EAST is improving

As much as I want for this to happen, I have to say that every year it looks like this. But then the season starts and a bunch of things happen like chemistry issues, injuries, aging, young studs not being as good as supposed to, ect.

Let me do a version of last year:

1. You have Miami who just came off a 27 win streak season and championship

2. Young pacers almost took Miami out with the next NBA superstar Paul George, and a young Stephenson

3. Chicago which did very good without rose is now getting him back finally.

4. New York, which was seeded #2 last year while also getting Bargnani

5. Brooklyn which will now have winners Pierce and Garnett and Kirilenko to make one of the best starting 5’s.

6. Very young Cavs with almighty Irving, add to that the #1 pick.

7. Detroit with Drummond and Monroe, add to that Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings, should be real interesting.

8. Toronto Raptors young team filled with ambition and a whole year of Rudy Gay should get them in the playoffs.

9. Wizards may put it all together finally with a healthy John Wall, Brad beal nene and gortat. Add to that ‘the most NBA ready player’ #3 pick Otto Porter.

10. Don’t count out the Hawks who havent missed the playoffs in a while.

Teams like Charlotte and the Magic are doing good things with young players like MKG, Kemba and now Big Al, and Harris and Oladipo and Vucevic.

Only Milwaukee , 76ers and Celitcs look like they’ll tank and add talent

As much as I want for this to happen, I have to say that every year it looks like this. But then the season starts and a bunch of things happen like chemistry issues, injuries, aging, young studs not being as good as supposed to, ect.

Let me do a version of last year:

1. You have Miami who just came off a 27 win streak season and championship

2. Young pacers almost took Miami out with the next NBA superstar Paul George, and a young Stephenson

3. Chicago which did very good without rose is now getting him back finally.

4. New York, which was seeded #2 last year while also getting Bargnani

5. Brooklyn which will now have winners Pierce and Garnett and Kirilenko to make one of the best starting 5’s.

6. Very young Cavs with almighty Irving, add to that the #1 pick.

7. Detroit with Drummond and Monroe, add to that Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings, should be real interesting.

8. Toronto Raptors young team filled with ambition and a whole year of Rudy Gay should get them in the playoffs.

9. Wizards may put it all together finally with a healthy John Wall, Brad beal nene and gortat. Add to that ‘the most NBA ready player’ #3 pick Otto Porter.

10. Don’t count out the Hawks who havent missed the playoffs in a while.

Teams like Charlotte and the Magic are doing good things with young players like MKG, Kemba and now Big Al, and Harris and Oladipo and Vucevic.

Only Milwaukee , 76ers and Celitcs look like they’ll tank and add talent

 There is so much in the air, at this point I only see the East being weaker

 There is so much in the air, at this point I only see the East being weaker

 East is always strong on paper before the season starts…then it seems to go downhill. Just take last year for example. Knicks were projected to be in the playoffs again and young teams like CLE and DET were suppose to make a jump as well. Hell Milwaukee wasn’t projected to be as awful as they were before last seaon started. 

 East is always strong on paper before the season starts…then it seems to go downhill. Just take last year for example. Knicks were projected to be in the playoffs again and young teams like CLE and DET were suppose to make a jump as well. Hell Milwaukee wasn’t projected to be as awful as they were before last seaon started. 

Looking at free agency and cap space I can see the gap growing even wider between the West and the East. Several stars seem willing to go west (LeBron? Bosh? Anthony?), and several teams have cap space and are not affraid to use it. The Lakers for one have and will use their cap space, just like Houston and Dallas. Up-and-coming team Phoenix will sign their own FA (Bledsoe), but they still have the room to bring in another player (Monroe? Deng?) from the east, and even the Spurs have some room to bring in additional help. 

The Warriors have already brought in Livingston, and as the Clippers bring in Pierce the quality of the Nets’ roster has quickly deteriorated (especially when Garnett retires). Finally OKC is searching for a capable big man (Monroe?), and a solid player like Ariza has already indicated he wants to go west. The only player I can see going from west to east is Hayward actually.

So in conclusion, I wouldn’t say the east is improving, especially in comparison to how the west is reloading again. 

