Who worries you the most in the East?

[fairweatherfan]

Getting close to that time of year and I'm wondering - our realistic goal is seen as at least getting out of the East.  Which Eastern team worries you the most?

For me it's probably honestly Milwaukee. They played us so close in the playoffs and that's with pretty lousy coaching. Budenholzer, another year of improvement by Giannis, and the addition by subtraction of losing Parker makes them very dangerous even if their talent's not quite up to Toronto or Philly level.

[Who]

Nothing. Nobody.

There is no threat in the East capable of challenging the Celtics.

[PhoSita]

Injuries.  That's really it.

I don't think Toronto with Lowry a year older, Kawhi rusty and in a new system, and a rookie coach is enough to make Toronto a much better playoff team than their prior iteration.

The Sixers don't have a balanced enough roster and Simmons still can't shoot.

The Pacers are a nice team without the firepower.

The Bucks will probably be better with a more spread-around-Giannis approach, but they don't have enough weapons.

[droopdog7]

The Celtics worry me the most.  If they're what people say they are, then a trip to the finals is in the bag.  But if they aren't, and there are question marks for sure, the the season will be a disappointment. 

Biggest question marks are chemistry given the number of players that should be getting major minutes, and the bench (and offense), given the team has some inefficient players in rozier, smart, and morris.

[fairweatherfan]

Nothing. Nobody.

There is no threat in the East capable of challenging the Celtics.

That's my kind of attitude!  Maybe "beating ourselves" should be an option.


Also thank you to Kyrie for voting!!

[Moranis]

Getting close to that the regular season and I'm wondering - our realistic goal is seen as at least getting out of the East.  Which Eastern team worries you the most?

For me it's probably honestly Milwaukee. They played us so close in the playoffs and that's with pretty lousy coaching. Budenholzer, another year of improvement by Giannis, and the addition by subtraction of losing Parker makes them very dangerous even if their talent's not quite up to Toronto or Philly level.

I don't think losing Parker is addition by subtraction, especially when they didn't really replace him at all. 

I'd rank the teams:

Toronto
Milwaukee
Philadelphia
Washington
Indiana

Far too remote after that.  If the Heat get Butler for the rumored package, I'd slot them just behind Philadelphia.  I think Toronto is clearly the best team outside of Boston in the East (and frankly I think Toronto will end up as the 1 seed as I expect Boston to struggle for awhile figuring out all of the rotations and what not).  I think Milwaukee and Philadelphia are very close behind Toronto, and by the end of the year either one could clearly establish themselves as a legit threat to Boston.  I don't think anyone else realistically has a shot, but do think Washington and Indiana are pretty clear playoff teams, so I put them on the list. 

[fairweatherfan]

I don't think losing Parker is addition by subtraction, especially when they didn't really replace him at all. 

The whole concept of addition by subtraction is that the team's better without even replacing the lost player. I'm probably biased by the small sample of our series but Parker seemed like he took away more than he contributed for most of his time on the floor. I don't think it was a coincidence that the Bucks made very little effort to re-sign him.

Far too remote after that.  If the Heat get Butler for the rumored package, I'd slot them just behind Philadelphia. 

Yeah Miami's the big wild-card but I still think they're on the fringes of the mix even with Butler. Better than Washington and Indiana but below the top 4.

[hpantazo]

Getting close to that the regular season and I'm wondering - our realistic goal is seen as at least getting out of the East.  Which Eastern team worries you the most?

For me it's probably honestly Milwaukee. They played us so close in the playoffs and that's with pretty lousy coaching. Budenholzer, another year of improvement by Giannis, and the addition by subtraction of losing Parker makes them very dangerous even if their talent's not quite up to Toronto or Philly level.

I don't think losing Parker is addition by subtraction, especially when they didn't really replace him at all. 

