"Reasonable" Expectations

[ComboGuardCity]

8th

Washington is better hands down

How?

Wall
Beal
Webster
Nene
Emeka

Its a decent team, but I don't see how its a better team.

[DetroitPistons]

WAS is not "hands down" better than us. They will be better but they are an 8th seed at best. I think we are definitely better than them now that we have Smith.

[No-Man]

How are you better than Washington if they're healthy?

Seriously

Wall-Maynor
Beal-Webster-Rice
Porter-Ariza-Singleton
Nenê-Booker-Vesely
Okafor-Séraphin

They've been together for almost two years, with the same staff, they have great chemistry and a big time talent in Wall that played like a stud after the injury last year

They have depth and size, good defenders and shooter...

Detroit...

Knight-Siva
KCP-Stuckey-English
Smith-Singler-Middleton
Monroe-Jerebko-Mitchell
Drummond-Kravstov

You'll sign another PG/SG but low profile (Ellington, Neal most rumored)...

Washington, out of the top5 teams and barring injuries, is the next best team in the East by a wide margin.

I believe Washington will be the worst team over 50% in the East, only 6 teams will be better than that, the other two in the POs will be there with a % of winning lower than 50%, you'll get in with 38-40 wins, easily.

[ComboGuardCity]

How are you better than Washington if they're healthy?

Seriously

Wall-Maynor
Beal-Webster-Rice
Porter-Ariza-Singleton
Nenê-Booker-Vesely
Okafor-Séraphin

They've been together for almost two years, with the same staff, they have great chemistry and a big time talent in Wall that played like a stud after the injury last year

They have depth and size, good defenders and shooter...

Detroit...

Knight-Siva
KCP-Stuckey-English
Smith-Singler-Middleton
Monroe-Jerebko-Mitchell
Drummond-Kravstov

You'll sign another PG/SG but low profile (Ellington, Neal most rumored)...

Washington, out of the top5 teams and barring injuries, is the next best team in the East by a wide margin.

I believe Washington will be the worst team over 50% in the East, only 6 teams will be better than that, the other two in the POs will be there with a % of winning lower than 50%, you'll get in with 38-40 wins, easily.

Their starting bigs are now on the decline with age. They've been together for almost two years? Last year was Beal's rookie year. This is Porter's rookie year, and Nene was traded for at the end of the lockout season. That's 60% of their starting lineup.

[No-Man]

I was talking about the main core, Wall, Ariza, Nenê, Webster, Okafor, Beal... have been there for a year, they played good ball last season, the coach has been there for more time, they trsut him, they dont need to click new pieces, because they're the same team with small improvements, another two wings that can shoot, a back-up PG...

Detroit is a new team, KCP, Smith, a new coach and staff... that things take time and also since Smith is not an easy fit... it'll take longer.

We're talking about reasonable expectactions here, been better than Washington is not reasonable for me.

At best Detroit is 7th, and it'll be a GREAT season considering the talent pool you have.

I think Toronto if they dont try to tank will be better too, same thing, guys being there for a while, Lowry, Valanciunas, DeRozan, Amir they were playing good with Gay, 30-29 after an awful start, the staff has some experience wit the player, not really major adjustment in the roster.

8th for me is wide open, Atlanta if they sign Ellis, Detroit, Milwaukee... those 3 teams could get in, all of them have new coaching staffs, and new players and need to work harder.

We'll see.

[DetroitPistons]

How are you better than Washington if they're healthy?

Seriously

Wall-Maynor
Beal-Webster-Rice
Porter-Ariza-Singleton
Nenê-Booker-Vesely
Okafor-Séraphin

They've been together for almost two years, with the same staff, they have great chemistry and a big time talent in Wall that played like a stud after the injury last year

They have depth and size, good defenders and shooter...

Detroit...

Knight-Siva
KCP-Stuckey-English
Smith-Singler-Middleton
Monroe-Jerebko-Mitchell
Drummond-Kravstov

You'll sign another PG/SG but low profile (Ellington, Neal most rumored)...

Washington, out of the top5 teams and barring injuries, is the next best team in the East by a wide margin.

I believe Washington will be the worst team over 50% in the East, only 6 teams will be better than that, the other two in the POs will be there with a % of winning lower than 50%, you'll get in with 38-40 wins, easily.

