RealGM

Much like the West prediction thread I want to stir up the pot with a lot you, place your predictions first, those who do earn my respect
for the west thread viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2471466
East is harder to do out side of the top 4 IMO for the East.

I'm not a East person. But here goes

Being a Laker fan and the fact I rooted for Knicks last year, I'm banking them on #1 this year, Lakers/Knicks finals heard it here first, what a better stage for "Lebronny" to go out on right?

MVP = Luka of course

Date is 8/8/2025 for future reference :

1. Knicks - Knicks vs Lakers finals baby!
2. Cavs
3. Magic - if and only if healthy
4. Hawks, My surprise team for the East, a long shot.
5. Pacers
6. Bucks
7. Pistons
8. Bos
9. Bulls, moving up if they get Kuminga?
10. Heat
11. Tor
12. Hornets
13. 76ers, health is key once again
14. Nets, might move them up?
15. Wizards, sorry Wiz fans.

Hawks would not be a surprise team since Hawks have improved in the offseason

OrlandoMagic198 wrote:Hawks would not be a surprise team since Hawks have improved in the offseason

Insert your predictions and let's see

I heard 76ers over under is 43.5. Thats like my biggest lock bet, under.

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

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

Someone who gets it, well done sir

Might be the first time ive ever seen kuminga is a positive difference maker in writing. He alone would make the bulls better than the heat. Wow.

I believe in the Cavs/this is their year to lose; I don't see anyone else winning the title from the east.

1. Cavs

2. Knicks
3. Magic
4. Hawks

5. Pistons

6. Bucks
7. Pacers (hoping for a better finish, but I doubt they'll be higher than sixth)
8. Boston
9. Raptors
10. Bulls
11. 76ers (too much talent to be as bad as last year)
12. Heat
13. Nets
14. Hornets
15. Wizards

CLE
NYK
ORL
ATL
DET
MIL


IND
TOR
MIA
PHI

CHO
CHI
BOS
WAS
BRK

Marrs-Law wrote:I believe in the Cavs/this is their year to lose; I don't see anyone else winning the title from the east.

1. Cavs

2. Knicks
3. Magic
4. Hawks

5. Pistons

6. Bucks
7. Pacers (hoping for a better finish, but I doubt they'll be higher than sixth)
8. Boston
9. Raptors
10. Bulls
11. 76ers (too much talent to be as bad as last year)
12. Heat
13. Nets
14. Hornets
15. Wizards

I think it wil be hard to have two teams worse than the Nets, Heat seems low, having Bulls, 76ers and Raptors higher than them sounds insulting at first, but I can see that happening in all honesty. I think people sleep on Raptors a bit, I would agree that they should have home court in play in, at least for one game.

UcanUwill wrote:

Marrs-Law wrote:I believe in the Cavs/this is their year to lose; I don't see anyone else winning the title from the east.

1. Cavs

2. Knicks
3. Magic
4. Hawks

5. Pistons

6. Bucks
7. Pacers (hoping for a better finish, but I doubt they'll be higher than sixth)
8. Boston
9. Raptors
10. Bulls
11. 76ers (too much talent to be as bad as last year)
12. Heat
13. Nets
14. Hornets
15. Wizards

I think it wil be hard to have two teams worse than the Nets, Heat seems low, having Bulls, 76ers and Raptors higher than them sounds insulting at first, but I can see that happening in all honesty. I think people sleep on Raptors a bit, I would agree that they should have home court in play in, at least for one game.

As the list goes on I have less knowledge/opinion. I believe you when you say the Nets are too high. You may be right on the Heat and Bulls well; they (Heat) seem like a team (similar to the Bulls) that is very stagnant. I don't follow them a ton but I don't know what's going to put together for them that's going to make a difference for them...they have the same flawed players as every other year.

76ers could go anywhere down there. I guess my ranking has them optimistic for Embiid's health but I am not. With that said, they seem like a team that was worse than they should be last year and it's not like the teams below them are worldbeaters. Raptors should be on the upswing; this is Barnes' year (for better or for worse) and their collection of players should be more put together. So I more or less stand by it, but I have much more of an opinion on 1-8 than I do 9-15!

