Lakers, Nets not ranked as top-10 Finals contenders by ESPN panel

What a difference a year makes.

Last summer, both the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers were largely viewed as heavy favorites in their respective conferences heading into the 2021-2022 NBA season. After a disastrous campaign in L.A. where LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook and company failed to even make the playoffs and resulted in the firing of head coach Frank Vogel, expectations have been lowered drastically. The same can be said with Brooklyn, as the Nets endured an up-and-down regular season that featured a blockbuster trade of former MVP James Harden and the acquisition of enigmatic three-time All-Star point guard Ben Simmons, and ended in a first-round sweep of the rival Boston Celtics.

While James, "AD" and Westbrook all still remain on the Lakers roster as of Wednesday, and Simmons, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are still employed by the Nets, it's been a summer full of drama for both organizations. That, combined with a host of other talented other rosters in both the Eastern and Western conferences have apparently knocked Los Angeles and Brooklyn out of contender status as the 2022-2023 regular season is just two months away.

A panel of ESPN insiders recently ranked their projected top finishers in the East and West for the upcoming campaign and Darvin Ham's group and Steve Nash's bunch are nowhere to be seen.

The ESPN crew places the reigning Eastern Conference-champion Celtics atop their conference again, followed in order by the 2021 NBA-champion Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat, and then the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors are tied for fifth place.

"Not in the picture? The Nets, who despite still having Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on the roster could be due for a massive shake-up by the time the 2023 playoffs roll around," the article reads.

Similarly, the ESPN scribes don't see James getting back to the NBA Finals anytime soon. They rank the defending-champion Golden State Warriors as the favorite in the West (and favorite to repeat as title winners), followed by the Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Memphis Grizzlies.

"What about the Lakers? After leading this list last summer, LeBron James and L.A. didn't receive a single vote to join the West champ favorites."