Eastern Conference Rankings

With some of the major free agents signed and the draft completed, here’s how I see think in the Eastern Conference.

1. Orlando Magic
2. Washington Wizards
3. Boston Celtics
4. Cleveland Cavaliers
5. Toronto Raptors
6. Chicago Bulls
7. Atlanta Hawks
8. Detroit Pistons
9. Miami Heat
10 Charlotte Bobcats
11. Indiana Pacers
12. New York Knicks
13. Philadelphia 76ers
14. Milwaukee Bucks
15. New Jersey Nets

1. Orlando Magic- While some are dwelling on the departure of Hedo Turkoglu and Coutney Lee, the Magic have had a stellar off-season. They added Vince Carter. Jameer Nelson will be healthy. Brandon Bass and Matt Barnes provide additional depth from the bench. Lastly, Dwight Howard has improved every season, becoming a more complete player. The norm in the NBA is the team with the best big man wins the championship, with Michael Jordan being the aberration rather than the rule. This is Dwight Howard’s year to be the bets big man in the NBA, and the year for the Magic to remain atop the Eastern Conference during the regular season.

2. Washington Wizards. Yes, scream “homer” at me. The Wizards added two solid starter, Mike Miller and Randy Foye. The team is one of the deepest in the NBA. Gilbert Arenas appears healthy, as does Brendan Haywood, who is in a contract year. The Wizards also will benefit form the development of JaVale McGee, whose progress was noted by TEAM USA basketball. Lastly, I think Flip Saunders remains a vastly underrated coach who is exactly what this squad needs. The Wizards won’t scare anybody on defense, but they won’t be a complete sieve, and on offense, they’ll be like the Phoenix Suns before Steve Kerr killed the fun.

3. Boston Celtics- This is a team that is ripe for a disappointing season and possible implosion. Kevin Garnett is coming back from surgery. Rajon Rondo, who kept the Celtics alive in the playoffs, was hammered in the media by the GM Danny Ainge. Adding gasoline to the team chemistry fire, the Celtics added Rasheed Wallace. The biggest problem for the Celtics is that nobody has discovered the fountain of youth.

4. Cleveland Cavaliers- While I think the Celtics made questionable moves, I think the Cavaliers really stunk up the joint this off-season. I have already written about how Shaq is a terrible defender. (Ask Mike Bibby’s agent how good Shaq’s pick and roll defense is. He’ll answer you from the swimming pool of money he earned). They overpaid for Anderson Varejao. Next season, the Cavaliers will have over half of the team’s salaries to Varejao, Shaq, and Z. They added Anthony Parker, but their perimeter depth is still highly questionable.

5. Toronto Raptors- The Raptors had three big additions this off-season. First, Hedo Turkoglu, who they overpaid dramatically, but will provide some leadership on offense and will make a great tantem with Bosh on pick and rolls. Second, Jared Jack was added, who gives a great second ball hander to spell Jose Calederon. Third, they drafted Demarr DeRozen, a prospect with amazing potential. With these additional players, I believe the Raptors will return to upper echelon of the Eastern Conference.

6. Chicago Bulls- They may make a move to add Boozer or David Lee, which might change things a bit, but I like this Bulls team currently. Derrick Rose is entering his 2nd season after a monstrous rookie campaign. Luol Deng will be healthy again. Kirk Hinrch provides stability at a guard off the bench.

7. Atlanta Hawks- The Hawks remain a mystery to me. Enough talent to be a serious contender, but that talent never seem to manifest itself. With the improvements to the Wizards and Magic, the Hawks record will decline a bit from the intense divisional play.

8. Detroit Pistons- The “new look” Pistons should be a lot of fun to watch, however, there roster is a bit of a mess. Both of their draft picks are tweeners forwards- not enough bulk to play the 4, not enough perimeter skills to play the 3. Their top two players, Ben Gordon and Richard Hamilton, play the same position and serve the same function. While I’ll enjoy watching this Piston team a lot more than past Piston teams, I don’t think they’ll have the same success.

9. Miami Heat- Miami has done nothing this off-season while the other teams in the league have improved. Dwayne Wade is unhappy. Jermaine O’Neal can’t stay healthy. When O’Neal is out, Miami lacks a solid no. 2 scoring option. Last season, they overachieved. I think 9th is a more reasonable position given all the improvements in other teams.

10 Charlotte Bobcats- They were the no. 10 seat last year, ending the season 3-7. They should see some improvement from another year under Larry Brown, but the talent is still lacking. Tyson Chandler is a nice addition but not really an upgrade over Emeka Okafur. This is the same team that finished 10th last season and they have not done anything to keep up with any of the top tier teams.

11. Indiana Pacers- Danny Granger and a bunch of role players. The Pacers are full of players who do their jobs and just their job. There’s not a lot of upside to Roy Hibbert, Josh McRoberts, Travis Diener, or Tyler Hansbrough. This team also has three players from Duke, so I’m surprised as a Maryland alum, I can’t find a reason to put them lower.

12. Philadelphia 76ers- Eddie Jordan is an excellent coach for a rebuilding program. However, the loss of Andre Miller will be felt, since Jru Holiday is not ready to run the point and Louis Williams is a better fit at SG. I can’t see them making any major moves to fix this problem, because several of their players have really odorous contracts. Dalembert has two years and roughly 23 million left on his contract. Elton Brand has roughly four years and 64 million left on his deal.

13. New York Knicks- The Knicks are committed to clearing the mess off their balance sheet. Larry Hughes, Al Harrington, Cuttino Mobley, Darko Millic, and Chris Duhon, all have expiring contracts. The Knicks face a tricky situation with David Lee and Nate Robinson as restricted free agents. I don’t understand neglecting David Lee, who has played his heart out on losing teams. I would not be surprised to see another team make an aggressive move to land him. Nevertheless, this team isn’t assembled to win basketball games, but to fix a balance sheet. While I love Mike D’Antonni’s system, I don’t see this team reaching the playoffs in the East.

14. Milwaukee Bucks- I love Brandon Jennings. Not simply because he has a great last name, but because he had good summer league performance and seems to have that aggressive swagger that the Bucks never have. However, they let Charlie Villeneauva and Richard Jefferson go this off-season. They may even lose Ramon Sessions too. That’s just too much talent lost.

15. New Jersey Nets- The owner is dumping salary to sell the team. I think they’re getting a good young core, but Courtney Lee is not Vince Carter. This actually could be a blessing in disguise for the Nets. Adding Derrick Favors, projected to be the no. 2 pick overall by Draftexpress.com, would complete an amazing young core. Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Terrence Williams, Derrick Favors and Brook Lopez is a solid young line-up to develop. Besides dumping their best players, the Nets have also lost his assistant coaches as part of their salary purge. Less coaches plus less experienced players is a recipe for disaster.