The East is WIDE OPEN next season

[mtcan]

We’ll have to see what the Celtics do. But even without Tatum or Hali, I got the Celtics and Pacers as a higher seed than the Raps. Philly depends on Embiid obviously so we’ll see. But Cleveland Knicks and Magic are likely above us too. As it stands it is likely play-in or 6th seed. Oh and I forgot Giannis and the Bucks. Not saying it isn’t possible but I will believe in a team that doesn’t know how to win when they start winning.

Without Hali the Pacers likely miss the playoffs. The guy was one of the most impactful players in the entire NBA this season, and the Pacers in all honestly had one of the luckiest finals runs in recent memory (Bucks injuries, Cavs injuries, Tatum going down, etc.).

Celtics are probably still ahead, unless they sell stuff off.

I think Indy is still in the mix for 6/7/8. Nembhard is their defacto starting PG and next man up is Ben Mathurin to start. They'll still be good...just not top 4 in the East-good.

However...they now own their pick...which they sneakily traded to get back just around the time Hali went down with the calf strain. Did they bet on him tearing his achilles in the final 2 games??? A tank is also possible...and maybe just hanging around the play-in to get a top 10-14 pick and hope for Dallas-type lottery luck.

[YogurtProducer]

We’ll have to see what the Celtics do. But even without Tatum or Hali, I got the Celtics and Pacers as a higher seed than the Raps. Philly depends on Embiid obviously so we’ll see. But Cleveland Knicks and Magic are likely above us too. As it stands it is likely play-in or 6th seed. Oh and I forgot Giannis and the Bucks. Not saying it isn’t possible but I will believe in a team that doesn’t know how to win when they start winning.

Without Hali the Pacers likely miss the playoffs. The guy was one of the most impactful players in the entire NBA this season, and the Pacers in all honestly had one of the luckiest finals runs in recent memory (Bucks injuries, Cavs injuries, Tatum going down, etc.).

Celtics are probably still ahead, unless they sell stuff off.

I think Indy is still in the mix for 6/7/8. Nembhard is their defacto starting PG and next man up is Ben Mathurin to start. They'll still be good...just not top 4 in the East-good.

However...they now own their pick...which they sneakily traded to get back just around the time Hali went down with the calf strain. Did they bet on him tearing his achilles in the final 2 games??? A tank is also possible...and maybe just hanging around the play-in to get a top 10-14 pick and hope for Dallas-type lottery luck.

They honestly would probably be better long term by moving off Siakam and leaning into a quick 1-year Hali-less tank.

[whitehops]

Calf strains no joke. Play on them and Achilles could be next. Seems that is what happened to Dame, Tatum, and now Hali

Yeah the connections between injuries is interesting. I saw something once about how hamstring issues could lead to ACL tears.

And then remembered I badly sprained/tore my hamstring 6 months before i blew my knee out.

**** me - I never really pieced together my sprains that occurred before I blew mine out as well.

playing pickup i rolled my ankle and took a few plays off to walk it off. later that game i landed on someone's foot and broke my ankle, i think i had some ligament damage too.

if your muscles can't handle a force then your ligaments and tendons are like sitting ducks for injury.

[StopitLeo]

Tatum out.
Dame out.
Hali out.

Now is the time to strike.

Agreed. Even in the best case scenario I don't think Barnes-Ingram are significantly better than the top 2 guys on the other playoff teams in the East.

We need Giannis.

[Basketball_Jones]

Turner is kind of irreplaceable so Indy has to keep him. They’d be smart to get a decent backup C and backup SF I’d say. They don’t need to tinker much unless they can land an upgrade somewhere imo.

[Troubadour]

Behind the Cavs, Knicks, Magic, healthy Sixers, and probably still behind the Celtics. Fighting for the 6th seed with the Bucks, Pacers, Heat, Pistons, Hawks and Bulls.

[Raps in 4]

1. Cleveland
2. NYK
3. Orlando
4. Detroit/Milwaukee/Toronto/Philly

We've definitely got a shot at top-6, but competition from the other mid teams will be tight.

