Official East Predictions Thread, Let's Go Baby!

[Wolveswin]

Do western conference fans actually feel better about themselves when they repeat this mantra? The west has 3 likely contenders…OKC / DEN / MIN…just like the east; NYK / CLE / ORL. With 1-2 potential contenders if things break their way / they make the right move.

Are you really going to die on the hill “east isn’t weak?”

I mean, head to head last two years .551 and .577. Which doesn’t tell full story. West teams have to beat East teams AFTER surviving their own conference game grinders. Sometimes that night off against an East team is tough to rally.

Then we add East lost 3x top players to Achilles injuries for this season. 2x of which are arguably top 5 players in their conference.

That hill is indefensible.

If you want to be serious, the difference between the conferences is with the play-in teams, not the top 5s. If you just want to repeat old memes, then as you were.

Huh?

[Jadoogar]

GD doesn't have the size/strength or D to play the 3 he won't beat Battle/Cmb in those areas but as a starter replacement sure, (He also logged heavy minutes as a starter replacement last year too). I suppose he could beat Jkw or Agbaji for mins but its the same thing lack of D and also the raptors were tanking last year.

-i mean if were comparing Jkw/agbaji end of bench minutes here dont ya think the raptors being a higher seeded team is making a compelling case?

why is Gradey dick's playing time the measuring stick for if the team is going to be good? Dick averaged 14 points on below average percentages, he's not that good.

it was merely a talking point to showcase Toronto's depth, somehow it became a measuring stick for how good GD is lol basically the point got blown out of context.

idk if they are that deep. Most of the bench is rookies and sophomores (and gradey dick). That's fine for a tanking team but not for a team that's trying to win.
The real issue is the lack of top end talent. The starting five is basically average at their position.

[Bad Bart]

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

Wow, that seems crazy high, I wonder what Vegas is thinking.

[Bad Bart]

Teams on the same line are on the same tier and close to even.

Cleveland NYK
Orlando
Atlanta Detroit
Toronto Miami Mil Chicago
Indy Boston Philly
Charlotte Washington
Brooklyn

I think you nailed it, or at least this is how I see it as well.

[Rainman66]

it was merely a talking point to showcase Toronto's depth, somehow it became a measuring stick for how good GD is lol basically the point got blown out of context.

idk if they are that deep. Most of the bench is rookies and sophomores (and gradey dick). That's fine for a tanking team but not for a team that's trying to win.
The real issue is the lack of top end talent. The starting five is basically average at their position.

I get this point but i think the team is trying to win by acquiring BI/extending Bi/going into the tax/resigning Poetl. The likely scenario is Toronto ends up somewhere in the 7-9 range but there is some optimism to beleive albeit small that raptors can be a winning team in a weaker/Injury depleted east next season. If healthy/Bi returns to from/ Scottie plays at higher level/Bench is deeper- its possible.

[Lacanm1]

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

I know tanking doesn't guarantee a top 5 pick but hoping the c's lose enough to land Cam Boozer, AJ Dybantsa, or Darryn Petersen

[Blaze4G]

Cavs
Magic
Knicks
Hawks
pistons
Celtics
Bucks
Heat
Hornets
Bulls

Top 10, I dont really care about the rest of the teams lol.

Hawks wins the east....

[MrIrrelevant]

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

I can at least see a reality where that happens though.

Embiid, PG, Maxey, McCain, and Edgecombe played 19, 41, 52, 23, and 0 games last year. That's insane. If that goes to 35, 60, 65, 65, and 65 this year, I think they get more than 43 wins. Of course, Embiid could play between 0-10 idk. If Grimes comes back, with Oubre and Bona, it's not the worst 6-8 situation. I like the over.

[MrIrrelevant]

My predictions are:

1. Cavs

2. Magic
3. Knicks

4. Hawks
5. Pistons

6. Pacers
7. Sixers
8. Celtics

9. Raptors
10. Heat
11. Bucks

12. Hornets
13. Bulls
14. Wizards
15. Nets

[WestbrookGOATed]

1. Cavs
2. Pistons(I think they take that leap)
3. Knicks
4. Bucks
5. Magic
6. Pacers
7. Celtics
8. Hawks
9. 76ers
10. Bulls

[oldncreaky]

Tier 1: CLE, NYK
Contenders. These are very good teams, with more than enough depth to withstand some injuries, and teams that should be disappointed if they fall short of the Conference Finals

Tier 2: ORL, ATL, DET
Young and promising, but unproven. These are good teams with enough talent that we should expect them to be solidly over .500, and possibly contend if everything gels together -- but we really haven't seen any sustained success from any of them yet.

