OK, i started a topic like this before the draft and i thought it'd be interesting to see how draft and free agency changes things

1) Miami 56-26 taking it easy, shaq's on cruise control till playoffs again

2) Bulls 53-29 Wallace changes team's mentality, sweets not spectacular but surprising 10ppg down low off the bench provides enough to keep D's honest along with PJ Brown's 11ppg in AD role

3)Detroit 50-32 To be a running team or not to be? That is the question, it will take all season and they still won't know for sure, but they are flat out more talented than a lot of teams

4) Cleveland 48-34 Rounding out a suprising 3 team central division race that makes headlines all year. Without a better supporting cast cleveland will be stuck as a team with an uneven regular season but scary in the playoffs bc of LBJ

5) Washington 44-38 With their talent at three spots and no upgrades in sight they are stuck as the consistent 5 seed for the 3rd straight year while others move up and down

6) Orlando- 43-39 JJ isn't amazing, and he can't play D, but dwight howard is an all-star and even if tugolu comes back down to earth they have enough to get here with darco and jameer, look out for augistine to have quiet but solid rookie year

7) Milwaukee- 42-40 Villa is a nice piece, but he is still inconsistent, bogut has a nice year, mo williams is a solid pg but tj ford's leadership was underestimated

8) New Jersey 40-42 Jersey is getting old and still hasn't upgraded its frontcourt. SOMEONE from this division will get in, and its Jersey, with the worst record but still getting the 4 seed per the new rules

9) Atlanta 36-46 play well, as joe johnson seems more like a star with a more traditional team around him as opposed to the all 6'8 squad from the past, marvin williams doesnt do too much, and despite being in contention they fall off in the last two weeks of the season due to inexperience

10) Charlotte 34-48-Morrison is ROY just for giving them hope and averaging 14 ppg and 6 rpg

11) Toronto 33-49 Nice pieces, TJ ford plays with fire, but they still dont have a center and Bargs is still stuck getting abused on defense, lining up everywhere from the 3 to the 5

12) Indiana 33-49 BIG FALL for indy, who can't trade its pieces over the summer, bickering begins and roles are unclear, Big Bird trades like a baseball "seller" team at the deadline for contracts and picks

13) Boston- 32-50 Iverson trade doesnt happen and they have three different pgs start throughout year, decent first half but collapse after all star break

14) Philly 29-53 both weber and AI go down for significant injuries, team comes unglued

15) Knicks-26-56 Renaldo Balkman starts more than 10 games, yep. You heard it here first.

It's too early to tell IMHO. I'm going to wait until Free Agency is over.

Record-wise that might be the case, but the playoff seeds can't come out like that. The 3 seed has to come from the Atlantic Division.

New NBA rule starting next year is that three division winners are not top 3 seeds, but rather have to be somewhere in top 4, to eliminate dallas situation

though this still seems like a band aid on the problem, this is david stern's solution

therefore this year it would've been

San Antonio
Dallas
Phoenix
Denver

Detroit
Miami
Cleveland
New Jersey

Oh, missed that change. My bad. I like that move, San Antonio and Dallas in the 2nd round was pretty ridiculous.

Back to the original topic...

I'm not ready to put the Bulls that high yet for a few reasons:

1) I want to see if they make another move for a post scorer. That would help a lot.

2) I want to see if the other Eastern Conference teams do anything. A couple could really move up/solidify their position.

3) They lack a true go-to scorer. Generally teams don't do that well or go very far without one. Maybe it's Gordon, but he's not there yet.

4) They lack of a post scorer really hurts. If their best two players in the post are Wallace and Chandler, that's going to hurt the offense. That puts a lot of pressure on Gordon, Hinrich, Deng, and Nocioni to score, all of whom are a bit streaky.

Right now, I think they're in roughly the same place as Cleveland and Washington. Miami will definitely be the favorite with Wade and Shaq, and Detroit still has a lot of talent. Their offense will improve with McDyess starting instead of Wallace, though obviously their defense will suffer a bit. New Jersey is also still a threat, especially as Kristic continues to develop.

according to the people in detroit they think that they are screwed and will not be good for a while again.

http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?topic=538684

Indy needs to start making wholesale changes. Keep Jermaine and start anew. Yes, even get rid of my boy Spinsley.

East-not playoff seed, but standings...
1)Miami
2)Chicago
3)Cleveland
4)Detroit
5)Orlando
6)New Jersey
7)Washington
8)Milwaukee

Central is best division in basketball...

I disagree. They still have 4 above average starters, 3 of which were in the All-Star game last year.

I don't get the point of that link at all. It looks like one Nets' fan trying to start spiff, and 3 other guys calling him a moron.

