2016–17 NBA Eastern Conference Preview and Predictions
The NBA season is almost upon us! In this post, I’ll answer some questions about the Eastern Conference as well as predict the playoff order and conference champion! I’ll be back with a Western Conference Preview this weekend!
Who will be the East’s most improved team based on win totals?
#trusttheprocess — That’s right, the Philadelphia 76ers!
Now, this is mostly based on the fact that the Sixers only managed to win 10 games last year, but nevertheless, I think this is the year Philadelphia can finally get a glance at what will come in the future.
Joel Embiid, the third overall pick in 2014, and Dario Saric, the twelfth pick in that same draft, will finally play for Philly this season. Yes, Ben Simmons will miss the start of the season due to foot surgery, but the addition of Saric and Embiid, along with proven veterans Jerryd Bayless, Gerald Henderson, and Sergio Rodriguez, will be enough to propel Philadelphia to 24 wins. Still not good, but a 14-win improvement over last season’s nearly record breaking horribleness.
Which of last year’s lottery teams in the Eastern Conference will make the playoffs this season?
This was a pretty tough question for me. There is a case to be made for every team that finished 9 through 13 in the East last year (Bulls, Wizards, Magic, Bucks, Knicks), but the problem is, I don’t see many teams that made the playoffs last year totally falling out this season.
I finally decided on the Wizards and the Bulls. Sorry Knicks fans, I think your “Super Team” misses out this year.
I expect the Wizards to return to their level of play from two years ago, when they reached the conference semi-finals. For this to happen, the Washington will need Bradley Beal to remain (relatively) healthy, and that is obviously never a safe bet, but maybe this is finally the year that it does. I think new coach Scott Brooks leads the Wizards to the playoffs in his first year in D.C.
The Bulls are a tough team to predict this year. For reasons I explained after the Bull-Bucks trade, I believe the Bulls will have a hard time scoring with all the spacing issues that their personnel creates. However, I think Rajon Rondo (who might finally be rejuvenated now that he is out of Sacramento and playing for a possible playoff team), Dwyane Wade, and Jimmy Butler are just too good and too smart not to figure it out, put together a decent offense, and drag Chicago into the playoffs.
For these teams to make it, two of last year’s playoff teams will have to miss out, so while we’re at it, let’s answer another question…
What will the Eastern Conference Playoff standings look like?
Here’s how I think the playoff order will shake out:
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Boston Celtics
- Toronto Raptors
- Indiana Pacers
- Atlanta Hawks
- Washington Wizards
- Charlotte Hornets
- Chicago Bulls
So, now it’s time for a quick game of “Who is Missing?” Name the duo that I have falling out of the Playoffs. I’ll wait.
5 more seconds…
And… Time!
It’s the Heat and Pistons!
The Heat, who finished with 48 wins and last year’s three seed, just lost too much from last year’s squad to stay in the playoff race. If you want to read more about my thoughts on the Heat for this season, click here.
It was really difficult for me to choose the Pistons as a team that will miss the playoffs this year. They are a great young team that showed a lot of improvement last year under Stan Van Gundy, but, as I mentioned, the bottom of the East playoff race will be competitive, with several decent teams that will miss out on the playoffs. The loss of Reggie Jackson, who will be sidelined for the first 6–8 weeks of the season due to injuries to his knee and thumb, really hurts Detroit’s chances. Maybe the Pistons can tread water until he comes back and then play lights out to make up ground, but, unfortunately, I think the injury to Jackson will put the Pistons just behind the other Eastern conference playoff hopefuls.
Can anyone challenge the Cavaliers in the East?
In the regular season? yes.
With the Celtics adding Al Horford and the Raptors bringing back most of their core, the top of the East playoffs is likely to be a tight race all season long.
LeBron James’s teams are notorious for not exactly playing with 100% effort throughout the entire 82 game slog that is the NBA regular season, so that opens the door a bit for the Celtics and Raptors if they can manage to put together enough wins.
In the end, I think the Cavaliers will turn it on in the last couple of weeks of the season if the race is still tight, winning just enough to edge out the Celtics and Raps and ensure home-court advantage for their title defense.
Who will win the Eastern Conference and advance to the Finals?
The playoffs, however, are a different story.
LeBron Teams always reach another level in the playoffs, and he has burned through the East and into the finals for six straight years now. The Celtics and Raptors, as presently constituted, might take a game or two off of the Cavs, but, barring injury to a key Cleveland Cavalier or an unforeseen trade from the Celtics, I think LeBron and the Cavs will be king(s) of the East yet again.
