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My Predictions for the East
Posted by: Lee on July 26th, 2010
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.Hey, so, here are my opinions/predictions for the upcoming season in the East .
EAST
1. Miami Heat – “The Big Three” will lead the Heat to the Finals. With some strong veterans taking a pay-cut to be with a legitimate contender, the Heat will be the top team in the East right behind the Lakers for the top team in the NBA. James and Wade will make Top-Ten in Points-per-Game, but will not break the Top-Five.
2. Orlando Magic – Same story as last year. Daniel Orton will not replace Marcin Gortat. JJ Redick will explode and become one of the most improved players of the 2010-11 Season, maybe even put up All-Star numbers. Dwight Howard will once again bring home the Defensive Player of the Year award.
3. Boston Celtics – Jermaine O’Neal and Shaquille O’Neal will take some of the load off of Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, and Glen “Big Baby” Davis. Look for them to sign a defensive veteran wing during the season. Rajon Rondo will get his second All-Star appearance, but this time as the team’s main Point Guard.
4. Chicago Bulls – After adding Carlos Boozer, the new look Bulls will fight for the 2nd seed in the playoffs with their deep bench of experienced players. Kyle Korver will have a far worse shooting season than last year.
5. Atlanta Hawks – After resigning Joe Johnson to a Max Contract, the Hawks didn’t really do anything else to change their team. Jordan Crawford will have few chances to shine, but will shine brightly during those few games. Look for the Hawks to be one of the first teams to make a trade during the season. Maybe trading Mike Bibby and/or Marvin Williams?
6. Milwaukee Bucks – The surprise team in the East last year have pretty much the same look, but with Corey Maggette and Drew Gooden and a healthy Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut. Larry Sanders will battle Gooden for the starting spot. The Bucks will fight the Hawks for the 5th seed, maybe even go as high as the 3rd seed.
7. Indiana Pacers – Tyler Hansbrough now healthy, add draft pick Paul George and Lance Stephenson, and then Gold-Medalist Danny Granger(I hope); the Pacers will sneak into the playoffs. A.J. Price will have shows of brilliance and might even steal the starting job from T.J. Ford. Now with the acquisition of Darren Collison, the Pacers now have a floor leader that they can trust, A.J. will be the primary backup while Ford will be traded, bought out, or will be sitting at the end of the bench.
8. New York Knickerbockers – Amare Stoudemire and Raymond Felton will be the defined leaders of the Knicks and the Knicks will make the playoffs for the first time since 2003. Eddy Curry will once again play as the lazy bum at the bottom of the bench ending his career in the Pros.
9. Charlotte Bobcats – After they waive Erick Dampier, Michael Jordan will try his best to make a big splash to get them into the playoffs, but will fall short. Gerald Wallace will put up amazing numbers, but they will still not be enough.
10. Washington Wizards – The back-court of John Wall and Gilbert Arenas with Kirk Hinrich backing both up will work out well for them, but a team with little chemistry will be the cause of another lottery. Yi Jianlian will have his best career season since being drafted. John Wall will finish behind Blake Griffin for ROY.
11. Detroit Pistons – The Pistons will miss another playoff berth with a clog at the guard spots and no true center. Greg Monroe will not be able to thrive in the Piston’s style of play and will turn out to be a better version of Darko Milicic. The signing of Tracy McGrady will show that he can still start in the NBA and this will lead to the trading of either Richard “Rip” Hamilton or Tayshaun Prince.
12. Cleveland Cavaliers – The Cavs will take a huge punch in the gut after losing King James. Look for Dan Gilbert to make a couple of trades to make the Cavs “better”. The acquisition of Ramon Sessions give them three talented Point Guards that can start whenever needed.
13. Philidelphia 76ers – Evan Turner will have a bad start, but will get a boost sometime around the Trade Deadline. He will have the best finish of the Rookies, but his bad start will cost him the ROY award. Andre Igoudala’s numbers will rise from his previous season.
14. New Jersey Nets – Derrick Favors will have a very strong season and will finish behind Griffin and Wall for ROY. The Nets will double their wins from the previous season. Troy Murphy will get the recognition he deserves from his double-double numbers. If they acquire Carmelo Anthony, he will either rocket them into the playoffs, but will lose in the first round or fall short and get the 9th-11th seed.
15. Toronto Raptors – The Raptors will try to replace Chris Bosh with Ed Davis and improved stats from Andrea Bargnani, but the failed efforts will put them into the last spot in the East and also last in the NBA.
Now for Playoff Predictions.
1st Round
1. Heat Vs. 8. Knicks (Heat in 4)
2. Magic Vs. 7. Pacers (Magic in 4)
3. Celtics Vs. 6. Bucks (Bucks in 7)
4. Bulls Vs. 5. Hawks (Hawks in 7)
Conference Semi-Finals
1. Heat Vs. 5. Hawks (Heat in 4)
2. Magic Vs. 6. Hawks (Magic in 6)
Conference Finals
1. Heat Vs. 2. Magic (Heat in 7)
Tell Me What You Think!
