The East is Getting Stronger

[tenforthewin]

Atlantic Division - We may still hold the Division Title but who Knows
Rivals: Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks
Watch out For: Boston Celtics
No Brainer, Stash for another Disappointing Season: Philly 76ers

Rationale:
New York Knicks - The Knicks will be looking to resign Carmelo Anthony and if he resigns, they may be looking forward to sign and trade for Pau Gasol, possibly shipping Bargnani out to play with Kobe. The Knicks will be having
Calderon, Tim Hardaway Jr or JR Smith, Melo, Gasol, and Stoudamire. This is a playoff team and also considering Phil Jackson is the GM, I see them making a run at the 7th or 8th spot

Brooklyn Nets - The Nets are aging and with the loss of Jason Kidd, the Nets may miss the playoff but they still pose some threat to the Raptors consider the return of KG and Pierce along with Joe Johnson and a possibly return of Brook Lopez making the team a capable playoff team.

Boston Celtics - Marcus Smart won't make this team better but they still have Rondo and a newly resigned Avery Bradley who may play his heart out. I don't see them making the playoff but on the verge perhaps. Smart is a good candidate for ROY and I would love to see him play in the upcoming season along with Kelly Olynyk.

Philly 76ers - Joel Embiid may miss the entire season but with Nerlens Noel, the team looks promising. I see them making a playoff push but will bounce back down to Earth when April comes.

Central Division - It's either the Pacers or the Cavs
Cleveland Cavs - Lebron James twitts that he will sign with the Cavs, oh wow, watch out and if they get Kevin Love, man this team is up for a championship run with a lineups of Irving-Wiggins-LeBron-Love-Varejao. Watch out and their 6th man in Dion Waiters and a newly improved Anthony Bennett. Damn!

Indiana Pacers - The Pacers will make to the playoff and will only get better consider they made some slight changes to their roster by adding some key arsenals. Evan Turner is not returning but they got CJ Miles, a deadly shooter and an European deadly shooter in Damjan Rudez. Lance Stephenson resigns with the Pacers and they are looking to sign and trade for Dragic. A lineup of Dragic-Stephenson-George-West-Hibbert looks good on paper

Chicago Bulls - Ok, they will amnesty Carlos Boozer or do a sign and trade and with Rose healthy, watch out, the Bulls will make an impact in the playoff consider their fatal loss to the Wizards in the playoff this year. They added Doug McDermott, a deadly shooter as their starting 3, while their bench production improves as well.

Detroit Pistons - The Pistons didn't do much in the offseason but who knows, they may be looking to acquire Trevor Ariza and with Greg Monroe, a possibility of resigning with the team, the Pistons will be looking for a playoff push. Andre Drummond will continue to improve his game while KCP, a fan favorite in the summer league will upgrade his game as well.

Milwaukee Bucks - Hands down to Jabari Parker, with 99% of chance he will win ROY for the young Bucks, while proving to the league why he should be picked 1st overall. The Bucks will get slightly better than last year but will miss the playoff due to lack of experience

Southeast Division
Miami Heat - With the departure of LBJ and possibly CB4, the Heat is back to square one, like the 2009 season. They may still make to the playoff with Wade and Granger but the Heat wont be the same like it was two seasons ago, watch them fall and back to lottery draft next year.

Washington Wizards - The Wizards will prove to the team that last year's playoff run wasn't a fluke. Wall, Beal, Ariza? Nene, Gortat are all back with an improved Otto Porter, the team may make some buzz when Jan and Feb roams along

Atlanta Hawks - John Salmons will lead this team to a championship title, haha just kidding. This team is a fringe playoff team consider they lost Louis Williams but in return they may look to add a few arsenals in the off season, possibly Dwayne Wade.

Charlotte Hornets - The Bobcats got stang, say hello to the once again Hornets. The Hornets added Noah Vonleh in the draft to pair up with Al Jeff. On top of Vonleh, they also drafted a gamble in PJ Hairston who may be their Gilbert Arenas, Avery Bradley, Monta Ellis of the draft. The Hornets are strong consider they may look to sign Gordan Hayward.

Orlando Magic - Jameer Nelson is gone with his 10 years of service for the Magic, only to be waived, sigh.. I always thought he will retire as a Magic or be traded. The Magic will have an interesting season with their top 2 prized rookies in Gordan and Payton, and uprising talent of Harkless and T.Harris, the Magic will be a fun team to watch this year. They should do better than the Bucks

My Prediction of Eastern Conference Standing at the end of the Season:
Indiana Pacers
Chicago Bulls
Charlotte Bobcats
Toronto Raptors
Cleveland Cavs
Washington Wizards
New York Knicks
Atlanta Hawks
Brooklyn Nets
Miami Heat
Philly 76ers
Orlando Magic
Milwaukee Bucks
Detroit Pistons
Boston Celtics

[mjt20mik]

Only teams I am worried about are Miami (if they keep Lebron), Indiana, Chicago, Cleveland (if the get Lebron).

