RealGM

I don't think we've had this thread topic for a little while. I'm interested to see what you guys think about which teams are locks for the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

I think Miami, Pacers, Bulls, Nets, and New York are locks for the Playoffs. If you'd like to talk about who else has a chance to make it. Go ahead. But I think the last three spots are open for the Pistons to take.

The one team that is a shady lock are the Nets. I think the 2007 Celtics team were better than this one. Imagine one player gets injured what would happen to the team. Someone like KG could get injured and disrupt the whole rotation. If we were to play against a team, I hope it would be the Nets or New York. The rest have very good defense and are a sure spot in the Playoffs.

I think we have a really good chance of making the Playoffs this year.

I'd say its pretty likely NY makes the playoffs but I wouldn't say that they are a lock. I feel like the 4 locks are Miami, Indy, Brooklyn, and Chicago. Those 4 seem above everyone else.

NY is a step below and likely to make the playoffs.... But NY doesn't have much of an edge over Detroit, Cleveland, or Washington if those young teams improve internally and gel with their coaching staffs.

NY got a year older, JR Smith is injured... Amare and Chandler seem to always be injured... and Melo is fat. And I think they're going to be really disappointed in what Bargnani brings to the table with his horrible defense.

Dre Drummond wrote:I'd say its pretty likely NY makes the playoffs but I wouldn't say that they are a lock. I feel like the 4 locks are Miami, Indy, Brooklyn, and Chicago. Those 4 seem above everyone else.

NY is a step below and likely to make the playoffs.... But NY doesn't have much of an edge over Detroit, Cleveland, or Washington if those young teams improve internally and gel with their coaching staffs.

NY got a year older, JR Smith is injured... Amare and Chandler seem to always be injured... and Melo is fat. And I think they're going to be really disappointed in what Bargnani brings to the table with his horrible defense.

I agree. In my opinion, I don't think Melo will stay in NY. I think he'll either opt out or stay for one more year. Lakers are calling next offseason and I think he's a disloyal player. On the other hand, I think he likes NY because he said he's always wanted to play there as well as his wife living there. In my opinion, although Amare's contract is horrid, I still think it' was worth it only because it brought Melo and company along. New York is not a real contender. I think they just give out contracts just for the show and money and I think Melo sees that. Bargnani? Are you serious? haha.

Miami, Indiana and Chicago are my only locks. Why? LeBron is auto-playoffs. Indy and Chicago are so good defensively, they'll earn a spot even if there best player is injured.

Nets and Knicks are likely, but could easily implode for a variety of valid reasons.

I think the fourth seed is wide open right now.

I think beyond the starting 5 the Nets are lacking...

I also think the Knicks will be praying for good health for Chandler. JR Smith is out for a while... Amare will be playing under a minutes cap next season... they have talent - but a few of their guys have health issues that could seriously impact the franchise

Miami, Chicago, Indiana... beyond that there's a lot of teams... and we're one of them!

Once you get to the post-season it's about match ups, adjustments, determination and execution. I like our chances... can't wait to see how things shake out

Miami, Chicago, Indiana and Brooklyn are locks for me. I'm not sold on the Nets as true contenders but I think even if their season doesn't go smoothly (injuries to vets, Kidd can't coach, 'no fit' etc.) they are still a lock to at least make the Playoffs considering how much talent there is on that roster.

I think we'll have to fight with NY, Washington, Atlanta, Toronto (if they don't tank), Cleveland and Milwaukee for the 5th to 8th seeds. I think we'll probably be 7th or 8th and win about 40 games.

The five locks are Miami, Brooklyn, Chicago, Indiana, and New York. I think the Nets will win the championship because of their size, veteran leadership, and their awesome starting lineup. I think the other 4 teams are very good but have major flaws, including Miami. I can see us beating out NY for the 5th seed because I feel like they got worse and older this offseason. I also think WAS is a borderline lock for a lower playoff seed. The only spot I think is wide open is the 8th seed. I can see a team like ATL or TOR sliding into the 8th seed. As of now I have this:

Miami
Brooklyn
Indiana
Chicago
Detroit
New York
Washington
Toronto

There is a lot of parody in both conferences right now. The playoffs should be really fun next year.

yeah you have those 5. then theres a bunch of teams fighting to make up the 8.
detroit, toronto, cleveland, atlanta and washington i feel are the next tier, then boston, milwaukee, and charlotte(zeller and jefferson along with kemba and mkg might make them respectable) in another tier, then orlando and philly are no where near.

i personally think washington and atlanta are slightly behind det, tor, and cle, and they will make up the 8.

Those 5 are the best yeah, I think NY is underrated and Brooklyn and Indiana overrated, I think NY will be more solid during the RS and worse in the PO, Brooklyn have a lot to figure and a rookie coach, Indiana in my opinion has a worse roster than last year (West older, overpaid, Copeland worse than Hansbrough, Watson is a scrub, and I don't know how Granger fit and if he's going to play at least well).

In my mind outside of them, Washington is the best of the rest, deep, balanced, a star in the making in Wall, power and D inside, they will be my 6th seed.

Toronto goes next, they have quality players and the staff has been there for a year already, not a lot of changes to be made, strong bench.

Cleveland if Bynum is healthy could be higher than Raptors, I trust Brown making that team at least decent in defense, and that with their talent is PO bound.

Detroit, Atlanta are next, and they're the last two teams with PO chances, it'll depend on how quickly new players fit, new coaches also, and health off the other teams too and themselves'.

So, for the Detroit, most likely range is 7-10, at worst you'll send a 10º pick to Charlotte.

