NBA Trade Rumors: How Eastern Conference Shakes out After Dwight Howard to Nets

If Dwight Howard goes to the Nets it will be the latest piece in the puzzle to restructuring the Eastern Conference. 

Over the last two years there has been a gradual shift with the Eastern Conference, who has long been the doormat for the Western Conference, emerging as the stronger of the two. Last year Miami and Chicago emerged as dominant teams. 

This year the two New York area teams took big steps at the deadline, and have taken, or are taking further steps to get even better. 

The Boston Celtics who dominated the conference two years ago are suddenly looking at being also-rans. 

Here are the up to date rankings of all 14 teams in the conference. 

Detroit Pistons

I'm sorry to inform you Piston fans but you are in for an absolutely miserable year. As a Bulls fan myself, I just want to say it couldn't happen to a nicer team! 

Kidding aside the reality is that last year the Pistons were bad enough and they have done nothing since. Apart from drafting Brandon Knight they didn't do anything to get better and having bought out Rip Hamilton and having lost Tracy McGrady, two things have happened to make them worse. 

This team simply doesn't really have a lot of NBA talent and should be the doormat of the Easter Conference this year. 

Charlotte Bobcats

The Charlotte Bobcats have taken the approach of "you have to get worse to get better." You really can't get much worse than them. You could make an argument that not a single player on the Bobcats would start on some other NBA teams. That's how bad it is. 

Kemba Walker is a nice player to start building your team around, but there's not a team around him really, just a bunch of guys that somehow landed in Charlotte. 

Toronto Raptors

Toronto is a team that was a long way from competitive last year and this year's selection of Jonas Valanciunas isn't going to make them any better. That's not a critique of Valanciunas, it's just that he's not going to actually be a Raptor yet. 

Toronto has a nice young player in DeMar Derozan, but they are more enamored with Andrea Bargnani which is something I don't understand for the life of me. 

Last year he had a .386 field goal percentage and a rebound percentage of 9.2, the ninth lowest by a seven footer in NBA history. What's the fascination with a seven footer that can't rebound or score inside?

Toronto will continue to try and win games with Bargnani as the go to guy, and that's why they'll continue to lose games. 

Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland was horrendous last year, and it was never more apparent how valuable LeBron James was until he left. 

Having said that you have to give Dan Gilbert some credit. He took a ridiculous situation and actually spun it around to where Cleveland can rebuild fairly quickly. How brilliant was Gilbert? He took Baron Davis in a trade and got the better end of the deal. 

Adding Kylie Irving and Tristan Thompson to the team should be a big help. The team should jell, and while this year won't be a playoff run, it'll be better than last. The Cavs could realistically win 15-17 games this year, which would translate to 18-20 in an 82 game season. 

Washington Wizards

The Wizards have a nice young nucleus in John Wall, JaVale McGee and Nick Young, as well as a surprisingly gifted player with star potential in Jordan Crawford who came over, almost as a throw in, in last year's Kirk Hinrich trade. 

This team was horrible on the road last year but was only a game under .500 at home. That tells me they just need seem growth and experience. Don't be surprised if the Wiz win 30 of their 66 games this year. 

Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks had a nice run to get to the postseason and the "Fear the Deer" slogan was all the rage. Then last year the team's training unit looked more like a M.A.S.H. unit. The Bucks season was a horrible experience. 

The most starts they had by any player was John Salmons' 70, and the next most was Andrew Bogut's 65. It was just not a way to cast fear. 

Doe!

The Bucks will be better this year for no other reason than they are better. All they have to do is avoid the injury bug. Adding Stephen Jackson and Mike Dunleavy should also help. 

Orlando Magic

If the Orlando Magic work this trade they could still have a pretty respectable starting five with Glen Davis and Brook Lopez manning the middle, supposedly Gerald Wallace at the small forward, Jason Richardson at the shooting guard and Jameer Nelson at the point guard. 

That's not a great starting five, and not good enough to contend for the best in the conference by an stretch, but it is good enough to press for the playoffs. Look for them and the Bucks to be in contention for the final playoff spot. 

Philadelphia 76ers

The 76ers showed tremendous improvement last year. In fact heir win total increase from 14 the year before was bested only by the Chicago Bulls. Elton Brand trimmed down and bought into Doug Collins' system. Andre Iguodala had his best defensive year yet. 

