It's going to be a fight to make playoffs this year....

[chambers]

So does anybody else think the East is going to be significantly tougher this year? If we can agree on a top 5 in the East, where you can swap Toronto with Washington- then this appears to be the preseason top 5.
(bar significant injuries)

Cleveland
Chicago
Miami
Toronto
Atlanta

that leaves:

Boston, Washington, Charlotte, Detroit, Indiana, New York and Milwaukee  for the final 3 places.

Charlotte-added Batum, added Jeremy Lin, added Tyler Hansborough, got Walker back from injury.
Detroit - Reggie Jackson signed, Brandon Jennings back, added Ilyasova, added Aaron Baynes, added Steve Blake and bench looks pretty solid. Van Gundy has offseason/training camp with them. Stanley Johnson looks NBA ready.
Indiana Paul George is back, added Monta Ellis. Myles Turner looks awesome but can't be expected to replace David West or Hibbert this year so Jordan Hill has a lot on his shoulders.
Milwaulkee Jabari is back, Middleton signed long term, added Monroe
Washington lost Pierce but they've still got Wall, Beal, Gortat and Nene so they should be expected to make it right?
New York Carmelo back, added Robin Lopez, added Aaron Afflalo, added Derrick Williams, added Kevin Seraphim. rumor is that they want Jordan Crawford from the Clippers. With Calderon as their starting PG they will be a tough outing every night. Is 40 wins expecting way too much from them?

Celtics -We got a great upgrade on the defensive end with Amir and some scoring with Lee, and we have another year of experience under our belts. Our bench is DEEP.

Who else thinks it's going to be a close race for the 7th/8th seeds?
I mean if we suffer an injury to Amir or Thomas we could be in for a tough time because the East has definitely gotten better.
That's not to say we couldn't finish in the top 6, but for seeds 6,7,8 it's going to be a war.

What do you think?

[MJohnnyboy]

It will be harder than it was last year on paper. We did luck out with George and Bosh going out with injuries, but now they're back and hopefully they'll be up to speed. I fully expect Milwaukee to make it. Year 3 of Greek Freek, hopefully first full year of Jabari, they'll get to see MCW is the real deal, and they got Monroe and Middleton shoring up their offense and defense. They are young, long, and got loads of potential. If everything goes right for them, they could be the 2 seed in the east and could give the Cavs a great series.

Washington, Atlanta, and Toronto all lost key guys in their rotation but I still see them making it the playoffs.

New York has Carmelo and role players and one potential stud. Now last season they had Carmelo and d-leaguers, and then just d-leaguers. They'll be better, but not that much better. I think Orlando will be better than them.

Indiana has gone from all defense to all offense. Having Paul george will be good for them but the last time he played his best teammates were Lance Stephenson, David West, and Roy Hibbert. Now it's Monta Ellis, George Hill, and Myles Turner. My money is on this season will be an adjusting period for everyone.

Detroit went on a few streaks and they're well-coached but will they capitalize? I see Drummond finally taking a step and Detroit elevating a little bit, but they don't have a number 2 with Drummond. Heck Drummond's not even a number 1 quite yet. Jackson is above average but whether or not he can play up to his contract his up in the air.

Charlotte hasn't changed much. They added Batum and Hawes who were both disappointing last season and added some young talent. I hated almost every move they made this off-season, but they'll still be in the running.

My east rankings
1.Cleveland
2.Miami
3.Chicago
4.Milwaukee
5.Atlanta
6.Toronto
7.Washington
8.Boston
9.Detroit
10.Indiana
11.Charlotte
12.Orlando
13.New York
14.Brooklyn
15.Philadelphia

[GreenGoggles]

More than fair to say a couple teams worse than us last year will probably leapfrog us this year. I doubt we will make the playoffs, because this team isn't consistently getting better each year with a developing core, it's still just a pile of C to B- assets.