Tier 3: MIA, IND, TOR, MIL
Meh. All of these teams can make a case for being a slightly above .500 club, but likely only 1 or at most 2 of them win half their games. These teams are fragile and can be kneecapped with a single injury, and all have pretty obvious roster issues too, but enough overall talent where they certainly will start the season trying to win and will only pivot to tanking if the injuries or bad performances pile up.

Tier 4: CHI, BOS, PHI, CHO
Play-in wanna be. If we are realistic about talent, roster balance and injuries, all of these teams should be tanking from the get go. However, just one youngster surprising and/or good health will propel one (or even 2!) of these teams into the play in because somebody has to finish 10th.

Tier 5: WAS, BRK
The less we talk about them the better. They may not win 40 games combined.


Surprisingly good team: IND. They have 3 guys I want in any closing line up (Siakam, Nembhard and Nesmith) and another half dozen guys that have shown they can contribute to a very good team. Yes, the C position is so-so and their ceiling is capped without Hali, but I think they will be too well coached and too competitive to fall very far, and if some of the top half of the EC has injury issues I could see them sneaking into the playoffs with a a low-40s win total.

Surprisingly bad team: BOS. That front line is just too weak. I think BOS has too many reasons to pivot towards ducking the luxury tax and tanking, so I expect them to sell off more fringe talent (Simons, maybe Hauser) by the TDL at the latest. I just hope they keep Brown, White and Pritchard for a quick pivot back to contending next season.

On the East-West divide: I do think the EC is as weak as we've seen it in a decade; I am assuming the WC wins as much as 60% of the intra-conference games, so the 15 EC teams will win a total of around 580 games (roughly 39 wins on average). Where this will have the most impact in the standings is tiers 3 and 4, where the EC will have a bunch of mediocrity -- in contrast to the WC which will have a number of good teams condemned to the play-in tournament.

[JXL]

Cavs
Magic
Knicks
Hawks
pistons
Celtics
Bucks
Heat
Hornets
Bulls

Top 10, I dont really care about the rest of the teams lol.

Hawks wins the east....

Nice story bro...

My predictions are:

1. Cavs

2. Magic
3. Knicks

4. Hawks
5. Pistons

6. Pacers
7. Sixers
8. Celtics

9. Raptors
10. Heat
11. Bucks

12. Hornets
13. Bulls
14. Wizards
15. Nets

IDK man, while the Magic are good defensively, did they really improve on offense with the Bane trade?

[oldncreaky]

Cavs
Magic
Knicks
Hawks
pistons
Celtics
Bucks
Heat
Hornets
Bulls

Top 10, I dont really care about the rest of the teams lol.

Hawks wins the east....

Nice story bro...

My predictions are:

1. Cavs

2. Magic
3. Knicks

4. Hawks
5. Pistons

6. Pacers
7. Sixers
8. Celtics

9. Raptors
10. Heat
11. Bucks

12. Hornets
13. Bulls
14. Wizards
15. Nets

IDK man, while the Magic are good defensively, did they really improve on offense with the Bane trade?

Bane is important and should help, but even without him the Magic just need to avoid catastrophic injuries. It wasn't just Paolo and Franz: losing Suggs last season killed them. The Magic are 63-47 in games Suggs played the last 2 seasons, so if Bane can just keep them from falling off a cliff when they are without Suggs he'll make a huge difference.

(of course, Suggs plays like a maniac, which makes him a terror on D, but constantly battling nagging injuries)

edit: typo on record

[cgf]

Toppin was only -6 in game 6 and only -1 in game 4, for comparison Turner was a zero in game 4 and a +11 in game 6.

Game 1 was good for Toppin, +9 vs Turner's -3.

