2 (Maybe 3) Open seeds in the Eastern Conference next season?

Toronto and Washington, Detroit might be 9th or 10th

Toronto and Washington, Detroit might be 9th or 10th

Well i would have to say Toronto, Cleveland, Washington are all in the mix.

Well i would have to say Toronto, Cleveland, Washington are all in the mix.

Let’s wait to see how free agency pans out but I’m hoping to see Kyrie in his first playoff series.

Let’s wait to see how free agency pans out but I’m hoping to see Kyrie in his first playoff series.

i agree with Chilbert arenas because free agency will undoubtedly change this, but i really think that unless multiple eastern lottery teams hit the jackpot in the coming days that the wizards are as close to a lock for the playoffs, with the one caveat being that they’re healthy this year. wall and beal looked great together when they were on the court at the same time, but the problem was that was only for about a quarter of the year. porter fits perfectly and like i said if they’re healthy, and with nene that’s always an if, they have everything they should need to play .500 ball and make the playoffs.

as for the other spots, i think that toronto is also primed for big things as currently constructed. getting a cheaper shooter in novak who at least tries on defense despite his limited athleticism was a great move when getting rid of bargnani, and if they stay away from this silly bledsoe-for-derozan deal, i’m thinking they could be a .500 team too, and that’s all you need to be a playoff team in the east.

for the last spot, it’s quite murky because if cleveland is able to get a veteran small forward and mike brown can get the youngsters to play D, they have a shot. but unless both of those things happen i don’t think they’re going to do it until next year. if the bucks can bring back jennings and redick and another quality wing, i think they can actually be better without monta ellis. but, there’s a lot of “ifs” there so, again we’ll have to wait and see. my hometown pistons are rumored to be making some noise in free agency, but joe d needs to get it right here for them to have a shot…can’t have a repeat of ben gordon and villanueva. finally, the hawks sound like they’re not getting the d12/cp3 tandem they envisioned and my guess is they’ll join teams like boston, philadelphia, charlotte, phoenix in the race for wiggins/parker/randle, but they do have the flexibility to sign the right pieces and make another playoff run.

at the end of the day, i think the east has become heavy enough at the top and horrible enough at the bottom for their to be 5 50-win teams. as mentioned earlier, teams who know they have no shot will tank for one of the most promising drafts ever and there’s certainly room for some young teams to take a step this season…to be continued!

i agree with Chilbert arenas because free agency will undoubtedly change this, but i really think that unless multiple eastern lottery teams hit the jackpot in the coming days that the wizards are as close to a lock for the playoffs, with the one caveat being that they’re healthy this year. wall and beal looked great together when they were on the court at the same time, but the problem was that was only for about a quarter of the year. porter fits perfectly and like i said if they’re healthy, and with nene that’s always an if, they have everything they should need to play .500 ball and make the playoffs.

as for the other spots, i think that toronto is also primed for big things as currently constructed. getting a cheaper shooter in novak who at least tries on defense despite his limited athleticism was a great move when getting rid of bargnani, and if they stay away from this silly bledsoe-for-derozan deal, i’m thinking they could be a .500 team too, and that’s all you need to be a playoff team in the east.

for the last spot, it’s quite murky because if cleveland is able to get a veteran small forward and mike brown can get the youngsters to play D, they have a shot. but unless both of those things happen i don’t think they’re going to do it until next year. if the bucks can bring back jennings and redick and another quality wing, i think they can actually be better without monta ellis. but, there’s a lot of “ifs” there so, again we’ll have to wait and see. my hometown pistons are rumored to be making some noise in free agency, but joe d needs to get it right here for them to have a shot…can’t have a repeat of ben gordon and villanueva. finally, the hawks sound like they’re not getting the d12/cp3 tandem they envisioned and my guess is they’ll join teams like boston, philadelphia, charlotte, phoenix in the race for wiggins/parker/randle, but they do have the flexibility to sign the right pieces and make another playoff run.

at the end of the day, i think the east has become heavy enough at the top and horrible enough at the bottom for their to be 5 50-win teams. as mentioned earlier, teams who know they have no shot will tank for one of the most promising drafts ever and there’s certainly room for some young teams to take a step this season…to be continued!

We coming back to the playoff this year, have faith!

We coming back to the playoff this year, have faith!