Tristan Thompson returns as a righthanded player and growth should be expected from Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller, both of whom had solid rookie seasons. And that doesn’t even include Andrew Bynum, whose health obviously is an issue. “He’s probably going to be the key,” Anthony said.
Maybe to securing a higher seed. But the key to getting into the party is Kyrie Irving, a control-the-game player who has missed 38 games through his first two seasons. Brown has a pretty solid strategy here: Keep it close with his defense, then let Kyrie take over. But Irving has to play 75 games.
VERDICT: In. Irving will probably drop dead of exhaustion in the first round, but at least they will get a taste.
DETROIT PISTONS: In Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings, they certainly added some big names to their big tandem of Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond. But there are legitimate questions about whether all the pieces fit.
To get his best five on the floor, new coach Maurice Cheeks has to play Josh Smith at small forward, his least effective frontcourt position. He also has a handful of ball-stoppers with games better suited for isolation than ball and player movement alongside a new shoot-first point guard in Jennings.
Perhaps the savvy, positive influences of Cheeks and Chauncey Billups will be the best thing that ever happened to Jennings, who should get a professional education of how to play the point. But from here, it seems like the Pistons may still be one year away from truly maximizing what they have.
VERDICT: Out, butting getting closer. And another lottery pick (they owe one to Charlotte, but it is protected 1-8) wouldn’t be so bad.
MILWAUKEE BUCKS: There was some offseason grumbling from the fan base on two fronts. One was that owner Herb 
Kohl remains highly reluctant to blow it up and start over, instead insisting on putting a competitive product on the floor. The other was the Bucks overpaid for that product, and $40 million for three years of O.J. Mayo and Zaza Pachulia may seem like a bit much.
But how many teams can say they dumped their top two scorers and got better? Milwaukee now has two legitimate NBA players at each position. Furthermore, some of the pieces they have added – Caron Butler, Carlos Delfino, Gary Neal – have been around the NBA block a time or two and take their craft pretty seriously.
For the holdovers, new coach Larry Drew will be a welcome change from Scott Skiles. Drew will have to nurture erratic point guard Brandon Knight, and if Luke Ridnour is getting more of the minutes running the offense, that is a problem. There will be some nights where the ball doesn’t go in the hole, but overall the Bucks have more than all of the other East playoff hopefuls.
VERDICT: In, and maybe even with a higher seed than last season’s No. 8.
TORONTO RAPTORS: The starting five is Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Rudy Gay, Amir Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas, who might end up winning Most Improved Player. It’s a solid unit that can score, even if it can’t shoot very well. But the group also has a combined 31 playoff games and has a bunch of “my-turn” guys.
The bench is D.J. Augustin, Terrence Ross, Steve Novak, Landry Fields, Tyler Hansbrough and Aaron Gray, devoid of offense (other than Novak’s shooting) and athleticism (other than Ross). And coach Dwane Casey is on a one-year contract, which makes it hard to hold the players accountable.
I know there’s some talk north of the border that the Raptors could sneak into the postseason. I don’t see how. From a starters-to-bench standpoint, they look an awful lot like last season’s Portland Trail Blazers.
VERDICT: Out. And Casey will be out of a job, too.
WASHINGTON WIZARDS: There are expectations in the nation’s capital this season, not the least of which is coming from owner Ted Leonsis, who has a GM and coach in the final year of their contracts and has said he is “tired of losing.” But can the players meet those expectations and make the playoffs for the first time since 2008? “It’s put up or shut up,” Webber said.
John Wall was terrific after returning from injury last season but now has to live up to an $80 million contract. Bradley Beal is certainly the real deal. But he spent good chunks of his rookie campaign sidelined by injury, and there is not much behind him. Rookie Otto Porter’s best position is small forward, where veterans Trevor Ariza and Martell Webster are in front of him.
Add the offseason neck injury to Emeka Okafor, who is out indefinitely, and the expectations start to look very unrealistic.
VERDICT: Out, in this order – coach Randy Wittman in December, playoff contention in April, GM Ernie Grunfeld in May.
(RELATED: PRESEASON PLAYOFF PICTURE: WESTERN CONFERENCE)
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Chris Bernucca is a regular columnist and the managing editor of SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter.
