Early Top 8 in the East projections.

[mademan]

The problem for the Knicks will be defense. It's the single glaring issue that makes me believe that they won't make the playoffs or come close to winning the Atlantic. Jose Calderon is a pylon on defense, trust me being a Raptors fan I know that. He can be brilliant as a PnR PG but his defense leaves much to be desired. JR Smith doesn't play much D either, Carmelo is decent but not great. Don't get me started on Bargnani and Stoudemire. Your only defenders in the lineup are Shumpert and Dalembert. That won't be enough to cover up the horrendous D in the starting lineup. I don't know how well Fisher is going to do as a HC but I'd be pretty conservative in thinking he can get you to the playoffs.

while we lack quality individual defenders I think we'll be much better as a team defensively

Phil is running this team not Woodson that alone tells me the effort will be there

As long as we stick to our assignments, limit how much we gamble and meet guys at the rim I think we'll be okay defensively

Any time you put out a lineup with Calderon+ 1 (or both ) Amare/Bargs, your defense is gonna be terrible

[MoneyMitch]

The problem for the Knicks will be defense. It's the single glaring issue that makes me believe that they won't make the playoffs or come close to winning the Atlantic. Jose Calderon is a pylon on defense, trust me being a Raptors fan I know that. He can be brilliant as a PnR PG but his defense leaves much to be desired. JR Smith doesn't play much D either, Carmelo is decent but not great. Don't get me started on Bargnani and Stoudemire. Your only defenders in the lineup are Shumpert and Dalembert. That won't be enough to cover up the horrendous D in the starting lineup. I don't know how well Fisher is going to do as a HC but I'd be pretty conservative in thinking he can get you to the playoffs.

while we lack quality individual defenders I think we'll be much better as a team defensively

Phil is running this team not Woodson that alone tells me the effort will be there

As long as we stick to our assignments, limit how much we gamble and meet guys at the rim I think we'll be okay defensively

Any time you put out a lineup with Calderon+ 1 (or both ) Amare/Bargs, your defense is gonna be terrible

if Phil thinks we can make it work then I'm okay with it, he had plenty of other options he could have explored

[TDotsfinest97]

These are the current odds of coming out of the East at one Vegas site I checked

Cleveland Cavaliers 27/20
Chicago Bulls 16/5
Indiana Pacers 7/1
Washington Wizards 15/1
Toronto Raptors 25/1
New York Knicks 25/1
Miami Heat 25/1
Brooklyn Nets 30/1
Charlotte Hornets 35/1
Atlanta Hawks 35/1
Boston Celtics 50/1
Orlando Magic 65/1
Detroit Pistons 100/1
Milwaukee Bucks 150/1
Philadelphia 76ers 250/1

Someone posted that earlier, it was from before the Lance departure.





I think the Raptors will win the Atlantic and make the playoffs, but I could easily see them losing with HCA again. Say they get 4th seed by default, that 5th seed is gonna be either Chicago or Cleveland (whoever doesn't win the Central). That's just gonna be brutal for them, especially with their team being more finesse and not really having the bruisers to win in the playoffs.

I agree and that will most likely be the reality but the Bulls didn't prove anything yet so I wouldn't count us out that early.

[mademan]

These are the current odds of coming out of the East at one Vegas site I checked

Cleveland Cavaliers 27/20
Chicago Bulls 16/5
Indiana Pacers 7/1
Washington Wizards 15/1
Toronto Raptors 25/1
New York Knicks 25/1
Miami Heat 25/1
Brooklyn Nets 30/1
Charlotte Hornets 35/1
Atlanta Hawks 35/1
Boston Celtics 50/1
Orlando Magic 65/1
Detroit Pistons 100/1
Milwaukee Bucks 150/1
Philadelphia 76ers 250/1

Someone posted that earlier, it was from before the Lance departure.