The rest of the teams are just equally as bad and it just depends on runs.

[Nilanka]

I'm hoping Lebron somehow ends up in the West.

[JordanMariam14]

Not too worried about Indiana unless they get Dragic

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[raptors999]

Only teams I am worried about are Miami (if they keep Lebron), Indiana, Chicago, Cleveland (if the get Lebron).

The rest of the teams are just equally as bad and it just depends on runs.

Miami is a lost cause even with LBJ. Indiana has PG, West and.... , Chicago is banking a lot on Rose and McDermott. Cleveland lost Deng and Hawes. Turn around mid-season was because of Deng and Hawes. Can't see Hornets jumping up too much based on GH, if he is signed.

[Primer]

Still way too early for this kind of analysis. We have no idea what the Heat, Knicks, Nets, Celtics, Hawks, Bulls, Cavs, Hornets, etc..... are going to look like come the beginning of the season. Maybe in a week we could do this.

As of now, the Knicks look fucking horrible. Assuming Lakers will take Bargs for Gasol is a fucking joke. That's just an example of how this analysis doesn't make any sense right now.

[Jamshid]

That was given with the last year and how many teams tanked. We have to see where LJ and Melo end up and if it is not Miami , then how Pat Riely will improve Miami team.
People who want LJ to go West or Melo to leave East are not real competitor or believe our team can ever win the title. For them, some meaningless wins is enough without any shot at the title. Such a cowardly mentality.

[mcHAPPY]

I don't think it is getting stronger.

More balanced among the east.

Versus the west, the east is probably weaker.


**My assumption is LeBron is going to Cleveland and Bosh to Houston**

[JordanMariam14]

"@WojYahooNBA: Cavs pressed Celtics/Nets officials to complete paperwork on 3-way trade in last hour, needed it done "immediately." Cap space is clear now."

All signs pointing to LeBron returning..

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[Triplethreat89]

Other than Indiana and Miami (if Lebron stays)
I am only worried about Detroit Pistons

SVG is one hell of a coach

[Primer]

That was given with the last year and how many teams tanked. We have to see where LJ and Melo end up and if it is not Miami , then how Pat Riely will improve Miami team.
People who want LJ to go West or Melo to leave East are not real competitor or believe our team can ever win the title. For them, some meaningless wins is enough without any shot at the title. Such a cowardly mentality.

I'm with you on this. I hope LBJ and Melo stay with their teams. I hope the whole big 3 comes back, and then we beat the shit out of them all season long. We're the only playoff team with guaranteed continuity and young players that should be improved this year (JV and Ross specifically).

[raptors999]

Still way too early for this kind of analysis. We have no idea what the Heat, Knicks, Nets, Celtics, Hawks, Bulls, Cavs, Hornets, etc..... are going to look like come the beginning of the season. Maybe in a week we could do this.

As of now, the Knicks look fucking horrible. Assuming Lakers will take Bargs for Gasol is a fucking joke. That's just an example of how this analysis doesn't make any sense right now.

Considering how the off season is going, I'm going to guess a huge fucking mess scrambling to fill roster spots with no money, going with the same crap since they have no space and no rookies coming in, or using rookies with no skills at all hoping for another chance at the lottery.

[JawsGT]

Honestly, I think it will be tough for the East to be as bad as last year. Considering the slow starts for the Bulls, Raps, Wiz, Bobcats, Nets as well as the dysfunction in NY, CLE, and DET, and then the tank jobs in MIL, PHI, ORL and BOS, thats gonna be very hard to replicate. Really, there is no where for the conference as a whole to go but up.

[octothorp]

I expect Chicago, Indiana, LeBron's team, and possibly (unlikely, maybe 25% chance) Washington to finish above us. But Indiana and Chicago both have big questionmarks (Will Rose ever return to 100%, and can Indiana find its chemistry again), and Washington, like us, is going to be relying on internal growth, so I think anywhere from 2nd to 5th is possible.

[JawsGT]

Is there even a single team in the conference right now that you can say are going to tank next season? Maybe BOS depending on the rest of the offseason as maybe they land Love. Outside of that, most of the bad teams last season now have good young assets that should be ready to compete at the NBA level. They may not be good teams, but they probably won't be tanking like Philly did last year.

It seems to me that most of the teams in the conference are just about ready to start moving forward and try and compete by developing the talent they have. PHI, ORL, and MIL all have nice young rosters to work with. Again, I wonder about BOS, as I don't think Ainge cares about developing through the draft and is all about asset accumulation to try and work deals like he did for KG and Allen.

The Pacers will be a playoff team for sure, but they could easily take a step back and lose contender status. Bulls are sketchy too with Rose's injury and no big FA signings yet.