Our front line is miles better than theirs while their backcourt is miles better than ours. However, Wall is going to struggle with our 2 ball hawks on the perimeter and I would love to see him driving in on Dre/Moose/Smoove. Nene and Okafor are average players at this point and Porter is still a rookie. The only one that worried me in the past was Wall but now we match up extremely well with him. I like WAS but they are really being overrated lately. They are solid but nothing more.

[Maker_84]

my starting 5 and backups after watching SL today

1. Knight, Bynum
2. Stuckey, Middleton, KCP
3. Smith, Mitchell, Singler
4. Monroe, Maxiell, Villanueva
5. Drummond, Kravtsov

[Maker_84]

Wouldn't mind seeing the Heat in a round 1 contest, they would not be able to handle our size and athleticism and have to beat us with jumpshooting

[No-Man]

Your frontline is incompatible with one another if Smith is playing a lot of minutes as a SF, there is 0 spacing and your main creator is Josh Smith, did you see him last year without JoJo? with more usage?

Damn man, you are not better than them, it is what it is.

Nenê and Okafor maybe are banged up a little bit at this point, but they are really good defenders and their team defense was awesome last year.

Wall is a monster, probably the best PG defender in the league, and they have better spacing, offense, and scoring than you guys

If you think Nenê is average you havent seen him when he's healthy.

He's better than Monroe right now, Monroe is really overrated by you Pistons fans, and Okafor and Drummond are not that different, yeah Okafor is declining and Drummond is rising, and Drummond potential looks sky high, but RIGHT NOW, Okafor might be the most efficient player, more expererienced, smarter, better on offense...

They're not overrated, the Eastern Conference is just awful, so they'll be the best outside of the elite 5 teams in the East.

It is what it is, they're not contending or anything like that, but unless Wall get injured, they're a PO lock.

Detroit is not, not yet, you are in a group of 6, and any of those 6 could be getting the final two spots.

And it'll depend on many things, not just the roster.

It seems like Ellis is going to Atlanta, don't how it's going to work, but they have a smart coach in Budenholzer, they have talent to be a PO team too, Toronto is there, Milwaukee with Jennings back, Mayo, Delfino, and a big frontline...

It's really tight, it's difficult to know which ones will go in.

Detroit could very well finish 7th or 12th.

[No-Man]

Wouldn't mind seeing the Heat in a round 1 contest, they would not be able to handle our size and athleticism and have to beat us with jumpshooting

So,... Monroe will be defending Battier or Miller? and Drummond will be defending Bosh?

You wont be able to get the ball to offense with Knight, Smith and KCP as the ball handlers and Miami perimeter D.

Miami just need to put LeBron over Knight and...

You need good creators and guys with high IQ if you want to use your bigs.

You have nice young, inexperienced bigs, and you have 0 guys that can create for them off the dribble.

[DetroitPistons]

Your frontline is incompatible with one another if Smith is playing a lot of minutes as a SF, there is 0 spacing and your main creator is Josh Smith, did you see him last year without JoJo? with more usage?

Damn man, you are not better than them, it is what it is.

Nenê and Okafor maybe are banged up a little bit at this point, but they are really good defenders and their team defense was awesome last year.

Wall is a monster, probably the best PG defender in the league, and they have better spacing, offense, and scoring than you guys

If you think Nenê is average you havent seen him when he's healthy.

He's better than Monroe right now

, Monroe is really overrated by you Pistons fans, and

Okafor and Drummond are not that different

, yeah Okafor is declining and Drummond is rising, and Drummond potential looks sky high, but RIGHT NOW, Okafor might be the most efficient player, more expererienced, smarter, better on offense...

They're not overrated, the Eastern Conference is just awful, so they'll be the best outside of the elite 5 teams in the East.

It is what it is, they're not contending or anything like that, but unless Wall get injured, they're a PO lock.

Detroit is not, not yet, you are in a group of 6, and any of those 6 could be getting the final two spots.

And it'll depend on many things, not just the roster.

It seems like Ellis is going to Atlanta, don't how it's going to work, but they have a smart coach in Budenholzer, they have talent to be a PO team too, Toronto is there, Milwaukee with Jennings back, Mayo, Delfino, and a big frontline...

It's really tight, it's difficult to know which ones will go in.

Detroit could very well finish 7th or 12th.

Apparently Oak and Nene are on the level Monroe and Dre.

I'll let you eat crow when the season rolls around.

[No-Man]

Man, I explained my opinion, you just threw garbage over it.

That's fine I guess you cant counter attack with anything that sounds good.

They have more upside, yes, they are similar levels when healthy right now? yes.

