10 Predictions for NBA's Atlantic Division in 2014
The NBA’s Atlantic Division has had its well-documented struggles so far this season.
Coming into the season, the expectations were that the Knicks and Nets would run away with the division and battle until the end to see who comes out on top.
The 76ers and Celtics were supposed to be two of the worst teams in the league and the Raptors were supposed to go into full tank mode and compete for a top pick in 2014.
So far, not much of that has happened. The Knicks and Nets have both been a complete disaster, the Raptors have been good since trading Rudy Gay, the Celtics have looked good at moments even without their star and the 76ers have already won 12 games, which is really surprising.
No one predicted the division would be the way it is, but we’ll still make an attempt at predicting what it will bring for the rest of this season.
Here are 10 Atlantic Division predictions for the rest of the 2014 Season.
All statistics in this article via Basketball-Reference.com.
MCW Wins Rookie of the Year Unanimously
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Michael Carter-Williams made himself known as soon as possible when he entered the league after putting on a show against the Miami Heat in Philadelphia’s opening game.
Carter-Williams debuted in the league by posting 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting. An even more impressive 12 assists, nine steals and seven rebounds parlayed his impressive shooting performance into a 114-110 win over the defending champions.
The Rookie of the Year award will not come without a little competition however, as there are a few other first year guys making some noise.
Trey Burke and Victor Oladipo are two guys who can challenge MCW for the title of best rookie, but the former Syracuse star will be able to hang on.
Carter-Williams is currently leading all rookies in points per game, assists per game, steals per game and rebounds per game. Which is an absolutely ridiculous statistic when you think about it and is something that would make his rookie year go down as one of the best ever.
The 6’6” point guard has already missed 11 games this season but if he can remain healthy and finish the season with numbers similar to what he has now, the Rookie of the Year title is all his.
If Carter-Williams wins it unanimously, he will become just the fifth rookie in history to receive every first-place vote for the award and it will be the first time a unanimous decision has been reached in back-to-back years (Damian Lillard did it last year).
Celtics Keep Rondo, Trade Bass
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The Celtics surprised people at the start of the year, but have recently fallen off. There have been rumors flying around since the trade of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett as to what the Celtics would do with Rajon Rondo.
Although the Celtics are struggling and are not going anywhere this year, Boston will keep Rajon Rondo.
Brad Stevens has shown he has great potential as a head coach in this league and teaming him up with a player like Rajon Rondo is going to be too hard to pass up. The Celtics will keep Rondo and attempt to rebuild their team around the young star.
The Celtics will be able to build around Rondo, Avery Bradley, Jeff Green, Jared Sullinger and a draft pick from the loaded 2014 draft.
Though they will not trade Rondo, the Celtics will still make a trade and it will involve Brandon Bass.
Bass is a veteran forward who can rebound and score and would be a great bench player for a contending team. Currently averaging 11 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, Bass will be a hot commodity as the deadline nears.
The Celtics should look to swap Bass for a player with an expiring contract which would allow them to clear some cap room heading into next season. There are some exciting free agents that the Celtics could team up with Rajon Rondo and Brad Stevens.
Look out for Gordon Hayward possibly coming to Boston to reunite with his college coach.
Raptors Make Multiple Trades
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The Raptors have been a very interesting team this year. They are currently leading the Atlantic Division at 17-17 and have really excelled since trading Rudy Gay to Sacramento.
The question with the Raptors is: Are they actually good or will this run come to an end?
Though the Raptors are currently in position to be the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, I think it is doubtful they will hang on.
The Raptors will begin to struggle soon, which will lead Masai Ujiri to make multiple trades. They have already shed the contracts of Rudy Gay and Andrea Bargnani and that will not be the end.
Kyle Lowry is in the last year of his contract and will likely be the next Raptor traded. The Raptors have already flirted with the idea of trading Kyle Lowry and had it not been for Knicks owner James Dolan getting cold feet, Lowry would already be playing in New York.
While Lowry will be one trade, don’t think Ujiri will be done after that. Another trade revolving around Amir Johnson will be a deal that teams will want to make with the Raptors.
Ujiri has shown he can pull off some miraculous trades, and expect him to do the same thing a couple more times this year.
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Knicks Acquire Point Guard Help
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The Knicks have finally started to play well, including a win over the Miami Heat in which Raymond Felton had easily his best game of the year.
