Official East Conference Prediction Thread - updated 10/25/16

[Kurosawa0]

I'm bored, so...

1. Cleveland Cavaliers
2. Boston Celtics
3. Toronto Raptors
4. Detroit Pistons
5. Indiana Pacers
6. Atlanta Hawks
7. New York Knicks
8. Orlando Magic

9. Charlotte Hornets
10. Milwaukee Bucks
11. Chicago Bulls
12. Washington Wizards
13. Miami Heat
14. Brooklyn Nets
15. Philadelphia 76ers

I'm going to say Melo has a throw back year and Porzingis makes a leap. The Heat might me the most controversial one, but I think if Bosh can't fully come back that's ripe for a disaster.

[Kolkmania]

Bosh is a huge factor for Miami, but 13! A core of Whiteside, Dragic, Bosh complemented with quality young players like Winslow, Richardson and Johnson with only the Sixers and Nets with worse records. It really shows how close the Eastern Conference excluding the Cavs, Raptors, Sixers and Nets.

1. Cavaliers
LeBron will cruise throughout the season, but Irving will be femonomal from the start.
2. Raptors
Same core, same recipe. A lock for home court advantage in my opinion.
3. Celtics
Al Horford is a huge addition, the first big FA coming to Boston since? Not the biggest fan of Horford since he started to regress a bit in Atlanta, but the new system with Al as primary option will boost his stats. Giving Celtics the edge to lead the huge pack of contenders for the two remaining spots for homecourt advantage.
4. Magic
Great coach with Vogel, contract years for Green and Ibaka and adding a rimprotector in Biyombo. Don't like the longterm consequences of Orlando's offseason but it will pay of this season. Gutted to see Gordon's minutes diminishing.
5. Hawks
Don't know how much years Howard can play at a high level, but with decent perimeter defense and Millsap around him he will be a beast defensively. Curious how Schroder will lead this team.
6. Pistons
Continue to steadily improve. Tobias Harris a nice addition to an already promising team, including Ish Smith will give Jackson some breath.
7. Pacers
Great players, but the players don't complement each other. George, Young and Turner will have to carry the loads to get them into the play offs.
8. Bucks
Dellevadova is a great addition, will heavily rely on Giannis' playmaking ability and give the team some perimeter defense. Crucial will be Parker and Antetokounmpo's shot development.

9. Hornets
10. Bulls
11. Heat
12. Knicks
13. Wizards
14. Sixers
15. Nets

[maisenza13]

1- Chicago- top 5, maybe short bench

2- Cleveland- short bench, no JR, but still with 2 phenomenal players as Bron and Kirye, without a good center in the bench(Andersen so old)

3-I pick Charlotte for Marco Belinelli, he is italian!

4- Toronto - strong team they change almost nothing

5- Orlando - very good team i think they'll miss Victor

6 - New York the first five will pull the team in the off-season

7 - Boston I like so much the coach, it makes the team

8 - Phila Two words...BEN SIMMONS

This is not what i really think , but what i'd like will surprise me

[Mr Gametime]

1. Cavs - NBA champs

2. Pacers - Added talented pieces to a strong core and with the emergence of Myles Turner the Pacers are a force to be reckoning with

3. Celtics - Signing Horford is a real plus for this young team, Celtics have no where to go but up

4. Raptors - The team is stronger after replacing C Biyombo with PF Sullinger but will barely hang on to home court in an improving Eastern Conference

5. Pistons - The addition of Harris last season was the real move that makes the Pistons contenders in the East

6. Hawks - losing Horford and Teague is tough but Howard and Schroder will keep this team going

7. Hornets - MCW is back and should keep Charlotte competitive even after losing Jefferson and Lin.

8. Bulls - Wade in Chicago will spur the Bulls for one last run

9. Magic - Orlando got better defensively but won't score enough to get them into the post season

10. Knicks - They're not a super team but filing the void at PG with Rose puts them in the playoff picture

11. Wizards - Lost some role players and will continue to fall in a rising Eastern conference

12. Heat - With Bosh Healthy and Whiteside improving the Heat round out the pack of playoff hopefuls

13. Bucks - The Middleton injury puts them out of contention but when healthy The Bucks are a team to watch out for

14. 76ers - The moves by BC with the addition of Simmons makes this a much improved ball club

15. Nets - This will be a tough season for Nets fans as they finish worst in the NBA

[camillepd]

1. CLE
2. NYK
3. BOS
4. TOR
5. DET
6. IND
7. WAS
8. ATL

[TheBabyMaker]

LMAO at the Magic and Bucks being better than the Wizards. Washington will probably not make the plalyoffs I don't see those teams better than them (not saying much). I think NY should have a good showing this year and Chicago may surprise some people. This is from a Wizards fan. Orlando will be the lowest scoring team this year and I will and (did) bet money on that.