A perfect illustration of the flaws of single game +-

Maybe or is it possible Turner was not as awful as you recall, earlier in these games?

That's exactly what I meant. Turner having some success earlier on, was able to hide what a disaster he often was late in those games.

[cgf]

Tier 1: CLE, NYK
Contenders. These are very good teams, with more than enough depth to withstand some injuries, and teams that should be disappointed if they fall short of the Conference Finals

Tier 2: ORL, ATL, DET
Young and promising, but unproven. These are good teams with enough talent that we should expect them to be solidly over .500, and possibly contend if everything gels together -- but we really haven't seen any sustained success from any of them yet.

Tier 3: MIA, IND, TOR, MIL
Meh. All of these teams can make a case for being a slightly above .500 club, but likely only 1 or at most 2 of them win half their games. These teams are fragile and can be kneecapped with a single injury, and all have pretty obvious roster issues too, but enough overall talent where they certainly will start the season trying to win and will only pivot to tanking if the injuries or bad performances pile up.

Tier 4: CHI, BOS, PHI, CHO
Play-in wanna be. If we are realistic about talent, roster balance and injuries, all of these teams should be tanking from the get go. However, just one youngster surprising and/or good health will propel one (or even 2!) of these teams into the play in because somebody has to finish 10th.

Tier 5: WAS, BRK
The less we talk about them the better. They may not win 40 games combined.


Surprisingly good team: IND. They have 3 guys I want in any closing line up (Siakam, Nembhard and Nesmith) and another half dozen guys that have shown they can contribute to a very good team. Yes, the C position is so-so and their ceiling is capped without Hali, but I think they will be too well coached and too competitive to fall very far, and if some of the top half of the EC has injury issues I could see them sneaking into the playoffs with a a low-40s win total.

Surprisingly bad team: BOS. That front line is just too weak. I think BOS has too many reasons to pivot towards ducking the luxury tax and tanking, so I expect them to sell off more fringe talent (Simons, maybe Hauser) by the TDL at the latest. I just hope they keep Brown, White and Pritchard for a quick pivot back to contending next season.

On the East-West divide: I do think the EC is as weak as we've seen it in a decade; I am assuming the WC wins as much as 60% of the intra-conference games, so the 15 EC teams will win a total of around 580 games (roughly 39 wins on average). Where this will have the most impact in the standings is tiers 3 and 4, where the EC will have a bunch of mediocrity -- in contrast to the WC which will have a number of good teams condemned to the play-in tournament.

I seem to be a little higher on Orlando because this would be their third straight successful season with that young core, the Bane addition should help address their biggest shortcoming, and they really softened Boston up for us despite not having what should be their starting backcourt (Suggs & Bane). And a little lower on the Hornets...I need to see them be a serious team before I'm willing to believe, no matter how much more talented than Chicago they may be.

But I agree completely about the Pacers, Celtics, and East v West. Barring some major breakout seasons, the play-in will be especially ugly this year.

[cgf]

Are you really going to die on the hill “east isn’t weak?”

I mean, head to head last two years .551 and .577. Which doesn’t tell full story. West teams have to beat East teams AFTER surviving their own conference game grinders. Sometimes that night off against an East team is tough to rally.

Then we add East lost 3x top players to Achilles injuries for this season. 2x of which are arguably top 5 players in their conference.

That hill is indefensible.

If you want to be serious, the difference between the conferences is with the play-in teams, not the top 5s. If you just want to repeat old memes, then as you were.

Huh?

Was I unclear? The west will win more games because the west has much better play-in teams and fewer rebuilders/tankers, but those are still mediocre teams who would have little chance against the top 3 in either conference...and there are 1-2 teams in each conference who could expand that top 3 to a top 4 or even 5.

Assuming OKC, Minny, Denver, & Houston take the top 4 spots in the west, unless I'm forgetting someone that leaves us with:
- The Lakers won't be able to stop anybody and their only big is terrible.
- The Warriors are smaller than some JV teams.
- The clippers are banking on Harden & Kawhi to finally stay healthy.
- The Grizzlies are praying Ja finally grows up, and even if he did, they would still be mid.
- Portland could be tough, but would need a crazy shooting year to create enough looks they can hit to be dangerous.
- Dallas is starting the season without their only proven creator, and even when he gets back, Kyrie needs to be a 2nd banana to succeed. So unless Flagg is the best rookie ever, that offense could be an absolute mess.