Felton had 13 points, 14 assists and five rebounds against the Miami Heat on Thursday night in his second game back from injury. Though it is a good thing Felton played well, if the Knicks want to continue their success they must make a move for point guard help.
The trade that was talked about earlier, where the Knicks almost traded for Kyle Lowry, would have involved the Knicks sending Raymond Felton to Toronto. The upgrade from Felton to Lowry is big in every aspect of the game and having Lowry would be great for the Knicks.
Just because it doesn’t look like the Knicks will acquire Lowry anymore, they should not give up on trading for a point guard. Raymond Felton has three years left on his contract and has been an extreme liability on defense this year, while also shooting a terrible 39.7 percent from the field and an equally awful 28.8 percent from three.
If the Knicks can find someone to take on Felton’s contract, they should absolutely make the move.
New York will have trouble finding another team to make the deal but they will be able to find someone and will pull the trigger on the trade.
Felton’s has been okay in his time with New York, but a point guard rotation involving Pablo Prigioni, Toure’ Murry and another point guard would be extremely beneficial to the Knicks.
They should look for a point guard who can attack the rim and score since Prigioni and Murry don’t score much.
Point guards who the Knicks should target are Reggie Jackson of the Thunder, Rodney Stuckey of the Pistons and, of course, they should continue to look into Kyle Lowry. The question really is: What can the Knicks offer get those guys?
Spencer Hawes Is Traded
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Spencer Hawes is an underrated basketball player. The center for the 76ers is currently averaging 14.2 points per game along with 8.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. Hawes is also shooting an extremely impressive 44 percent from deep.
With Hawes making $6.6 million this season and it being the last year of his contract, it will not be hard for the 76ers to trade him.
Since the Sixers will not be making a playoff push this year, they do not need Hawes on this team. Many contending teams could really use frontcourt depth and could look to swap Hawes for multiple assets.
The San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets should be certain teams, among others, that will express interest in Hawes in the coming weeks.
The Spurs have recently lost Tiago Splitter to an injury, and they are a team that would be a nice fit for Hawes. The Sixers could look to deal Hawes to San Antonio, but there should be some other Western Conference teams interested.
The Houston Rockets are a team that could also work out well for Hawes and should come calling. Houston has to trade their backup center Omer Asik, but Asik to the 76ers would not make sense. If Houston and the Sixers can find a third team to get involved in a deal, Spencer Hawes could find his way to Houston.
76ers Finish in Last Place
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The battle for last place in the Atlantic should come down to the wire, but the 76ers should edge out the Boston Celtics for worst team in the worst division.
Assuming Rondo comes back and stays with the Celtics, it should be no surprise that the Sixers end up in last. Philadelphia is currently 12-23, a half game behind the Celtics.
Although Boston has looked extremely bad lately, going 1-9 in their last 10 games, they will end above the 76ers.
Philadelphia currently has the worst defense in the league, by far. The Sixers are allowing 111.1 points per game as a team, which is six points more than any other team.
Their awful defense is a major concern, of course, and that is going to allow them to finish with a bottom three record in the entire league.
Their terrible season should definitely get them a top-five draft pick. So while this year is not going to be good, how about a 2014-15 lineup featuring MCW, Evan Turner, Jabari Parker, Thaddeus Young and Nerlens Noel? That would be fun to watch. That’s assuming they hang on to Turner and Young, though.
Raptors Miss Playoffs
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The Raptors have been one of the hottest teams in the league, so predicting them to miss the playoffs may seem a bit off base, but don’t be surprised when they do just that.
The Raptors will cool off very soon and their 3.5 game division lead will disappear, which will lead Ujiri and the Raptors organization to give up on this season.
Toronto have some very good young talent with guys like DeMar DeRozan, 24, Terrence Ross, 22, and Jonas Valanciunas, who is just 21.
Sooner rather than later, the Raptors will blow it up and I believe they should look to deal everyone except the three mentioned above.
Kyle Lowry has been great in the past few weeks and really all season, which is why the Raptors should trade him now. Lowry’s value is at his highest right now and with his contract expiring, it is doubtful the Raptors will keep him anyway.
As mentioned earlier, the Raptors will make multiple trades, it won’t just be Lowry.
Toronto is a good team; they will be a solid team in years to come. However, once they blow it up this year, which they will, the Raptors will fall out of the playoff picture.
Ujiri is too smart not to make some drastic changes to this team, and he’ll show that soon enough.