I'd rank the teams:

Toronto
Milwaukee
Philadelphia
Washington
Indiana

Far too remote after that.  If the Heat get Butler for the rumored package, I'd slot them just behind Philadelphia.  I think Toronto is clearly the best team outside of Boston in the East (and frankly I think Toronto will end up as the 1 seed as I expect Boston to struggle for awhile figuring out all of the rotations and what not).  I think Milwaukee and Philadelphia are very close behind Toronto, and by the end of the year either one could clearly establish themselves as a legit threat to Boston.  I don't think anyone else realistically has a shot, but do think Washington and Indiana are pretty clear playoff teams, so I put them on the list.

They replaced Parker with Ilyasova , which is an upgrade imo.

[ederson]

Plus Lopez... IMHO mil will be better team but not good enough to be at the Cs level. It was close in the playoffs but kyrie Hayward and to a lesser extend theis were injured. Bucks without Giannis are not even in the playoff picture.

Removing injuries from the discussion sixers seem to be the biggest threat.

[apc]

Washington (comedy option)

  TP for the laugh!

[celticsclay]

Getting close to that the regular season and I'm wondering - our realistic goal is seen as at least getting out of the East.  Which Eastern team worries you the most?

For me it's probably honestly Milwaukee. They played us so close in the playoffs and that's with pretty lousy coaching. Budenholzer, another year of improvement by Giannis, and the addition by subtraction of losing Parker makes them very dangerous even if their talent's not quite up to Toronto or Philly level.

I don't think losing Parker is addition by subtraction, especially when they didn't really replace him at all. 

I'd rank the teams:

Toronto
Milwaukee
Philadelphia
Washington
Indiana

Far too remote after that.  If the Heat get Butler for the rumored package, I'd slot them just behind Philadelphia.  I think Toronto is clearly the best team outside of Boston in the East (and frankly I think Toronto will end up as the 1 seed as I expect Boston to struggle for awhile figuring out all of the rotations and what not).  I think Milwaukee and Philadelphia are very close behind Toronto, and by the end of the year either one could clearly establish themselves as a legit threat to Boston.  I don't think anyone else realistically has a shot, but do think Washington and Indiana are pretty clear playoff teams, so I put them on the list.

Moranis do you think Brook Lopez and Illasova are kind of sneaky additions for them at all? They were really really hurting for shooting, and while not amazing, Lopez shooting 35% and Illasova at 36% from 3 at a respectable volume is a pretty big leap from the 29% from Thon Maker on Wide open looks or 0% from Henson.

[Surferdad]

I'll go with the conventional vote of Toronto.  Can easily argue that Leonard is the best player in the EC.

I'm so sick of hearing about Philly.  Not worried at all about them, regardless of how well Fultz does this year.

C's showed they can beat the Bucks in the playoffs.

[Moranis]

Getting close to that the regular season and I'm wondering - our realistic goal is seen as at least getting out of the East.  Which Eastern team worries you the most?

For me it's probably honestly Milwaukee. They played us so close in the playoffs and that's with pretty lousy coaching. Budenholzer, another year of improvement by Giannis, and the addition by subtraction of losing Parker makes them very dangerous even if their talent's not quite up to Toronto or Philly level.

I don't think losing Parker is addition by subtraction, especially when they didn't really replace him at all. 

I'd rank the teams:

Toronto
Milwaukee
Philadelphia
Washington
Indiana

Far too remote after that.  If the Heat get Butler for the rumored package, I'd slot them just behind Philadelphia.  I think Toronto is clearly the best team outside of Boston in the East (and frankly I think Toronto will end up as the 1 seed as I expect Boston to struggle for awhile figuring out all of the rotations and what not).  I think Milwaukee and Philadelphia are very close behind Toronto, and by the end of the year either one could clearly establish themselves as a legit threat to Boston.  I don't think anyone else realistically has a shot, but do think Washington and Indiana are pretty clear playoff teams, so I put them on the list.

Moranis do you think Brook Lopez and Illasova are kind of sneaky additions for them at all? They were really really hurting for shooting, and while not amazing, Lopez shooting 35% and Illasova at 36% from 3 at a respectable volume is a pretty big leap from the 29% from Thon Maker on Wide open looks or 0% from Henson.

