with the largely residential surrounding area. The transit scores for the venue are disappointingly low given the relative density of Miami.

Model 3: Downtown

Royals’ option: Washington Square Park

From the start, John Sherman cited “downtown baseball” as a possible outcome of the Royals’ stadium search. He told reporters, “Wherever we play, the process will result in meaningful community impact that’s real and measurable and result in economic growth and economic activity that benefits this region. The other criteria is that we have a positive impact on the quality of life for the citizens in Kansas City, with a particular focus on those underrepresented parts of our community.”

While the challenges of the Royals’ quest have kept pretty much every vacant lot in the Kansas City metro area in play, Sherman’s initial thoughts express an urbanist perspective. This is nothing new. Baseball and urbanism — or the rejection of it — have always gone hand in hand.

“All roads lead to downtown,” said Quinton Lucas, mayor of Kansas City, who advocates for a downtown venue. “And frankly, they’re all roads that can get you out of downtown efficiently after a game.”

Presumably, the Royals still have multiple possible downtown locations under consideration, but lately the buzz has been around Washington Square Park. From an urbanist’s perspective, it’s the full package.

Kansas City’s downtown remains a work in progress, but it is in a far better place than it was at the beginning of this century. The population in the city’s core has more than doubled during that time (estimates currently range in the 32,000 to 40,000 range) and is now larger than those of the downtowns of other MLB markets in more heavily populated metropolitan regions, including Atlanta. And there is plenty of room left to grow.

Washington Square Park sits on the southern edge of the Crossroads Arts District, across the street from the Crown Center to the south and Union Station to the west. Main Street would run along the west edge of the park and features an expanding streetcar line. Amtrak rolls into and out of Union Station across the street. It’s likely that a move to the Crossroads would eventually put the Royals in the upper third of urban-centric parks.

This is an alluring vision and a possible blueprint for other markets because it imagines stitching a ballpark and the traits of a Battery-esque development into the spine of the city.

“We want the place to be active 365 days a year because we want the retail and the food and beverage to be successful year-round, not just when we’re in town,” Brooks Sherman said. “The way you do that is the density.”

Crossroads advocates have gone to great lengths to make the case that there is ample parking near the site, and that’s important. Still, the nature of the mixed-use baseball development should inherently ease parking concerns. With things to do around the ballpark, people come and go at different times, and anyone for whom transit is a better option than driving will use transit. This would not be an option in the suburbs in most markets, and certainly not in the Kansas City region as things currently stand.

“If you are trying to plant your flag as the center of culture, conversation and discussion in a community — as well as revenue, by the way — then you go to the densest areas that have all of it,” Lucas said. “I think that is downtown Kansas City, like it is a central business district corridor or at least the central cultural corridor of any American city.”

The footprint of the potential ballpark works well enough, but the site is constrained by the constraints of the street grid. Analysis done by Washington Square Park proponents shows the site is as big as or bigger than the footprint of several current venues, but a Crossroads-located park might feature a fairly short porch to right field. That might be fun for Vinnie Pasquantino.

The Royals are targeting a somewhat smaller capacity than The K, around 34,000, and a potential venue here could have much of the intimacy of the classic parks — including rooftop views from adjacent buildings. The site represents a design challenge, but Kansas City — as the world’s sports architecture mecca — has a home-field advantage in that regard. The outcome could be dazzling.

“It fits like a catcher’s mitt,” said architect Steve McDowell, principal at BNIM, who put together the renderings for the Washington Square Park site. “You can just kind of drop it in there so gently, which gives fantastic views downtown, to the north and all around, really.”

Teams like the Royals want their park to accelerate the progress of an improving downtown, not become a bubble within it, which is what has arguably happened in places such as St. Louis.

“While it might be a uniquely designed footprint, that also might give it a sense of character, like it’s been here forever,” said Brett Posten, co-founder of Highline Partners, a Crossroads-based strategic branding consultancy. Posten co-created the Washington Square Park website and has worked to catalyze community support around the effort. “Fenway is weird, and it’s great. There’s just cool stuff that happens in weird baseball, so we have the opportunity to create something with a little bit of character.”

This approach, if the Royals seek it, could become the next aspirational model in ballpark projects. It’s The Battery but in a city, not the imitation of one. Much of this takes some imagination, but whoever got anywhere without a little of that?

“There are a few goals to any stadium project,” Lucas said. “I think they are all met downtown. I’m not sure they’re met in all other locations. One is to be able to get site control of an area that allows live, work and play opportunities. You absolutely have that.”

Teams this model currently works for: Astros, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Mariners, Orioles, Padres, Pirates, Reds, Rockies, Tigers, Twins

It’s hard to argue that any of these downtown venues — all less than 2 miles from their respective city halls — have been disappointments. Not all have the full Battery-like dynamic going on just yet, but all of them could iterate in that direction over time. That’s been the stated goal of Orioles owner David Rubenstein, to generate development around Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the venue that kicked off the back-to-downtown phase of ballpark construction.

Teams this model could work for: Brewers, Rays, White Sox

The White Sox should still try to get involved with The 78, where MLS’ Chicago Fire are planning to build. In this case, soccer is leading the way, not baseball.

