Does The NBA's Eastern Conference Have A Second Best Team?

Does The NBA's Eastern Conference Have A Second Best Team?

by Mark Vandeusen 3d ago




LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are heavy favorites to defend their Eastern Conference title.  In fact, according to VegasInsider.com, Cleveland’s odds to make the Finals are 1-3 (not 3-1, which are the Golden State Warriors‘ odds to repeat as West champs).

After the Cavs, who’s the second best team in the East?

The first 2015-16 edition of Marc Stein’s NBA power rankings for ESPN.com illustrates the great disparity between Cleveland and the rest of the conference.  The Cavs are No. 2 league-wide (after the Warriors), but the third through eighth spots all belong to Western Conference clubs.

Stein pegs the Atlanta Hawks No. 9 overall, second in the Eastern Conference.  Atlanta went 60-22 last year, but finished just 20-14 after taking everybody by surprise with 40-8 start.  This offseason the Hawks lost DeMarre Carroll, their defensive stopper and all-around glue guy.  A continued regression to the mean seems quite likely for a squad that landed two first-time All Stars (Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver) in 2014-15.

Could the Miami Heat rise up and challenge the Cavs?  They’re starting five of Goran Dragic, Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng, Chris Bosh and Hassan Whiteside has the potential to compete with anybody.  However, relying on Wade’s health (he hasn’t played 70 games since 2010-11) and Whiteside’s head may be too much to ask.

How about the Chicago Bulls?  It’s hard to envision Derrick Rose ever returning to his MVP form.  He’s suited up for only 100 regular season contests in four years and is now on the shelf again.  Rookie coach Fred Hoiberg is also a wild card.

The Washington Wizards won 46 games last season, but are now without veteran leader/clutch playoff performer Paul Pierce.

North of the border, the Toronto Raptors added Carroll to a 49-win club, but they also lost big man Amir Johnson to the Boston Celtics.  And speaking of the Celtics:

Tom Haberstroh ✔ @tomhaberstroh
Just finished up the Insider previews for Hornets and Celtics. Consider me sold that the C's are the Baby Hawks of 2015-16.
4:20 PM - 25 Sep 2015
 60 60 Retweets   74 74 favorites


Along with the Milwaukee Bucks, those seven teams occupy the ninth through 15th positions in Stein’s rankings.  With a healthy Paul George, the Indiana Pacers should be in the mix as well.

Can any of these clubs stake a definitive claim to being No. 2 in the East?

Chicago, Miami and Atlanta are the front runners, but each would need a variety of things to break the right way in order to get there.  A betting man might be wise to wager on the field of the other five teams mentioned, rather than pick any of those three.

To answer the question posed in the title, no.



bob



.

The Hawks surprised everyone last year. We'll see who this year's surprise team is.

The answer to the question is self-evident. Of course there is a 2nd best team.

My take

Atlanta lost the versatile Carroll  but they also should have a healthy Sefolosa coming back.  The Hawks really missed Sefolosa's defense and all around play during the 2nd half of the season and during the playoffs. Carroll could stretch the floor but the trade that brought Tim  Hardaway Jr should help.

Plus Atlanta addressed their biggest weakness (Size) by trading for Tiago Splitter.  Atlanta remains the best team in the NBA that does not have a superstar.  Atlanta plays Spurs type basketball.  Slotting them so low in the pre-season rankings reflects an amazing level or ignorance.  I would suggest that they are the 2nd best team in the east and will challenge the Cavs for the top spot.

Chicago has a brand new coach so they are a question mark.  Chicago was never a great offensive team under Thib.  The wear and tear on both Gasol and Noah cannot be over looked.  The often injured Derrick Rose added more baggage to his trip by concerning himself with all the money being handed out.  The addition of Bobby Portis gives them some youth in the frontcourt.  They will remain a middle of the road team and therefore they are set up to be road kill.

The Heat have a healthy Bosh.  They have a very good starting 5.  They added Winslow but overall I do not see the depth for them to reach the top of the mountain.  They are still scoring in the mid 90's and that is not going to get it in this new high octane offense that is being embraced by the NBA.  In sum they will not be the 2nd best team.

