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If Lebron leaves, then Bosh goes to the west. Wade probably resigns with the Heat.

So that leaves Carmelo in New York, Wade in Miami, and Lebron maybe in Cleveland. In addition, you might have a down grade with Chicago, Indiana, and New Jersey, so the talent is pretty spread out.

This is also baring any major injuries from Horford, Millsap, Teague, and Korver.

Ontop of that, Ferry still has $12 million to $15 million of cap to work with to maybe get Monroe or Deng.

So the question is, should Atlanta fans be rooting that Cleveland gets Lebron?

I don't think it matters too much. LeBron wants max money, so that's going to limit what a team can put around him. So, I don't know that he's going to have as good a chance at competing for a championship at either place. Yes, whoever signs him will be in the mix because they would have the best player in the league. But, we've just seen how the best team in the league beat the best player for the title. I think Ferry is on the right track because our team, like you say barring injury, is potentially the best "team" in the East. We still don't have that star, but we have a really nice collection of players that work well together and operate within a really good system. It is going to be a long shot regardless, but we do have the guns, especially if we add another piece in Deng or Monroe (or whoever).

I think LeBron going to the Cavs helps the Hawks since it weakens the Southeast division. We would have an easier time winning it. We do need to watch the Hornets and the Hayward signing and see who the Wizards are able to hold on to. I do think the Cavs have the inside track at the number 1 seed with LeBron, Irving, Wiggins and maybe Love.

I wish LeBron going home would have happened before Dwight became a free agent, maybe that would have inspired him to do the same. What is sad is I would think Atlanta would be a MUCH better city to choose to come home to?

Hawks could win the SE Division.

But no, Im not sure. If HEALTHY, and we land a decent SF, maybe. Will be interesting. We will be in the conversation for sure.

CLE will be prohibitive favorites and they should be, even if they land Love. But, I think we will be better than the Knicks, Hornets , Nets, Celtics, Bucks

I think our main competition would be the Bulls and CLE with Washington being a dark horse (not really sold on Wall and company as being a true threat)

Whoever Lebron goes to will be number 1. Although I do think we have a great shot at being number 2 (everything barring injury of course).

The #1 seed generally goes to a veteran team that manages to stay healthy and either dominate at defense or offense.

I see Wizards, Pacers, Bulls and wherever LeBron plays as most likely candidates for the top seed.

I also think the Nets will be better now that they have a real coach. (And Deron Williams seems motivated to regain his status as a top player.)

To go from losing record to top seed in the East is possible. But it seems rather unlikely. It's been 20 years since we last accomplished the feat. And our team is still only modestly talented.

Well coached...but middling talents.

Pacers to me depends on if they keep Lance or not. If they lose him, they lose the headcase, but they lose a lot of scoring too

PandaKidd wrote:Pacers to me depends on if they keep Lance or not. If they lose him, they lose the headcase, but they lose a lot of scoring too

and their de facto PG since George Hill is nowhere close to being a PG. The Pacers will suffer big time if they lose Stephenson and aren't able to replace him with a player with equal playmaking skills.

ATLHawksfan21 wrote:

PandaKidd wrote:Pacers to me depends on if they keep Lance or not. If they lose him, they lose the headcase, but they lose a lot of scoring too

and their de facto PG since George Hill is nowhere close to being a PG. The Pacers will suffer big time if they lose Stephenson and aren't able to replace him with a player with equal playmaking skills.

Granger left and most likely Turner will leave, in addition, West will be one year older.

I think Chicago and Cleveland will be the favorites for the #1 seed, but they both have serious questions and could easily finish lower. I think it's reasonable to expect a top 3 finish if we land Deng and stay healthy. The important thing is I like our chances in a 7 game series against any team in the East if that happens.

Having Deng and Carroll at the SF will prove to be huge against Lebron, George and Melo in the playoffs. I'm really not even worried about Indy. We will beat them if we face them again when healthy.

The Wizards will most likely be returning the same exact team from last year. Wall and Beal will have to both improve majorly during the offseason for them to become contenders for the 1 seed.

Have to agree with jamaaliver here: BCS we're in a scrum with 5-7 teams for the 4-8 seeds. I suspect that CHI (with even a semi-healthy Rose) & IND (with a resigned Lance) will be a clear tier ahead of the pack as will the "LeBrons" (either CLE or MIA). After that, we'd be in a scrum with TOR, WASH, BRK, CHAR, DET, and NYK. I suspect the order I gave would be the final order with us being behind TOR but ahead of BRK - not sure if we'd be ahead of or behind WASH though. In all honesty, I don't think it'd matter if we signed Deng or not, our placement stays the same.

One more note: Of those teams, I'd put us 2nd behind BRK in a list of teams most likely to sustain an injury that drops us out of the running.

I hope I'm wrong, but...

EDIT: corrected typo

Toronto will be interesting. Are they for real, or just had a decent season.

PandaKidd wrote:Pacers to me depends on if they keep Lance or not. If they lose him, they lose the headcase, but they lose a lot of scoring too

This is indeed a concern for Indy. But Vogel is an accomplished coach. And Bird is a savvy GM. I think they'll find a replacement for those 14 ppg. As long as they have PG, Scola and D West they'll be competitive. And they defense of theirs is smothering. We saw what it did to our offense in the playoffs once they keyed in us. The world won't stop in Indy because Lance Stephenson leaves.