Boston, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Orlando and Philadelphia are bottom 5 for sure.

Pharaoh wrote:I think beyond the starting 5 the Nets are lacking...

I also think the Knicks will be praying for good health for Chandler. JR Smith is out for a while... Amare will be playing under a minutes cap next season... they have talent - but a few of their guys have health issues that could seriously impact the franchise

Miami, Chicago, Indiana... beyond that there's a lot of teams... and we're one of them!

Once you get to the post-season it's about match ups, adjustments, determination and execution. I like our chances... can't wait to see how things shake out

Smith will miss the first week of the season at worst.

the Nets are lacking? you kidding?
Livingston, Taylor, Terry, Kirilenko, Evans, Blatche.

Seriously, and I don't think they're that good, but they're a lock.

And New York is a lock too, the roster is way better than last year's, the chemistry will be even higher with another year under their belt, and Woodson teams are really solid, even playing scrubs.

New York is going to be better than Brooklyn and Indiana during the RS, and probably lose to one of them in the PO.

How I see both conferences, pretty similar actually,

OKC MIA
LAC CHI
SAS NYK
HOU BKN
----------
GSW IND
MEM WAS
----------
MIN TOR
DAL CLE
POR DET
DEN ATL
----------
LAL BOS
NOP MIL
----------
SAC CHA
PHX ORL
UTH PHI

Really not getting how Brooklyn is worse than last year in so many of your eyes. Deron Williams played crappy the whole first half of the season and they were still an easy 4th seed. They switched out an utterly mediocre Gerald Wallace (he was actually well below mediocre in advanced stats last year) for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry, three extremely smart players who were the the best guys on the 6th seed last year (after Rondo went down). They added Kirilenko--who was quietly very good last year--without giving up anything, and they still have everyone who made significant contributions to the team last year.

They're actually one of the deepest teams in the league too. They have nine guys any team would love to have, and the end of their bench is decent back ups Shaun Livingston and Try Taylor, plus prospects Mirza Teletovic and Mason Plumlee.

All this and you think it's a good bet that four of these teams will be better than them (cue Seth Myers, "really real gm?"):
Cavs
Bucks
Hawks
Wiz
Pistons
Raptors

Heat, Bulls, Knicks, Nets and Pacers are locks. I echo the sentiment the Nets are a lot deeper than people realize. The only one of the group I see as potentially not making it is the Knicks if they get hammered by injuries and the Melo-Lakers thing reaches a boiling point.


I put Wiz, Cavs, Pistons, Hawks in the next tier.

Then Bucks, Celtics, Raptors, Magic, Bobcats/Hornets as teams who could grab the 8th seed or a top 5 pick.

Philly looks to be by themselves in the basement.

Knicks offseason is very underrated, they changed,

Kidd, Richardson, White, Novak, Copeland, Camby for Hardaway, Metta World Peace, CJ Leslie, Bargnani, Jeremy Tyler.

And they'll add more pieces, a back-up PG for sure (Telfair, Brooks, Robinson,...) and probably another big, plus Kenyon coming back most likely.

The roster is clearly improved, none of the guys that left is an NBA player right now, Copeland and Novak are scrubs that can shot, and could play 10minpg at best in a serious team.

Raptors are being undervalued too, their roster is PO bound if they stay healthy, strong rebounding team, with a coaching staff that hasnt changed (half of the East did), good bench, they have shooters, and playmakers.

Unless they trade everybody and tank, they're not going to be worse than 9th, like this year.

Fischella wrote:the Nets are lacking? you kidding?
Livingston, Taylor, Terry, Kirilenko, Evans, Blatche.

Seriously, and I don't think they're that good, but they're a lock.

I said beyond the starting 5 was lacking... and you prove that by naming their entire bench

Ain't no guarantee AK47 can produce like he did for Minny last season... and he still missed plenty of games via injury.

Blatche was supposed to be a complete head case before last season... now he's under pressure to perform every single night...

I think the Nets get to the post-season... but if I was a Brooklyn fan I'd be praying for good health every single day and twice on Sunday.

Same if I was a Knick fan...

Have you seen Detroit's bench?

Billups, KCP, Middleton, Datome, Jerebko, Villanueva, Drummond, Kravstov...

So if Nets and Knicks, two of the best benches in the league, need to pray.... Detroit need a miracle I guess.

Fischella wrote:Have you seen Detroit's bench?

Billups, KCP, Middleton, Datome, Jerebko, Villanueva, Drummond, Kravstov...

So if Nets and Knicks, two of the best benches in the league, need to pray.... Detroit need a miracle I guess.

Except Monroe and Smith will be getting a ton of second unit minutes as well, not guys like Kravstov, CV, and Jerebko.

DetroitPistons wrote:

Fischella wrote:Have you seen Detroit's bench?

Billups, KCP, Middleton, Datome, Jerebko, Villanueva, Drummond, Kravstov...

So if Nets and Knicks, two of the best benches in the league, need to pray.... Detroit need a miracle I guess.

Except Monroe and Smith will be getting a ton of second unit minutes as well, not guys like Kravstov, CV, and Jerebko.

you don't say?

And what do you think will happen with Pierce and Garnett? the same.

With Chandler and Felton...? wow, the same too already happened this year.

Nets have a very good bench... AK and Blatche are two great bench players that would start on many teams. Terry has been a 6th man of the year type player for many years and Evans is consistently a good defender and great rebounder. I think NJ has one of the better benches in the NBA minus backup PG which is a big question mark but I would expect Deron to play 38 MPG so backup PG will be of little concern for them.