Eastern Conference Preview

by Jeff Laboon

Let's cut the foreplay and get right into EP's 2010/11 Eastern Conference Preview.

1. The New World Order/Miami Heat
General manager Pat Riley had a coup this off-season with the signings of SF LeBron James and PF Chris Bosh. The Heat were already dangerous with Dwayne Wade but now they are scary. And, after about 3 months, the arguments against the NWO have finally become trite and stupid:

1.The Heat have depth. Pretty good depth actually. The team has Carlos Arroyo, Eddie House, Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem, Zyndrunas Ilgauskas, and Dexter Pittman coming off the bench.

2.Mario Chalmers is not the best point guard in the league, but he will certainly not hold the Heat back. Chalmers’ numbers should skyrocket with so many prolific scorers.

3.Chris Bosh is an undersized center. That is why he will play power forward and Udonis Haslem will come off the bench.

(LeBron, Wade, and Bosh join the NWO.)

2. Orlando Magic
Whatever improvements the Magic made will pale in comparison to the NWO’s off-season, but Orlando did pick up PG Chris Duhon to back up Jameer Nelson and retained SG JJ Redick. The depth is still there. With nightly double-double threat Dwight Howard, the Magic should be one of the NWO’s biggest threats in the league.

3. Boston Celtics
The defending Eastern Conference champions are still in a league of their own in the Atlantic Division. The Celtics added depth with Delonte West and centers Jermaine O’Neal and Shaquille O’Neal. The "big shamrock" is getting far too much media attention since joining the Celtics, but he is certainly an upgrade over Rasheed Wallace.

The Celtics may have picked up the steal of the 2010 NBA Draft in SG Avery Bradley from Texas. ESPNU ranked Bradley first overall in their 2009 high school rankings. Though Bradley struggled in his first and only season at Texas, he has all of the tools to be a premier shooting guard in the league, or at least a solid number two for Paul Pierce.

(Pierce with the right hand.)

4. Chicago Bulls
After two consecutive seasons of first round playoff exits, the Bulls look to finally break through to the next round. The addition of PF Carlos Boozer this offseason may just push the Bulls to that next level. Boozer and Joakim Noah will make a dominant duo in the paint. The biggest weak spot for this team is shooting guard. Ronnie Brewer is struggling with the system, so he may be bumped by Keith Bogans for the first few weeks of the season. Regardless, the Bulls still have PG Derrick Rose, who led all point guards with 20.8 points per game last season.

5. Milwaukee Bucks
Fear the Deer. No seriously. The Bucks pushed the Atlanta Hawks to seven games in last season’s playoffs and will look to prove that it was not a mistake. Center Andrew Bogut dominated the position last season and showed why the Bucks picked him first overall in 2005. An elbow injury, though, shortened his season and kept him out of the playoffs. Newly acquired PF Drew Gooden should help in the paint until Bogut returns to form. Plus, the Bucks always have injury-prone/sharpshooter Michael Redd chilling on the bench just in case.


(The rookie Jennings had a 55 point game last season against Golden State.)

6. Atlanta Hawks
If last season’s postseason was any indication, the Hawks are years away from the finals. The Hawks struggled with the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round–despite an injury to Bucks’ center Andrew Bogut–and were swept in epic proportions by the Magic in the second round. The Hawks only improvement this off-season is age. Atlanta will be one year older and hopefully a little wiser. They will still be one of the East’s elite teams, but that doesn’t get you far past the first round.

7. New York Knicks
The New York Knicks made lemons out of lemonade this offseason. The signings of Amar’e Stoudemire and Raymond Felton and acquisitions of Ronny Turiaf, Kelenna Azubuike, and Anthony Rudolph saved the offseason for the franchise that built their entire payroll assuming that LeBron James or Dwayne Wade would come. Sadly, Knick fans now assume that the team will acquire Carmelo Anthony and/or Chris Paul. We aren’t shooting down the prospect here at EP, but we are thankful that the Knicks started to build a starting lineup that can compete.

