Poll: Is Orlando going to make this season's playoffs?

[j_n]

Yes, I think were definitely better than the Nets, Sixers, Knicks and Heat.

We should be better than the Wizards, Bucks and Bulls considering we were on the same tier and neither of those teams improved much, if at all.

Between the Pistons/Hornets/Hawks/Pacers I think at least one team is going to regress and fall out of the playoffs.

[Optimus_Steel]

Top 10 defense and playoffs. We gonna do some bashing.


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[OrlDave]

I'm not a believer in the "east got better" thing, since they say it every year. You really don't know how things will go. Miami clearly got worse. Chicago is a mixed bag. NYK is a mixed bag. Atlanta lost Horford and Teague and they gained? Howard. Indiana looks good on paper, but they are changing coaches and revamping their style completely. None of these teams are given to make the playoffs. But nor are the Magic. We have a decent team and coach on paper, but who knows if things will come together. That said, I voted yes because I do believe in Vogel and Aaron Gordon.

[fklt]

we kinda have to. and we probably will.

[Xatticus]

A lot of people seem to be down on Miami, but their season hinges on whether or not Bosh plays. Wade is in rapid decline and isn't a significant loss, though they are going to miss Deng. Dragic was a much better player when Wade wasn't on the court. I like Richardson and Winslow, and Winslow will probably demonstrate significant improvement over what was a solid season for a 19 year old. Wade's minutes will probably be better next year distributed between those two and Johnson. If Bosh is cleared to play, they are comfortably ahead of Orlando, but that's a massive "if" at this point.

I expect Atlanta will be fine next year. Cleveland, Toronto, and Boston are locks to finish above Orlando. Detroit and Charlotte should also be better, though I wouldn't call them locks. I don't really like New York's summer, but they should be quite a bit better next year. Milwaukee has to be improved as well, if only from the development of an impressive young core.

There is just a ton of competition for those eight slots next year. I think Chicago could be really bad. They have an odd combination of egos and mismatched pieces. I wouldn't be surprised if Indiana slides down the standings. I think Washington struggles and we start to hear rumors involving Wall.

[NickAnderson]

Nope. The east is too deep this year. If we had this roster last season I would say yes.

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[3ddman23]

A lot of people seem to be down on Miami, but their season hinges on whether or not Bosh plays. Wade is in rapid decline and isn't a significant loss, though they are going to miss Deng. Dragic was a much better player when Wade wasn't on the court. I like Richardson and Winslow, and Winslow will probably demonstrate significant improvement over what was a solid season for a 19 year old. Wade's minutes will probably be better next year distributed between those two and Johnson. If Bosh is cleared to play, they are comfortably ahead of Orlando, but that's a massive "if" at this point.

I expect Atlanta will be fine next year. Cleveland, Toronto, and Boston are locks to finish above Orlando. Detroit and Charlotte should also be better, though I wouldn't call them locks. I don't really like New York's summer, but they should be quite a bit better next year. Milwaukee has to be improved as well, if only from the development of an impressive young core.

There is just a ton of competition for those eight slots next year. I think Chicago could be really bad. They have an odd combination of egos and mismatched pieces. I wouldn't be surprised if Indiana slides down the standings. I think Washington struggles and we start to hear rumors involving Wall.

With all that being said do you see orlando in one of those 8 spots? I agree with a lot of what you said aside from maybe Miami being "comfortable" better then us. On paper they would be but like it said the health of bosh is a major question mark

[Xatticus]

I don't think so. It's not just the amount of competition, but also the amount of ground that this team has to make up on the rest of the pack. We finished nine games out of the playoffs.

[OrlandoDream]

Never in Robs tenure have I felt more confident in making the playoffs then next year.

[Tayswagzzz]

I definitely believe so.

If not, Rob Hennigan will be fired.

I agree with you but not gonna +1 this because I don't want him to lose his job, I think he's a fine GM, but I truly believe it's just the nature of this business. Hennigan will lose his job here if we miss playoffs. Signing Vogel might have been his saving grace this season to be honest.

[Def Swami]

I have no idea. I'm leaning toward no. We're banking on huge leaps from Payton and Gordon.

[YosemiteSam]

I voted (heII) yes because I think we are going to be team "chip on our shoulder" next season. I mean go down the list:

- Coach Vogel: fired and then the team that fired him is predicted by many to finish 2nd in the East without him
- Vuc: team brought in a high priced center and many are calling for him to come off the bench
- Ibaka: most claim that he is in decline and Magic way overpaid for him despite trading him for what most considered average talent before the trade
- Bismack: most consider him overpaid and a potential small sample size flash from the playoffs
- Fournier: Left off his national team and people enraged we lost the guy in front of him at his natural position (SG)
- Elfrid: ranked consistently in bottom 5 PGs in the league and main cited reason why we won't succeed in this team iteration - many think we should have kept Saric who hasn't even played in the NBA yet
- AG: most experts and fans question his ability to play his preferred position of SF even though he is only 20 and showed great growth last year
- Mario: Some consider him a potential bust and he is pretty much universally not considered in the top 10 of players from his draft class
- Jeff Green: pretty much everyone thinks he sucks
- CJ Watson: Considered a bust from last year's team
- DJ: Can't play defense
- Meeks: Injury prone and done
- Henny: His rebuild has been a bust and he will be fired after this year (so he will continue to pursue improvements throughout the year)

[Skin]

After Cleveland, the East is wide open. Wouldn't be shocked to see us finish with a Top 4 seed.

We've never been this well balanced, this well coached and this well talented in a very long time.

[in-limbo]

I'm buying cable for it so they better.

With growing pains that are sure to come I could see us barely getting in. The following year we make some noise.

[Blue_and_Whte]

No. I think we're more competitive but just miss the 8th spot. I think we're leaning too heavily on Payton to turn into something he's not. AG takes a big step imo as does Mario. I think our defense will be better but that we'll struggle to score enough points.

[Howard Mass]

I definitely believe so.

If not, Rob Hennigan will be fired.

I agree with you but not gonna +1 this because I don't want him to lose his job, I think he's a fine GM, but I truly believe it's just the nature of this business. Hennigan will lose his job here if we miss playoffs. Signing Vogel might have been his saving grace this season to be honest.

i agree on all fronts.

[OrlChamps2030]

What does everyone's tiers look like?

Mine would be:

Cleveland

Boston
Toronto

Atlanta
Detroit
Charlotte
Indy

Washington
Orlando
Miami
NYK
Milwaukee
Chicago

Philly

Brooklyn

Pretty fair list imo..

[Furinkazan]

What does everyone's tiers look like?

Mine would be:

Cleveland

Boston
Toronto

Atlanta
Detroit
Charlotte
Indy

Washington
Orlando
Miami
NYK
Milwaukee
Chicago

Philly

Brooklyn

Pretty fair list imo..

my top 5 is
Cleveland

Boston
Tor
Indy
ATL

and i think top 5 positions are locked for these teams (unless major players injuries happen)
so we are fighting for 3 leftover spots with a huge grp of 7 teams
gonna be tough

[TreasureCoast]

I think both NY and Chi have to live down to expectations for us to make it. If NY gets in at 8 and we are 9th I might crawl in a hole with a gun to my head.

[Duradero]

Yeah but NY is a superteam, right?