[KG Living Legend]

 Cavs #1
 Celtics #2
 Who cares #3

[Tr1boy]

Why? Celts are at worse making 7th place

I expect to make 4th-5th

[Celts Fan 508]

My east rankings
1.Cleveland
2.Miami
3.Chicago
4.Milwaukee
5.Atlanta
6.Toronto
7.Washington
8.Boston
9.Detroit
10.Indiana
11.Charlotte
12.Orlando
13.New York
14.Brooklyn
15.Philadelphia

Why do you have Indiana at 10?  I see them top 6 with George back and adding Ellis.  As last year proved there will be injuries and surprises but I see the Celtics making the playoffs once again finishing somewhere in the 5-8 range.

[Tr1boy]

My east rankings
1.Cleveland
2.Miami
3.Chicago
4.Milwaukee
5.Atlanta
6.Toronto
7.Washington
8.Boston
9.Detroit
10.Indiana
11.Charlotte
12.Orlando
13.New York
14.Brooklyn
15.Philadelphia

Why do you have Indiana at 10?  I see them top 6 with George back and adding Ellis.  As last year proved there will be injuries and surprises but I see the Celtics making the playoffs once again finishing somewhere in the 5-8 range.

Why is Miami up on your list??

You cant realistical think dwade and bosh will be healthy for most of the year.

Bucks ahead of the Celts?? I dont get this

[Granath]

Why is Miami up on your list??

You cant realistical think dwade and bosh will be healthy for most of the year.

Bucks ahead of the Celts?? I dont get this

I don't know why Miami is so high on that list - even if healthy that's not a top 2 team - but I don't generally disagree with him. Many teams in the East look better on paper right now. The Cs could be a better team and yet not make the playoffs. I think it's tough to argue that Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago, Milwaukee, Toronto and Washington aren't clearly better on paper, though I think Washington could fall apart without Pierce's leadership (gut feeling on that one). Then there's the next pack - Boston, Miami and Indy.

Of course, that's why they play the games - we have no idea how good anyone will be (with the exception of perhaps Cleveland) until the season goes along.

As for the Bucks, why wouldn't they be ahead of the Celtics? They finished ahead of them last year and signed Greg Monroe. The Bucks are a dark horse to contend - Monroe, Parker in year 2, Giannis in year 3, Khris Middleton, MCW...that's a lot of really young, really good talent. They're thin so injuries could hurt significantly, but they're clearly better than the Celtics right now.

[PhoSita]

Bucks ahead of the Celts?? I dont get this

The Bucks were better than the Celts last year, and added Greg Monroe in the off-season.  Parker will be back, and Giannis will likely continue to improve.

What's hard to understand about placing them ahead of the Celts?


The Celts will have a great shot at the playoffs again this year, but there are 5-6 teams, at least, all in the mix for the last 4 spots in the playoffs.

[MJohnnyboy]

My east rankings
1.Cleveland
2.Miami
3.Chicago
4.Milwaukee
5.Atlanta
6.Toronto
7.Washington
8.Boston
9.Detroit
10.Indiana
11.Charlotte
12.Orlando
13.New York
14.Brooklyn
15.Philadelphia

Why do you have Indiana at 10?  I see them top 6 with George back and adding Ellis.  As last year proved there will be injuries and surprises but I see the Celtics making the playoffs once again finishing somewhere in the 5-8 range.

Okay I feel like I just explained why. Read over my post again and you'll see. Did you not read what I said above? I don't think it will be as seamless as everyone thinks. George's transition back to the NBA might be a little hard with the broken leg and all but that's just me. Indiana has a completely different team than the one they had before George got injured. But I could be wrong. So if the Pacers and the Celtics are going to make it, who is getting out of the playoff picture to make room for them?

Why is Miami up on your list??

You cant realistical think dwade and bosh will be healthy for most of the year.

Bucks ahead of the Celts?? I dont get this

Dwade maybe, but Bosh has never had consistent injury problems. This year was the only time Bosh had a long-term injury in his career. Remember this is on paper. For all we know, Lebron is going to suffer a serious injury this season and hence sends the east into an even bigger flux. More importantly Miami's got a superb starting 5 (Wade-Bosh-Dragic-Whiteside-Deng) with a good bench (Winslow-McRoberts-Stoudemire-Chalmers-Green-Birdman). To me that's good enough for top 2, but that's if they stay healthy.

