The Miami Heat shocked the world by acquiring the three prized free agents of this highly anticipated free agent class. By acquiring LeBron James and Chris Bosh, and resigning Dwyane Wade, the Heat become the immediate favorites to win the title.
While the Heat have a very good chance at winning the NBA title, it’s not going to be easy as they have teams in the west such as the Lakers, and Thunder. They can only worry about the teams in the west if they make it out of the east, and the teams that will be featured on this slideshow will make the Heat getting to the finals an extremely tough task.
5. New York Knicks
While the Knicks lost out in the LeBron James sweepstakes, they did improve the roster by acquiring star forward Amar’e Stoudemire. If healthy, Stoudemire will certainly flourish under Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni. D’Antoni turned Stoudemire from a 13 point scorer to a 20 point scorer. Stoudemire gives the Knicks a star who on any given night can lead a team.
Many would disagree but I prefer Stoudemire to Chris Bosh, Stoudemire is stronger, and more physical in the paint. I believe Stoudemire could match up well against Bosh.
The Knicks also have a young guard in Toney Douglas. Douglas is a great defender, with solid three point shooting range. The Knicks may have the best shooter in the league in Danilo Gallinari, the young Italian shot 38 percent from three in his first full season in the NBA. Gallinari will give the Heat trouble on the wings if the Heat decide to double Stoudemire in the paint.
The Knicks signed point guard Raymond Felton who is superior to Mario Chalmers. Felton showed the ability of running a team, averaging 13 points, 6 assists for his career.
Another thing to note is that the crowd at Madison Square Garden could certainly intimidate LeBron James just like the Celtics crowd did to James during the 2nd round of the playoffs. LeBron James will also get the Reggie Miller treatment when he visits New York. Talent wise the Knicks are certainly outmatched by the Heat, but they will challenge the Heat.
4. Boston Celtics
The Celtics were a game away from upsetting the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA finals last season; however this season their road to the finals gets much tougher due the fact that the Celtics didn’t make any big changes and other teams in the eastern conference did.
The Celtics did manage to keep their core intact, by resigning Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Despite the age of the big three, if Kevin Garnett can keep getting healthier, Paul Pierce keeps playing at a high level, Ray Allen can continue to knock down big shots, and Rajon Rondo continues to improve on his game, the Celtics are as big a threat to the Heat as anyone.
The Celtics have their core, but they do lack depth. Their bench is depleted due to the reported retirement of Rasheed Wallace, and guard Tony Allen resigning with the Memphis Grizzlies. They did draft guard Avery Bradley who some project as a Russell Westbrook type. Bradley is currently injured but he will be healthy for the start of the season. Bradley can bring some scoring punch off the bench, and despite being a rookie, Bradley is a lockdown defender.
The Celtics are also the team that knows LeBron James best, they shut him down for the most part during the second round of the playoffs, and James had one of his worst career games during game five of the second round against the Celtics. Much of that is to now Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau’s credit, but Doc Rivers knows how to expose James’s weaknesses.
If the Celtics can have their core healthy and playing at a high level, and they can keep playing defense at a high level, the Celtics could potentially upset the Heat in a seven game series just like they did to the Cavs last season.
2. Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic ended their season on a disappointing note as they were knocked out by the Celtics in six games. The Magic come into this season with virtually the same roster, with the minor addition of Quentin Richardson. The Magic also matched an offer made by the Bulls to guard JJ Redick.
Despite staying pat the Magic do have a squad that can take on the Miami Heat’s. Stan Van Gundy recently admitted the Heat were the early favorite to win the east, however he took some shots at the Heat saying Chris Bosh followed Dwyane Wade like a lapdog, and ripping LeBron James for his hour long special. I can sense a potential rivalry developing between the two teams of the sunshine state.
I expect that Dwight Howard will finally improve on his offensive game. Last season he averaged 18 points per game, which is a disappointment considering he averaged 20 plus points in the previous two seasons. I expect Howard could potentially set a new career high in his scoring average. His defense will likely remain excellent, and I fully expect him to ear defensive player of the year for a 3rd straight season.
