Possible Changes to The Standings

The result of all the free agent movement as well as the influx of very talented draft picks will reshuffle the peaking order although the top teams will likely remain where they are.

In the West look for Minnesota to become a team that no one wants to play.  The addition of Butler, Taj Gibson and Jeff Teague bring veteran presence.  The Butler signing gives them a formidable big 3.  

Teams like the Clippers and the Jazz are very likely to see their ranking decline.  OKC should be better as should Houston.  Memphis may drop back  a bit unless the overpaid Parsons can stay healthy.

Portland is on the cusp of becoming a below .500 team.

Golden state should be as good if not better and the Spurs will be up there as well.

Houston will be bette but the clippers will drop back.

NOP is not going anywhere because of the Davis/Cousins combo.  I do not see that working but it may.  DA should make a run at Davis and offer up AH and Multiple picks to get him.

The Kings lost Rudy to the Spurs but they added solid veterans in Zach Randolph, George Hill and Vince Carter.  They also had a very productive draft adding Fox, Justin Jackson and to a lesser degree, Harry Giles.  They won 32 last year and could add another 8 or 9 games to that total.

The Lakers will also be much improved having added a legit big man as well as 2nd pick Ball.

In the East the team to watch is the Sixers.  Tank time is officially over.  If they can avoid the injury bug they are poised to put a very talented team on the court at every position and their rotation is not chopped liver.  They will be adding two # 1 # 1 picks and veterans like JJ Redick and Amir Johnson.

Cleveland will not be any better.  Toronto will be better with their lineup and Boston will be better once they work through the chemistry issues that always result from multiple changes.  Washington will also be a strong team.  

Chicago and Indiana drop back while Miami and the Bucks move up.  The Knicks will stink again and the Nets will not be the worst team in the league.

Two years from now the #1 rivalry in the East will be Boston and Philly.

dboss

The old Philadelphia/Boston rivalry will definitely be revived very soon. Those young draft picks are going to mature and if they keep signing decent vets to go along with them (by then Reddick should be well past his prime) And the Celtics hopefully will be blossoming into what Danny hopes they will. A couple more additions and. a few deletions, and there will be some tough, rough games between these two.

For those who remember, this was one of the biggest rivalries (Wilt was there and Russell just would not let him win!) Fun times ahead!!!

RosalieTCeltics wrote:The old Philadelphia/Boston rivalry will definitely be revived very soon. Those young draft picks are going to mature and if they keep signing decent vets to go along with them (by then Reddick should be well past his prime) And the Celtics hopefully will be blossoming into what Danny hopes they will. A couple more additions and. a few deletions, and there will be some tough, rough games between these two.

For those who remember, this was one of the biggest rivalries (Wilt was there and Russell just would not let him win!)  Fun times ahead!!!

No doubt Rosalie. Those Philly games were classic matchups. Do you think Hal Greer would get an offensive foul today for kicking his leg out?

Perhaps the most memorable play ever was when Havlicek stole the ball, April 15, 1965

yI remember how my heart sank after Russell hit the wire while triing to inbound the ball from the baseline.

Bill Russell throws the ball in-bounds over the outstretched hands of Chamberlain. But the ball hits the guide wire supporting the backboard and the 76ers get the ball. With a chance at victory, Hal Greer tosses the ball in play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4fTjcJwImw


dboss

I usually don't follow closely any team but the Celtics. This year may be different as I think Philly, Minnesota, Milwaukee and the Lakers could be interesting to watch.

I went to Philadelphia to watch the 7th game of the Eastern Division playoffs, Philadelphia vs Celtics, Russell's last year. They were not supposed to be there, what a feeling waitching them beat Phillie on their home court for the title, then on to LA. Unbelievable feeling.

Although the Lakers have signed a very good player in Caldwell-Pope, i don't think that they have enough to escape the bottom five in the league will then give us a lottery pick from the trade with Philly.

Not sure that there is a team in the western conference that the Lakers will win even one game against and those total games turn out to be about 65% of their 82 game schedule. The majority of the western teams could possibly sweep the Lakers.  The east appears to be weaker, but I doubt that they sweep teams like the Raptors, Washington, Cleveland, Miami, Philadelphia and Boston.

They could (and, I hope that do) only win 15-20 games which should keep them solidly in the bottom fifth of the league just when the Cs need them to be there.