I think the Raptors will win the Atlantic and make the playoffs, but I could easily see them losing with HCA again. Say they get 4th seed by default, that 5th seed is gonna be either Chicago or Cleveland (whoever doesn't win the Central). That's just gonna be brutal for them, especially with their team being more finesse and not really having the bruisers to win in the playoffs.

Meh. TBH, I like TOR odds against anybody in the East minus CLE/CHI (And Chi i'm iffy about, there's a lot of questions surrounding them). I wouldn't be surprised if they lost in the first round or made it to the EC. Same boat a team like WAS or Cha or ATL (who I'm higher on then most people it seems)

[ThunderUp1234]

With Lance gone, i'd have it:

Chicago
Cleveland
Washington
Toronto
Indy
Charlotte
Miami
Atlanta

[kombayn]

I think Indiana will recover, they can still make some trades and will still be a very good team that plays really good defense. I think Rodney Stuckey would be a good fit for the team and possibly Shawn Marion to back-up Paul George.

[canballer]

Chicago Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers
Toronto Raptors
Charlotte Hornets
Miami Heat
Washington Wizards
Indiana Pacers
New York Knicks

Possible Surprise: Milwaukee Bucks

[DG88]

while we lack quality individual defenders I think we'll be much better as a team defensively

Phil is running this team not Woodson that alone tells me the effort will be there

As long as we stick to our assignments, limit how much we gamble and meet guys at the rim I think we'll be okay defensively

How can you play good team defense when the majority of your roster is inept defensively?

Phil isn't coaching the team Derek Fisher is and he's no Phil Jackson.

Meet guys at the rim??? You lost your rim protector and best help defender in Chandler.

You have a lot of this to look forward to:

[Green Backpack]

In the way of standings..

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

In the way of talent..

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

[Guardia]

while we lack quality individual defenders I think we'll be much better as a team defensively

Phil is running this team not Woodson that alone tells me the effort will be there

As long as we stick to our assignments, limit how much we gamble and meet guys at the rim I think we'll be okay defensively

lmao
cant stop laughing watching that one.

[MoneyMitch]

while we lack quality individual defenders I think we'll be much better as a team defensively

Phil is running this team not Woodson that alone tells me the effort will be there

As long as we stick to our assignments, limit how much we gamble and meet guys at the rim I think we'll be okay defensively

How can you play good team defense when the majority of your roster is inept defensively?

Phil isn't coaching the team Derek Fisher is and he's no Phil Jackson.

Meet guys at the rim??? You lost your rim protector and best help defender in Chandler.

You have a lot of this to look forward to:

you're judging us based off last year, we'll have a completely different approach

I can pull out a few gifs of Toronto sucking ass and it would mean nothing

I'm not proclaiming us to be an Elite defensive team, we'll just need enough to get by

As for losing Chandler you obviously didn't watch the Knicks as the man barely tried

[Liver_Pooty]

I want to see MKG's new and improved jump shot before I post something outlandish.

[TommyTBolt]

while we lack quality individual defenders I think we'll be much better as a team defensively

Phil is running this team not Woodson that alone tells me the effort will be there

As long as we stick to our assignments, limit how much we gamble and meet guys at the rim I think we'll be okay defensively

How can you play good team defense when the majority of your roster is inept defensively?

Phil isn't coaching the team Derek Fisher is and he's no Phil Jackson.

Meet guys at the rim??? You lost your rim protector and best help defender in Chandler.

You have a lot of this to look forward to:

you're judging us based off last year, we'll have a completely different approach

I can pull out a few gifs of Toronto sucking ass and it would mean nothing

I'm not proclaiming us to be an Elite defensive team, we'll just need enough to get by

As for losing Chandler you obviously didn't watch the Knicks as the man barely tried

chemistry is number 1 reason the knicks will be alot better next year. people are really shortchanging fishers abilities to both coach / motivate i think he will be a very good coach AND he has phil to mentor him or go to with questions. also chandler has played soft for 2 years ide rather see amare out there than chandler even some knicks fans might disagree with me on that as alot dont like stoudemire but even then we got dalembert back too. the overwhelming majority of knicks fans were ecstatic when chandler was traded. old knicks would have kept him because his name looks good "on paper" but truth be told he is more of a liability or at least has been the last few years.