1) Miami 57-25 *Best Player, Dwayne Wade 28 ppg 6 rpg 6 apg 1 bpg MVP
2) Chicago 54-28 *Best Player, Luol Deng 16 ppg 8 rpg 2 apg
3) Cleveland 51-31 *Best Player, Lebron James 32.1 ppg 7 rpg 5 apg
4) Detroit 47-35 *Best Player, Chauncey Billups 21 ppg 7 apg 4 rpg
5) Bucks 45-37 (Holds Tiebreaker) *Best Player, Michael Redd 27 ppg 4 rpg 3 apg
6) NewJersey 45-37 *Best Player, Vince Carter 28 ppg 4 rpg 2 apg
7) Washington 42-40 *Best Player, Gilbert Arenas 24 ppg 6 apg 4 rpg
8) Orlando- 40-42 *Best Player Dwight Howard 16 ppg 13.5 rpg 2 bpg

9) Indiana 36-46 *Best Player Jermaine Oneal 21 ppg 7 rpg 1 bpg
10) Phily 33-49 *Best Player Allen Iverson 31 ppg 6 apg 2 steals pg

EC Playoffs: Round 1 matchups and predictions.

1) Miami............... Miami wins (4-0) Shaq- 20 ppg 12 rpg 3 bpg
8) Washington.......

4) Detroit.............
5) Bucks.............. Milwaukee wins (4-3) CV 21 ppg 10 rpg 1 bpg

3) Cleveland......... Cleveland wins (4-2) LB23 34 ppg 7 rpg 7 apg
6) NewJersey........

2) Chicago............. Chicago wins (4-1) BG7 23 ppg 3 rpg 4 apg
7) Washington ..............

EC Playoffs: Round 2 (Quarter Finals) matchups and predictions.

1) Miami.......... Miami wins (4-2) D-Wade 27 ppg 4 rpg 7 apg
5) Bucks..........

2) Chicago...... Chicago wins (4-3) Ben Wallace 12 ppg 14 rpg 3 bpg
3) Cleveland...

EC Playoffs: Round 3 (Semi Finals) matchups and predictions.

1) Miami.........
2) Chicago...... Chicago wins (4-3) Kirk Hinrich 20 ppg 10 apg 3 steals pg

The Bulls go on to the NBA FINALS! But end up losing to Phoenix

Since when did Utah and New Orleans join the Eastern Conference?

not to be a jerk...but I think NO and Utah are in the west.

Lmao I totally had a couple brain farts.. Jesus, maybe I shouldnt have stayed up late last night

As of right now, here's how I would rank the teams. 3-5 are all very similar.

1) Miami. Wade and Shaq can carry them. Even if Shaq misses some time, they can coast for a while.

2) Detroit. I don't see much of a fall. Billups, Hamilton, Prince, and Rasheed are all still very good, and Mohammed and McDyess are both decent as well. If they can add a dangerous guard to come off the bench, they're still a pretty big threat. Defense will obviously slip a bit.

3) Cleveland. About a draw with the Bulls, but Lebron gives them the edge in my book. They can move up or down a bit depending on what happens, but as long as Lebron, Hughes and Ilgauskas are there, they won't fall far. Not very deep, Marshall and Gooden are the only other players I like.

4) Chicago. Solid but not stellar team. Short on post scoring, and no superstars. Highly dependent on perimeter scoring. Great depth.

5) New Jersey. 3 star players and a developing big man. Brutal depth however. They are in serious trouble if Kidd, Carter, Jefferson or Kristic gets hurt.

After that, it's a mess. I'm not even going to try to sort out the rest. This surprises me, but these might be my next two teams:

-Milwaukee. Redd and Simmons are solid and Bogut-Villanueva-Magloire gives them a surprisingly solid frontcourt. Williams has to hold up at the point, and I assume they'll try to deal Magloire.

-Atlanta. I like the Speedy Claxton addition a lot. PG was a big need. Joe Johnson has turned into a stud, Smith, Childress and Williams give them plenty of wing options even if Harrington goes, and they should be better inside after drafting Williams.

Detroit is not a #2 anymore no matter how you slice it. Ben Wallace was arguably there best player, without his defense and rebounding I dont see how Detroit would be a number 2 seed. At the highest a 3 but probably a 4.

Wallace was not their best player. He was their best defender and rebounder, but that's only part of the game. Considering that they were comfortably in first all year, that's still a bit of a drop. It's not like McDyess and Mohammed are total bums either, they can replace a lot of the rebounding and are bigger threats offensively.

Like I said, a team that has 4 above average starters, all of which can play at All-Star levels for long stretches, is going to be one of the best teams in the conference.

yep, right at the number 4 seed

I disagree with that, the 4 seed it too low. They're still going to be a very solid team. No other team can match the quality of their starters.

I think Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland can all pretty much be lumped into a generic spot with all 3 expecting to battle for the right to knock off the Heat in the East.

