watpho71 wrote:Trader_Joe wrote:Kind of pointless doing them right now but watching TV is more pointless so I'll do it.
1. Cleveland - any team with LBJ has a good chance at 60 games
2. Chicago - what is there to say other that it all depends on Rose?
3. Indiana - losing Stephenson could be good in the long run, might hurt short term.
4. Washington - best deal of the off season was PP. This could be a 50 win team vying for the CFs
5. Toronto - seems to be stuck in the treadmill until Ross improves dramatically or Jonas does. If they both do they would be elite.
This is where it gets hazy...
6. Charlotte - losing McBob hurts, but they still have money and a shot at them getting a FA
7. Brooklyn - if D.Will/JJ/AK/Lopez play 60+ games on average each they'll get in. They won 49 with less.. much less.
8. Atlanta - Decent team but they tend to have bad luck and I'm not sold on Teague or their depth.
Miami - relying on Wade is tough. Not sure Bosh can do it alone still.
Detroit - until they resolve Smith/Monroe, I think theyll lose.
Boston - I think they move Rondo and tank ultimately.
NY - they should tank. They may not need to some nights.
Orlando - the pieces are there. Time to find role players and fit.
Milwaukee - They will be bad....but better.
Philly - They may not be better
Can't really argue with most of that and the fact that you took the time over tv is a win. Although it looks like you did not rank the teams in playoff format, the commentary is appreciated. I don't think WAS is better with Pierce after losing Ariza, considering the place of time in their careers. Nonetheless, they did go out and sign a SF to replace Ariza, rather than allow Porter to come in immaturely. Most importantly for WAS is, can Nene stay healthy as last season? Because they need him for 70+ games to reach their win potential.
Indiana is the team in question for the upcoming season. They were so good for a long stretch last season and then turmoil from within destroyed them. And I don't know if they have gotten over that or if perhaps they have regrouped and have found strength from within the group. If there is still that lingering doubt, Indiana could struggle as we saw last season. And now they are a talented shooting guard short.
The East will have more competition at the top or perhaps they just middled out. CHI and CLE probably have caught TOR and MIA and IND may still be better than TOR, but not much separates that group of 5 teams. WAS, CHA and BRK fill out the playoff teams - with ATL fighting to grab the 8th seed the last week of the season over BRK.
Yeah, I was more thinking a end of year power ranking than playoff seeding, especially by putting the Cavs #1. I don't think they will be the best team out of the gate and may make some moves, but by the end of the year I think they will be the best team in the East.
As for Washington, I think PP isn't a major downgrade at all. He is better offensively (not with the 3 ball necessarily), but is a proven leader and winner. But Wall and Beal are young and improving to make up any loss there. I also like the Hump signing (not done at the time) and Gooden is back who played well for them. They seem set all around.
Indiana.. while I did this before Lance left, I wasn't really expecting him back for them and he may be addition by subtraction as I wouldn't be surprised if their chemistry improves and Roy bounces back.
Atlanta I'm not sold on. Sure they are getting Al back, and were the #3 seed before he went down, but the East was also terrible to start the year. Brooklyn, Toronto, Chicago and others all came on after the turn of 2014.
As long as BK stays relatively healthy (65+ games on average for D.Will, JJ, Lopez) they should be fine. They lost Livingston, but replaced him with Jack who offers offense vs. Livingston's defense. Livingston also wasn't great running our second unit and was a liability in the playoffs on offense (no shooting) and defense (Derozen was beasting) and why Kidd took him out of the line-up when down 3-2 vs. Toronto and we came back to win.
Pierce was a loss (which I don't agree with the decision) but his minutes will be replaced by AK who missed a lot of time last year and didn't play major minutes when healthy (part of him re-signing was so that he would get more minutes and there was a mutual dislike between him and Kidd), Bogdanovic (who some have compared to Pierce) and Teletovic (who improved exponentially last year). He also wouldn't have been able to play PF with Brook back (no rebounding, where we were the worst in the NBA in 2014.) So again his SF minutes replaced by JJ/AK/Bogdanovic, his PF minutes replaced by Teletovic/Plumlee/AK and I'm guessing they sign one more big man.
Otherwise we're returning 10 players from last year (a team who went 34-17 after a 10-21 start) and the core of a team that won 49 games 2 years ago with a much better supporting cast now. Really it comes down to Lopez (who is replacing Blatche who wasn't wanted back) to match that team's success (or be anything more than a 1st round loss) as he was the best player on that team and an AS that year with a top 5, 25+ PER.
There are major questions about his foot but he is back practicing and the procedure he had done (foot reconstruction) was done to lessen the pressure on the area that has broken before and prevent another break. Ilguaskas had the same procedure done finally after several other operations and issues, and once he did he averaged 70+ games over his last 10 seasons, 30 mpg, and was a franchise player.
Deron is the other question mark, but he's not coming off an injury per se or a major surgery (as some have implied in this thread). He had bone spurs removed and his ankles cleaned out, which isn't uncommon. He didn't have a break, he didn't have a tear or a work done on ligaments or tendons which are much more serious. He had a routine procedure done that he should have had done last summer, which will hopefully restore some quickness and confidence to his game. He actually had a deceptively good year last year. He had a on off rating (+/-) of +12 which was by far the best on the team and very good overall. His shooting percentages were pretty good as well. It's his assists which were down, which was a product of Kidd's system where the ball was worked around the perimeter relentlessly and running a 2 PG set with additional play-makers like JJ, AK and PP who can get their own shot.
Overall, I realize expectations are very low on BK, but it's nice being out of the spotlight for the first time in a couple years. I think they will do better than people think with less pressure. All the pressure will be on the Raptors to win the Atlantic (which they probably will) but I don't think the Nets will be too far behind in the standings.
