Eastern Conference Preview and Predictions

I know we are already a few games in but I am really a procrastinator by nature. Additionally I’ve just woken from the coma caused by Notre Dame losing to Navy for the first time in 45 years. Anyway, the wealth of NBA power obviously belongs in the West with San Antonio, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, and Utah arguably being better than every team in the East. Thankfully though my beloved Bulls play in the “lesser” conference, that while lacking an Elite team is still filled with a number of balanced and extremely competitive teams. The off-season defection of Rashard Lewis, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett plus the emergence of young stars like Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh has ratcheted up the competition. Here’s my team by team break down from worst to first:

15. Philadelphia 76ers – Iguodala is a ridicoulous player, the closest thing to Pippen currently in the NBA, and Andre Miller is a solid veteran PG but this team really doesn’t have much else.

14. Milwaukee Bucks – Michael Redd is argueably the best shooter in the NBA and Bogut and Vilanueva give them some punch up front. But giving Yi serious minutes is a terrible decision and they don’t really play much defense.

13. New York Knicks – Take away all the off-season distractions and this is still the worst put together roster in the league. Now with Zach Randolph up front with Curry if the ball ever leaves the hands of Crawford or Marbury it won’t be coming back. Isaiah’s obsession with stars and talent means promising youngsters like Lee, Balkman, and Collins with never get enough minutes… what a mess.

12. Charlotte Bobcats – Had Sean May and Adam Morrison not gone down with injuries I would’ve picked them for the playoffs. I think the absolutely stole Jason Richardson from the Warriors and Gerald Wallace is the most underrated player in the NBA. They just don’t have enough up front to win now.

11. Atlanta Hawks – I honestly think teams 11 thru 7 could finish in any order on this list. The Hawks seem to have finally reached the tipping point where they’ve had so many lottery picks they just have to be decent at this point. Still I think Law needs at least a year to put it together at the point, but with young talent maturing and plenty of trade assets this team could be very scary come ’08 or ’09.

10. Miami Heat – Looking at Shaq right now does anyone honestly wonder why the Lakers choose to trade rather than extend him? And to think he only eats up $20mil/yr for another 3 years. With D-Wade out two months there is no way this team climbs out of the hole they are destined to dig. And the Ricky Davis trade really didn’t do much more than move Antoine Walker to the Wolves where he can join the long and proud tradition of players eating themselves out of the league.

9. Washington Wizards – They were actually one of the East’s best teams last year until injuries completely derailed them. Arenas, Butler, and Jamison give them an adequate big three that is just a step below the Nets, and two steps from the Celtics. Sadly they have even less in a supporting class and playing significantly less defense.

8. Indiana Pacers – They new offensive system allows for them to maximize the abilities of the players currently on the roster. As long as they can keep Jermaine O’Neal interested enough to carry them through the nights when their shot is off this team will hover around .500. Trading O’Neal would potentially make them better in a year or two but Pacers management may feel the need to contend for the playoffs now.

7. Cleveland Cavilers – I don’t care if they bring in Varejao or not there is no way a team with LeBron misses the playoffs in a conference with at most one elite team. The Cavs are a solid defensive team with a better than-you-think front line. If they get anything from Hughes and Gibson they should cruise into the playoffs, but those are a couple of big if’s.

6. New Jersey Nets – As long as they have the ageless wonder Jason Kidd, truly the best PG in the NBA (that’s right I said it Mr. Nash), Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson this team will compete. Getting a full season from Krstic (seriously one vowel in his last name?) will go a long way to provide some outside/inside balance to this team. But Carter and Jefferson still disappear too much for stretches, and that will be their undoing.

5. Toronto Raptors – Chris Bosh is an absolute beast of a player it’s as simple as that. I could see expectations or injuries derailing this team a little bit but I think it’s more likely that improvement from Bargnani, Ford, and Parker take this team to the next level and make them more dangerous than people think in the playoffs.

4. Orlando Magic – The “surprise” winners of the southeast division but when you look around it’s really not all that surprising. I really think the Magic can win with this division with 45wins and with the continued improvement of Dwight Howard and the addition of Rashard Lewis it really won’t even matter if Jameer Nelson is the answer at the point.

3. Chicago Bulls – The first few games of the season should make it obvious why I never thought the Bulls were going to win the East. This is an extremely talented team but they are prone to stretches where all they have no consistent offensive threat and Joe Smith is their best weapon in the front court. That said they are still amongst the best defensive teams in the league and their shooting is more likely to be on than off most nights.

2. Boston Celtics – I do not think this team has enough to make it out of the East. Hell, I don’t even think they’ll make the conference finals, but the likes of Kevin Garnett is something Eastern Conference teams have not seen in a while. The number of open shots he will provide Pierce and Allen should easily put this team over 50wins. However, all that goes out the window if one of the big three misses any significant time.

1. Detroit Pistons -- Contrary to the popular belief among a lot of pre-season experts I actually think this team is better than it was last year. Billups is no longer at his peak but with a motivated Rasheed Wallace he doesn’t need to be. Add in the youth infusion of Arron Afflalo, Rodney Stuckey, Amir Johnson, and Jason Maxiell and the Pistons can finally use their bench for extended stretches. If this were the East of last year I’d peg them for 60wins, but this year they’ll have to settle for the upper 50s.

So that’s how I see things shaking out, and yes I realize I only had one team from the Southeast division, the division winning Magic, in the playoffs. I think this will be a much improved conference even with the Cavs and Heat on the slide, and that we’ll hopefully all be treated to an old-school Bulls/Pistons conference finals this year.