For now, in Kansas City, the ball is in the Royals’ court.

“People are (excited), and they want to help,” Brooks Sherman said. “And we said, ‘We’re getting there, and we’re going to need your help when we get to the right spot.’ We’re working hard, and we’ll get there in the right way.”

PV Sindhu fell near Indonesia’s daughter Kusuma Wardani in quarter -finals (picture through AP)

Olympic medalist twice PV SindhuA record for the sixth World Championship medal ended on Friday after a narrow defeat to Indonesia’s daughter Kusuma Wardani in the quarter -finals on Friday. The 2019 World Champion lost 14-21, 21-13, 16-21 in a 64-minute competition. In the event, five -time medalist Sindhu wanted to add another podium finish to his tally started in 2013. But despite firmly rally in the second game, he stumbled in important moments in the decider, allowing the ninth seed wardani to get medals in the world of his youth. The warden was sharp in the initial game to keep Sindhu under pressure, exploiting angles. After the score was tied at 3-3, a series of errors from the Indian saw that Indonesian took control and did the opener 21–14. However, the Indian replied in style in the second game. While tightening his net play and dominating with powerful smash, Sindhu moved beyond 16–6 before leveling the match with a 21–13 win. The decisive veins turned into a battle. Sindhu fought an early deficit to create 8-8 after a long rally, but Wardani maintained his work. A series of accurate smash and clever placements helped the Indonesian edge to carry forward at 15–11. Sindhu threatened to return to 16–17, but the continuation of the warden proved to be decisive. A late bounce, a body shaded by smash and a significant error from the Indus on the backline, gave the warden a final push before the Indian Hit Wide to end the competition. Earlier in the day, India’s mixed doubles hopes also bowed directly into the games with Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Krasto. The pair went to the quarter-finals 15-21, 13-21 to World No. 4 Malaysian Chen Tang Ji and toh E Wei.

ESPN released it NBA Summer Forecast This week, the league may be, from the prize ballots to the prophecies of the championships, to make changes in the upheaval and the league.

Our employees voted on the fact that all 30 NBA teams could enter season standing, it is a snapshot on how eastern and western conferences can be taken out. However, a consensus view is not necessary Correct One. (case in point, Our award for 2024-25 is the forecast 0-for-6,

Keeping this in mind, there is a look at the five teams here that can cross the sum of their forecast victory for this season, as well as five which may be less than the mark in the next spring.

Five to overcome expectations

Oklahoma City Thunder
Forecast: 64-18

In the last season, Oklahoma City became only the 22nd team in the league history to win at least 65 games. Among them, only two franchises have gone for the match or cross that total next season: 1995-96 and 1996-97 Chicago Bulls (72 and 69 wins, respectively) and 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 Golden State Warriors (67, 73 and 67 wins, respectively).

Other teams, who won at least 65 games in a season, saw the total decline of their victory on average in more than seven matches the following year. Only once (Warriors in 2015-16) A team either met or improved their victory before the season.

Why can defending champs stop this trend? It is a combination of a weak Eastern Conference after Star’s injuries in Indiana and Boston (Thunder went 29–1 against the conference last season), a fully returning roster that should continue to improve, and for a long time to court Chet holmagrain And Isaiah Heartenstein After the pair missed the joint 75 matches in the previous season. When either Big Man was available, OKC had a 59–10 record-70-victory speed.

Will OKC become the third team to win 70 games? Do not bet on this, but the thunder can easily record the league best and can become the third team to win at least 65 in the back-to-back season. One reason is that coaches, scouts and officials ESPN have talked to the heat that they are not betting against Thunder Repit.

La clippers
Forecast: 50-32

The clippers surprised the previous season with 50 wins after being estimated as the borderline play-in team. Paul George Signed with Philadelphia 76ers And Qui leonard Played just 37 games, underlining the job coach Tiren Lew with a roster throughout the year.

In this summer, clippers changed Norman PowellAmir Coffee, Ben Semans and Patty mills In Bradley beel, Chris Paul, John Colins And Brooke LopezMaking LA one of the deepest NBA teams and earning praise for rival scouts and authorities for their offsen exercises.

This roster is almost polar that OKC has placed together: only three clippers rotation players are less than 30, and no one is less than 27, but clippers can combat aging and risks of injuries and face risks by bending their coaching and depth. With this, they should allow them to carry forward and cross the total of last year’s victory.

Golden State Warriors
Forecast: 48-34

Like The Clippers, Warriors are correctly approximately estimated over their victory and an old roster (although we are estimating a roster that is currently incomplete, because Golden State waits for a resolution Jonathan Kuminga Restricted free agency Tasleem).

This is a condition on the development of pick Stephen Curry,Jimmy Butler III Partnership. From last season all Butler drama, Golden State overtook 22–5 in 27 games and Butler played together. Yes, there is a risk of much age and injury (including al -Horford, Deathney Melton and the final addition of and Gary Pater IIAll of which are ready to join the Golden State, once the position of Kuminga is resolved).

But until curry, butler and Dramond Green Are relatively healthy, it looks like a good bet.

