Early Top 8 in the East projections.

[TDotsfinest97]

Way too early 2014/15 NBA predictions

EAST:

1. Indiana Pacers (Lance returns)
2. Cleveland Cavaliers
3. Washington Wizards
4. Toronto Raptors (lower win % then CHI & MIA, Atlantic Division will be very weak)
5. Chicago Bulls
6. Miami Heat
7. Charlotte Hornets
8. Atlanta Hawks

9. New York Knicks
10. Brooklyn Nets
11. Detroit Pistons
12. Boston Celtics
13. Orlando Magic
14. Milwaukee Bucks
15. Philadelphia 76ers

WEST:

1. Oklahoma City Thunder
2. San Antonio Spurs
3. Los Angeles Clippers
4. Dallas Mavericks
5. Portland Trail Blazers
6. Golden State Warriors
7. Houston Rockets
8. Memphis Grizzlies

9. Phoenix Suns
10. Minnesota Timberwolves
11. New Orleans Pelicans (somewhat injury filled season)
12. Denver Nuggets
13. Los Angeles Lakers
14. Sacramento Kings
14. Utah Jazz


PLAYOFFS:

1st Round

East:
(1) Pacers defeat (8) Hawks in 4 games
(2) Cavaliers defeat (7) Hornets in 5 games
(3) Wizards lose to (6) Heat in 6 games
(5) Bulls defeat (4) Raptors in 6 games

West:
(1) Thunder defeat (8) Grizzlies in 6 games
(2) Spurs defeat (7) Rockets in 4 games
(3) Clippers defeat (6) Warriors in 7 games
(4) Mavericks lose to (5) Trail Blazers in 6 games

2nd Round

East:

(1) Pacers defeat (5) Bulls in 7 games
(2) Cavaliers defeat (6) Heat in 7 games

West:

(1) Thunder defeat (5) Trail Blazers in 6 games
(2) Spurs defeat (3) Clippers in 7 games

Conference Finals

East:

(1) Pacers defeat (2) Cavaliers in 6 games

West:

(1) Thunder lose to (2) Spurs in 6 games

NBA Finals

The San Antonio Spurs defeat the Indiana Pacers in 6 games to win their 6th NBA Championship.

MVP: Kevin Durant
DPOY: Joakim Noah
COY: Randy Wittman
ROY: Jabari Parker (16.1ppg, 4.4reb)
MIP: Jonas Valanciunas (14ppg, 10.5reb, 1.5 blk)
6th Man: Jamal Crawford

I know this is your opinion and I respect that so I'm going to give my own

I can't see the Pacers making the Finals this year, everyone got them making the Finals this year and the year before but now no I'm tired of people thinking the Pacers will make the Finals that's a no-no for me. With LeBron James back with the Cavs I don't see Durant winning the MVP again. I believe that Pop will win COY again or Mike Budenholzer( not likely but just predicting for fun). I agree with JV winning MIP because I'm a homer of course. I hope and think that the Warriors would beat the Clippers if Bogut stays healthy of course.

[Daniel616]

Cavs
Bulls
Pacers
Heat
Raptors
Hornets
Wizards
Knicks

[therealbig3]

Division winners imo: Toronto, Chicago, and Washington

1. Chicago (even if Rose isn't healthy, which I have a feeling he will be, adding Gasol to a 48-win team should bump them up quite a bit)
2. Cleveland (they won't beat Chicago for the division, but they'll be better than Toronto or Washington)
3. Toronto
4. Washington
5. Indiana (they're not that good of a team...decent, but they're not better than Chicago with Gasol, and they're not better than any LeBron James-led team)
6. Atlanta
7. Miami (Wade+Bosh+Deng isn't going to be that good, considering how far Wade has fallen off and the struggles I see him having this year)
8. Charlotte

Playoff predictions:

1st round: Chicago over Charlotte, Cleveland over Miami (couldn't ask for a better 1st round matchup as far as storyline goes), Toronto over Atlanta, Washington over Indiana

2nd round: Chicago over Washington, Cleveland over Toronto

3rd round: Cleveland over Chicago

[Waylon Mercy]

My goodness do people not understand divisions?

Atlantic
Central
Southeast

Holy crap

And seriously? The Nets are gonna be better than the Raptors? Especially since they lost the guy that actually saved them from elimination in the 1st round? Please stop the madness.

