I know a lot of people are high on Chicago, but I think people are forgetting last season. Before the season, everyone thought Rose would be back and the Bulls would be dominated. Instead he was hurt again and they languished for the 5th seed. D-Rose has barely played any basketball in two seasons, and he has not yet shown that he can play again. He was terrible on Team USA. Sorry, I can't give the Bulls any faith unless D-Rose can show he can play basketball again. Even if he eventually gets back into form, I highly doubt it will be before the end of the season. I think the most realistic scenario for the Bulls is they limp to a 4) seed, but Rose rounds into form enough at the end of the season to lead them to a strong playoff run.
With that in mind, here are my standings:
EAST:1)
Cleveland- Love is inarguably a better fit for Lebron than Bosh. In Toronto, Bosh was an interior scorer with a nice midrange game. In Miami, he became primarily a shooter, especially from 3-point land, and his numbers went down. Just look at Bosh's shot charts from 2008 vs 2013. Love already gets his numbers playing the role Bosh played in Miami. Sure, they will go down because his usage will go down overall, but I fully expect him to remain an offensive juggernaut. Their defense may be pretty bad overall this season, the East just isn't strong enough for me to doubt they will grab the #1.
2)
Toronto- As I explained above, I don't see Chicago being substantially better than last season in terms of their overall record. Toronto was 3) last year and are likely to improve. They have a young, talented roster.
3)
Washington Wizards- As with Toronto, they were pretty good last year. I think their record last year was worse than they "deserved" with their talent level; they struggled early in the season but really clicked towards the end. They fell apart against Indiana in the playoffs, but I think with Pierce in the locker-room and a playoff run under their belts, they will finally put together a good season.
4)
Chicago Bulls- Already explained.
5)
Charlotte Hornets- They were a great defensive team last year, and had a great off-season. I like Noah Vonleh for them. I think Lance Stephenson is going to have a great season. Probably struggle out of the gate, but his per-minute numbers last season were better than Paul George's, and Charlotte is a well-coached team.
6)
Miami Heat- I think this is the best case scenario for them. If Wade isn't healthy I expect them to be lower. But I think Wade gives them some good minutes for ~50-60 games this season, and for Bosh to have a mini-comeback season. He's still in his prime, and I think Spoelstra is smart enough to taylor his offense a la his Toronto days. I think Bosh has his best season since Toronto statistically. I expect them to be the type of team that whips all the bad teams in the league but struggles against other playoff teams. First round out.
7)
Atlanta Hawks- Again, this is really a best-case scenario, as I'm ranking these under the assumption Horford remains healthy. If he gets hurt again (or traded...) I expect them to drop down, possibly out of the playoffs entirely. With Horford, they will be better than last season, though they still will remain mediocre. I didn't like their draft for them, either.
Brooklyn Nets- I definitely foresee a regression from last season. That team is a mess. I will say, as a bit of a sidenote, I think they had a sneakily good draft. They went into the draft with no picks at all, but managed to buy themselves three 2nd rounders. You don't see a lot of value from those picks, typically, but they made some good upside players. Markel Brown was good in college; Cory Jefferson is a good rebounder and is decent at drawing fouls. Obviously, as 2nd round picks they are unlikely to amount to much, but I think they at least made the smart choices at those positions. ANyway ...
9)
Detroit- They will be a bad team, but I think I can see Stan Van winning a decent number of games using Drummond as a mini-Dwight.
10)
Indiana- The second half of last season, the Pacers fell apart due to on-court issues. I don't expect their locker room to be any more functional this season with an injured Paul George, and Lance Stephenson carving things up in Charlotte. Roy Hibbert, although dominant during some playoff series in recent years, has yet to show us he can put together a consistent season. Maybe he will this year, but I'm not too hopeful. Their off-season was a pretty resounding fart.
11)
New York- As my friends over on Poasting&Toasting would say, this Knicks season can most ably be described as,
FARTDOG".
12)
Boston-- Yeah, we'll be bad this season. I'm hopeful we see some nice development from our young guys, and I expect Rondo (if he stays healthy) will put together a nice stretch of season.
13)
Orlando- Weird team. I actually think it's possible for Orlando to be a surprise team in the mold of Phoenix last season. They have some very talented players. I think the odds are against them, but I wouldn't be completely shocked if Oladipo makes a leap and Channing Frye helps glue the offensive together. Think they need a new coach to really improve, though.
14)
Milwaukee- I am on the "Jabari is overrated" train. I know a lot of you are high on him, so let's not get into that debate here. I'm not saying Jabari won't have a good NBA career, but that I think his game won't translate immediately, and he will have a rough first couple of seasons before he gets used to the league. The rest of the team sucks, too. A lot.
15)
Philadelphia- Yeah.
Topic: Eastern Conference Predictions (Read 7256 times)