NBA Preview Regular Season Edition: Eastern Conference Edition

We have just gone through the biggest offseason ever. There is no argument, this is accepted fact. Multiple All-Stars switched teams; six teams mutilated their roster in hopes of getting a single player; benches have been retooled; former journeymen are out of the league now. The league is a much different place than ever before.

This is one of the reasons it will be so difficult to forecast the league, but I will try for you anyway!

DIVISION PREVIEWS:

EAST

Central Division 

1. Chicago Bulls (50-32)

It will be a hard fight, but the Bulls will edge out the Bucks for the Central Division crown. While the Bulls win 50 games, I don't think this is anywhere close to their potential. This season will be absolutely plagued with injuries to major players. Even in the preseason, Boozer, Noah, Gibson, Korver, Watson and Brewer have missed games for reasons outside of their control.

I think that the Bulls are good enough that they can win with their reserves, so I still predict the first 50 win season for the Bulls since Jordan.

2. Milwaukee Bucks (48-34)

Here's the big question: are the Bucks for real? Last year "The Deer" were predicted to be one of the worst teams in the league. However, the Bucks really bought into Scott Skiles' defensive philosophy, along with buying into rookie point guard Brandon Jennings and Andrew Bogut's breakout year. They have also made some key pickups in the offseason including Corey Magette and Drew Gooden.

So why do I have the Bucks only improving incrementally? Because they picked up Corey Magette and Drew Gooden. Gooden and Magette are well known for being two players who haven't realized their full potential defensively, and these are projected to be two of their five starters. If two of your five starters are just going to get killed on defense, you can't expect to see the same defensive results that you expect out of a Scott Skiles team.

Therefore I put the Bucks as improving but not drastically.

3. Indiana Pacers (35-47)

The Pacers will be a team to watch this year. While they lost big white man Troy Murphy, they picked up a fantastic point guard in Darren Collison, added solid draft picks in Paul George and Lance Stephenson. Perhaps this is the year that Granger and Dunleavy will stay healthy. Maybe not, another year of improvement from Granger and Hibbert and increased point guard production from Collison will lead the Pacers to improve. Not quite a playoff team yet but moving in the right direction. 

4. Detroit Pistons (31-51)

The Pistons are a team in disarray. They have mediocre players on long term deals, a plethora of average guards, and their two best post players are a rookie and Ben Wallace.

However, the Pistons will still improve this year. Last year Ben Gordon's performance was awful and unacceptable, and all signs point to Gordon turning it around. With a legitimate 20 point scorer added to the mix, and Greg Monroe adding at least something to the frontcourt, the Pistons will win a few more games, but still be FAR behind the rest of the Central Division.

5. Cleveland Cavaliers (21-61)

The Cavaliers will win the award for biggest fall in wins since Jordan. This team was built to be role players around the alpha dog that was the self-proclaimed King. But now that alpha dog has become Mo Williams, and I think we can all agree the last one was better. As well the Cavs, like the Pistons, have even more mediocre and aged players on worse contracts. I think we will see just how good James (oops I said his name) really was in Cleveland, and the Cavs will go down 40 wins.

Atlantic Division

1. Boston Celtics (48-34)

The Celtics are the new Spurs. They can just ho-hum their way through the regular season but turn it on in the playoffs. The decrease in wins has to do with the injury to Kendrick Perkins. He's expected to be out for a chunk of the regular season, and the Celtics will struggle with interior defense, even with Garnett still there.

However, when the playoffs come around, the Celtics still will be contenders. This record has no indication of their ability to win the title, but this is how I think they will do in just the regular season.

2. New York (42-40)

Now obviously the Knicks didn't quite get their man, but got a very good man in Amar'e Stoudamire. They lost David Lee, but I was always in the camp that Lee got relatively empty stats. As well, they upgraded their point guard position from career backup Chris Duhon to Bobcats starter Raymond Felton. 

3. Philadelphia (38-44)

Philly's improvement has to do with two people: Evan Turner and Doug Collins. Turner was a legitimate contender to be the No.1 pick in the draft, but John Wall's physical skills were too much for the Wizards to pass up. He is a fantastic scorer that I would liken to Brandon Roy.

As well, Doug Collins is a very underrated coach who was unfairly fired going back to Chicago. The one problem is Turner's fit. Igoudala showed that he can be deadly when he's not the best player on the team during the FIBA World Championships. But he will need to learn to do that with the Sixers. As well, Turner likes to be a ball handler, and may clash with the style of Lou Williams.

But I still think that a team with such solid players will find ways to win somehow, but I still don't think they'll make the playoffs quite yet.

4. New Jersey Nets (37-45)

The Nets had a very underrated offseason and come into the season in a great position with a chip on their shoulder. They have a solid player manning each position, and I find it unlikely that Harris among others struggle with so many injuries. To top it off, Avery Johnson is a solid coach. If he can get away from trying to run the whole offense from the bench, he will make the Nets a team on the rise and an attractive place for a free agent this or next offseason. 

5. Toronto (17-65)

Toronto is awful. They have many below average players on above average deals, which is never a recipe for success. Their offense is average, and their defense will be absolutely awful this year. Their highest use post defenders will be Ed Davis and Andrea Bargnani. Davis never played up to his potential at UNC and Bargnani is a soft European jump shooter. They won't be worst in the league, but pretty close...

Southeast Division

1. Orlando Magic (60-22)

Why not? The Magic have the ultimate Heat stopper in Dwight Howard, numerous shooters and scorers to surround him, a solid offseason of post work from Howard, and a chip on their shoulder. If they won 59 last year, they should improve this year too. 

2. Miami Heat (55-27)

That's right, the highly heralded Miami Heat will not even win their division. Injuries are the name of the game. Just in the preseason we've seen James, Wade and Miller all go out. Bosh is also an injury risk, and the Heat's bigs are just awful. There's just no way that the Heat can stay healthy enough, especially to win 70 games, so just get that thought out of your head right now. 

3. Atlanta Hawks (47-35)

The Hawks are stuck. They have Joe Johnson locked in for a max contract and Jamal Crawford unhappy coming off the bench. Mike Bibby really is not adequate to be a starter anymore and Al Horford is up for an extension. To add to it all, the Hawks are slipping down the totem poll in the Eastern Conference and have no way to get better. Still a solid showing from the Hawks but they can't make the second round.

4. Charlotte Bobcats (41-41)

The Bobcats lost their starting point guard, but I'm a believer that D.J Augustin can keep things solid down in Charlotte. Gerald Wallace is still highly underrated; Jackson is still a good scorer. They can stay where they are, but Jordan will have to seriously take a look at the direction of this team this offseason.

5. Washington Wizards (34-48)

The Wizards be be at the bottom of one of the best divisions in basketball. Josh Howard should come back at least better than last year; Arenas is back (for now);Kirk Hinrich is the glue of course (coming from a cynical Bulls fan) and Blatche looked good in spurts last year.

Oh yeah, plus they got this guy named John Wall. While I don't think that he'll be as good as people say he will, he will at least add to this already solid team. The big problem will be post defense. Javale McGee is not quite what you're looking for in a starting center, but they'll get past it. The one thing I'm confused about is why they're spending $27 million in backup point guards this year, but I digress.

STANDINGS

1. Orlando Magic

2. Miami Heat

3. Chicago Bulls

4. Boston Celtics

5. Milwaukee Bucks

6. Atlanta Hawks

7. New York Knicks

8. Charlotte Bobcats