[xBlackMamba]

1. Cavs
2. Raps
3. Celtics
4. Pacers
5. Pistons
6. Hawks
7. Hornets
8. Knicks

9. Wizards
10. Magic
11. Bulls
12. Heat
13. Bucks
14.76ers
15. Nets

[NBA4u]

EC so hard to rate after 1 imo


CLE
TOR
IND
BOS
NY
ATL
DET
ORL

i think ORL and NY are 100% in, I am surprised at people who don't have these two in. Nate Mcmillan should worry the hell out of me as an IND fan.


**** forgot DET. DET > CHI

[NBA4u]

Vogel is going to show this season why hes a top 5 coach in this league. I am expecting ORl to get close to 40-45 wins

[NBA4u]

LMAO at the Magic and Bucks being better than the Wizards. Washington will probably not make the plalyoffs I don't see those teams better than them (not saying much). I think NY should have a good showing this year and Chicago may surprise some people. This is from a Wizards fan. Orlando will be the lowest scoring team this year and I will and (did) bet money on that.

people said the same exact thing about IND a few years ago and they fniished top 2...

[Nowak008]

Tier 1
Cavs
Indy

Tier 2
Boston
Toronto

Tier 3
Hawks
Detroit
Charlotte

Tier 4
Bulls
Wizards
Miami
Orlando
Bucks
Knicks

Tier 5
Nets
76ers

[the_other_guy]

1. Cavs
2-4. Celtics/Raptors/Pacers
5. Pistons

6-12. Hawks/Wizards/Bulls/Knicks/Hornets/Magic/Bucks/

13. 76ers
14. Heat
15. Nets

As I see it, there are 5 locks to make the playoffs and 3 not to make them.

[AKFO]

1. Cavs
2. Celtics
3. Raptors
4. Pacers
5. Hornets
6. Hawks
7. Bulls
8. Pistons
9. Magic
10. Bucks
11. Wizards
12. Knicks
13. Heat
14. 76ers
15. Nets

[Ville5]

I figured if we are going to do this we might as well do it properly, here is my proposal.

Rules:
- Post your predictions
- I will record each prediction with its user ID
- Once regular season finishes, I will report the analysis of
- Predicted vs actual finishing position for each team
- Best and worst predictors among us posters
- I updated the rules a bit so it's no longer monthly based - really not needed anymore since major pieces are already in place.

The hope is we contain all prediction into one thread, and with all the data collected, we have something meaningful to look back at the end of the season, and reward (shame) the best (worst) predictors. Safe to say I am not the best Excel user or data mining expert, so I welcome all suggestions, here or PM.

I think you have to take into account when the prediction was made. Obviously it's more difficult to get it right in July than in October or December.

Are we allowed to make several predictions or change the original ones? I think it would be cool to stop this thread now and make another thread at the end of November when everyone can make another prediction. It would be interesting to compare them against the ones made during the summer.

[ken6199]

I think you have to take into account when the prediction was made. Obviously it's more difficult to get it right in July than in October or December.

Are we allowed to make several predictions or change the original ones? I think it would be cool to stop this thread now and make another thread at the end of November when everyone can make another prediction. It would be interesting to compare them against the ones made during the summer.

Good points here.

Obviously it is the first time that we do this in this format. The rules we originally planned were modified a little bit just to simplify things. The main change is that everyone makes one prediction only instead of getting one shot every month, as the responses I get is that most participants didn't feel the need to alter their predictions.

Having said that, you are welcome to make a change on your votes anytime before the first regular season game tips off, by editing your post. Or you can post a new prediction (and I will take the latest as your final). I will do a final check of all the votes just to make sure I don't miss any of those changes, but PM-ing me with a heads up on your change is always appreciated (as some of you already did).

My thought on your suggestion on making another round of prediction after the season starts is - if we are doing this, we might as well do it after the Feb trade deadline. That would be the point where teams are clearly steered to either compete or tank.

[Ville5]

My thought on your suggestion on making another round of prediction after the season starts is - if we are doing this, we might as well do it after the Feb trade deadline. That would be the point where teams are clearly steered to either compete or tank.

