Your prediction- 2014-2015 East and West playoff standings

[Tr1boy]

My prediction

East

1. Cavs
2. Bulls
3. Wizards
4. Heat
5. Raptors
6. Bobcats
7. Pacers
8. Celtics

West

1. OKC
2. Blazers
3. Spurs
4. GSW
5. Rockets
6. Clippers
7. Dallas
8. Memphis

Glad we are not in the western conference. Looks impossible to get into the playoffs.

[suseego]

lol, playoffs

[Tr1boy]

lol, playoffs

We will make the playoffs this upcoming season.

[kgfor3]

For the eastern conference, I think the first 6 you have are my locks. I might rearrange 4-6 though to look like:

4. Charlotte
5. Miami
6. Toronto

For the 7 and 8 spots, who knows. I will say I like our odds better than the Pacers but that is certainly not a sure bet.

[D.o.s.]

lol, playoffs

We will make the playoffs this upcoming season.

Insofar as the C's might provide some wins and losses that determine the final seeding of the teams we're going to watch after the Celtics are done playing in April, I agree.

predictions:

-Chicago
-Cleveland
-Toronto
-Washington
-Miami
-Charlotte
-Atlanta
-Indiana, or one of the New York Teams


-Oklahoma City
-San Antonio
-Los Angeles
-Houston
-Golden State
-Portland
-Dallas
-Phoenix

[Tr1boy]

Atl and nyk have done little to nothing to improve their lineups. Both r not easily better than the celts

[chambers]

Atl and nyk have done little to nothing to improve their lineups. Both r not easily better than the celts

ATL is way better than us unfortunately. They get Horford back too.
No way we make the playoffs. East got better and we are about the same. If we trade Green and Bass we are probably worse than last year. Problem is our big men rotation and lack of inside defense.

[D.o.s.]

Atl and nyk have done little to nothing to improve their lineups. Both r not easily better than the celts

They're both better than they were last year. Both from a coaches/systematic perspective and in players gained through trade or return from injury. Consider: the Knicks bottomed out as hard as they possibly could last season, and they still won 12 more games than the Celtics.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/ATL/2014.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/ATL/2015.html

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NYK/2014.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NYK/2015.html

[Endless Paradise]

The Celtics are not better than the Nets, the Hawks, and the Knicks, and I think it's beyond fair to say they're not better than the Pistons.

[Tr1boy]

Atl and nyk have done little to nothing to improve their lineups. Both r not easily better than the celts

They're both better than they were last year. Both from a coaches/systematic perspective and in players gained through trade or return from injury. Consider: the Knicks bottomed out as hard as they possibly could last season, and they still won 12 more games than the Celtics.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/ATL/2014.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/ATL/2015.html

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NYK/2014.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/NYK/2015.html

The knicks are not exactly the same team. They lost chandler which imo a big loss.

For the hawks who exactly is their starting sf and sg? I dont think they many moves in the offseason except trade williams.

Lastly the celts have improved since last season with the addition of smart, zeller, turner, thornton

[RyNye]

Consider: the Knicks bottomed out as hard as they possibly could last season, and they still won 12 more games than the Celtics.

What? The Knicks just lost their only decent defensive player. And it's not like they were tanking last season, they were actively trying.

No way the Knicks are going to be significantly better. If anything, they will be worse.

The Hawks, though, should be better, getting Horford back.

I'm also surprised people have the Raptors so low. The Raptors should be better, and they were the 3 seed! I say the East looks more like:

1) Cavs
2) Bulls
3) Raptors
4) Wizards
5) Heat
6) Hornets
7) Nets
Hawks

To be honest, I could see 2-6 on the list being in just about any order, and I expect the standings to be fairly down to the wire for the most part. I could also see the Hawks being a little better. The Nets are tough, because I think all of the teams from Toronto to Charlotte have improved this off-season while the Nets definitively have not, but on the other hand they will get Brook back. I don't know about them. I just don't feel good about calling them better than any of those other East teams.

And yes, no Indiana for me. I think they miss the playoffs. Roy Hibbert can't carry a team.

The West ... man, the West is tough. Again, this season is going to be really down to the wire for the standings. But I see something like,

1) Thunder
2) Spurs
3) Clippers
4) Warriors
5) Rockets
6) Grizzlies
7) Mavericks
Blazers

But I wouldn't be surprised to see the Spurs get #1 again. They certainly aren't worse than last season; it all depends on whether age is finally catching up with Duncan or Parker.

Grizzlies are tough. They were REALLY good last season, but hampered by injuries. If they are healthy all season I could see them being as high as 3 or 4. I think the Blazers will regress a little this season.

[Who]

I thought the Hawks looked very good last year before Al Horford got injured.

PG: Jeff Teague, Shelvin Mack
SG: Kyle Korver, John Jenkins
SF: DeMarre Carroll, Thabo Sefolosha
PF: Paul Millsap, Mike Scott, Adreian Payne
 C: Al Horford, Pero Antic

I do not like their backup guards but the rest of their team is very solid.

[Who]

The Knicks lost Tyson Chandler but I think they have rounded out their rotation well this offseason

PG: Jose Calderon, Pablo Prigioni, S.Larkin
SG: Iman Shumpert, Tim Hardaway
SF: Carmelo Anthony, JR Smith, C-Early
PF: Amare Stoudemire, Andrea Bargnani
 C: Samuel Dalembert, Jason Smith, C.Aldrich

I think that PF position is a big question mark. Bargnani will be typically dreadful. Amare has struggled in recent times but started to settle down a bit and play decent ball in second half of last season. Still, Amare is a major question mark.

The rest of the team looks in pretty good shape. I think Calderon is a good upgrade over Felton. Prigioni is a decent backup PG. Good depth on the wing behind Carmelo Anthony with Shumpert, JR Smith and Hardaway. Jason Smith gives them a reliable backup center. Dalembert a weak starting center but he should do a passable job there for them. Larkin and Early interesting 3rd stringers.

So if they can get enough out of those PF players to add to rest of rotation, I think the Knicks have a good chance at late playoff seed.

It'll be interesting to see how Derek Fisher does as a head coach. I think Phil Jackson has done a good job building him a more well-rounded roster than the Knicks had last year though. Set Fisher up to succeed.

[D.o.s.]

They're also featuring 100% less Mike Woodson, which is a point in their favor.

[jaketwice]

Changes to the OP in bold:

East

1. Bulls
2. Cavs
3. Wizards
4. Bobcats
5. b]Heat[/b]
6. Raptors
7. Atlanta
8. Pacers