Sure, but Parker shot over 38% from 3 last year (and he has improved that every single year he has been in the league).  I think Lopez is an obvious upgrade at center, but Parker is a better player than Ersan or anyone else they could have next to Giannis in the forward slot.  The upgrade at center and the continued growth from Giannis, Brogdon, Maker, etc., plus the huge upgrade in coaching and I could easily see Milwaukee as a 50+ win team this year, but I do think Parker is a loss for them.

[Sophomore]

Getting close to that the regular season and I'm wondering - our realistic goal is seen as at least getting out of the East.  Which Eastern team worries you the most?

For me it's probably honestly Milwaukee. They played us so close in the playoffs and that's with pretty lousy coaching. Budenholzer, another year of improvement by Giannis, and the addition by subtraction of losing Parker makes them very dangerous even if their talent's not quite up to Toronto or Philly level.

I don't think losing Parker is addition by subtraction, especially when they didn't really replace him at all. 

I'd rank the teams:

Toronto
Milwaukee
Philadelphia
Washington
Indiana

Far too remote after that.  If the Heat get Butler for the rumored package, I'd slot them just behind Philadelphia.  I think Toronto is clearly the best team outside of Boston in the East (and frankly I think Toronto will end up as the 1 seed as I expect Boston to struggle for awhile figuring out all of the rotations and what not).  I think Milwaukee and Philadelphia are very close behind Toronto, and by the end of the year either one could clearly establish themselves as a legit threat to Boston.  I don't think anyone else realistically has a shot, but do think Washington and Indiana are pretty clear playoff teams, so I put them on the list.

Moranis do you think Brook Lopez and Illasova are kind of sneaky additions for them at all? They were really really hurting for shooting, and while not amazing, Lopez shooting 35% and Illasova at 36% from 3 at a respectable volume is a pretty big leap from the 29% from Thon Maker on Wide open looks or 0% from Henson.

Celticsclay - I do think those are interesting and potentially good additions for the Bucks. Not just because of what they could do but because of what they signal about how the team intends to play. Budenholzer has always been about spacing and 3-point shooting. I am reading that he is also going to focus on taking Giannis to the next level by having him do more to help teammates score. Having Giannis above the break with the ball, with three guys who can shoot the three available (adding Middleton to those two), you can imagine lots of ways they can break teams down. They *will* play a different brand of basketball. How successful it is - whether their defensive liabilities outweigh the new offensive possibilities - is going to be interesting. Hopefully not too interesting...

I have to go with Toronto for now, but I have an eye on Milwaukee.

[Moranis]

Getting close to that the regular season and I'm wondering - our realistic goal is seen as at least getting out of the East.  Which Eastern team worries you the most?

For me it's probably honestly Milwaukee. They played us so close in the playoffs and that's with pretty lousy coaching. Budenholzer, another year of improvement by Giannis, and the addition by subtraction of losing Parker makes them very dangerous even if their talent's not quite up to Toronto or Philly level.

I don't think losing Parker is addition by subtraction, especially when they didn't really replace him at all. 

I'd rank the teams:

Toronto
Milwaukee
Philadelphia
Washington
Indiana

Far too remote after that.  If the Heat get Butler for the rumored package, I'd slot them just behind Philadelphia.  I think Toronto is clearly the best team outside of Boston in the East (and frankly I think Toronto will end up as the 1 seed as I expect Boston to struggle for awhile figuring out all of the rotations and what not).  I think Milwaukee and Philadelphia are very close behind Toronto, and by the end of the year either one could clearly establish themselves as a legit threat to Boston.  I don't think anyone else realistically has a shot, but do think Washington and Indiana are pretty clear playoff teams, so I put them on the list.

They replaced Parker with Ilyasova , which is an upgrade imo.

I don't see how anyone can call that an upgrade.  Parker is a better shooter, better defender, better ball handler, better rebounder, better passer, etc.  I honestly can't think of a thing that Ersan is better at than Jabari (well maybe staying healthy - he is better than Jabari at that).