8. Charlotte Bobcats
The Bobcats reached the playoffs for the first time in franchise history last season, but how will they follow it up? Raymond Felton will be missed, but DJ Augustin should prove to be a solid replacement once he becomes comfortable in the starting role. Small forward Gerald Wallace led Charlotte with 10 rebounds per game. EP doesn’t know if that speaks to Wallace’s skill or Charlotte’s weaknesses at PF and C.


(Get to know Gerald Wallace...who don't do the computer like that.)

9. Indiana Pacers
The Pacers are another team that can benefit greatly from a weak division. The team picked acquired Darren Collison from New Orleans over the off-season. Collison should be an upgrade from Earl Watson, who got most of the starts at point guard for Indiana. You can’t have a Pacers preview without SF Danny Granger, who seems to be one of the most overlooked superstars in the league. Granger was eighth in points per game last season and should be healthy for the season opener.

10. Detroit Pistons
The Pistons have so much talent, but it just doesn’t matter. Frankly, EP wishes someone would explain why the team signed SG Ben Gorden and PF Charlie Villanueva last offseason considering that the two started 33 games between them. Granted the two had their injuries last season, but they also make more than $17 million per year combined. That’s a lot of money sitting on the bench. The Pistons will live and die by their performances this season. Breakout years by Gordon and Villanueva can push the Pistons to the playoffs in a weak Central Division.


(A healthy Tracy McGrady could lead to huge things in Detroit.)

11. Cleveland Cavaliers
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. The Cavs will be without LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, Delonte West, and Zyndrunas Ilgauskas. Byron Scott has a huge challenge in front of him, but at least the team still has Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison.

12. Washington Wizards
Gilbert Arenas is back. EP just wishes he would be a little quieter. OK, maybe not. The Wizards fined Arenas $50,000 two weeks ago when he admitted that he faked an injury to get teammate Nick Young more playing time in a preseason game. It will be exciting to see Arenas interact with 2010 first overall draft pick John Wall. The Wizards will be missing C Brendan Haywood greatly, though. It will be a rough year in the paint for the Wizards.

(Classic Gilbert Arenas commercial for Adidas.)

13. Philadelphia 76ers
Two steps forward and one step back. The trade of Samuel Dalembert to the Sacramento Kings for young center Spencer Hawes and small forward Andres Nocioni should help the Sixers in the long-run (if Hawes pans out), but in the meantime, the team loses a rebounding machine. Second overall draft pick Evan Turner should put pressure on Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young early in the season and may just take the job away from Young if he gets enough minutes.

14. Toronto Raptors
At least the Cavaliers got something for LeBron James, even if it was just a bunch of draft picks. The Raptors got nothing. We mean nothing. Rough times for a Toronto fan. The Raptors hoped that the acquisition of Hedo Turkoglu last season would push them over the top in their weak division, but Turkoglu could not live up to his insane contract and the Raptors traded him to the Suns for Leandro Barbosa.

At least the Raptors have DeMar DeRozan. The 21-year-old SG from USC finished second to Nate Robinson in the 2010 Sprite Slam Dunk Competition and should get more minutes in his sophomore campaign.

15. New Jersey Nets
It’s easy to make jokes at New Jersey Nets’ owner Mikkhail Prokhorov and his claim that the Nets will win a championship within five years. Sure, the Nets roster is bare, but he wanted to make noise. If he didn’t show that he was committed to winning now, how would the Nets have signed anybody this off-season?

That being said, the Nets really didn’t sign anybody this off-season. The 12-70 team picked up Jordan Farmar, Ben Uzoh, Travis Outlaw, and Troy Murphy in addition to drafting the very talented Derrick Favors from Georgia Tech. With a healthy Devin Harris running point and an older Ben Lopez in the paint, the Nets will be better. A championship in five years? Maybe not. But a playoff appearance? Possible.


(The Nets have 99 problems and Jay-Z ain't one.)