Pre-Season Ranking Eastern Conference

[drsd]

I see the Magic anywhere in the 1-3 range in the East, if healthy.

It is a near given that the Magic win the South East, and thus it seems probable that the Magic are at least the #4.

[sportsrock37]

I agree with everyone that 3-6 is extremely close this year. Right now I would rank the rosters like this:
1. Boston
2. Detroit
3. Philadelphia
4. Orlando
5. Toronto
6. Cleveland

In the playoffs obviously Cleveland would be a damn hard knock out with Lebron and their defense, but for the regular season that's how I see it shaping up.

[paperboymafia]

i hope that every paper in the country thinks we suck. its always better being the ones that are discarded in the beginning.

[christian72589]

Lebron is one of the best slashers that anyone has ever seen... ask him to hit a consistent J tho, and it's a whole nother story... also, for a guy that is seen as one of the best in the league, at his position, his FT is below average... listen it seems like i don't like LBJ, this is wrong, i like the guy. I just think that he is given more credit than he deserves sometimes. in this NBA one guy cannot do it all which is essentially what people argue when they rank CLE so high. I alos like CLE alot, just don't think they are better than Orlando.

[cavsfan_osiris]

People are sleeping on Washington. When healthy they are a very good regular season team.

[lovehoops01]

The best part of the entire blog is the responses to it. A bunch of people blasted it. And then Steve Kyler responded in the comments that Hoops World broke the stories on the Camby trade, the Deng deal and the Posey signing. Puhleeze.

I do think that the East is a lot closer this year, provided the teams are healthy. Like someone said, I'm not sure how injured JO has been over the years. I think his feelings were more hurt than his body, and when he has played, he has given Dwight a difficult time. Honestly, I think that is one of the reasons the Raptors signed him. Brand's ability to stay healthy could be an issue, but I wouldn't say it definitely will be. Teams like the Bobcats will not be as easy for teams to chalk up wins against because Larry Brown is a better coach than they ever have had. The only downside for them could be if he ends up arguing with his point guard again, and rumors have indicated he is not that sold on Felton. Heat definitely will be better. For one thing, Wade is healthy. Did any of you saying the Heat won't be better watch the Olympic tuneups.

Plus, I can't say that I necessarily think that Pietrus is going to be an improvement over last season's shooting guards. I totally hope I am proved wrong, but I still don't like this signing. He just doesn't do anything GREAT. Let's face it....very few defenders can stop the league's top scorers cold. And I definitely think he will be a detriment offensively so if he can't stop them cold, then the Magic's scoring might be off.

Even though he is a rookie, I have a feeling that Lee might end up starting before the season is over if he doesn't turn over the ball that much. I'll need to see him on the floor with real players (as opposed to summer leaguers), but if he can find the space to get off his shot, which he appears as if he will be able to, he has a nice shot. But it might take him a little bit to adjust to the league. If it takes the entire season, well, the Magic might have problems again at shooting guard. And frankly, I worry that Anthony Johnson will try to take over when he shouldn't and disrupt the team chemistry, too. I like the rest of the team, but I am going to miss Keyon. Not just for his play, but I thought his playful personality and his standup character added to the team.

I am not saying that the Magic are going to be worse. Just that the other teams got better and that it's not clear that the Magic improved enough to keep up with the big moves that were made by the teams that made some significant moves.

[christian72589]

what are the chances of sliding courtney lee to the PG spot and developing him there??? he'd have great size and not only would that fill the PG need, it would slim out the number of SGs... I've never seen him play, but why not?