« Reply #32 on: August 10, 2018, 01:15:02 PM »
Let's be honest. We really don't know who will be our biggest competition. There aren't any stable teams led by superstars in their prime in the east.
Kawhi is the only superstar actually in his prime, and there are significant questions about both his health and how he fits with his new teammates and coach.
Giannis, Embiid, Simmons, Brown and Tatum are all ascending players. Any one of them could break away from the others. Fultz could be anything from a irrelevant to an all-star. I'm most concerned about Giannis. I could see him becoming the league's best player next year.
It does look like if everyone's game continues on trend that we are very likely to end up on top, but this is the most unpredictable season we've seen in some time.
Giannis may still be ascending, but he has finished 7th and 6th in consecutive seasons in MVP voting and was 2nd Team All NBA both those seasons (and was 2nd Team All Defense one of those seasons). The Celtics as a team don't have a single 2nd Team All NBA or better appearance on the entire roster and have just 2 3rd Teams (Irving and Horford each have one). Giannis is the best player in the East and only a healthy Leonard is even close to him as a player. The Bucks don't have a great fitting roster around him, though do have enough individual talent that Giannis can carry them to series wins. They also pose match-up problems for the Celtics that perhaps only the Raptors pose to the Celtics, but Boston is a much better fitting unit and has a lot more depth and talent overall, so I'd expect Boston to beat them, just like they did last year with a more depleted roster.
Logged
2023 Historical Draft - Brooklyn Nets - 9th pick
Bigs - Pau, Amar'e, Issel, McGinnis, Roundfield
Wings - Dantley, Bowen, J. Jackson
Guards - Cheeks, Petrovic, Buse, Rip