Today the NBA preseason started and both players and fans will start to get an understanding as to just how good, or laughingly awful (sorry 76er fans), the squad is. Until then however the future looks bright for all teams but still only 8 in each conference can make the playoffs so these are my predictions for the 8 teams that will be making the playoffs this year in the eastern conference.
1. Cleveland Cavaliers
2. Chicago Bulls
3. Toronto Raptors
4. Miami Heat
5. Washington Wizards
6. Brooklyn Nets
7. Charlotte Hornets
8. Atlanta Hawks
1. Last year the Cleveland Caveliers finished as the 10th seed in the east but with the new editions of 4 time MVP LeBron James and and all-star pf Kevin Love along with Kyrie Irving they should be able to secure the first seed baring any injuries. No matter what seed they finish as though Love grabbing a defensive rebound then throwing a full court ally-oop to James will be fun to watch.
2. The Chicago Bulls have dealt with those injuries for the past two seasons with their leader and one time MVP winner Derrick Rose forced to sit on the sidelines. Combining Rose with last years defensive player of the year Joakim Noah and it's easy to see that the Bulls will take the 2nd seed.... If Derrick Rose can stay healthily of course.
3. Last year was a breakout season for the Raptors as they finished 3rd and was the best team in the Atlantic division. Many are skeptical about Demar Derozen and Kyle Lowry continuing their high level play this season but to those haters I just have one thing to say. Shush. Pardon my French but I just find it easier to believe they will continue to produce at high level rather than regress.
4. They lost LeBron James the second best player in the game and they didn't replace him with the first so it has to be considered a letdown. Thankfully they still have Chris Bosh and acquired Luol Deng in the offseason so they still have a starting lineup that will consist of 3 all-star players. They also picked up great role players like Josh McRoberts and still have one of the best coaches in the league so getting the 4th seed seems like the perfect place for the Heat to finish.
5. Washington Wizards haven't made many changes over the offseason but they did sign Paul Pierce a veteran leader who will bring much needed playoff experience to a team that lacks it. The Truth is also one of the most baller players in the NBA and will ensure the team never backs down from a challenge.
6. The Nets lost Paul Pierce but still retained their three best players Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez. Unfortunately for Brooklyn two of these players, Lopez and Williams, are injury prone but healthy they can provide the edge to secure the 6th seed.
7. The newly renamed Charlotte Hornets are possibly the most underrated team in the league. They have one of the top 5 centres in Al Jefferson who is nearly unstoppable in post up situations. This combined with the talents of Kemba Walker and newly acquired Lance Stephenson should allow for the Hornets to improve on their 8th seed finish last year by jumping all the way to the 7th.
8. Right now if I were to mention the Atlanta Hawks you'd probably think of Danny Ferry and his racially insensitive comments and not of their extremely solid team. If the Hornets aren't the most underrated team then it's definitely the Hawks. Even without their best player Al Horford for most of the season the Hawks still finished as the 8th seed and managed to take the Indiana Pacers to a highly competitive game 7. Still the east has only improved this year so making the playoffs will be an actual challenge this season for the Hawks but I'm confident they are up to the challenge.
Honourable mentions: New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers. I can picture any of these 3 finishing as the 9th seed but each of these teams has something to prove before I can see them making the playoffs.
