Early Top 8 in the East projections.

[kinghasnoequal]

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

Ya with a fully healthy and unrusty rose though.

[_tr]

1. Indiana Pacers (they will regroup after last season meltdown)
2. Chicago Bulls (they are in playoff mode all year)
3. Washington Wizards (no more Eric Maynor as 2nd PG, rising team)
4. Toronto Raptors (another young and coming team)
5. Miami Heat (Bosh will somehow come back to preHeat shape)
6. Cleveland Cavaliers (Lebron + group of rookies (even draftet so high)? This isn't a recipe for success in first year... Maybe in second one)
7. Atlanta Hawks (why not - if they did it in last season)
8. Charlotte Hornets

[Hello Brooklyn]

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.

The loss of our players is overstated.

I don't see how Livingston is much better than Jack. Blatche was gonna lose his minutes anyway with Lopez back and Plumlee developing. Anderson will be back.

That leaves us with Pierce leaving. The fact of the matter is, with Lopez's offense we don't need Pierce anymore. And its better to have younger athletic players in like Plumlee and Bojan. I agree Pierce was important. But I don't see us losing more games without him. Hes easily replaceable.

KG getting older is fine. He wasn't that important last year anyway outside of short stretches.

Deron Williams may look bad, but I don't think hes getting any worse. We all hope that he can get better after surgery, but even if he cant he can at least replicate his production.

Pierce was one of the most clutch players? You clearly didn't watch the Nets. Yes in that Raptors series he had a few clutch moments. In the season he was AWFUL in the clutch. Absolutely terrible. Johnson is the one who was truly clutch and had game winners.

Again, this lost depth simply doesn't exist. Lopez gives us more depth then anything we had last year. He was scoring 20 PPG. Now players like Plumlee, KG, Johnson, don't have to do as much.

If Lopez/Johnson/Williams are so incapable of winning games, why did they get 49 wins in 2013? You guys have been unable to answer that question. And they had a much worse bench that year and coach.

[Sebastian]

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

Ya with a fully healthy and unrusty rose though.

Well everything hinges on Rose, obviously. But this is the most talent any Thibodeau team has had. Barring serious injury, they're going to be some form of very good or great.

[il_knicks7]

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

Ya with a fully healthy and unrusty rose though.

Well everything hinges on Rose, obviously. But this is the most talent any Thibodeau team has had. Barring serious injury, they're going to be some form of very good or great.

I fail to see how this Bulls team has more talent than the 2011 team with MVP Rose, a prime Boozer and Deng.
What talent does this team have? Butler? a 34 YO Gasol? is Gibson a "talent" now?

[kinghasnoequal]

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

Ya with a fully healthy and unrusty rose though.

Well everything hinges on Rose, obviously. But this is the most talent any Thibodeau team has had. Barring serious injury, they're going to be some form of very good or great.

Ya they'll be 3rd imo. People should wait to see how Rose pans out before they start predicting a No.1 seed, as we all know how that went last year.

[Left Side Drive]

This season can't come soon enough. These predictions show that the East is really wide open and up for grabs. Next year will be a real grind and an exciting time for the Eastern Conference.

[NekiEcko]

I am kinda susprised that many people is leaving out Atlanta of their projecttions, everybody is coming back with a Healthy Horford, that should give them atleast 5 seed, maybe higher if Teague and Milsap can play the same way they were during the playoffs.

[OhMyBosh]

Based on win/loss record:

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

[jowglenn]

This is just a straight list of them from best record to 8th best record, I'm not factoring in playoff seeding and division bla bla bla.

1. Indiana Pacers (if they re-sign Lance)
2. Cleveland Cavaliers
3. Chicago Bulls (Indy is 3rd if no lance)
4. Miami Heat
5. Toronto Raptors
6. Washington Wizards
7. Charlotte Hornets
8. Atlanta Hawks

Sorry Nets, Knicks, Pistons, Magic, Celtics, 76ers, Bucks

[ATLHawksfan21]

This season is going to be a wild one in the East. Last season, it was pretty easy projecting the top 3, the middle class, and the teams that would fight for the last 2 playoff spots.

I don't see an outright top 3 this season or a middle of the pack. Chicago looks like they could be the favorite to win the East IF Rose returns to form but that's the biggest IF in the league. Rose has played like 50 games since May of 2011.

I could see any of these teams finishing in the top 4 of the East this season.

Chicago
Cleveland
Atlanta
Washington
Miami
Toronto
Indiana

I could see Charlotte finishing higher than one or two of these teams in the standings but I think their max potential is the 6th seed. Losing McRoberts will probably hurt them worse than most people expect it to.

Detroit should be improved and I have the last spot being a battle between them and Brooklyn. Detroit may knock Brooklyn in to the lottery if they can move Smith or Monroe for a better fitting player. I personally think moving Monroe is the better idea. Monroe has a PF body but the mobility of a center. Smith is a more versatile player and will open things up for Drummond.

[Detective]

The Raps are also the 9th youngest team in the League, but now have playoff experience across their roster. Our team age average is 25.3 with 14 players on the roster right now, down from 26.9 from last year(when we were the youngest playoff squad in the east and 3rd youngest behind OKC and HOU). Currently, the only playoff squad from last year younger than us, is the Hornets at 25.1 as their team age average.

However if we add DeAndre Daniels as our final roster spot, we tie them. That would make us the 7th youngest. Basically we're being held back by Granda Chuckwagon, who is 31.

Meanwhile, 2 of the three oldest teams in the league consist of Washington as the grandpa's of basketball, and Chicago as the 3rd oldest.

Rounding out the Top 10 oldest teams are Miami(5th oldest right now), Brooklyn(7th oldest, even with Pierce gone) and the Knicks(9th) and Pacers at 10th. Atlanta is the next closest in the East at 12th.

[Matty]

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

You should probably get a new sig then.

[Huskies1947]

Why is Chicago so overrated?

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[JohnnyNightrain]

I still contend that the Pacers are going to regress with or without Lance. If he goes elsewhere, they lose his production. If he stays they are bringing back the same team from last year who almost lost to the 38 win Hawks and had absolutely terrible chemistry and spacing. It's going to be even worse this season. Then, factor in that if Lance stays he's only going to be making a few dollars more than George Hill... it's a recipe for disaster. And they only added scrubs and will probably have to dump Scola to retain Lance. Not a good situation either way.

[number1joker]

1. Cavs
2. Bulls
3. Wiz
4. Trex's
5. Pacers
6. Hornets
7. Heat
8. Hawks
9. Knicks
10. Nets
11. Magic
12. Celtics
13. Pistons
14. Bucks
15. Sixers

Honestly. This looks about right.....

[The-Power]

Why is Chicago so overrated?

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Maybe because they have a great core and a great coach with players fighting for him? Just an idea, though.

[harold lewis]

Charlotte Pelicans are a lock with Hayward and Williams on board.

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

Love to see the Pacers are back to being underrated.

[RaptorNews]

Why is Chicago so overrated?

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They won 48 games last year, finally shed boozer, and had a influx of potentially good offensive players

They're probably the team to beat if Rose comes back even 70%

Of anyone is being overrated in the East, it's Washington, and I really like them