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I'm looking at sportsbooks right now. They all have us missing the playoffs. Average sportsbooks predictions.

Bucks 55.5
Sixers 53.5
Celtics 48.5
Nets 47.5
Pacers 46.5
Raptors 45.5
Heat 42.5
Magic 40.5
Pistons 37.5

Thats a 3 game diff between us and the Magic pretty big. We were 500 last season but we also had a healthy Blake/Jackson for the majority of the season. Odds are we dont stay that healthy. Adding Rose/Morris improves us but we all know Rose is only good for 60 games max.

Some of the other borderline teams have improved more then us this offseason and it shows in the predictions. Magic didnt add anyone they won 42 games last season and are predicted to win 40.5. They do have alot of youth.

I'm thinking we could easily miss the playoffs this season. These standings dont even take into account a surprise team popping up like last years Nets. We may even go into the trade deadline as sellers this season.

If any of you think we are a lock to make the playoffs you should throw some money on a sportsbook and bet the over on that win loss.

Just like the last four seasons, we are most likely to win between 37 and 44 games and finish between 8th and 10th in the East.

I think its going to be our fifth straight year being in that range which is right in the mediocre garbage too bad to win a playoff game but too good to get a top 10 pick range. Right in that sweet spot of the treadmill.

People really that high on the Magic. I just dont see it. Or the Raptors.

LaSheed wrote:People really that high on the Magic. I just dont see it. Or the Raptors.

Well the magic won 42 games last season which was more then us by 1. They're a youthful team so it makes sense they would at least stay around the same place in the standings if not improve.

The raptors will of course be worse losing Green and Leonard. Still a team with a young improving star in Siakam with Lowry/Gasol/Ibaka/FVF is still a better then 500 team. They wont win 50 games but they arent dropping out of the playoffs thats for sure.

Playoffs may very well come down to who plays more games between Butler and Blake this season for the 8 seed.

I think as far as dark horses go for the East the Hawks seem like a team that could surprise people.

When healthy I think we look fairly strong, but griffin, rose and Jackson will always have question marks over them. If healthy I wouldn't be surprised if we could manage mid to high 40s, but if not we're looking at low 30s.

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I would be thrilled to win less than 35 or more than 45 but that just seems like its impossible. We've eventually got to go one way or the other but this doesn't look like its going to be the year.

I think 37 is about right. It'll be more if we're healthy, but it's fair to place the odds against that.

Jackson and Blake are always question marks, and we’ve added guys like Rose and Morris to that who were banking on either staying healthy despite history or being healthy despite not recently being so.

I’d hardly say projecting 40-41 wins is being “high” on Orlando.

I'm taking the over. Without a doubt. If I had a grand, I'd bet that. ... Anyone willing to loan me a grand so I can bet it on the pistons?

Well they're pretty close to what I consider the actual rankings.

The Locks
Bucks
Sixers

Semi locks
Celtics, Raptors, Nets

The Up & Downs
Pacers, Magic, Heat, Pistons

So looks like the 8th seed brawl between the Magic, Heat, and us again. As usual. This time at least the Hornets have cratered for good.

I see us firmly in the 7th seed according go my crack calculations
Fighting with the Raptors for that coveted 6seed to stay away from the Bucks and Sixers in the 1st round
Florida teams will be battling it out for the final seed in my opinion

1-Philly
2-Bucks
3-Indy
4-Bos
5-Nets
6-mighty Detroit Pistons
7-Craptors
8-Orl

I actually think Raptors could slide. Teams will focus in on Siakam this year. Gasol Ibaka Lowry are older and complacent now that they've won. Same goes with the whole team I think they'll just be happy they won

bstein14 wrote:I would be thrilled to win less than 35 or more than 45 but that just seems like its impossible. We've eventually got to go one way or the other but this doesn't look like its going to be the year.

Unfortunately we’ve been trying and failing to break 45 for about a decade now.

I think we'll be fighting for the last couple spots. Hopefully the added depth will let us do a bit more load management. There were some stretches were blake looked totally gassed. A good portions of our losses came in a couple stretches where we went 0-6 an 1-7. If blake wasn't dominating, the rest of the team folded. Hopefully, some of the additions bring a bit of toughness.

not sure why people are giving Orlando automatic playoffs lock love..

For the record i wasnt assuming we would be better than the Magic or Raptors. I just think they should be in the same category as we are. If healthy yes i pick us but Reggie, Rose, Blake, Morris are a long shot to stay healthy

We are underdog.

Reggie and Andre are playing for their next contract, Blake must be pissed off that things worked so well for the Clippers and we added Rose and Morris.

I think we will be much better than last season, and we were comfortable at the 6th spot untill Blake went down. I trust in Arnie to keep our guys health most of the season.

I also don't think Brooklin and Indiana will be that good. Thad and Bogdanovic were Indy leaders last season, Sabonis and Turner starting together will be a disaster and Oladipo is still not health, they might be a disaster this season. Toronto is also awful, they might miss the playoffs.

I have no idea what to expect from Boston. They lost Al Horford. Did people forget that? Their defense will be so bad with Hayward, Kemba and Kanter. They also lost Baynes and Morris and they were both great for them. They had too much depth last season, now they have none.

I think, with luck, the Pistons could make a good second-rate run to and in the playoffs. Yeah, plenty of health history issues that no one knows how they'll go this year. Markieff had a tough season last year, but also has had some solid seasons. Rose seems to be learning to play within his current self. (It must be tough to lose transcendent athleticism. Guy was astounding at his peak.) Reggie knows there's a lot on the line. There's also the possibility that youngsters might blow up unexpectedly, and that would change the calculations too.

Outside of the back up C (I don't know if that kid from NO is any good, but he might be better than zaza) , the bench looks much better than last year. Rose is an upgrade over Ish, Morris is an upgrade over thon and leuer and Frazier is an upgrade over Calderon. Then you add Snell, who should start, but is an upgrade over GR3. Snell isn't amazing, but he should be able to at least stay on the floor unlike GR3. That means brown and kennard aren't stuck against opposition SFs as often.
Lots of question marks over health and fit, but potentially should be better this year.

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SamFlow wrote:I'm taking the over. Without a doubt. If I had a grand, I'd bet that. ... Anyone willing to loan me a grand so I can bet it on the pistons?

You got it. The juice is 5 points a week.

Manocad wrote:

SamFlow wrote:I'm taking the over. Without a doubt. If I had a grand, I'd bet that. ... Anyone willing to loan me a grand so I can bet it on the pistons?

You got it. The juice is 5 points a week.

Usurer! Manocad is our resident 'payday lender.'