Philadelphia hasn't had any impact players so the question with them is can they improve more or has Collins already gotten the most out of them that he can?

Indiana Pacers

The Pacers are still in search of a shooting guard after trade talks with the Memphis Grizzlies fell apart. They did land power forward David West though. 

Frank Vogul took over as interim head coach last year and did a masterful job leading the Pacers into the postseason and then giving the top-seeded Bulls a run for their money. 

It remains to be seen if they can get someone for that shooting guard they are tying to land, but if they can get someone, look for the Pacers to position themselves to give a run for a home-seed in the first round of the playoffs. 

Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks finally got to the second round last year after they beat Orlando. Then they hit Chicago and lost. The reality is that the core of this team is just not good enough to go further than the second round. Losing Jamal Crawford isn't going to help them get any better. 

Where they could get some help though is some improvement from their forward/center Al Horford who trained in the preseason with Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love and their trainer, Rob McClanaghan. 

Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics are a team that is getting older, and not like wine. The Celtics legacy is over. Frankly this might be too optimistic a placement for them but they are still going to be a great defensive team and that's enough for them to hold position. 

The fact is, though, that they are the NBA team most likely to have a dramatic fall of this year and worst case scenario for the Cs is missing the playoffs entirely. 

New York Knicks

The good news is the New York Knicks did what every fan hopes their team will do during the offseason, and that's improve their biggest weakness. Adding Tyson Chandler was a huge move for the New York Knicks and adds interior defense, which is what they sorely needed. 

The bad news is that they created another huge gaping hole in order to do it. The Knicks run a Mike D' Antoni offense, which has point guard as the most important piece and frankly, Mike Bibby and and Toney Douglas aren't the answer to it. 

There are rumors that Baron Davis will be amnestied, and if he is, that the Knicks can pick him up. If that comes to pass I'll move them up in the rankings but for now it's hard to see how a D' Antoni offense with no great ball handlers or passers is going to work. 

New Jersey Nets

Obviously this is dependent on the final specifics of the trade but it assumes primarily that Deron Williams, Hedo Turkoglu and Dwight Howard will play together. 

Williams is an outstanding pick-and-roll point guard and Howard is the best low post scorer in the NBA. Turkoglu gets his criticism, but he is still a good shooter from outside. That's going to spread the court for Williams and Howard to work their magic. 

This team will be a very good team, and with the right additions they will be elite. 

Chicago Bulls

If you read my Bulls stuff, you're shocked I didn't put the Bulls in first. I'm not unreasonable though. The Heat beat the Bulls last year in the Eastern Conference Finals, and until the season starts and the Bulls show something more, they belong here. 

There are some extremely positive things swinging in the Bulls direction though and foremost of those is the way Boozer appears to have resolved to get better. His showing up 20 pounds lighter shows that's not just talk. 

Additionally the Bulls look to be landing Richard Hamilton though that is a bit up in the air at the moment. Should that fail to happen it's reasonable to believe that they'll pursue Jamal Crawford.

The Bulls look to be strengthening the one weakness that doomed them last year and they could be moving over the Heat before the season is out, but not yet.  

Miami Heat

The Miami Heat and the big three added Shane Battier to the lineup. While Battier is a nice defensive player, I have to say, I'm not getting the signing. It's not like the Bulls were defensively challenged at the wings, so I'm not quite sure they addressed what they needed to. 

Don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't appreciate the value of Battier; I just question how much value he has to the Heat as compared to say—Samuel Dalembert—a player who could fill a weakness in the starting lineup. 

I just don't see Shane Battier being a difference maker in this lineup. The Heat now have their six biggest contracts tied up in the 2, 3 and 4 positions. Ignoring the two most important positions, the point guard and center baffles me. 

I leave open the possibility that the Heat believe that Mario Chalmers and Joel Anthony are the long term solutions but it seems to me that a higher priority than a backup small forward should have been a starter at one of those two positions. 

Still, for now they are the Eastern Conference Champions, James worked on his post game and Bosh bulked up. There are reasons to believe they'll get even better and for the time being, they are still the favorites not just to win the East but to win it all.