Philly could easily be in the top 3, and I am not ready to crown Orlando as a top 3 team. They won 41 games last year and Bane is not some huge difference maker IMO.

Orlando was one of the most injured teams this year.

Suggs missed 47 games
Paolo missed 36 games
Franz missed 22 games

They won 47 games the year prior, as a young, inexperienced team. If healthy next season, they will easily win 50+ games.

[LoveMyRaps]

Read on Twitter

[Anticon]

1. Cleveland
2. NYK
3. Orlando
4. Detroit/Milwaukee/Toronto/Philly

We've definitely got a shot at top-6, but competition from the other mid teams will be tight.

We need to be realistic about our chances, but there's no reason to be scared of any of these teams. All of them have pretty serious problems / questions.

Even Boston once Tatum is back; I don't think their core is setup to last.

[tsherkin]

1. Cleveland
2. NYK
3. Orlando
4. Detroit/Milwaukee/Toronto/Philly

We've definitely got a shot at top-6, but competition from the other mid teams will be tight.

Philly could easily be in the top 3, and I am not ready to crown Orlando as a top 3 team. They won 41 games last year and Bane is not some huge difference maker IMO.

Orlando was one of the most injured teams this year.

Suggs missed 47 games
Paolo missed 36 games
Franz missed 22 games

They won 47 games the year prior, as a young, inexperienced team. If healthy next season, they will easily win 50+ games.

And now with Bane, they should be considerably better on offense, which was their major weakness last year.

[Wargreymon]

Quickley
Bryant
Ingram
Barnes
Poeltl

='Ship

Yeah if it was Kobe Bryant

[WuTang_CMB]

We are on the right track. Draft a gem at 9 and keep growing young players. Young depth wins in playoffs now. Masai and bobby alluded to it. Thats where this is going.

Read on Twitter

[YogurtProducer]

1. Cleveland
2. NYK
3. Orlando
4. Detroit/Milwaukee/Toronto/Philly

We've definitely got a shot at top-6, but competition from the other mid teams will be tight.

Philly could easily be in the top 3, and I am not ready to crown Orlando as a top 3 team. They won 41 games last year and Bane is not some huge difference maker IMO.

Orlando was one of the most injured teams this year.

Suggs missed 47 games
Paolo missed 36 games
Franz missed 22 games

They won 47 games the year prior, as a young, inexperienced team. If healthy next season, they will easily win 50+ games.

By all metrics that 47 win Orlando team overachieved. 16th in SRS, 14th in NRTG, 12th in wins.

They had a 21-25 record when Paolo played - the injury excuse only goes so far.

They are still a poor shooting, great defensive, team who have injury concerns everywhere, guys returning from major injuries, and decent but not incredible depth.

Like I said - not ready to write them into a top 3 seed yet. Not convinced they will be better than Detroit.

[YogurtProducer]

Philly could easily be in the top 3, and I am not ready to crown Orlando as a top 3 team. They won 41 games last year and Bane is not some huge difference maker IMO.

Orlando was one of the most injured teams this year.

Suggs missed 47 games
Paolo missed 36 games
Franz missed 22 games

They won 47 games the year prior, as a young, inexperienced team. If healthy next season, they will easily win 50+ games.

And now with Bane, they should be considerably better on offense, which was their major weakness last year.

IDK if it will be considerable.

They still lack shooting - and they pretty much replaced KCP with Bane. It will be a bump for sure, but this is still a team that starts Suggs/Wagner/Paolo (who all are below average shooters), and WCJ at the 5 who shot in the 20's last year from 3. Bane is not going to drastically change that much there.

Better - but that means from bottom 5 to like maybe middle of the pack?

[Raps in 4]

Philly could easily be in the top 3, and I am not ready to crown Orlando as a top 3 team. They won 41 games last year and Bane is not some huge difference maker IMO.

Orlando was one of the most injured teams this year.