Looking at free agency and cap space I can see the gap growing even wider between the West and the East. Several stars seem willing to go west (LeBron? Bosh? Anthony?), and several teams have cap space and are not affraid to use it. The Lakers for one have and will use their cap space, just like Houston and Dallas. Up-and-coming team Phoenix will sign their own FA (Bledsoe), but they still have the room to bring in another player (Monroe? Deng?) from the east, and even the Spurs have some room to bring in additional help. 

The Warriors have already brought in Livingston, and as the Clippers bring in Pierce the quality of the Nets’ roster has quickly deteriorated (especially when Garnett retires). Finally OKC is searching for a capable big man (Monroe?), and a solid player like Ariza has already indicated he wants to go west. The only player I can see going from west to east is Hayward actually.

So in conclusion, I wouldn’t say the east is improving, especially in comparison to how the west is reloading again. 

 So far, the only evidence of an east team improving is Rose being healthy. The Heat will be lucky to be as good as they were last year, and Indiana will almost definitely be worse. Toronto will probably lose Vazquez. And the Knicks aren’t going to be good even with Melo. So no, the East isn’t getting better.

 So far, the only evidence of an east team improving is Rose being healthy. The Heat will be lucky to be as good as they were last year, and Indiana will almost definitely be worse. Toronto will probably lose Vazquez. And the Knicks aren’t going to be good even with Melo. So no, the East isn’t getting better.

It’s all an illusion bro! The East will be slightly better but there’s still a huge gap. There are really only 3 teams in the East that can compete with the West’s top 7 IMO

East:

Miami – As long as they all resign and add vets, the Heat will be contenders
Chicago – Healthy Rose + Defense + whoever we add (Mirotic? Melo???)
Indiana – Even if they don’t resign Lance, still a top team because of their Defense

And if you’re thinking OK what about Washington, Charlotte, or the Raptors?… 

Can you even compare those teams to…

Top West 7 Teams:

Spurs – will always be a top 3 team in the league as long as their core + Pop are around
OKC – always strong, even stronger if they add Gasol
Clippers – Same team essentially, adding big man depth will help them 
Rockets – with 1 year under their belt, Harden, Parsons (assuming he resigns), and Howard are only going to get better
Portland – Same team + Kaman
GSW – Same team + Livingston
Memphis – Just resigned Randolph, pretty much same team, defense will keep them up there

Wildcard Teams:

Dallas – Lost Calderon but gained Chandler. Should still be a good team with Monta handling PG
Suns – Young team that will have to prove they can continue success. Still waiting on what they do with Dragic and Bledsoe to determine 
Minnesota – Assuming Love stays for another year, maybe they gel this year and make a playoff push?
New Orleans – Healthy Jrue Holiday + another year of AD improving? Playoff push?

My point is that the West is still unproportionally stronger than the East. These West wildcard teams would NO DOUBT make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. Sure, the East added some top draft picks this year, but those teams are still 2-3 years away from being something (Cavs, Bucks, Magic…)

It’s all an illusion bro! The East will be slightly better but there’s still a huge gap. There are really only 3 teams in the East that can compete with the West’s top 7 IMO

East:

Miami – As long as they all resign and add vets, the Heat will be contenders
Chicago – Healthy Rose + Defense + whoever we add (Mirotic? Melo???)
Indiana – Even if they don’t resign Lance, still a top team because of their Defense

And if you’re thinking OK what about Washington, Charlotte, or the Raptors?… 

Can you even compare those teams to…

Top West 7 Teams:

Spurs – will always be a top 3 team in the league as long as their core + Pop are around
OKC – always strong, even stronger if they add Gasol
Clippers – Same team essentially, adding big man depth will help them 
Rockets – with 1 year under their belt, Harden, Parsons (assuming he resigns), and Howard are only going to get better
Portland – Same team + Kaman
GSW – Same team + Livingston
Memphis – Just resigned Randolph, pretty much same team, defense will keep them up there

Wildcard Teams:

Dallas – Lost Calderon but gained Chandler. Should still be a good team with Monta handling PG
Suns – Young team that will have to prove they can continue success. Still waiting on what they do with Dragic and Bledsoe to determine 
Minnesota – Assuming Love stays for another year, maybe they gel this year and make a playoff push?
New Orleans – Healthy Jrue Holiday + another year of AD improving? Playoff push?

My point is that the West is still unproportionally stronger than the East. These West wildcard teams would NO DOUBT make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. Sure, the East added some top draft picks this year, but those teams are still 2-3 years away from being something (Cavs, Bucks, Magic…)