Sure, February is a possibility, but my thinking was that it would be too easy by then and all predictions would be very similar. If the first round deadline is the start of the season, the second round deadline could be 20 or 25 games in. But that's just my opinion.

[DJhitek]

1. Cleveland Cavaliers
2. Boston Celtics
3. Toronto Raptors
4. Detroit Pistons
5. Atlanta Hawks
6. Charlotte Hornets
7. Milwaukee Bucks
8. Indiana Pacers

9. New York Knicks
10. Washington Wizards
11. Chicago Bulls
12. Orlando Magic
13. Miami Heat
14. Philadelphia 76ers
15. Brooklyn Nets

As a Bulls fan, I hope I am wrong but I don't see how it fits. I think Knicks barely miss only because injuries could be a factor and I actually believe the Bucks are going to be a 4-5 seed but felt like going more conservative.

[ozwizard8]

1-2 : Cleveland-Indiana
3-4 : Toronto-Boston
5-6-7 : Atlanta-Knicks-Orlando
8-9-10 : Bulls- Detroit- Washington
11-12-13 : Milwaukee-Charlotte-Miami
14-15 : 76ers-Nets

I wouldnt bet on 5th to 10th predictions.
My Cleveland, Toronto, Atlanta, Boston, Bulls, Miami, Washington, Nets, 76ers predictions are similar.

Indiana:
I like new Pacers team. Run&Gun suits really well. P.George&M.Turner with Teague-Ellis. They also have Al Jefferson for 2nd unit. Al Jefferson offers half court, slow tempo offense. Hornets used this rhythm change to confuse opponent defenses.

New York:
As a fan i look Knicks team optimistic. I like the fit. We got NBA level guard(s) after 4 season. Noah-Rose-Lee are good veterans. KP and our rookies looks promising. Hornacek's PHX career also indicates 5th to 7th finish.

Detroit:
Some put them to top 3 of their list. Most people expect development from this team. Well, i disagree with that opinion.
I dont think Drummond is that valueable player. I dont he's dominant enough to get his team to top 3 seed in East. D.Howard's offense brought more double teams, triple teams in Orlando. Drummond is excellent rebounder but on offense he's not better than Whiteside, D.Howard. KCP-T.Harris-Morris are decent players. They dont do anything at elite level.
R.Jackson also playing close to his potential. Now he's injured for 1.5 months. I expect them start bad without R.Jackson.

Orlando:
Frank Vogel is defensive mastermind. Ibaka, Biyombo are 2 great defenders. They wont win any game easily. They wont lose any game easy too. They have many young players getting their 2nd, 3rd ,4th years that you would expect major development.
Fournier, Hezonja, Vucevic, Payton are decent scoring options. They may get 7th spot with good Vogel defense. Vogel won respectable amount game without PG in Indiana.

Milwakuee:
Spacing issues. No perimeter scroing threat other than Middleton.
Two overpaid 3rd stringer centers. G.Monroe without any defense.
Unless Giannis or Jabari win MIP award i dont expect much improvement. Delly would help them though.

Charlotte:
J.Lin isnt great player to add 5-10 wins to any team. However he is a good player and he's so useful in some scenarios.
J.Lin eased K.Walker's shooting, playmaking woes. Last year he brought scoring punch from the bench. Now he's gone. K.Walker's efficiency gonna drop without Lin.
Al Jefferson might not be above average center in the league but he was so good in 2nd unit. He changes the way game played and it helped Hornets a lot.
MKG returning from the injury doesnt mean anything to me. He's not better player than J.Winslow. He cant shoot 3's so he kills spacing K.Walker needs.

[mademan]

I like Indy, but a lot of people are overrating them. This is a team thats gonna take a pretty big step back defensively. Mahimi/Hill were near elite defenders at their positions

[ken6199]

Every year we have top tier teams drop in both conferences and people feel the need to rate highly on a few other 'upcoming' teams to fill the void of that drop. This year we have Portland and Jazz from the West, and Indy from the East. The real difficulty is, to predict last years 56W Toronto team after their humiliated playoff series, or the year before, that 60W Atlanta team after years of mediocrity and 56W Houston team after a disastrous off season. Lot of the time, those dark horses did not come from those 'young and upcoming' teams.

I expect OKC to do something big with Westbrook carrying the team like Harden did in 14-15, with a better defensive core.