Is the East wide open now?

[TheSundanceKid]

Sixers and Bucks are way out in front for me. I think the Bucks are a better team thoughz can't see Sixers winning the series.

Next tier is the Celtics, Nets (this year, next year they'll be top tier favourites), Pacers, Raptors. People shouldn't sleep on the Raptors, they still have an excellent team even with their losses. The Pacers will be sneaky good again with Brogdon replacing Bogdanovic. I think we have a good regular season and maybe pip the others but we'll see.

Next tier doesn't really matter as they'll only be fodder..

Why are the Bucks better than the Sixers in the playoffs?  The playoffs provide plenty of time to rest between games which benefits the Sixers. 

Bledsoe, Hill/Mathews, Middleton, Giannis and Lopez
Simmons, Richardson, Harris, Horford and Embiid

Sixers look to have the better talent and better matchups in the starting lineup.  Bucks have no one to slow down Embiid.

For me the moves that the Sixers made were an overall improvement but didn't address their biggest weakness... Shooting. I'm presuming Al plays more at the 4 in Philly too which makes his spacing less impactful.

Meanwhile Milwaukee have lost Brogdon but kept everyone else. They are still a young team as well with improvement to come.

Last year the Sixers were way way behind Milwaukee, even if they are closer this year I don't see them close enough to win.

[TheSundanceKid]

Nobody wants that Westbrook contract.

The Knicks would trade for him in a second if they could

[Who]

What I worry the most about with Al Horford on the Sixers is that he won't touch the ball often enough to utilize his playmaking skills. I think he'll be relegated to a spot up shooter for the most part in Philly's badly balanced offense.

I do love what Horford does for that team defensively but offensively I don't see Al having much of an impact there.

[tazzmaniac]

I think it is.

We should all fear Giannis, who I expect will learn from last year and be even better, but its criminal what their front office has done. They subtracted shooting from that squad. They have the most dominating player in the league. What are they doing?

I also think Philly misplayed their hand with a very strange mix of talent that won't work together.

We need to get lucky with our bigs, but we might just come out of the east.

Interesting that you think that about Philly and I’ve heard that theory floated around. I don’t see it that way. They have a monstrous defensive line up with devistating post players and some dynamic slashers as well. They can still add some shooting. Horford can shut down Antetokoumpo. I see Philly as the clear favorite coming out of the East and most likely more talented than anyone they’ll face from the Western Conference too.

I am really curious what Philly will look like. Reddick was such a huge part of what they did the last few years. Can they run a similar thing through Harris. Horford is a really good passer so that should help their offense. I am also curious how much they get from Horford the next few years. I reAlly wanted him back and will miss him, but he just about career low numbers across the board and only played 29 minutes a game. Does that go down further this year? On the flip side rich Rdson is a real wildcard and could really continue to improve a lot.

They do have a monstrous defensive line, but they will be slower than everyone.  Elite point guards like Kemba are going to carve them up. They have even less shooting and lost the only closer they have.

They could be great if Simmons takes a leap and Richardson and Harris have big shooting years. It could also go wrong fast. They don't have much on the bench either.

yeah, everyone is gushing about the addition of Horford...but is horford/richardson > Reddick/Jimmy Butler? to me it seems to be a downgrade.

3 point shooting was their achilles heel last season and they lost their best 3 point shooter.

why is there so much faith on this board that Simmons will take a jump to be a star...but so little faith that Tatum/Brown can improve?

3pt shooting wasn't their achilles heel.  Embiid not being near 100% and the Sixers having no credible backup for him was their achilles heel in the playoffs.  Losing Redick hurts them but Harris, Richardson and Horford are all better 3pt shooters than Butler.  They are also better off ball players than Butler. 

Simmons already is a star albeit one with significant limitations.  Tatum has a shot at being a star.   Don't see Brown reaching star level.   This season ought to be focused on developing them and the other young players. 

[alt]

I predict Brad Stevens will have a very rough year with the kind of expectations people seem to have for this roster. This roster seems more constructed for a stealth tank  (lack of defense, passing, depth, shooting, rim protection, experience) than contention.

IMO the Bucks and the 76ers are well ahead of anyone else. The one team I can see surprising them is Indiana if Oladipo returns to his All-NBA form.

huh? reading this forum there are no expectations for the celtics....

Comment/commentator #1 on this thread - Celtics 3rd best team

#2 - 3rd

#3 - Fighting for 3rd w/ Indiana

#4 - 4th after fighting Toronto for the 3rd

#5 - 3rd

#6 - [If players develop, Brad learns], can be anything

#7 - 4th

#8 - 2nd

#9 - high40/low 50 wins, fighting for 3rd

#10 - 2nd

#11 - Tier below Bucks/76ers

#12 - 2nd


These are the expectations I'm talking about.

I think you are WAAAAY too pessimistic on the celtics.

you have Tatum/Brown who lead the team to the ECF just two years ago. Hayward a year removed from his injury who should have a good year(and who BTW is a really good passer) and now Kemba walker whom averaged 25ppg last year and a big who averaged a double double.

not sure how this team is built to tank. The roster is better than the Isaiah Thomas team that made it to the ECF just a couple years ago.

I didn't say the team was built to tank. I think Kemba's acquisition rules that out. I said this roster seems more constructed to a stealth tank (due to fit and a bench/rotation lacking proven NBA players) than contention. 

I think the best player and leader of that team was Horford, not Tatum or Brown.