Knicks Win Division
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The New York Knicks have won four out of five games, with all five of those games coming against teams contending for a playoff spot.
The Knicks started 2014 with a 105-101 win over the Spurs, which was followed up by a heartbreaking two-point loss to the Rockets (thanks J.R.). After the tough loss, however, the Knicks have responded with three straight wins over the Mavericks, Pistons and Heat.
On this little streak they have been on, the best development has been the return of Iman Shumpert. Shumpert was having an abysmal season and was on a streak where he basically could not hit a shot.
In the Knicks’ five games in 2014, Shumpert has scored 79 points. Meanwhile in the entire month of December—15 games—Shumpert had just 76 points.
Shumpert does not need to score to be an effective player; he is a very good defender and is a good rebounder for a guard. While he doesn’t have to score to be good, the Knicks need him to score or at least be a threat to score for them to be good.
In these last five games Shumpert has shot 60 percent from deep, which is something the Knicks desperately needed. With Shumpert heating up, the Knicks look to be in good shape right now.
Carmelo Anthony will of course need to continue his high-level play if the Knicks want any chance of winning this division, but he should do just that. Shumpert and Chandler will be the other big keys to the Knicks being able to win this division, and if J.R. can start playing like the J.R. from last year, that would really help.
The Knicks are 13-22 and are 4.5 games out of the division. The Atlantic Division should eventually come down to the Knicks and Nets, which is starting to seem more realistic every day.
Due to the absence of Brook Lopez, the uncertainty surrounding Deron Williams’ ankle and the age of the rest of the Nets team, the Knicks will be able to beat out the Nets for the division crown.
It may not be pretty, but the Knicks will end at the top of this division.
Knicks and Nets Make Playoffs
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The East stinks. It really, really stinks. The top eight teams in the Western Conference would all be at least the three seed in the Eastern Conference, which shows just how uneven the conferences are.
To further prove that the East stinks, they are 61-121 against the Western Conference this year. The only two teams who even have a winning record against the West are the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers.
Within the Eastern Conference, there is another thing that is also terrible and that is the Atlantic Division. The Atlantic is bad and currently has zero teams with a winning record.
The Central Division is also really bad, but thanks to the Pacers, they are far superior to the Atlantic.
Since the Atlantic is so bad, the Knicks and Nets both have a very good chance to win their division and have an even better chance of making the playoffs.
If the season were to end today the streaking Nets would be the No. 8 seed and would have to face Indiana in the first round. The Knicks would be on the outside looking in, but are just one game out of that playoff spot.
With both teams playing good basketball as of late, it looks obvious that they will make the playoffs. Since the Knicks will win the division, they will have the home court advantage in the first round, the Nets, however, will have to travel on the road come playoff time.
Nets Lose, Knicks Advance
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If I were forced to pick the eight Eastern Conference playoff teams today I would go: Pacers, Heat, Knicks, Hawks, Wizards, Pistons, Nets, Cavaliers, in that order.
This seeding order would have the Nets taking on the Heat and the Knicks hosting the Pistons.
The Nets would be clearly overmatched in this series, but there is no denying it would be interesting to watch. Since the Miami Heat became the Miami Heat that we all know now, the Heat and Celtics have had many great games and playoff series.
So, with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry now in Brooklyn, it would really be awesome to watch them face the Heat. The Nets have been very below average, and with the loss of Brook Lopez, I basically wrote them off as having any chance of making the playoffs.
Surprisingly, they have looked good since the calendar changed to 2014. Without Lopez and with Deron Williams struggling with his ankle injury, there is no way the Nets can get above a six seed in the East.
Due to their low seed, the Nets will have to face a tough team early on in these playoffs, and while they may steal a game or even maybe two, Brooklyn will not be able to keep up for a whole series.
While the Nets will be bounced after just one round, the other New York team will make it to the second round.
When you win your division in the NBA, you are guaranteed one of the top four seeds in the conference, which gives you home court advantage in the first round.
Thanks to their terrible division, and equally bad conference, the Knicks will be able to get at least the fourth spot in the playoffs and will take on either the Wizards or Pistons in the first round.
Both Detroit and Washington are good young teams, but the Knicks will be able to handle either of them in the first round of the playoffs.
The Atlantic Division has been bad and the current leader of the division will not even make the playoffs. They’ll be able to get one team into the second round, but don’t expect much more out of this division.
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