Replies: 14
Views: 1351
14 Responses
I think there have been so many major changes in the East that it’s too hard to tell what will go down. But if I were to take a stab at it, it would look something like this:
1. MIA
2. ORL
3. MIL
4. BOS
5. ATL
6. CHI
7. NYK
8. CHA
I don’t think Indiana gets in. But your predictions for the top of the East are probably going to be accurate or close to it. I will be rooting for Miami to lose every step of the way.
1) MIAMI- This team is now the Lakers of the East, except they have bigger stars and to get good they cheated even more than LA did when it got Gasol for nothing. The NBA wants them to win, the vast majority of bandwagon fans wants them to win, and so they probably will.
2) ORLANDO- The Magic are an easy 2nd in the East. We know they have the talent, it’s just a matter of utilizing it and getting some of that veteran swagger that you need to win. If Howard, Carter, and Nelson can step up and not choke or let down their guard, they will win big.
3) CHICAGO- They are definitely better. Their solid young squad has improved fast and Booz adds some offense that will help them significantly. Their bench is very solid as well and having 3 players from the same team should make it even more so.
4) MILWAUKEE- If they were healthy toward the end of last year they could have gone deep. They are determined and did a great job loading themselves full of talent and potential. They are a major wild card and should be even better than their best last year. I like these guys, one of the few teams I can still say that for.
5) ATLANTA- If they couldn’t do it last year, they won’t do it this year either. I don’t think they’re much better, maybe even worse. They had made it to the top of their hill and now they’re going down the other side slowly. Joe Johnson isn’t the answer they need. They can get a good season record, but don’t have what they need to make it far in the playoffs.
6) BOSTON- They still know what it takes to win and if they could stay healthy I think they could beat Miami. But that’s just it, they won’t stay healthy. Jermaine O’Neil replacing Perkins for awhile is not a good thing, but keeps them from dropping off at the beginning of the season. If they can make the playoffs healthy and stay that way, they’re still contenders.
7) NEW YORK- I have a feeling that Amare will keep them in the playoff race and I wouldn’t be suprised if self-absorbed, backstabbing, looking for the easy way out Chris Paul ends up here. They won’t go far if they do make the playoffs, but they won’t be bad.
8- CHARLOTTE- They just weren’t quite good enough last year and they haven’t improved much this offseason, at least so far. They’ll be solid at best, but they need to give it their all and stay injury free to do much.
Followed by: Washington, Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia
I am actually fine with the Heat for one year. I will be rooting for them to prevent the lakers 3peat. When they do so, Then it will be anyone but the lakers or heat.
Hey, I’m JC, what’s this J.C. thing all about?
i think you are pretty accurate on those predictions i think that it will go 1. miami 2. magic 3. bulls 4. boston 5. atlanta 6. bucks and then i have no idea.
2 superstars and a allstar dont make a team remember its a long season. When they come out who comes in Udonis, Miller , Arroyo come on that bench is weak. And the center is an old man which by the way they dont have a back up for him. If the 3 would have taken a little less money than maybe they would have sign a way better bench. True there still not done signing and they we probably get all the call to there favor yes. But to me Boston , Orlando, Atlanta and the Bulls have way better bench support. Look i know there worth every penny but Lebron and Bosh should have taken less money to get good bench players if they really want it to win a championship. But there young and think they can do it by themselves ok well see what happens.
Indiana to me doesn’t have enough to make the playoffs. Sure Danny Granger and TJ Ford are a great combo but it’s still not quite enough. The Bobcats will make the playoffs before the Pacers do.
I also think the Cavs will be better then other people think. My feeling is that they’re going to have to be like the Rockets of last year. They’ll have to figure out how to play without a franchise player and see who emerges. Put it this way they have too good of a coach in Byron Scott to have a losing season and I think they can do something with Antwan Jamison, Mo Williams, and Anderson Verejao. They won’t make the playoffs, but they won’t have a losing season.
It was hard for me to put the Pacers in, but I do think that they will have a better season than the Bobcats.
I was also finding myself wanting to put the Bucks at #3.
…..I just hope the lakers don’t make a 3-peat
1.) Boston Celtics
2.) Chicago Bulls
3.) Miami Heat
4.) Orlando Magic
5.) Milwaukee Bucks
6.) New York Knicks
7.) Atlanta Hawks
8.) Cleveland Cavaliers
@Tony,
I think the highest the Celtics can get would be the #2 seed, but they could also drop to 6th seed.
1.Miami
2.Orlando
3.Chicago
4.Milwaukee
5.Atlanta
6.Boston
7.Charlotte
8.Cleavland Or Pacers
1. Magic
2. Heat
3. Celtics
4. Bulls
5. Hawks
6. Knicks
7. Bobcats
8. Pacers