I see it as

1)Bulls(assuming Rose is healthy even 80%)
2)Cavs
3)Raps
4)Wiz
5)Pacers
6)Heat
7)Hawks
8)Hornets

make no mistake though this year the east will be much stronger that means the hornets may be a bit above .500 like last season but end up 8th.

Raptors fans are getting way too butthurt, because Nets fans think were gonna be better than them.

The Nets are going back to the JJ/Lopez/Johnson core that won them 49 games. I don't think its hard to believe that we can do that again and be better than Raptors. We proved we were better than them in the playoffs.

And no Pierce did not win us that series. He wasn't even our best player, Johnson was. And his production can be replaced with younger players. Plus Lopez is our best player overall anyway.

I was extremely high on the Nets last year I thought they could contend for the tittle when they
first put that roster together...

Even going into the playoffs Brooklyn was the last team a lot of us wanted to face outside of
Miami. That's why Ujiri yelled F*ck Brooklyn because they tanked to play us. No doubt in my mind
the Raps would have beat the Wizards or Bulls.

Going into the series I thought the Nets would win in 4 or 5...I couldn't believe how close the
series was and how it came down to the final shot. The Nets looked old and overrated as many
people had said.

With that said since that series ended...

Out

Pierce
Livingston
Thorton
Blatche (possibly)
Anderson (possibly)

In

Lopez
Jack
Bodjanivic (Probably misspelled euro project)

Also Kevin Garnett is done like dinner and at this point of his career is a defender
who can play 18-20 mins a night. Kirilenko was a complete non factor in the playoffs
and is on his last legs.

Deron Williams looks like hes lost a step and isn't an elite PG anymore and now has had
some surgery on his ankles. Joe Johnson is more effective in the playoffs than the regular
season and is 33. I've always been a Jarrett Jack fan but he's coming off one his worst seasons
of his career in Cleveland where he couldn't get any consistency going all season. You guys
will severely miss Pierces clutch ability. He was one of the most clutch players in the league
last year according to espn and is the difference in a few wins in super tight games.

I agree Brook Lopez is your best player everybody knows his injury history in the last 3 years
he's probably gonna be on a minute restriction early on but he's gonna have to be healthy
and play at a very high level to compensate the lost depth and declining pieces around him.

The Nets look like they're gonna be on the treadmill of 8-10 in the next few years before they
inevitably crash into the lottery.

[cool007]

My East top 8 (not seeding wise)

1 - Chicago Bulls (if Rose stays healthy most of the season)
2 - Indiana Pacers (If Lance signs there or they sign someone good enough)
3 - Miami Heat (If Wade plays atleast 60+ games)
4 - Cleveland Cavs (They won't be ELITE right away)
5 - Washington Wizards
6 - Toronto Raptors
7 - Atlanta Hawks
8 - Brooklyn Nets

[Volcano]

These aren't my real rankings..just doing something different

1. Raptors
Beginning of the Spurs of the East. Raps have a young core with both depth and a good balance of offense and defense. They don't have any real big game changers except Lowry, but along with the added depth, 3rd year improvements from Ross/Jonas and DD making more incremental improvements help them go from a top 10 team on both ends of the floor to a top 5-6 team on both ends.

2. Atlanta
They have a rough start with Horford getting back into the game, but once he does they run a 3 big man rotation of Millsap/Horford/Antic and a 3 wing rotation of Korver/Carroll/Thabo and a PG rotation of Teague/Mack/Schroder. This gives them a mix of offense + defense and just barely enough firepower to become a strong team in the East.

3. Bulls
Gasol's not the greatest fit, but certainly an upgrade over Boozer. Rose comes back, not as good as before, but still good enough to contribute. Bulls are a strong defensive team and decent offensively.

4. Detroit
Jodie Meeks is the perfect fit for Detroit. SVG builds a perfect system around Drummond and reels both Jennings/Josh Smith in. Losing Monroe and moving Josh Smith back to PF is a plus for them. Their additions of Augustin/Butler has little impact, but gives them some depth.

5. Cavs
Minny refuses to deal Love to Cleveland without Wiggins going the other way. Wiggins is inconsistent on both ends of the floor and struggles at SG, although Cavs also play small ball. Kyrie and Varejao are in and out from injuries. Bennett and Waiters are non-contributors and TT is a lowly role player. Cavs struggle with this weak roster and Lebron leaves again in 2 years.