[zeitgeist49]

The Celtics have arguably the most IFS entering next season of any team in the NBA. If Walker can be a good fit ; if Hayward can return to pre-injury form ; if Kanter can become at least an adequate defender against the East bigs ; if Brown and Tatum can take major steps going forward, both offensively and defensively ; if Robert Williams can be a regular rotational big ; if G. Williams and Edwards can make significant contributions ; if Stevens can learn from last year's mistakes and facilitate more points in the paint and more foul shots to avoid long scoring draughts like last year. Lots of IFS. I believe the two biggest IFS are regarding Hayward and Stevens. In any case, I'm excited about next year's team and fully expect an increased win total.

[celticsclay]

I think it is.

We should all fear Giannis, who I expect will learn from last year and be even better, but its criminal what their front office has done. They subtracted shooting from that squad. They have the most dominating player in the league. What are they doing?

I also think Philly misplayed their hand with a very strange mix of talent that won't work together.

We need to get lucky with our bigs, but we might just come out of the east.

Interesting that you think that about Philly and I’ve heard that theory floated around. I don’t see it that way. They have a monstrous defensive line up with devistating post players and some dynamic slashers as well. They can still add some shooting. Horford can shut down Antetokoumpo. I see Philly as the clear favorite coming out of the East and most likely more talented than anyone they’ll face from the Western Conference too.

I am really curious what Philly will look like. Reddick was such a huge part of what they did the last few years. Can they run a similar thing through Harris. Horford is a really good passer so that should help their offense. I am also curious how much they get from Horford the next few years. I reAlly wanted him back and will miss him, but he just about career low numbers across the board and only played 29 minutes a game. Does that go down further this year? On the flip side rich Rdson is a real wildcard and could really continue to improve a lot.

They do have a monstrous defensive line, but they will be slower than everyone.  Elite point guards like Kemba are going to carve them up. They have even less shooting and lost the only closer they have.

They could be great if Simmons takes a leap and Richardson and Harris have big shooting years. It could also go wrong fast. They don't have much on the bench either.

yeah, everyone is gushing about the addition of Horford...but is horford/richardson > Reddick/Jimmy Butler? to me it seems to be a downgrade.

3 point shooting was their achilles heel last season and they lost their best 3 point shooter.

why is there so much faith on this board that Simmons will take a jump to be a star...but so little faith that Tatum/Brown can improve?

3pt shooting wasn't their achilles heel.  Embiid not being near 100% and the Sixers having no credible backup for him was their achilles heel in the playoffs.  Losing Redick hurts them but Harris, Richardson and Horford are all better 3pt shooters than Butler.  They are also better off ball players than Butler. 

Simmons already is a star albeit one with significant limitations.  Tatum has a shot at being a star.   Don't see Brown reaching star level.   This season ought to be focused on developing them and the other young players.

Horford shot 36% last season from 3, that is about butlers average the last 4 years. I don’t think Horford is really a better three point shooter than butler (I also feel like a lot of horfords threes with the Celtics have been wide open). Also seeing Richardson shot 35.7% 3, not sure why he is automatically better than butler either.

I’ll give you Tobias is a little better than all three of these guys, but he was already in the team so not sure why he is being compared. Reddick is the only guy head and shoulders above the rest of these guys averaging like 42% across the last 4 years (not just one high season)

[BudweiserCeltic]

We should be in the top 3 in the East without a doubt, but we'll have to see how things play out. But from a talent and roster composition standpoint, we're top 3 easily.

[Rosco917]

At first, I thought the 76ers were going to rule. Then someone reminded me of what they lost. Horford is good, but he's not that good. Losing Butler and Redick will be difficult for 6ers to overcome. Especially in those games where he scores 8 points and is sort of invisible...which should be more as he ages. 

The East is wide open. We're a defensive-minded big away from being in the thick of it IMO.

[SparzWizard]

The 76ers run the East right now after their offseason moves.

Josh Richardson, Al Horford, Kyle O'Quinn, keeping Tobias Harris and a Year 4 Ben Simmons. Plus their heart and soul of the team- Joel Embiid.

They will be one tough team to beat.

[celticsclay]

The 76ers run the East right now after their offseason moves.

Josh Richardson, Al Horford, Kyle O'Quinn, keeping Tobias Harris and a Year 4 Ben Simmons. Plus their heart and soul of the team- Joel Embiid.

They will be one tough team to beat.

Kyle o Quinn, a third string center, is an important development?

I would be pretty surprised if our latest euro center is not significantly better than him.

[PAOBoston]

The 76ers run the East right now after their offseason moves.

Josh Richardson, Al Horford, Kyle O'Quinn, keeping Tobias Harris and a Year 4 Ben Simmons. Plus their heart and soul of the team- Joel Embiid.

They will be one tough team to beat.

They have zero iso scorers. Call me in the playoffs when they need a bucket in crunch time and don’t have a player to go to.

[CptZoogs]

The 76ers run the East right now after their offseason moves.

Josh Richardson, Al Horford, Kyle O'Quinn, keeping Tobias Harris and a Year 4 Ben Simmons. Plus their heart and soul of the team- Joel Embiid.

They will be one tough team to beat.

They have zero iso scorers. Call me in the playoffs when they need a bucket in crunch time and don’t have a player to go to.

Embiid is not an iso scorer?

[td450]

The 76ers run the East right now after their offseason moves.

Josh Richardson, Al Horford, Kyle O'Quinn, keeping Tobias Harris and a Year 4 Ben Simmons. Plus their heart and soul of the team- Joel Embiid.

They will be one tough team to beat.

They have zero iso scorers. Call me in the playoffs when they need a bucket in crunch time and don’t have a player to go to.

Embiid is not an iso scorer?

He can be, but he's never been a closer. He doesn't make quick decisions and his conditioning isn't great, so he struggles late in the game. It's pretty easy to double big men. They don't generally get to take many big shots.

[mctyson]

I think the east is a two team race between bucks and sixers.  I would easily take those two teams over the field.

I am not sold on Philly being dominant.