The only problem with the Magic remains Vince Carter; I believe Carter is the weak link. During the playoffs Carter shot 40 percent from the field, and 23 percent from behind the arc. The Magic can contend with the Heat on Howard’s dominance alone, the Heat don’t have a force that can match Howard’s physicality, but Vince Carter isn’t getting it done for this Magic team.
The Magic could beat the Heat in a seven game series if Dwight Howard develops a true post game, the Heat don’t have anyone who can guard Howard. If Howard develops a true post game, the Magic can use Howard as a passer out of the post, and that would allow the Magic to do what they do best, shoot the three ball. A Heat Magic rivalry could develop, and it could be one of the best we have in the NBA.
1. Chicago Bulls
The Bulls were knocked out by LeBron’s Cavs in five games, however this season they’ll be a much tougher team for LeBron James and the Heat. The Bulls made a significant addition by adding forward Carlos Boozer. Boozer was signed to a five year, 80 million dollar contract.
A deal that made sense on both sides; Boozer is a great fit for a team that desperately needed frontcourt scoring. The Bulls got Boozer at a cheap price considering he didn’t get a 6th year, and he got 19 million less than Amar’e Stoudemire.
Boozer is exactly what the Bulls need to contend with the Heat, not only does he give the Bulls a low post scorer, something they’ve been lacking for years, but he gives Derrick Rose a pick and roll finisher. Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer ran the pick and roll last season under Jerry Sloan as well as any tandem in the league. Rose is on par with Deron Williams, so I expect that the Bulls will run the pick and roll the same way the Jazz ran it, and it will be just as productive.
I also expect Derrick Rose to take another step at becoming a top player in the NBA. During the LeBron sweepstakes many thought the Bulls would land LeBron James, and it would be a perfect fit. However adding LeBron James would limit Derrick Rose because James and Rose have a similar skill set and James would be the primary ball handler.
I do believe Rose will make enough improvements to his game in order to become the type of player that can lead a team to a title. Rose has been working hard this summer on developing an outside shot, which would really concern me if I were guarding him because he’s one of the best at going off the dribble, and taking it to the rim. If Rose were to develop a consistent outside shot, I think Rose would have a great chance at an MVP award, considering that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade will have to make certain sacrifices to their games that will prevent them from putting up the numbers required for an MVP award.
The Bulls also have some solid role players in Luol Deng, and Joakim Noah, the ultimate role player. Noah does the little things you need to win, he has great energy that rubs off on the other players, he’s a great defensive player, he does the dirty work down low, he’s the kind of player the Heat don’t have.
The Bulls also hired former Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau, many don’t know Thibodeau but he’s the coach who best knows how to stop LeBron James, he engineered the Celtics defensive scheme that allowed them to counter LeBron James.
The Bulls didn’t land the king, but they do have the best shot of any team in the eastern conference at dethroning the king.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
what about atlanta hawks. new york sucks, orlando and chicago will be the best matchup against miami and the only player boston has is rajon rando. paul pierce sucks.
What no Atlanta?
this is well thought out on paper. it will be interesting watching next season unfold in the east. Eye bleed Purple and Gold, Go Lakers.
@ nobody
you say why not atlanta right well for as much as the knicks supposely suck they beat atlanta 3x's last year with a sucky team whats gonna happen this year now that they have a much improved team, guess they'll sweep them this time, the teams mentioned above are more hungry then the hawks for many reasons but the key reason for the knicks and bulls would be that lebron played them and that will make them that much tougher towards miami, good luck with your hawks especially when they play them sucky knicks lol!
lol lol lol gooooooooo Knicks chew them like pop corn.<<<<<<<< Can they smell what the rock is cooking ? lol Anyway we knickobockers are blind to you haters, cant stop us you instigaters……
Ok so Bulls 1, Magic 2, Celts 4, Knicks 5. Uhh what happened to number 3? Oops.
New York Knicks….lmao; Where is the love for the Hawks?