Early Top 8 in the East projections.

[chocodog]

Still not closing talent gap with the west, but it's great to finally see the east field eight respectable teams. In terms of seedings...

Bulls
Raptors
Wizards
Cavs
Heat
Pacers
Hornets
Hawks


Bulls are top team so long that rose is healthy. They have great depth and are one of the better defense in the conference. w/o rose as the first option on offense, however, they disappear in the pack

Raptors aren't as good as this standing but if I recall correctly, the three division winners get the top 3 seeds? and they will be ahead of the wizards in wins because they can inflate more wins in the abysmal atlantic

Wizards will just scrape past the heat for the southwest crown. they'll prove to have one of the best backcourts in the league and already have a big, able frontcourt. improved bench and defense and pierce will provide much needed leadership.

Cavs may take some time to gel but will probably finish the season as the one of the hottest teams.

Heat probably rank at top of next tier of teams, which will make for the most exciting first round matchup in the whole league.

Pacers are still a gritty, defensive team but they have unresolved issues in the backcourt, are a little weaker on the bench and have a lot of work ahead of them to regain team chemistry.

Hornets went from probably a 9-10th seed to 7th with the lance signing. Still are weak at PF but have a very deep bench, balanced bench.

Hawks were a surprise team in a weak conference last year and made enough solid moves to keep pace with an improved conference and not lose out to mediocre teams like the pistons, nets and knicks.

RD1...

Bulls
Hawks

Raptors
Hornets

Wizards
Pacers

Cavs
Heat

RD2...

Bulls
Hornets

Wizards
Cavs

RD3...

Bulls
Cavs

EAST CHAMPS...

Cavs

[dobrojim]

Chicago, Cleveland and Indy all being in same division also hurts their records because they have to play each other more times then all the rest of the teams in the east

That difference is marginal at best. They still play most of the other teams
in their conference the same number of games.

[Liver_Pooty]

Raptors Hornets in the first round would be an incredible series.

[dobrojim]

I don't get why so many folks think the chances of DRose playing even close
to an AllStar level are very good. It's a shame but I can't see him making
that much of an impact this year. It could happen but I would describe
it as miraculous if it did. There's just as much chance he ends up like
Penny Hardeway or Gilbert.

[scoechip]

Gonna keep tabs on this thread so I can get my kicks when a certain team is better than expected.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RealGM Forums mobile app

[eagereyez]

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:

So you're saying there's a chance we will have even more of these gifs?

[SunsRback4Good]

I hope Rose could finally remain healthy and the Bulls should easy finish top 3.

[Voice_of_Reason]

Cavs
Wizards
Bulls
Raptors
Heat
Pacers
Hornets
Pistons

[Waylon Mercy]

1. Cavs
2. Bulls (thinking 1 or 2 of the mystery boxes of Rose/McDermott/Mirotic workout)
3. Raptors
4. Hawks
5. Hornets
6. Wizards
7. Heat
8. Pacers


9. Nets
10. Pistons
11. Knicks
12. Celtics
13. Bucks
14. Magic
15. Sixers

[Illmatic12]

I guess I'm in the minority who thinks Rose will be fine.. maybe not superstar MVP level, but he should at least be around an All-Star level imo..


Bulls
Cavs
Wizards
Raptors
Pacers
Heat
Hornets
Hawks

[Prokorov]

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.

they already were one of the worst offensive teams in the league and they lost arguably their best offensive player. I think they are going to decline in a major way. 40-45 wins

[Cliff Levingston]

1. Bulls. If Rose stays healthy, they Bulls will be #1. The defense, the improved shooting and the deep front court will be a lot for other teams to handle night in and night out.

2. Cleveland. LeBron will carry them to a great record. They won't be nearly as formidable a playoff team as the Heat were but they'll still be really good.

3. Wizards. Internal improvement from the back court along with Pierce to help close out games will make them one of the best teams in the East.

4. Raptors. Best of a bunch of underwhelming Atlantic teams. They've got some room for internal improvement from some young guys but don't sport much star power at all.

5. Heat. They'll still be formidable with Bosh taking a bigger role and Deng being a solid but underwhelming replacement for LeBron. Wade should miss plenty of games which will cap their ceiling during the regular season.

6. Pacers. Already weren't a good offensive team yet managed to get worse through losing Lance, although Stuckey makes up for it somewhat. Cliff Levingston is worried about how flaky Hibbert is.

7. Hornets. No improvement in the standings but only because the rest of the East got better. Solid, well rounded young team that plays defense and is disciplined.

8. Hawks. Could possibly be higher with Horford coming back and hopefully not getting hurt again.

Outside looking in:

- Brooklyn. Probably stands the best chance of getting in here, and if they miss, it'll be just barely.
- New York. Will struggle quite a bit with picking up the triangle and not being able to play much defense.
- Detroit. Should be better but still not good enough to get it done. They'll need another year under SVG.

Boston, Milwaukee, Philly and Orlando don't stand much of a chance at all.

[bgroban]

Lots of Bulls fans on this board. Winning the Conference? Finishing ahead of the Cavs/Wiz/Raps? Keep dreaming.

[Pnjguy]

I don't get why so many folks think the chances of DRose playing even close
to an AllStar level are very good. It's a shame but I can't see him making
that much of an impact this year. It could happen but I would describe
it as miraculous if it did. There's just as much chance he ends up like
Penny Hardeway or Gilbert.

Dude, it's not about him playing well, its about him staying on the court. If he plays, he will be great. It's all about staying on the court.

[Pnjguy]

Lots of Bulls fans on this board. Winning the Conference? Finishing ahead of the Cavs/Wiz/Raps? Keep dreaming.

you don't follow the league a lot do you?

[nuposse04]

Why is it assumed Rose will be "ok"? He doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt anymore. If he has a 22-6-4 season I'll consider it a success.

[Left Side Drive]

Why is it assumed Rose will be "ok"? He doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt anymore. If he has a 22-6-4 season I'll consider it a success.

If he has a 14-6-2 season I would consider it a success.

[Rasheeed!!!]

My only prediction is that the Cavs will make it from the East.

Regular season records are deceiving and teams get exposed in the playoffs but you can always count on LeBron to be in the ECF at least.

[bgroban]

Lots of Bulls fans on this board. Winning the Conference? Finishing ahead of the Cavs/Wiz/Raps? Keep dreaming.

you don't follow the league a lot do you?

How will the Bulls finish #1 in the Conference? Enlighten me. I think they will finish 3-5.

[Bubstubbler]

Sweet lord, Bargnani.

"You guys defend the Spurs and rebound, I'll deny a pass to one of those beleaguered fans behind the basket."