Suggs missed 47 games
Paolo missed 36 games
Franz missed 22 games

They won 47 games the year prior, as a young, inexperienced team. If healthy next season, they will easily win 50+ games.

By all metrics that 47 win Orlando team overachieved. 16th in SRS, 14th in NRTG, 12th in wins.

They had a 21-25 record when Paolo played - the injury excuse only goes so far.

They are still a poor shooting, great defensive, team who have injury concerns everywhere, guys returning from major injuries, and decent but not incredible depth.

Like I said - not ready to write them into a top 3 seed yet. Not convinced they will be better than Detroit.

Franz-Paolo-Suggs played a total of 6 games together in 2024-25. The injuries aren't an excuse. They were the reality of their season, and they still managed to finish with a .500 record. Now they've added Bane, who plugs the biggest hole in their roster (lack of 3pt shooting). I'd bet a large sum of money that they win 50+ games and finish ahead of Detroit next season, if both teams are healthy.

[PushDaRock]

Philly could easily be in the top 3, and I am not ready to crown Orlando as a top 3 team. They won 41 games last year and Bane is not some huge difference maker IMO.

Orlando was one of the most injured teams this year.

Suggs missed 47 games
Paolo missed 36 games
Franz missed 22 games

They won 47 games the year prior, as a young, inexperienced team. If healthy next season, they will easily win 50+ games.

By all metrics that 47 win Orlando team overachieved. 16th in SRS, 14th in NRTG, 12th in wins.

They had a 21-25 record when Paolo played - the injury excuse only goes so far.

They are still a poor shooting, great defensive, team who have injury concerns everywhere, guys returning from major injuries, and decent but not incredible depth.

Like I said - not ready to write them into a top 3 seed yet. Not convinced they will be better than Detroit.

Paolo really does have some horrid metrics that are pretty concerning to me. I would be more willing to write some of it off if Franz didn't have excellent advanced stats despite them playing their fair share of minutes together.

[Raps in 4]

Orlando was one of the most injured teams this year.

Suggs missed 47 games
Paolo missed 36 games
Franz missed 22 games

They won 47 games the year prior, as a young, inexperienced team. If healthy next season, they will easily win 50+ games.

By all metrics that 47 win Orlando team overachieved. 16th in SRS, 14th in NRTG, 12th in wins.

They had a 21-25 record when Paolo played - the injury excuse only goes so far.

They are still a poor shooting, great defensive, team who have injury concerns everywhere, guys returning from major injuries, and decent but not incredible depth.

Like I said - not ready to write them into a top 3 seed yet. Not convinced they will be better than Detroit.

Paolo really does have some horrid metrics that are pretty concerning to me. I would be more willing to write some of it off if Franz didn't have excellent advanced stats despite them playing their fair share of minutes together.

Paolo is tall Derozan. Franz is tall Lowry.

[djsunyc]

We are on the right track. Draft a gem at 9 and keep growing young players. Young depth wins in playoffs now. Masai and bobby alluded to it. Thats where this is going.

Read on Twitter

what they accomplished was great. real lightning in a bottle stuff. the era of parity is here so things like this can happen.

[niQ]

We are on the right track. Draft a gem at 9 and keep growing young players. Young depth wins in playoffs now. Masai and bobby alluded to it. Thats where this is going.

Read on Twitter

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?s=19

[tsherkin]

IDK if it will be considerable.

They still lack shooting - and they pretty much replaced KCP with Bane. It will be a bump for sure, but this is still a team that starts Suggs/Wagner/Paolo (who all are below average shooters), and WCJ at the 5 who shot in the 20's last year from 3. Bane is not going to drastically change that much there.

Better - but that means from bottom 5 to like maybe middle of the pack?

I mean, I suppose that depends on your marker.

They were flaming ass this year. They could make a 5-point improvement in team ORTG and still only be 19th in the league.

I figure they'll be quite a lot better than the 4th-worst offense in the league with some health and Bane, but I don't think they're going to be elite or anything unless Paolo learns how to actually hit shots.