Bucks ahead of Celtics?? ...Are you kidding? Several reasons
1. They were better than the Celtics last year by a record standpoint
2. They are getting their prized young player back from injury who should give them a much needed offensive boost with Jabari.
3. They have year 3 of the Greek Freek, who is tapping into his potential as the next T-Mac/Durant. There's no telling how good he's going to be this year.
4. They retrained Khris Middleton, one of the younger and more talented 3&D players in the league who will only get better.
5. They added Greg Monroe, a young talented center who fills in 2 of the Bucks biggest weaknesses right off the bat, scoring and rebounding. He's not a rim protector but he is stout defensive player. Not to mention he in lived in Andre Drummonds shadow in detroit and now he has free rein. I'm deeming him an MIP candidate this year.

Now tell me, do the Celtics have anyone right now on their roster that beats those 4 players? IT maybe, but he's our sixth man. Smart might be, but that remains to be seen. Other than that, Milwaukee has quite a few guys that we wish we had. Remember all those fans complaining how we took KO over Giannis? Remember how we all were bummed that we missed out on Jabari and had to settle for Marcus (Disclaimer: Not complaining. I'm happy we have Smart, but if I had the option, I'd take Jabari)? Remember how we wanted Danny to go after Middleton and Monroe this off-season?

They also have MCW who I will admit is up in the air, but they also have a nice bench full of talented role players. John Henson, OJ Mayo, Jerryd bayless, Grevis Vazquez, Chris Copeland, Miles Plumlee. That's a great squad with a great coach Jason Kidd.

The Bucks are going to be great this year. I'd love to hear you tell me how the Celtics are going to top the Bucks this year in the east.

[GreenWarrior]

doesn't matter what we do. we'll be a team that hovers around the 500 mark and depending how good or bad the rest of the east is will dictate what spot we're in.

if the east is good we could find ourselves out of the playoffs. if it's bad we could be a 2 seed.

[Eja117]

A lot of these supposed East playoff teams go three whole players deep. I'm not nervous about them.

[BDeCosta26]

My east rankings
1.Cleveland
2.Miami
3.Chicago
4.Milwaukee
5.Atlanta
6.Toronto
7.Washington
8.Boston
9.Detroit
10.Indiana
11.Charlotte
12.Orlando
13.New York
14.Brooklyn
15.Philadelphia

Why do you have Indiana at 10?  I see them top 6 with George back and adding Ellis.  As last year proved there will be injuries and surprises but I see the Celtics making the playoffs once again finishing somewhere in the 5-8 range.

Okay I feel like I just explained why. Read over my post again and you'll see. Did you not read what I said above? I don't think it will be as seamless as everyone thinks. George's transition back to the NBA might be a little hard with the broken leg and all but that's just me. Indiana has a completely different team than the one they had before George got injured. But I could be wrong. So if the Pacers and the Celtics are going to make it, who is getting out of the playoff picture to make room for them?

Why is Miami up on your list??

You cant realistical think dwade and bosh will be healthy for most of the year.

Bucks ahead of the Celts?? I dont get this

Dwade maybe, but Bosh has never had consistent injury problems. This year was the only time Bosh had a long-term injury in his career. Remember this is on paper. For all we know, Lebron is going to suffer a serious injury this season and hence sends the east into an even bigger flux. More importantly Miami's got a superb starting 5 (Wade-Bosh-Dragic-Whiteside-Deng) with a good bench (Winslow-McRoberts-Stoudemire-Chalmers-Green-Birdman). To me that's good enough for top 2, but that's if they stay healthy.

Bucks ahead of Celtics?? ...Are you kidding? Several reasons
1. They were better than the Celtics last year by a record standpoint
2. They are getting their prized young player back from injury who should give them a much needed offensive boost with Jabari.
3. They have year 3 of the Greek Freek, who is tapping into his potential as the next T-Mac/Durant. There's no telling how good he's going to be this year.
4. They retrained Khris Middleton, one of the younger and more talented 3&D players in the league who will only get better.

