Rank the EC and WC

[perks-a-beast]

Eastern Conference.

1. Miami. Team to beat.
2. Boston. Took the team to beat to 7 games and since then have made major roster improvements.
3. Chicago (With Rose) Even without Rose the Bulls are still a playoff team. If Derrick Rose enters the playoffs healthy then watch out NBA.
4. NY Knicks. Undeniably a top 5 team in the East but made no moves to put them over the top or even to the top 3 this offseason. But will benefit under a full season with Mike Woodson.
5. Brooklyn. Probably the best backourt in the NBA but still not even the best team in their state. Shows just how deep the east is this year.
6. Indiana. Pacers are a good team but what seperates them from the top 5 is that they have no superstars or even all stars (unless Roy Hibbert can somehow make it this year)
7. Philly. Doug Collins might be the best coach in the NBA. It's unknown how much losing their leading scorer will hurt them this year.
8. Atlanta. Having Smith and Horford makes ATL a very good defensive team. They lost their best player but Devin Harris and Louis Williams will help fill the scoring gap Johnson left.

Too many question marks for Orlando for me to list them.Washington will be good but not good enough for me to rank ahead of ATL or Philly, both who gave the Celtics trouble in the playoffs last year.

Western Conference.

1. OKC. Made it out of the West pretty easily. Having two of the best players in the NBA helps.
2. LAL. Don't look now but the Lakers have 3 hall of famers, possibly 4 on their roster. Adding Jamison off the bench will also help alot. Just when you think the Fakers will finally fall off the map they go and have one of the best offseasons of any team. Ugh.
3. San Antonio. Was the best team in the NBA in the regular season last year. If not for mismatch problems with the Thunder i am convinced they could have beaten Miami or at least taken them to 7.
4. LA Clippers. Sure, they looked like they didn't even belong in the playoffs against the Spurs but now they have a healthy Chauncey and two of the best sixth men in the game coming off the bench in Crawford and Odom.
5. Denver. I love this team. They don't have any superstars but they have 8 guys who are really good and play incredibly hard.
6. Memphis. Zack Randolph and Rudy Gay still have yet to prove that they can play effectively together. They're going to need to move a couple pieces around if they want to be serious contenders.
7. Dallas. Almost all new guys playing together. Rick Carlisle has his work cut out for him this season. Outside of Dirk who is climbing in age they really have no other player who can be considered really good.
8. Utah. I still can't see this team winning a playoff series but they arguably have one of the best front courts in the NBA so there you go.

I ALMOST put Minnesota ahead of Utah. ALMOST. but then i remembered that team was constructed by David Kahn. If Brandon Roy can get get back to playing at a high level i hope they can slide in to the 7 0r 8 spot because they are a very fun team to watch. GSW and Portland will both be better this year but not playoff good.

[Who]

I would have Memphis 3rd in the West.

[perks-a-beast]

I would have Memphis 3rd in the West.

I don't see it. They went down to the Clippers in the playoffs and since then the Clips have made major improvements and Memphis has not. They let Mayo walk without finding a real upgrade and their point guard is average at best.

[KCattheStripe]

I would have Memphis 3rd in the West.

I don't see it. They went down to the Clippers in the playoffs and since then the Clips have made major improvements and Memphis has not. They let Mayo walk without finding a real upgrade and their point guard is average at best.

OJ Mayo is not really a loss and Conley Jr. is a well above average point Guard.

[perks-a-beast]

I would have Memphis 3rd in the West.

I don't see it. They went down to the Clippers in the playoffs and since then the Clips have made major improvements and Memphis has not. They let Mayo walk without finding a real upgrade and their point guard is average at best.

OJ Mayo is not really a loss and Conley Jr. is a well above average point Guard.

Conley is probably the 20th best point guard in the NBA. That's pretty dang average.

[Who]

I would have Memphis 3rd in the West.

I don't see it. They went down to the Clippers in the playoffs and since then the Clips have made major improvements and Memphis has not. They let Mayo walk without finding a real upgrade and their point guard is average at best.

How did the Clippers improve?

[Who]

I would have Memphis 3rd in the West.

I don't see it. They went down to the Clippers in the playoffs and since then the Clips have made major improvements and Memphis has not. They let Mayo walk without finding a real upgrade and their point guard is average at best.

OJ Mayo is not really a loss and Conley Jr. is a well above average point Guard.

Conley is probably the 20th best point guard in the NBA. That's pretty dang average.

I think I have Conley somewhere around 15th.

Average starting point guard seems fair.

[perks-a-beast]

I would have Memphis 3rd in the West.

I don't see it. They went down to the Clippers in the playoffs and since then the Clips have made major improvements and Memphis has not. They let Mayo walk without finding a real upgrade and their point guard is average at best.

How did the Clippers improve?

They added Lamar Odom and Jamal Crawford, two of the best 6th men in the NBA......and have a healthy Chauncey now. How is that not improving?

[celtsfan84]

I would have Memphis 3rd in the West.

I don't see it. They went down to the Clippers in the playoffs and since then the Clips have made major improvements and Memphis has not. They let Mayo walk without finding a real upgrade and their point guard is average at best.

How did the Clippers improve?

They added Lamar Odom and Jamal Crawford, two of the best 6th men in the NBA......and have a healthy Chauncey now. How is that not improving?

