My thoughts:
- It really stands out to me that the Celtics are relying on Nesmith - Ojeleye - Grant as the backup wing / forwards. Feels very thin compared to some of their competition. Compare, for example, to the Nets bench, or the Heat. Both teams the Celts could face in the playoffs.
- The Hawks feel like a team I would put together in My League in NBA 2K. Deep with serviceable players. Not sure how well it fits together and they're lacking in real difference makers, apart from Trey, who probably hurts you as much defensively as he helps on offense.
- I really dislike the Nets but it's difficult to imagine them being bad unless Durant isn't close to who he was and/or he and Kyrie miss a lot of time (rest on back to backs etc).
- The Sixers bench still sucks, and they still don't have a shot creator who can shoot. Nothing they do will really matter if Embiid continues to be a superstar only for the first 5 minutes or so of each half before he gets tired.
- If the Hornets want to be in the playoff hunt it seems to me they'd be better off spending money like the Hawks, i.e. filling out their roster with useful players, instead of overspending to add a 31 year old B / C tier star. Their bench is super thin.
- Overall I would say the Detroit Pistons look more like a playoff team than I would have thought before doing this, assuming Rose and Blake are able to play. However they are relying on a very young bench. Very young.
- Did the Pacers do anything? They seem to have the exact same roster that was a first round speed bump last year.
- The Wizards look pretty good to me. They won't be able to stop a nosebleed, as they say, but they should be able to score with anyone.
- The Knicks look like the worst team in the conference again. They'll compete for the worst record in the league.
- The Bulls roster doesn't seem to fit, for me. It's weird that they didn't do more to try to retool.
- The Cavaliers look like a team that could win a modest number of regular season games if Collin Sexton and Darius Garland mature enough to be above replacement starters. That's a big ask, though. Sexton has been terrible on defense and Garland was just terrible. The thing for me is that although they are not a good team, you can see that the shape of the roster makes some sense. But it would require them to actually try on defense and run a functional NBA offense.
- The Bucks bench seems really small, to me, but I guess they're trying to stock up on guys who could maybe see short minutes in a playoff series alongside Giannis, Jrue, Middleton, and Lopez. Don't need size there, just a versatile wing / forward who can hit an open shot. They've got multiple guys who could fit that bill.
- The Raptors will still be good because they're the Raptors but the roster looks solidly worse to me, especially factoring in another year of aging for Lowry and considering how bad Siakam was in the bubble. Felt like he got exposed.
Topic: NBA Reset 2021: Eastern Conference (Read 3318 times)