5. They added Greg Monroe, a young talented center who fills in 2 of the Bucks biggest weaknesses right off the bat, scoring and rebounding. He's not a rim protector but he is stout defensive player. Not to mention he in lived in Andre Drummonds shadow in detroit and now he has free rein. I'm deeming him an MIP candidate this year.

Now tell me, do the Celtics have anyone right now on their roster that beats those 4 players? IT maybe, but he's our sixth man. Smart might be, but that remains to be seen. Other than that, Milwaukee has quite a few guys that we wish we had. Remember all those fans complaining how we took KO over Giannis? Remember how we all were bummed that we missed out on Jabari and had to settle for Marcus (Disclaimer: Not complaining. I'm happy we have Smart, but if I had the option, I'd take Jabari)? Remember how we wanted Danny to go after Middleton and Monroe this off-season?

They also have MCW who I will admit is up in the air, but they also have a nice bench full of talented role players. John Henson, OJ Mayo, Jerryd bayless, Grevis Vazquez, Chris Copeland, Miles Plumlee. That's a great squad with a great coach Jason Kidd.

The Bucks are going to be great this year. I'd love to hear you tell me how the Celtics are going to top the Bucks this year in the east.

I always end up putting the Bucks above the C's when I do my own little top teams list, but I'm not 100% sold on that all working out this year. I don't think it's impossible to imagine a scenario where we end up with a higher seed or better record. I think they're both possible 50 win teams, Milwaukee probably a little more likely to be one.

But people forget that things looked pretty bad for them after the MCW trade. He really doesn't fit for them like Knight did. Knight was playing his best ball ever before that trade. I know Parker is coming back, everyone loves Giannis (I'm not as high on him as some) and the Monroe signing seems good but there's a whole lot of question marks over there.

For one, they had huge spacing problems after the MCW trade and now they've traded away their best stretch 4 (Illysova) and added a guy in Monroe for 30 MPG who can't even knock down a mid-range consistently. Henson has no range, Giannis isn't a good shooter. Carter-Williams has the most broken jump shot this side of MKG. In a league that values spacing and shooting more by the minute, it's a genuine concern.

Two, defense. Their perimeter defense is solid, much like ours (thought not quite as good, IMO). But that big defense is scary. I know Henson is pretty good, but how much can you play him with Giannis. and Parker at the 4 and Monroe (A pretty poor defender) getting big minutes at the 5? Parker himself has been a bad defender since high school. Now, we managed to get by last year with Zeller and Olynyk playing the 5, and I think Monroe isn't any worse than those guys, so it can be done but they're not without major question marks on that end as well.

I also wonder about Parker's health coming off that injury. For his sake I hope he's fine, but it could take him a little while to bounce back. It wouldn't surprise me to see Middleton regress a bit as well. His defense went from mediocre to great almost overnight, and with Parker back and Monroe he may get less usage.

I like Kidd as a coach, I like the pieces they have, the versatility. I think they have a good future. But unless Giannis develops an excellent deep ball it wouldn't surprise me to see them right around 41-45 wins, and for the C's to be in the 44-48 win range. I wouldn't bet on it, but I think it's possible. I'm not sold on then being some new rising juggernaut

[mgent]

It's gonna be fun, I promise.

[Big333223]

Bucks bring Jabari Parker in his second season back after he missed half of the season. They bring in Greg Monroe. Another year of experience for MCW and Greak Freak. As long as MCW isn't a total disaster at the point (they also brought in Greivis Vasquez) I think they'll push for 50 wins.

Miami has one of the best starting lineups in the league, on paper. We know Wade can't stay healthy for a season but if Whiteside wasn't a flash in the pan last season, Dragic/Wade/Deng/Bosh/Whiteside is a terrific starting crew. I expect they'll be top 4 in the East, easily.