It is what it is, Monroe is a good player but not really effective, his shot is not efficeint, he's one trick pony out there, good rebounding but awful defense, Nenê is as good as passer, better finisher, better shooter, and way better defender.

And Drummond is a helluva project, I love him since he was on HS, but he's not much better, if any better, than Okafor right now.

And they're also veteran guys, experienced fellas that know what they're doing, they've been in the PO before, they know what it takes to get there.

[Navas]

At best, 6th. At worst, 8th.

[mercury]

I'm certain that this is not the final roster... would be shocked if we don't add a decent PG... so it's too early to put a stamp on this year's chances.

[Maker_84]

Wouldn't mind seeing the Heat in a round 1 contest, they would not be able to handle our size and athleticism and have to beat us with jumpshooting

So,... Monroe will be defending Battier or Miller? and Drummond will be defending Bosh?

You wont be able to get the ball to offense with Knight, Smith and KCP as the ball handlers and Miami perimeter D.

Miami just need to put LeBron over Knight and...

You need good creators and guys with high IQ if you want to use your bigs.

You have nice young, inexperienced bigs, and you have 0 guys that can create for them off the dribble.

Smith on Lebron, Drummond on Bosh, Monroe on Battier. Yes Detroit would struggle scoring but so would the Heat. Pistons are bigger at all the positions 3-5 and would get most of their scoring on rebounding putbacks

[HotelVitale]

The Bucks and Hawks were definitely better than us last year and they didn't get any worse. Hawks swapped Smith for Millsap, which at least for this year is an even trade, and they also picked up some good smaller FAs. The Bucks swapped Ellis for Mayo, which is a small downgrade on offense but improves their D. Bucks will retain Jennings and give more burn to the ever-efficient Ilyasova.

As for our improvements, I'll take a quick stab at running the numbers. Advanced stats w/r/t wins are not that reliable, but at least it's an objective way to look at our improvement. We basically swapped Calderon for Smith, and we'll give Drummond more PT. Our improvement will depend on which version of Smith and Drummond we get. Smith put up mediocre won shares last year but pretty good ones the three years before. Calderon is one of those guys who looks better in advanced stats than real life, so the numbers say swapping him for Smith actually makes us lose 2-3 more games. But if we get the Smith of the past and bring Calderon down a notch, that move should give us maybe 2 more wins. Playing Drummond 50% more minutes should be a bigger boon. If he plays 30 per night instead of 20, that would give us 3-4 more wins.

So that makes for a six game improvement, and let's add another two for close games when we were semi-tanking. That puts us at around 37 wins, which should be 8th seed material, maybe 9th or even tenth if Toronto gels and/or Cleveland adds a vet and stays healthy.

[HotelVitale]

Our front line is miles better than theirs while their backcourt is miles better than ours. However, Wall is going to struggle with our 2 ball hawks on the perimeter and I would love to see him driving in on Dre/Moose/Smoove. Nene and Okafor are average players at this point and Porter is still a rookie.

I'd have to agree with Fischella on this one. When healthy, Nene is about as good as the Monroe of the last two years; Monroe is a better scorer/creator but Nene is better as a supplementary player if you already have good creators. Their basic advanced stats are very similar--PER, win shares, etc. Nene shoots a very high percentage and rebounds and passes really well. Meanwhile Okafor is a very good defender, statistically one of the better defensive centers. He's not the offensive force that Drummond could/should be, but he's an equal defender now. Given the age of the Wiz's frontcourt, and the likelihood that our guys get better, I would give us a solid edge over Washington's front court but 'miles better' isn't accurate.

Also need to give Wall his due respect. He put up 37/4/5 against the pacers elite D, 27/8/9 against the bulls' super D, etc. Adding a good sf defender won't do too much to stop a lightning quick pg.

Finally, the wiz defense was already very very good last year, and their offense should be better than ours (which could be a trainwreck). It's all contingent on health, but if I was a betting man, I'd take the over on them at a couple more wins than us. (But I wouldn't be that confident about it).

[Hood President]

Cavs OR Wizards and Pistons are my two sleepers in the NBA this upcoming season(assuming we not done making moves)

[No-Man]

Knight-Bynum-Siva
Stuckey-KCP-English
Singler-Middleton-Jerebko
Smith-Villanueva-Mitchell
Monroe-Drummond-Kravstov

This is the roster...

I don't see a PO team.

[Sheedpocalypse]

8th seed is probably reasonable, but I homered and put us at 6. Oh well lol