Miami Heat
Forecast: 39-43

Talking about Butler, it may be surprising to see his former team sitting here. Among the Butler Trade Drama, Miami made one uncontrolled in the 37–45 season last year, giving the appearance of a play-in tournament in the form of 10th seed. Cleavland cavelers In the first round.

“Clutch Games was summer 14–28 in the last season, the third worst win in NBA. It, Plus, a weak east, leaves Miami as a strong bet for more than their forecast.

Toronto rapter
Forecast: 33-49

Toronto had gone up to 30-52 in the last season, while he could do everything that could improve its draft state, and with Brandon ingram Not playing another with this group after a midseason trading New Orleans Pelican,

It is difficult to see a scenario where the raptors are from a winning point of view in such an area – especially in the past – preventing a large rash of injuries in the roster.

When the raptors began to tear this roster under Masai Ujiri of the then lead a few years ago, it was to be a quick flip back towards the dispute. The tricks since the team – trading for trading, and expansion, ingrams – all play in that belief. Like Toronto, teams have not entered the season in luxury tax, and are expected to remember the play-in.

Five to be low

Minnesota timbervols
Forecast: 51-31

Minnesota has won 51 wins only twice in the history of the franchise: in 2004 and 2024. In the last season, Minnesota reached his second Strait West final, but won 49 games and finished sixth in Standing.

This is a Timberwells team that lost Nikkel Alexander-Wocker In this summer, in free agency, such as youth are required Terence Shannon JRAnd Jayelane clark Still bends heavy to take a huge load Mike Conlay And Rudy GobertIf either aging experiences remember at any time, Timberwells do not have a clear answer to replace them. Naz reidWhich got a five -year, a $ 125 million deal to return as a free agent in this summer, which is not sufficiently defensively strong for Gobert’s absence, and last year’s number 8 pick, last year’s number, Rob dillinghamUltimately, there is a huge question mark in its ability to take over for the Conlay.

Minnesota, back Anthony edwards, Julius RandleThe coaching of a flexible roster and Chris Finch, will still be a difficult in the next spring. But until then, given the questions on the strength and roster of the West, it can prove to be difficult to improve last year’s victory.

Detroit piston
Forecast: 47-35

This was a magical season last year for the piston, which went out of 14 to 44 wins, saw Cad Cunningham Become an all-NBA player, first created a playoffs after 2019 and won the playoff game for the first time since 2008.

Such seasons are done after a consolidated year, and Detroit contacted the summer like an organization ready for that possibility. Duncan Robinson Replaced Tim hardway junior, Caris Lavart Changed Malik Bezle and now healthy Jayden Ive Should take Dennis ShrodeerRotation spot after going for Sakramanto kings In the free agency. But, this is a group that will bow to young players like IVEY, Ron Holland II, Jalan Duran And Osar thomson To continue expanding its roles around Cunningham.

Detroit should be easily challenged for the top -6 playoff spots. And given the previous situation, the piston may not require a three-win forecast to reach there.

Dallas Maverrix
Forecast: 44-38

Dallas is going to be one of the most interesting teams of NBA this season, amid introduction Cooper Flag For life in NBA, playing some large -scale lineups across the board, ongoing collapse Luca donic Business and Kerry ErvingThere was a possible return from a torn ACL in March. As it now stands, the only reliable ball handler on the roster is D’Angelo RussellA good rotation player at the point but one who is more favorable for a backup role.

That, as well Anthony davis‘Health issue-he missed for six weeks with a waist injury after his Dallas debut, then surgery for repairing a separate retina in July-Kurur to do a long work for the 44-win season in the west.

San antonio spurs
Forecast: 44-38

Victor Weambanyama In its second season, he has already established itself as the major defensive force of the league.

But for great as Vambanyama, this spurs roster still feels that it is being formed instead of a finished product. This guard starts with trio Deeron fox, Dylan Harper And Stephen Castle,

The spurs have to find out how to make the three (all of which are very talented, but iffy shooters) fit together on the court and learn to play with Vambanyama. This is one of the biggest questions of the people around the league, about any team, as well as, given that it may mean how the spurs will shape the roster to move forward.

This is a lot for the first -time head coach Mich Johnson to solve. Wembanyama can certainly cross this number on the basis of its talent alone, but San Antonio has sufficient question marks that are glued with the under -ur, which feels like a safe option.

Portland Trail Blazers
Forecast: 39-43

Portland ended with 36 wins in the previous season, after a stretch after a strong push, in which Blazers won against the teams, who were resting for the playoffs or positioning themselves to maximize the draft position.

Portland changed Anaphrain Simmons In Jrue holiday In this summer, but it is not clear where the additional victory will come from. Blazers are trying to leave giants and make aries like Jermi Grant With a young core of Scooter henderson, Shaden sharp And Donovan KlingonBlazers are also banking that the defense shown in the second part of the season-Blazers tied the NBA for the fourth best from January 15.

There are some interesting players in Portland Deni Avdija, Running camera And to build around that defense, and will not hurt either to replace the Simmons with a true stopper in a holiday. But at an unexpected conference, the condition here is that Portland cannot improve the previous season.