Eastern Contenders Post-Deadline

[PhoSita]

Here's how the 8-man rotations look for the 1-4 seeds in the East after the trade deadline:

MIL:

Bledsoe, Brogdon, Middleton, Giannis, Lopez
Hill, Snell, Mirotic


PHI:

Simmons, Redick, Butler, Harris, Embiid
McConnell, Scott, Boban


TOR:

Lowry, Green, Kawhi, Siakam, Gasol
VanVleet, Anunoby, Ibaka


BOS:

Kyrie, Smart, Tatum, Morris, Horford
Brown, Hayward, Baynes




Who has the best 5-man lineup?

How do you rank them overall?

[SparzWizard]

PHI
MIL
TOR
BOS

[Chief]

Philly
Toronto
Boston
Milwaukee

[Phantom255x]

Starting Lineups:

PHI
MIL
TOR
BOS

Overall:

MIL
TOR
PHI
BOS

Sixers bench is really thin/weak but buyout signings can change that later

[celticinorlando]

Boston is starting 2 bench players because the 2 guys that need to be starting have shown they are up to speed. So without a doubt Boston's starting 5 is the weakest.

And Boston has the weakest bench because Hayward looks wooden and Rozier has no basketball IQ.

[PhoSita]

I agree that Philly's bench is super thin. 


Philly has the most talented starting lineup but I'm not sure it actually is more dangerous than the Raps' starting lineup.

The Bucks have great balance in their starting lineup but only one genuinely difficult to defend player in Giannis.


I agree that the Celts have the weakest starting lineup, and I'm not sure their depth is better than Toronto or Milwaukee.


Any way you slice it I think the Celts are the 3rd or 4th best team, and it's pretty much guaranteed they'll have to win on the road to make it out of the second round.

[celticinorlando]

This season has turned into a huge disappointment so far. Scrambling to finish 3rd or 4th, got nothing out of Hayward, young players creating problems and the Kyrie talk he might be leaving.

I hope it improves, but I just don't think this team is consistent enough to win multiple playoff rounds.

[RodyTur10]

Starting Lineups:

Philadelphia 76ers
Milwaukee Bucks
Toronto Raptors
Boston Celtics

Overall:

Milwaukee Bucks
Boston Celtics
Toronto Raptors
Philadelphia 76ers (assuming buy-out signings)


Edit: I'm over with panicking, shipped Boston back to 2nd, although without HCA we are underdogs against Toronto. And I still don't like it that we did nothing to improve our roster or made a move to set us up for a Davis-deal. 

[td450]

I guess this all comes down to Brown and Hayward. The other teams have some new guys, but these two have underperformed, and could very well be playing at different levels in the next couple of months.

Jaylen had a hideous start, but in the last 6 weeks or so, he's been improving quite rapidly, and unless he back tracks, he's just about where we need him to be. If Hayward starts to play with more consistency, we could have a whole different dynamic to this team.

[PhoSita]

If Boston gets a guy like Kanter or Gortat via buyout market, that could help.  Not necessarily an upgrade on Baynes, but Baynes has been injury prone and the East playoffs will clearly require size.

[Who]

1 Boston
2 Toronto
3 Milwaukee

4 Philly -- not on the same level as the other 3