PandaKidd wrote:Toronto will be interesting. Are they for real, or just had a decent season.

I thin they took advantage of playing in the worst division in the NBA.

ATLHawksfan21 wrote:

PandaKidd wrote:Toronto will be interesting. Are they for real, or just had a decent season.

I thin they took advantage of playing in the worst division in the NBA.

The division was very poor indeed. So was the overall conference.

However Toronto was the only team in the East I believe to finish with a top 10 off and def rating. A lucky year could just mean hot shooting, but the defence was no fluke, nor due to easy competition. In fact we had a winning record against the West.

This is not the same Raptors team the legue is used to. From the top to bottom are extremely competent men in Tim Lewike and Masai Ujiri, to the coaching staff. The team is now very deep with guys like Lou of course, Patterson, Vasquez, James Johnson to name a few. A lot of young potential in Ross, JV, Demar (still just 24 and improving), Bruno etc. Then you have our leader Kyle Lowry.

The rest of the NBA rarely gets to see us play, plus we haven't been a very good franchise historically, so the doubt is understandle. You may think I'm just a biased Raptor fan. But since watching this team in 06, there is something about this team that we as Raptor fans have never seen before, let alone the NBA. This will be a 50+ win team next season, and probably make it past at least a round. We are a superstar from really contending, but we are not to be taken lightly like in the past.

Raptors_Dynasty wrote:

ATLHawksfan21 wrote:

PandaKidd wrote:Toronto will be interesting. Are they for real, or just had a decent season.

I thin they took advantage of playing in the worst division in the NBA.

The division was very poor indeed. So was the overall conference.

However Toronto was the only team in the East I believe to finish with a top 10 off and def rating. A lucky year could just mean hot shooting, but the defence was no fluke, nor due to easy competition. In fact we had a winning record against the West.

This is not the same Raptors team the legue is used to. From the top to bottom are extremely competent men in Tim Lewike and Masai Ujiri, to the coaching staff. The team is now very deep with guys like Lou of course, Patterson, Vasquez, James Johnson to name a few. A lot of young potential in Ross, JV, Demar (still just 24 and improving), Bruno etc. Then you have our leader Kyle Lowry.

The rest of the NBA rarely gets to see us play, plus we haven't been a very good franchise historically, so the doubt is understandle. You may think I'm just a biased Raptor fan. But since watching this team in 06, there is something about this team that we as Raptor fans have never seen before, let alone the NBA. This will be a 50+ win team next season, and probably make it past at least a round. We are a superstar from really contending, but we are not to be taken lightly like in the past.

I agree with everything you said. I just see y'all as a 3-5 seed instead of a 1-2 seed. Masai has certainly been working magic ever since he took over the job. Ferry has done the same for us. Your entire statement could fit the Hawks as that sounds exactly like where we are at as an organization.

LBJ to CLE

HOUSTON will get bosh

Miami is a lottery team.

We REALLY need Melo to stay in NY.

It looks like its official. Lebron is going back to the Cavs.

When i hear of Lebron, Wade, and Bosh, that really scares me, but when i hear of Lebron, Irving, and Love, i'm okay with that.

I like Irving, but i have never been a fan of Love. I think both guys are really weak on defense, and i think the Cavs could be one of the worst defensive teams next near.

I think we have a moderate chance to finish as the top seed... Think about it.

With Horford healthy, we were 3rd in the east. We still played well without him until Millsap and Korver got hurt, that's when we had a freefall to the 8 seed.

We get Horford back. The core of the team has a year of experience in the best system in basketball. Add in Thabo Sefalosha, and upgrade that stretch 5 position(Antic --> Payne), and all of our point guards are a year older and a year better...

How many other teams in the East are doing that much to upgrade their roster besides the Cavs?

ATLHawksfan21 wrote:

Raptors_Dynasty wrote:

ATLHawksfan21 wrote:

I thin they took advantage of playing in the worst division in the NBA.

The division was very poor indeed. So was the overall conference.

However Toronto was the only team in the East I believe to finish with a top 10 off and def rating. A lucky year could just mean hot shooting, but the defence was no fluke, nor due to easy competition. In fact we had a winning record against the West.

This is not the same Raptors team the legue is used to. From the top to bottom are extremely competent men in Tim Lewike and Masai Ujiri, to the coaching staff. The team is now very deep with guys like Lou of course, Patterson, Vasquez, James Johnson to name a few. A lot of young potential in Ross, JV, Demar (still just 24 and improving), Bruno etc. Then you have our leader Kyle Lowry.

The rest of the NBA rarely gets to see us play, plus we haven't been a very good franchise historically, so the doubt is understandle. You may think I'm just a biased Raptor fan. But since watching this team in 06, there is something about this team that we as Raptor fans have never seen before, let alone the NBA. This will be a 50+ win team next season, and probably make it past at least a round. We are a superstar from really contending, but we are not to be taken lightly like in the past.

I agree with everything you said. I just see y'all as a 3-5 seed instead of a 1-2 seed. Masai has certainly been working magic ever since he took over the job. Ferry has done the same for us. Your entire statement could fit the Hawks as that sounds exactly like where we are at as an organization.

I agree. I see us as 3-5 as well.

The future for the East is bright. Hawks, Wizards, and Raptors are on the come up.