The most interesting potential lower seed in the west is also the biggest wildcard; San Antonio. If the spurs can improve on the wings and Wemby takes another leap, they could mean business by the playoffs and contend...but that's probably for next season, like Detroit.

[Blaze4G]

Cavs
Magic
Knicks
Hawks
pistons
Celtics
Bucks
Heat
Hornets
Bulls

Top 10, I dont really care about the rest of the teams lol.

Hawks wins the east....

Nice story bro...

My predictions are:

1. Cavs

2. Magic
3. Knicks

4. Hawks
5. Pistons

6. Pacers
7. Sixers
8. Celtics

9. Raptors
10. Heat
11. Bucks

12. Hornets
13. Bulls
14. Wizards
15. Nets

IDK man, while the Magic are good defensively, did they really improve on offense with the Bane trade?

Lol got a good feeling about the hawks so let's see. I know it's a bold prediction.

Yes, bane improved their offense by a good margin. But not only that, Wagner and banchero missed a lot of games last season. Healthy they will be a top 3 seed.

[Wolveswin]

If you want to be serious, the difference between the conferences is with the play-in teams, not the top 5s. If you just want to repeat old memes, then as you were.

Huh?

Was I unclear? The west will win more games because the west has much better play-in teams and fewer rebuilders/tankers, but those are still mediocre teams who would have little chance against the top 3 in either conference...and there are 1-2 teams in each conference who could expand that top 3 to a top 4 or even 5.

Assuming OKC, Minny, Denver, & Houston take the top 4 spots in the west, unless I'm forgetting someone that leaves us with:
- The Lakers won't be able to stop anybody and their only big is terrible.
- The Warriors are smaller than some JV teams.
- The clippers are banking on Harden & Kawhi to finally stay healthy.
- The Grizzlies are praying Ja finally grows up, and even if he did, they would still be mid.
- Portland could be tough, but would need a crazy shooting year to create enough looks they can hit to be dangerous.
- Dallas is starting the season without their only proven creator, and even when he gets back, Kyrie needs to be a 2nd banana to succeed. So unless Flagg is the best rookie ever, that offense could be an absolute mess.

The most interesting potential lower seed in the west is also the biggest wildcard; San Antonio. If the spurs can improve on the wings and Wemby takes another leap, they could mean business by the playoffs and contend...but that's probably for next season, like Detroit.

Spin it all you want. If that floats your boat. Float away. West will have almost a .600 winning % against East this season. ‘But no, no the east isn’t weak.’ Dark green font.

[cgf]

Huh?

Was I unclear? The west will win more games because the west has much better play-in teams and fewer rebuilders/tankers, but those are still mediocre teams who would have little chance against the top 3 in either conference...and there are 1-2 teams in each conference who could expand that top 3 to a top 4 or even 5.

Assuming OKC, Minny, Denver, & Houston take the top 4 spots in the west, unless I'm forgetting someone that leaves us with:
- The Lakers won't be able to stop anybody and their only big is terrible.
- The Warriors are smaller than some JV teams.
- The clippers are banking on Harden & Kawhi to finally stay healthy.
- The Grizzlies are praying Ja finally grows up, and even if he did, they would still be mid.
- Portland could be tough, but would need a crazy shooting year to create enough looks they can hit to be dangerous.
- Dallas is starting the season without their only proven creator, and even when he gets back, Kyrie needs to be a 2nd banana to succeed. So unless Flagg is the best rookie ever, that offense could be an absolute mess.

The most interesting potential lower seed in the west is also the biggest wildcard; San Antonio. If the spurs can improve on the wings and Wemby takes another leap, they could mean business by the playoffs and contend...but that's probably for next season, like Detroit.

Spin it all you want. If that floats your boat. Float away. West will have almost a .600 winning % against East this season. ‘But no, no the east isn’t weak.’ Dark green font.

Re-read my posts before quoting me again.

[Pointgod]

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

Wow, that seems crazy high, I wonder what Vegas is thinking.

Embiid’s knees aren’t cooked