The Bucks added Monroe so their interior scoring and rebounding should be better.  The problem with the Bucks is that they do not have enough defensive stoppers particularly in the backcourt.  On offense they do not have enough bigs that can stretch the floor.  They will compete all year but they look like a team that will finish around the middle of the pack.

The Raptors  can score but they lost Amir and with that a guy that has length.  Definitely not 2nd best

Wizards - no way no depth

Pacers added that strange looking dude, Monte Ellis.  The only was they get to # 2 is if they scare the bejesus out of the other teams.  Overall the team lacks a cohesive defensive scheme and George is now listed as a PF on the depth chart and does not like it.  So they will squander the first half of the season trying to fit that square beg in a round hole and then struggle to make the cut.

Crooklyn  sucks.  What more is there to say?  We need them to be horrible and they will be.

Boston  figured I would save the best for last.  I am picking the Celtics to challenge for # 1 in the east.  They do not have the level of pure talent that the Cavs have but they have a better coach and a better style that is more team oriented.  The  biggest weaknesses on this tem last year were controlling the defensive glass and defending the pick and role.  Lee will pound the glass for us and Amir will use his length and defensive skills to improve our pick and role defense.  On offense Boston will lead the league in FGA and I expect to see an improvement in 3 pt FG %.  Continuity is the key and I do not expect to see a zillion different players on the roster this year.  Teams that play well together are going to always be in the mix.  That is why I think both Boston and Atlanta will be very good teams.

dboss

Dboss.. There is a sat. And a Tuesday game in Atlanta where we can personally view those two possible second best teams playing each other this season.

Wanna catch one together?

Matty

You live in GA

Dboss

some good breakdowns here, but I do need to disagree on the Bulls with you dboss.

I do think they are the second best team the east this year and not middle of the pack.
as with all teams, barring injuries they have a likely rotation of:

J. Butler- 2600 Min (projected)
P. Gasol-2400 Min
J. Noah- 2400
D. Rose- 1600
T. Gibson- 2000
N. Mirotic- 1800
M. Dunleavy- 1400
K. Hinrich- 1400
A. Brooks- 1600
T. Snell- 1400

that's a very solid TEN man rotation, frankly. One that puts them over Atlanta IMO.


the new coach may even decide too play some of the young guys for a change as well.....D. McDermott and B. Portis are deep depth there at this point.

I see the Bulls as the second best in the east today.


Atlanta won't surprise anyone and I think they fall a bit, but they still have the look of the 50 win team to me.

I think we may be overlooking Toronto a bit also during the pre-season. Yes the lost Amir, but they added the following players:
B. Biyombo
L. Scola
D. Carroll
C. Joseph

Carroll and Joseph will be big additions for them.....they will compete for the fourth spot, IMO.

and so will the Celtics this year. we will compete with Toronto for the Atlantic title and the fourth spot in the East, I believe.

and IF Danny pulls of the trade that will come at some point, duting the season, we may rise a bit higher.

http://www.vegasinsider.com/nba/story.cfm/story/1690993

http://espn.go.com/chalk/story/_/id/13772067/nba-westgate-las-vegas-superbook-releases-2015-16-season-win-totals

http://www.foxsports.com/nba/story/los-angeles-lakers-miami-heat-golden-state-warriors-new-york-knicks-las-vegas-over-under-win-totals-2015-16-season-092915

http://www.si.com/nba/2015/07/16/nba-standings-predictions-hornets-thunder-celtics-blazers-mavericks

http://nba.nbcsports.com/2015/09/29/overunder-wins-for-every-nba-team/

http://nyloncalculus.com/2015/09/30/highly-plausible-nba-win-projections-2015-16/

http://linemakers.sportingnews.com/article/4647312-nba-odds-2016-championship-vegas-favorites-cavaliers-warriors-thunder-bulls-spurs-clippers

https://sports.bovada.lv/basketball/nba/futures-market-group