6. Indiana
After being exposed last season, no team is afraid of them anymore. Scola/West are one year older and regress. Hibbert, GHill stay the same or regress because they suck. Lance comes back, but becomes a drama queen and distracts Indiana from their main focus.

7. Washington
Losing Ariza hurts them and Nene/Gortat start their decline. Wall stays the same and Beal only improves by having more usage and jacking up more shots.

8. Miami
Bosh, Deng and the remains of Granger/Wade are just enough for them to squeak into the playoffs. Bosh still plays like a girl.

Charlotte - had their Cinderella season and Al Jeff (the only reason they won games) can't replicate what he did last season

Brooklyn - DWill and Lopez never get back to even close to near-prime form. Lopez hurts the team more than he helps. Jarrett Jack is a non-factor.

New York - they have the worst defense in the league and they try to outscore teams with Melo, but they always fall short

[mup]

Just an opinion. Hope you all an take it for what it is...

East

Cavs
Heat
Bulls
Raptors
Pacers
Wizards
Knicks
Hornets
Hawks
Celtics
Bucks
Nets
Pistons
Magic
76ers

West

Thunder
Rockets
Spurs
Warriors
Trailblazers
Mavericks
Clippers
Pelicans
Suns
Timberwolves
Lakers
Grizzlies
Jazz
Nuggets
Kings

Playoffs

Cavs 4, Hornets 1
Heat 4, Knicks 3
Wizards 4, Bulls 3
Raptors 4, Pacers 2

Thunder 4, Pelicans 2
Rockets 4, Clippers 1
Spurs 4, Mavs 3
Blazers 4, Warriors 2

Cavs 4, Raptors 1
Heat 4, Wizards 2

Blazers 4, Thunder 2
Spurs 4, Rockets 2

Cavs 4, Heat 1
Spurs 4, Blazers 0

Spurs 4, Cavs 2

MVP: James
ROY: Parker
COY: Blatt


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[LJ4pointplay]

Seems like people are under the impression that the Knicks regressed this off-season. Not true. Tyson was horrible last year guys, horrible. We all wanted him gone. The only guy we hated more was Felton. He's gone also, and we upgraded in a major way to Calderon. Dalambert should be able to replace the production that Tyson had last year.

So while its fine if posters don't think the Knicks are a playoff team, they have to understand two things before they make that determination.

1) Knicks were a game out of playoffs last year
2) Knicks improved this off season

[ufsports]

My prediction (based on wins not playoff seeds)
1. Cavs
2. Bulls
3. Raptors
4. Wizards
5. Heat
6. Pacers
7. Nets
8. Hornets

[WVU]

1. Cavs
2. Bulls
3. Pacers
4. Wizards
5. Hawks
6. Heat
7. Raptors
8. Hornets

I expect the East to be a much closer race come playoff time with the 4-8 seeds only separated by about 5-7 games

[Golden Angel]

1. Pacers
2. Cavs
3. Bulls
4. Wizards
5. Heat
6. Raptors
7. Hawks
8. Nets

[BlackKnight]

1. Bulls
2. Pacers
3. Raps
4. Heat
5. Cavs
6. Wizards
7. Hawks
8. Hornets

Cavs will have a better record than the Raps/Heat but Bulls/Pacers beat them out record wise.

[12footrim]

Stopped reading after I saw the Bobcats mentioned 3 times. That isn't our name. Keep up with things.

Yet you have a bobcat in your sig

[AgentDRL]

The Pacers are gonna smash.

Well, Paul George is. In every sense of the word on the court and off of it also..........

[H20FAN]

funny how everyone left the knicks off...that was a mistake...

[Chitownbulls]

This again with the Bulls? It's going to start this early eh.

Bulls had the best record a couple times even when Bron was in Miami

[Chitownbulls]

funny how everyone left the knicks off...that was a mistake...

Dalembert an Calderon dont make you a playoff team.

[KyleH186]

ITT: Lots of people not understanding that the Cavs will take time to gel.

[crazy_me_87]

KyleH

you do know that Lebron dragged way worse Cleveland Teams to 50-66 wins right?

so even if they take time to gel they will probably will win 52-56 games wich is good enough for a top 3 spot in the east anywhere from 1-3

[saham]

1) Bulls
2) Pacers
3) Cavs
4) Raptors
5) Wizards
6) Heat
7) Hawks
8) Hornets