How much of an improvement that is remains to be seen.  All three were pretty awful last year. Jamal Crawford shot 38% last year. Billups shot 36%.  Blech.

And it isn't like either one contributes much other than scoring at this point.  I'd call that a downgrade.

Lamar should recover from his horrible season in Dallas, but we have no guarantee of that.  Grant Hill was a nice signing.

[Who]

I would have Memphis 3rd in the West.

I don't see it. They went down to the Clippers in the playoffs and since then the Clips have made major improvements and Memphis has not. They let Mayo walk without finding a real upgrade and their point guard is average at best.

How did the Clippers improve?

They added Lamar Odom and Jamal Crawford, two of the best 6th men in the NBA......and have a healthy Chauncey now. How is that not improving?

Oh right, Lamar Odom, I keep forgetting LAC added him. That is a major improvement.

I am fairly down on Jamal Crawford -- seems to be in decline plus will be part of small backcourts 100% of the time which I think lowers his value considerably due to his weaknesses as a defender/rebounder -- and Chauncey Billups due to a torn achilles which I think is a very difficult injury to recover from.

I am doubtful either of these guards (J.Crawford, C.Billups) will prove to be significant improvement over what they had last year (Mo Williams, Nick Young).

[bucknersrevenge]

I suppose Chicago is a playoff team without Rose but they aren't nearly as attractive without the former MVP out there. Deng and Boozer were extremely inconsistent and at times downright mediocre against Philly in the playoffs and that bench that everyone loved so much Chicago has been picked clean and only Gibson remains from that group. Now they hope to get contributions from a rookie, a 2nd yr player, and Vladimir Radmanovic. And don't forget, with Deng in the Olympics now instead of having surgery on that wrist, that could be a problem later in the season. I think they've taken a step back.

[LEHGOCELTICS]

Eastern Conference.

1. Miami. Team to beat.
2. Boston. Took the team to beat to 7 games and since then have made major roster improvements.
3. Chicago (With Rose) Even without Rose the Bulls are still a playoff team. If Derrick Rose enters the playoffs healthy then watch out NBA.
4. NY Knicks. Undeniably a top 5 team in the East but made no moves to put them over the top or even to the top 3 this offseason. But will benefit under a full season with Mike Woodson.
5. Brooklyn. Probably the best backourt in the NBA but still not even the best team in their state. Shows just how deep the east is this year.
6. Indiana. Pacers are a good team but what seperates them from the top 5 is that they have no superstars or even all stars (unless Roy Hibbert can somehow make it this year)
7. Philly. Doug Collins might be the best coach in the NBA. It's unknown how much losing their leading scorer will hurt them this year.
8. Atlanta. Having Smith and Horford makes ATL a very good defensive team. They lost their best player but Devin Harris and Louis Williams will help fill the scoring gap Johnson left.

Too many question marks for Orlando for me to list them.Washington will be good but not good enough for me to rank ahead of ATL or Philly, both who gave the Celtics trouble in the playoffs last year.

Chicago is barely making playoffs with Rose missing significant time, maybe even missing the playoffs. They got brutally exposed last year. What the media hyped as their supposed "deep bench" were a bunch of scrubs who disappeared come post-season. They lost major parts of their roster this year, and will only fall in the rankings.

One more thing, Indiana should be ranked higher than the Nets or the Knicks. You are mistaken in your OP because Roy was an all-star last season. And they're only getting better, as they still have a young core that was strengthened this offseason. Also, the Nets will need some time to gel, and Joe Johnson isn't a name that assures me that they'll skyrocket the ranks. With all this in mind, here is how I project the East:

1. Miami
2. Boston
3. Indiana
4. New York
5. Brooklyn
6. Atlanta
7. Philadelphia
8. Toronto
15. Bobcats

[action781]

Eastern Conference.

1. Miami. Team to beat.
2. Boston. Took the team to beat to 7 games and since then have made major roster improvements.
3. Chicago (With Rose) Even without Rose the Bulls are still a playoff team. If Derrick Rose enters the playoffs healthy then watch out NBA.
4. NY Knicks. Undeniably a top 5 team in the East but made no moves to put them over the top or even to the top 3 this offseason. But will benefit under a full season with Mike Woodson.
5. Brooklyn. Probably the best backourt in the NBA but still not even the best team in their state. Shows just how deep the east is this year.
6. Indiana. Pacers are a good team but what seperates them from the top 5 is that they have no superstars or even all stars (unless Roy Hibbert can somehow make it this year)
7. Philly. Doug Collins might be the best coach in the NBA. It's unknown how much losing their leading scorer will hurt them this year.
8. Atlanta. Having Smith and Horford makes ATL a very good defensive team. They lost their best player but Devin Harris and Louis Williams will help fill the scoring gap Johnson left.

Too many question marks for Orlando for me to list them.Washington will be good but not good enough for me to rank ahead of ATL or Philly, both who gave the Celtics trouble in the playoffs last year.

For the first time in recent memory, the EC is looking pretty strong.  1-6 is absolutely going to be strong if healthy.  I don't see Atlanta doing anything now that they lost JJ.  Dwight Howard can make any team strong.  I'm interested to see how Philly responds after showing some serious improvement this season, only to lose two major contributors.