[bwgood77]

1. Wizards
2. Bulls (with fully healthy Rose all year they could be one, but I have my doubts for good reason.)
3. Raptors
4. Hawks (with fully healthy Horford all year they could be 3)
5. Cavs (if they get Love, they could be 1)
6. Hornets
7. Pacers (implosion year...no, not really....the east will just be tougher at the top...I think 3-7 will be close like the west was last year)
8. Pistons (SVG the man)

[bwgood77]

Wizards
Bulls
heat
pacers
Cavs
Knicks
pistons/nets/hornets/hawks

wizards are the most all around team
bulls have health issues
pacers have issues
heat will suprise
Cavs will struggle defensively
knicks will make the playoffs
pistons will be good

Just posted mine...was scrolling through to see if anyone else picked the Wizards. Heat 2nd? I actually forgot about them...how quickly you can forget. I guess that will depend on Wade...if he has a resurgence, being able to be the primary ballhandler, they could probably be really good if he stays healthy.

[DG88]

while we lack quality individual defenders I think we'll be much better as a team defensively

Phil is running this team not Woodson that alone tells me the effort will be there

As long as we stick to our assignments, limit how much we gamble and meet guys at the rim I think we'll be okay defensively

How can you play good team defense when the majority of your roster is inept defensively?

Phil isn't coaching the team Derek Fisher is and he's no Phil Jackson.

Meet guys at the rim??? You lost your rim protector and best help defender in Chandler.

You have a lot of this to look forward to:

you're judging us based off last year, we'll have a completely different approach

I can pull out a few gifs of Toronto sucking ass and it would mean nothing

I'm not proclaiming us to be an Elite defensive team, we'll just need enough to get by

As for losing Chandler you obviously didn't watch the Knicks as the man barely tried

Bro when Chandler got injured your team fell apart defensively. Melo had to go into god mode to give your team a fighting chance.

[dolphinatik]

Miami 7th and not making it at all?? SMH.. Miami will *still* be at least top 4 in the east.

[kingkirk]

1. CHI
2. CLE
3. WAS
4. CHA
5. TOR
6. MIA
7. IND
8. ATL

[MoneyMitch]

How can you play good team defense when the majority of your roster is inept defensively?

Phil isn't coaching the team Derek Fisher is and he's no Phil Jackson.

Meet guys at the rim??? You lost your rim protector and best help defender in Chandler.

You have a lot of this to look forward to:

you're judging us based off last year, we'll have a completely different approach

I can pull out a few gifs of Toronto sucking ass and it would mean nothing

I'm not proclaiming us to be an Elite defensive team, we'll just need enough to get by

As for losing Chandler you obviously didn't watch the Knicks as the man barely tried

Bro when Chandler got injured your team fell apart defensively. Melo had to go into god mode to give your team a fighting chance.

He sucked when he came back

Dude wouldn't try to block a shot for 90% of the year it was ridiculous then he'd throw guys under the bus to make matters worse

Phil will not have us relying on one man defensively

[deneem4]

Wizards
Bulls
heat
pacers
Cavs
Knicks
pistons/nets/hornets/hawks

wizards are the most all around team
bulls have health issues
pacers have issues
heat will suprise
Cavs will struggle defensively
knicks will make the playoffs
pistons will be good

Just posted mine...was scrolling through to see if anyone else picked the Wizards. Heat 2nd? I actually forgot about them...how quickly you can forget. I guess that will depend on Wade...if he has a resurgence, being able to be the primary ballhandler, they could probably be really good if he stays healthy.

Because of there lesser roles last season people are forgetting how good wade deng and bosh are...they're getting older but all 3 are way vets, the half court offense can be more efficient as well simply because u have natural starters at each position considering if has lem comes back they're main weakness would be point guard. And Napier should be able to handle that playing with wade deng and bosh