That's basically the case, but I'm just rating them based on what I think right now. Things can change based on how they perform once the season starts. Right now, Detroit has proven more and still has most of their veteran core, and the Cavs have Lebron. I'm not sold on the Bulls as a serious contender this season yet.

If we get Wilcox, I will change my tune and rank the Bulls as one of the 5 best teams in the NBA. (Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix, Miami and Chicago...in no particular order).

But I highly doubt that will happen.

I would agree with that, although it could depend on who we give up if it's a sign-and-trade. Wilcox would be a big boost as an athlete and a scorer.

IMO if Stoudemire is 100% the Suns can't be touched, at least on paper. They've got the 2-time defending MVP, a star big man in Stoudemire, an All-star forward in Marion, a rising star in Diaw, and several other dangerous players around them. Honestly, that's one of the most talented teams I've seen.

I agree to an extent. We need to prove ourselves first before we say were better than the Lebrons of the World and the Rasheed's of the world. But I tend to think we are better but lets wait and see.

I tend to agree with you on the Suns. If Amare can come back they will be very very dangerous. Plus they are so fun to watch. Got to give D'Antoni some major credit as well as Nash since he can take a good player and turn them into a star and take an average to mediocre guy and turn em into a good player.

I know it's early and most team's rosters aren't set, but right now. how do you see the ast shaping up?

here are my top 5 (in order)

Heat
Bulls
Pistons
Cavs
Nets.

Our division is niiice.

already have this thread

mods..........please merge

pistons are at the bottom of that list. followed by the nets then clevland and ofcourse at the top of the list us and the heat

sorry, didn't see the other thread. but mine's better.

there is already a thread about this.

but, here ya go...

Heat
Bulls
Cavs
Nets
Pistons

oh, and welsome to the boards.

what up cy?

Miami will win 57 games

Cavaliers will win 51 games

bulls will go 48-34... im calling it first. Mark it down...

Pistons will win 47 games.

Nets will win 44

I believe they're a 1 or 2 seed in the east

can't happen. the top 3 seeds are the division winners. therefore, if we are 2 cleveland can't be 3.

They Changed the rules this year man...

oh. my bad. i think that is a good rule change. that rule was ridiculous.

anyway, good predictions.

lol ya because last year Denver was ahead of Dallas last year even though Dallas won more games.. Its a good rule change.

Plus Denver was the 3 seed and didn't have home court in the 1st round.

It's still a bad rule, it's just less bad now.....

The new rule is that the division winners have to be seeded SOMEWHERE in the top four seeds based on record

So even though denver should have been like the 7th or 8th seed (can't remember) they would have just been the 4 seed in this new proposal and still not had Home court advantage

Bulls will go 82-0. Sweep every series in the playoffs and win it all.

I have a prediction if it is true that they changed the rule.


Chicago 54-28
Miami 52-30
Detroit 47-35
Cleveland 46-36
Orlando 46-36
Indiana 42-40
Washington 42-40
Charlotte/Milwaukee/New Jersey battle for the last spot. 40-42 Charlotte gets in.

*this ranking assumes we pick up Chris Wilcox. Otherwise Chicago drops to 2.

No team from the Atlantic makes it. Not even New Jersey. Charlotte with Okafor/May healthy and with Felton, Wallace and Morisson make the playoffs.

Wouldn't that be something.

Look at the rule again. A team from the Atlantic has to make it, and they'd be at least a 4 seed.

That doesn't work with the rule.

They didn't get rid of that division rule, they just changed it.

Instead of the division winners getting the top 3 seeds, they now have to be somewhere in the top 4. This doesn't change the fact that a lower seed (a 4-5 matchup in this case) could get home court advantage.

I feel like a broken record.

I dunno about you guys.... but im seeing a lot of people having the bulls win over 50... Ill tell u what, dont have ur hopes up so high. Bulls still have a lot of holes to fill up.

-Still dont have that All-star "go-to-guy"...
-Dont have a player that can consistently score in the paint.
-New players, and it might take time to gell, and take time for every1 to get used to eachother. and accept their roles.
-Players must prove that they can consistently get to the line.
-Many teams have gotten better over the offseason.

-All of these things are very important to winning alot of games. And yes, over 50 is a lot...

Wow, three of those points came right out of some of my posts.

No biggie. I agree, it's a little early to put them up that high. I'd like to see how our lineups and rotations work a bit before giving them home court through most of the playoffs.

They made the playoffs without a "go to guy"

So they don't get the number 3 the get at least a 4? Is that what I am understanding.

Either way I still think Charlotte has a chance to much improved. They finished strong last year finishing 15W vs 19L in their last 34 games. And that was without Okafor or Sean May. With those two healthy and with Morrison they could be on the verge of clim

There's a big difference between making the playoffs and getting the #2 seed.

Printing tickets for seed #2 already?