Whoa. I think detroit is in without a doubt. And the bucks will be terrible
oh, and i agree the Wiz are sleepers. That backcourt is exceptional. But cleveland…….come on chris. Seriously? Bynum wont play, we know that. Bennet cant guard ANYONE. So you have irving, if healthy all year….And Anderson varejao…..and Thompson is solid, and undersized. But a nice player. You have no small foward at all, or two guard…unless you think Dion waiters qualifies and I dont. And you have mike brown. Remember mike….once coached the lakers for a while.
well, Id argue several things. First off……..can this tanking meme be put to bed. The worst team hasnt won the lottery in a while. There are a dozen very good players next year, and probably more like twenty who can be immediate starters. Im not sure there are franchise guys, but we;ll see . But teams dont win by practicing to lose. Boston wont do it. Ainge wont do it. And the celtics are being greatly undervalued right now. Same with Toronto. What can chris mean about this roster…..?? DeRozan, Valanciunus (break out year for sure),. Gay, Amir Johnson and kyle lowrey. With terrence ross on the bench, and psycho t. Thats actually a plenty good roster. Lets compare to the Knicks………..Melo…but then JR Smith….and what does that bring………?…….and shump….erratic at best…chandler is way past his prime…and then you have ray felton. Oh, and BARGNANI…..oh and amare, who cant play for more than five minutes. Its a terrible roster. Yes they win a few on Melo’s scoring. Thats it. Also, Detroit might well be a six or five seed. If drummond stays healthy and keeps improving, with monroe and jennings and Josh…man, that might be quite good. On the other hand, why so nice to the Bucks? Lose reddick (after throwing away tobias harris) and now you have the awful brandon knight….a rookie from greece who is some mass delusion if people think he can play yet……and sanders. Oh and illysova. Thats about it. Henson is a deeply flawed big man..and the rest is junk. So……i think chicago, miami and indiana are miles ahead of the rest. Miles and miles.
Steppxxxz, thanks for reading. I hate Toronto’s bench. I think it’s awful. And I think Brown will get the Cavs to play good team defense. Obviously Varejao and Irving both have to play 75 games and I don’t like their small forwards. I think they might play Irving, Jack and Waiters/Miles at the same time. I’m not sure what Boston is going to do. I think Rondo’s injury/return allows them to go in either
direction. But I am sure Philly is mailing it in. I think Detroit has too many chefs that will spoil the broth. We’ll see.
“There was some offseason grumbling from the fan base on two fronts. One was that owner Herb Kohl remains highly reluctant to blow it up and start over, instead insisting on putting a competitive product on the floor. The other was the Bucks overpaid for that product, and $40 million for three years of O.J. Mayo and Zaza Pachulia may seem like a bit much.”
I would alter this comment by saying this… “There was some grumbling from the fan base on several fronts. First was the horrific trade made during the season last year that saw a core building piece traded away for a rental player that didn’t do anything to improve the team’s destiny for finishing the regular season with the 8th seed and a 1st round playoff sweep. Second and third issues deal with owner Herb Kohl’s refusal to allow this team to sink or swim while maximizing the development of its young players with the silver lining being that if a bad season is the result then at least a high draft pick will be awarded from next years deeply talented draft. In more detail the third issue deals with the signing and trading for several elderly veteran players who’ll likely play a decent role for this team instead of allowing the young core to maximize their opportunities – Caron Bulter, Luke Ridnour, Carlos Delfino, and to a lesser extent Zaza Pachulia.”
I think many fans liked the signing of OJ.Mayo given his age and still existing potential, plus many are sort of uncertain of what to expect of the Gary Neal signing. Zaza at least provides the Bucks with a strong and hard nosed physical presence inside that L.Sanders and J.Henson, plus E.Udoh don’t really have the girth, strength, and mindset to provide; though, he did get overpaid to provide that.
IMO, the biggest problem the Bucks have is that nobody on the team can effectively create their own shot and the one or two players who might have the athletic explosiveness to break defenses down and create open opportunities for other teammates don’t have a propensity to do so. This is why I think the Bucks really needed to add a starting caliber guard such as Jeff Teague, Eric Bledsoe or Isaiah Thomas.
Only difference I have is Pistons in (easily) and Bucks out.
I don’t see the Knicks in the same class as the top 4 teams.
I doubt Heat will have the best record in East – Not enough motivation, because they know they can turn it on in post-season, if healthy.
Anyone who says they can predict order of finishing (regular season) between Pacers, Nets, Heat and Bulls is just interested in attention.
Boston could make moves that weaken team, short term.
Wiz could sneak in if health is good and bad for ATL or CLE.