Dear NBA (Eastern Conference)
I'm glad you're back NBA. It's been a LONG 6 months, especially with ESPN beasting on baseball and football like it always does. But that's neither here nor there. Last night, we were privy to what most people think is going to be the Finals in the East this year, the Cavs and Celtics. BULLSHIT. First of all, the Cavaliers still can't score without LeBron in, so that automatically takes them out of my top 2. The Celtics are gonna be good though. Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels gave them some depth, so the Celtics get the nod. Oh yeah, and point blank: Magic are the best team in the East. Adding Vince Carter wasn't the only move that makes me say that. Grabbing Brandon Bass, Jason 'I Need a Walker' Williams, Ryan Anderson, Matt Barnes, and keeping Marcin Gortat means these guys have depth for days behind Dwight, Jameer and Rashard. The Magic are the deepest team in the East. I dare you to name a deeper team. You can't. With that here's the top 3:
1. Orlando Magic - Add Vince and subtract Hedo & C. Lee from that, and we have the East Champs
2. Boston Celtics - Sheed will do them well, but their depth is always a concern...
3. Cleveland Cavaliers - Anthony Parker & Jamario Moon are nice additions, but not good enough complements to win the East...
Okay, so now that we have the top 3, the next 3 are always the hardest because there's such a fine line between being a top team and being mediocre in the East. Let's start with the Wizards. They added Mike Miller and Randy Foye, as well as have Agent Zero back in full force. They'll struggle defensively at times, but will be much improved in the East. As for the Hawks, my 2007 sleeper team that almost shocked the Celtics, they brought in Jamal Crawford and drafted Jeff Teague. HOWEVER, they still didn't add any help up front, so essentially they'll always be playing with two 3's (Williams & Smith) and a 4 (Horford) in the front court instead of having an actual post presence. It hurt them in that preseason game against the Magic and will continue to hurt them, even though they'll get a playoff spot. My 6th team in the East is probably my hardest one to guage, simply because there are a lot of x-factors in it. I'm gonna go with the Raptors though. Adding Hedo Turkgolu, Jarrett Jack and Amir Johnson and drafting Demar Derozan finally gives this squad some explosiveness. And having two 7-footers on your front line doesn't hurt either. Here are 3-6 in the East:
4. Toronto Raptors - Derozan is a monster and Hedo will add some playoff experience to a squad that always seemed flat last year...
5. Washington Wizards - Gilbert at 100% and some more depth will do the trick...
6. Atlanta Hawks - No front court depth will hurt this team more than adding Jamal Crawford can ever will...
Last two are always the most variable. They have so much to do with their records against the top teams and are more susceptible to getting in because of late season runs, instead of sustained good play. I'll just cut to the chase. I got Chicago and Detroit rounding out the top 8. The reason being, both have young point guards leading their teams. Not to say that Derrick Rose and Rodney Stuckey aren't good, but their youth on the court will show sometimes (even though D. Rose pushed the Celtics to their brink last year)...
7. Detroit Pistons - Adding Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva was a good move, but it's gonna be Stuckey's play that drives them.
8. Chicago Bulls - Derrick Rose is going to be the best point in the league by 2011. But in this season, he has to show he can shoot the ball before he gets that nod... Not having BG in his corner does some damage too...
There you have it: the top teams in the East. Make sure you keep it locked to Dear Whoever for the rest of my NBA season preview...
1. Orlando Magic - Add Vince and subtract Hedo & C. Lee from that, and we have the East Champs
2. Boston Celtics - Sheed will do them well, but their depth is always a concern...
3. Cleveland Cavaliers - Anthony Parker & Jamario Moon are nice additions, but not good enough complements to win the East...
Okay, so now that we have the top 3, the next 3 are always the hardest because there's such a fine line between being a top team and being mediocre in the East. Let's start with the Wizards. They added Mike Miller and Randy Foye, as well as have Agent Zero back in full force. They'll struggle defensively at times, but will be much improved in the East. As for the Hawks, my 2007 sleeper team that almost shocked the Celtics, they brought in Jamal Crawford and drafted Jeff Teague. HOWEVER, they still didn't add any help up front, so essentially they'll always be playing with two 3's (Williams & Smith) and a 4 (Horford) in the front court instead of having an actual post presence. It hurt them in that preseason game against the Magic and will continue to hurt them, even though they'll get a playoff spot. My 6th team in the East is probably my hardest one to guage, simply because there are a lot of x-factors in it. I'm gonna go with the Raptors though. Adding Hedo Turkgolu, Jarrett Jack and Amir Johnson and drafting Demar Derozan finally gives this squad some explosiveness. And having two 7-footers on your front line doesn't hurt either. Here are 3-6 in the East:
4. Toronto Raptors - Derozan is a monster and Hedo will add some playoff experience to a squad that always seemed flat last year...
5. Washington Wizards - Gilbert at 100% and some more depth will do the trick...
6. Atlanta Hawks - No front court depth will hurt this team more than adding Jamal Crawford can ever will...
Last two are always the most variable. They have so much to do with their records against the top teams and are more susceptible to getting in because of late season runs, instead of sustained good play. I'll just cut to the chase. I got Chicago and Detroit rounding out the top 8. The reason being, both have young point guards leading their teams. Not to say that Derrick Rose and Rodney Stuckey aren't good, but their youth on the court will show sometimes (even though D. Rose pushed the Celtics to their brink last year)...
7. Detroit Pistons - Adding Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva was a good move, but it's gonna be Stuckey's play that drives them.
8. Chicago Bulls - Derrick Rose is going to be the best point in the league by 2011. But in this season, he has to show he can shoot the ball before he gets that nod... Not having BG in his corner does some damage too...
There you have it: the top teams in the East. Make sure you keep it locked to Dear Whoever for the rest of my NBA season preview...