ne say last year that the Bulls were contenders in the Eastern Conference? So that didn’t happen but look at what they got in reward, Derrick Rose.

Rose said prior to getting drafted that he wanted to win the MVP award in his rookie season.

I don’t even think that Rose will win Rookie of the Year Award thanks to Greg Oden coming back. Then again I do salute Rose for his confidence but the closest person to win the MVP award as a rookie was Chris Paul and he didn’t even come close to winning the award.

The reigning NBA champions Boston Celtics looks to be the team to beat not just in the Eastern Conference but also in the NBA alone. The Celtics look to have another good season left in them including the Detroit Pistons who are not getting any younger. The Pistons youngest starter is Tayshaun Prince who will be turning 29 after the all-star break.

The Pistons are also interested in acquiring Baron Davis who will be 30 by the end of the season. If the Pistons want to win they have to do it next year, but they will have to get past the Celtics and let’s not forget about the Los Angeles Lakers who will have Andrew Bynum back on their team after missing most of the second half of the season due to injury.

What does the rest of the league look like? Let’s take a look at the Eastern Conference first.

Atlantic

1) Boston Celtics—Nobody will be able to compete with the Celtics in this conference who went 14-2 last year in Atlantic conference. With the return of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce the possibility of three peat doesn’t look that difficult.


2) Toronto Raptors—The addition of Jermaine O’Neal is either going to be a hit or miss for the Toronto Raptors. In my opinion the Raptors got the worse end of this trade. Although they got better in size they got nothing at the guard position. I don’t think Jose Calderon is the their man at point guard but if O’Neal can stay healthy whether he comes off the bench in replacement for Bosh or starts, he could help guide the Raptors to another playoff berth.

3) New Jersey Nets—I can see why the Nets traded for Richard Jefferson as they are saving money for the future. They did have a rather successful draft if Brook Lopez does in fact succeed for them. Lopez averaged 19.3 points per game and 8.2 rebounds per game, I don’t think he’ll be able to match those stats from Stanford but he could be a nice addition to the roster as well as Ryan Anderson and Chris Douglas-Roberts.

4) Philadelphia 76ers—The 76ers didn’t have any secret going into the draft they needed a big man and they got one in Marreese Speights the big man from Florida. I expect the 76ers to slip a little bit this year in the rankings as they are not quite ready to be a playoff team.

5) New York Knicks—Enough said…

Central

1) Detroit Pistons—This could be the last year that you see the Pistons in the top spot as they are the fountain of youth that they once were six years ago. Cleveland will be chasing them for the top spot in the conference not like last year when Cleveland was 14 games behind the Pistons for the top spot in the conference.

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