Tier 1 - Contenders
Knicks
Cavs

Tier 2 - Top 6 contenders
Magic
Pistons
Hawks
Bucks (could easily drop a tier)

Tier 2.5 - who the hell knows
Sixers

Tier 3 - Play-in teams
Pacers
Heat
Raptors
Celtics

Tier 4 - Play-in Hopefuls
Hornets
Bulls

Tier 5 - Tankers
Wizards
Nets

1. Cleveland
2. New York
3. Orlando
4. Atlanta
5. Milwaukee
6. Boston
==================
7. Detroit
8. Miami
9. Indiana
10. Philadelphia
==================
11. Toronto
12. Chicago
13. Charlotte
14. Washington
15. Brooklyn


-First 2 teams are the obvious top contenders, though I would swap them if the coaching upgrade works out.
-Orlando and Atlanta are the improved teams that are serious about making the top 4, so they're going there.
-Milwaukee are my dark horse contenders. I think they're gonna surprise some people, especially if Giannis wants the franchise to prioritize contending.
-Boston IMO took a huge gut punch with not only Tatum's injury that will keep him out for the season, but being victims of the 2nd apron and selling off most of their championship roster. I still believe Mazzulla's coaching will keep them competitive and they'll grab a playoff spot.
-The play-in teams could also grab the last guaranteed playoff spot. While they're good enough for the spot, I just believe the 6 teams ahead of them are just better.
-The bottom teams are just generally bad, and I think they want to be bad.

The 76ers tend to overperform when expectations are low and underperform when expectations are high. It’s almost like they’re playing with the bettors. They’re not a serious contender, just a team cashing in on bets.

1. Cleveland
2. New York
3. Orlando
4. Detroit
5. Milwaukee
6. Philadelphia
7. Toronto
8. Atlanta
9. Miami
10. Indiana
11. Boston
12. Chicago
13. Charlotte
14. Washington
15. Brooklyn

1. Knicks
2. Cavs
3. Pistons
4. Magic
5. Hawks
6. Bucks
7. Raptors
8. Heat

9. Celtics
10. Hornets
11. Pacers
12. Sixers
13. Bulls
14. Wizards
15. Nets

Group 1: Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks
Group 2: Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks
Group 3: Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat

Wildcard - Philly. I doubt Embiid plays more than 50 games though, and PG had a surgery a few weeks ago. He'll be re-evaluated before the season starts, but it's hard to know what to think until we get an update there.

Boston could very well use the opportunity this season to try and add a Top 10 pick late in the season.

I want to be a homer, but injuries to Orlando are almost inevitable at this point. This is why imo their depth is as important as their starters.

Wendell will miss his standard 10-15 games so Goga needs to be prepared and better than last year.

Suggs will miss some time so Black needs to continue to develop and be ready.

Isaac had one of his healthiest seasons last season, but his minutes will still be managed so Penda will play a bigger role than people think and Mo needs to return to 6MOTY candidate form.

Orlando also needs time to gel and figure things out, that will take some time so I’m not convinced they come out balling and A LOT is contingent to Mosley and his personal development.

With all that said I’m expecting no less than top-5 record (in the east).

I’ll go about it a little differently, with a range, but also a prediction…

1) Cavs (55-65 wins, 1st-3rd)

Lost a key bench contributor in Jerome. Don’t think they’ll be hunting RS wins as hard — nothing they do really matters until the playoffs. Still the best starting five, and Lonzo helps with one of their big issues from the playoffs, small guards that get abused. Favorites for Finals.

2) Knicks (50-60 wins, 1st-3rd)

Same players, new coach. Brown won’t push the starters so hard, keeping them fresher. Likely increased win total is from the decline of Indy and Boston, along with player continuity. Could make the Finals, but the same issues as before make an ECF loss more likely.

3) Orlando (45-60 wins, 1st-5th)

My biggest range of outcomes team. Bane helps a ton. Likely healthier this year. Lots of good defenders. Mostly hinges on three point shooting, health, and Paolo’s development. Mostly likely outcome is a second round loss, but could make ECF or even Finals if things go well.

T4) Detroit (42-52 wins, 3rd-6th)

Still young, depends on player development more than anything. Outgoing and incoming bench talent about even. A HCA series and a series win should be the goal, anything beyond that would require injury luck or major development from multiple rookie contract guys.

T4) Atlanta (42-52 wins, 3rd-6th)

Lots of nice adds in KP, NAW and Kennard. May take a little time to come together, but a team with lots of talent. Primary factor is still Trae, of course. Should be trying for HCA and at least a series win, although at least one of these top five teams is obviously gonna fail at that.

Running out of time before work here, maybe I’ll come back later and edit this.

6) Milwaukee (guard play is the question)
7) Toronto (solid team, just limited upside)
8) Indiana (they don’t tank, ever)
9) Miami (coaching matters, some talent, some holes)
10) Chicago (lots of interesting players and odd fits)
11) Boston (better than this, but I smell a purposeful tank)
12) Philadelphia (don’t think Embiid or PG play much, guards are nice)
13) Charlotte (will look better, but a long way to go)
14) Washington (similar to Charlotte)
15) Brooklyn (epic badness, so many raw guys, 20 wins would be a miracle)

1)Cleveland
2)New York
3)Orlando
4)Toronto
5)ATL
6)Detroit
7)Miami
8)Milwaukee
9)Pacers
10)Boston
11)Sixers
12)Chicago
13)Charlotte
14)Brooklyn
15)Washington