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

[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

Hmmm. Well, I was dead wrong about the Bucks. I remember in this thread I later went into major detail explaining why I was so high on them and their potential. I still stand by my reasoning but it looks to me like they'll need more time to adjust with Jabari's return and Monroe's fit. I still think they get it together but this year won't be their year. They made a huge mistake trading Brandon Knight for Carter-Williams especially considering they paid Monroe more than the Suns ended up paying Knight. I thought MCW would do better with more time with the team but he looks like he's going to be just a role player.

I was right and then some about the east. I expected the east to be a tougher battle this year but not so tough to the point where the 13th seed, the Bucks (again great call there MJ!), are 5 games out of the 8th seed. Seriously things have been very tense in the playoff race to the point where outside of Cleveland, no one is a sure thing. Charlotte and Indiana were in the 3-5 range as recently as a week ago and now they're 8th and 10th. We haven't even dove into injury/trading season yet and they are bound to happen sooner or later. My revised predictions:

1.Cleveland (Let's face it, it doesn't matter who faces them in the ECF)
2.Atlanta
3.Toronto
4.Boston (When Smart comes back, the Celtics will be stabilized)
5.Miami
6.Chicago (There is serious turmoil in that locker room. I wouldn't be surprised if they miss the playoffs)
7.Orlando
8.Indiana
9.Detroit
10.Charlotte
11.Washington (They're not doing themselves any favors in the "KD 2016" pursuit)
12.Milwaukee
13.New York
14.Brooklyn (Better than I expected but they are still an awful team)
15.Philadelphia