Post#103 » by No-Man » Sat Sep 3, 2016 2:55 pm
My read on the East this season;
Cleveland, few bodies ahead of everybody else, lock to win the conference barring injuries
Boston, likely will have a really strong RS, doubts about their potential playoff success unless Brown or Smart develop fast offensively, Horford is solid but has been mediocre in the last two years come May-June for ATL.
Toronto, gonna take a stepback but still have a ton of talent, an injury to Lowry would kill them, still continuity has ton of value and they are likely in.
Detroit, I am not high on their long-term future in terms of been able to compete for a Championship with this core, but they should be a solid PO team, they were already last year and the experience will only help, plus they improved depth and have the full roster from TC.
Charlotte, lost some depth (although Sessions is underrated) but have one of the best starting lineups in the Conference, in my mind second to Cleveland only, and come PO time I believe they have more weapons to be a pain than BOS-TOR-DET, if MKG is healthy-ish they are a lock to me.
Atlanta, they will need to tweak some, less motion-free offensive game and more traditional at times, but talent is still there, same with coaching, I expect Schröder to be really good in time, and they have the best interior pair of the conference.
Indiana, Not a fan of their moves, other than getting Young, but they have enough talent and a top5 player of the Conference, they should be in if they have reasonable health.
Washington, they were a PO team last year if healthier, have gotten deeper, younger and more athletic, Satoransky is going to be a factor, Mahinmi too, even without a healthy Beal they have more options now, Brooks team are supersolid on D.
New York, just not enough depth and the fit is doubtful, I think they can be in, but likely not, due to injuries and too many new pieces, coach is new too, could be enticed to tank a little and get a top future Guard as well.
Miami, I do like their chances if they try, they could move Dragic-Bosh and tank to revamp the roster and do a mini-rebuild around their young guys and Whiteside, but if they stay put they are going to be good and fun, they have all the right pieces in terms of been able to play big/small, good spacing and defense.
Orlando, a step below the top10 in my opinion, not a fan of the frontcourt rotation and unless Payton develops in a major way the Guards are going to struggle to create, Vogel is sort of plain offensively so that doesnt help either, the defense should be top10 if they find the right balance, just not enough unless other teams face injuries.
Milwaukee, could flip them with Orlando, their bench is poop other than Teletovic and Monroe/Henson, they should be playing Giannis full-time as a big, at least defensively, he can be the de-facto PG offensively, but they likely would have to play some supersized lineups to keep everyone happy minutes wise and because their backcourt rotation is truly bad and thin, still the starting lineup at least makes sense and they have top end talent.
Chicago, they have no means to be an efficient offense neither a solid defense, they play ball-dominant guys that can shoot, and 2 dont care defensively, and their rotation is widely young and unexperienced, they have literally 3-4 guys that can be of use on the defensive end and two proved shooters in Mirotic and McDermott, going to be a big mess.
Brooklyn, they did what they had too but the talent level is subpar and they are going to focus on development, could even fall below Philly if Lopez misses time, something that seems likely statistically.
Philadelphia, just a weird team overall, spacing is still going to be bad, and the same about the defense, Henderson helps but he doesnt shoot, Bayless cant defend, same with Chacho, they are unexperienced and hungry for minutes, weird mix and someone is going to end up mad since a lot of their young players have the cache to expect a big role.
