With LeBron going back to Cleveland, Melo/Bosh re-signing with their respective teams and Gasol (most likely) heading to Chicago, who is the best team?
Cleveland but they have always had something go wrong. When it comes to sports the just have had such bad luck in the past. It'll be interesting.
I was thinking about this yesterday and I think Indiana is right now. Not sure what their chemistry problem is, but if they fix that they will be #1 in the east.
It depends on what happens with Lance Stephenson. The Pacers had the best point differential in the NBA when their starters played and an abysmal one when any other unit played...even four starters and one reserve. The Pacers' starting lineup was a machine finely tuned to play with each other and only with each other. Remove even one part and it broke down. Stephenson is one of those parts and Indiana will have a tough time bringing him back. If they lose him, I don't think they'll be as bad as they were last year when a starter sat, because they'll adjust their system a bit...but I think they'll drop down a reasonable amount. For now, I'll put Cleveland at the top with Indiana a possible contender if they can retain Stephenson. If the Cavs manage to add Love, though, I don't think Indiana compares even if they get Stephenson back.
You put any Western Conference playoff team against the best team out of the East, and the West wins.
Pretty much this. And Stephenson, from the sounds of it, is gonna get PAID by someone who loses out in free agency with big money. Even so, it's hard to bet against any team with LeBron. Truthfully, having a REAL PG (and a damn good one at that, Kyrie), might make LeBron an even better player than he already is, which is insane, by alleviating some PG duties from him. Also, Wiggins, Kyrie, LeBron are all VERY, VERY good defenders for the most part and so is a healthy Varejao.
Really? It's one thing to be a great college defender, but how do we know Wiggins is going to be a good NBA defender? That's awfully presumptuous for 0 minutes in the NBA to say he's a VERY VERY good defender like a Lebron.
With Gasol signing with the Bulls and Rose coming back healthy I'm putting the Bulls in the conversation as well as the Wizards. Really way too early to tell until rosters are complete though
I see the East shaping out this way: 1. Cleveland 2. Indiana 3. Chicago 4. Miami 5. Washington 6. Toronto 7. New York 8. Charlotte
I think Miami, Washington and Toronto could finish in any order among those three teams. Also, Chicago could rise to #2, or even #1, depending on Rose's health and assuming they get Gasol. But until I see Rose put in another big year, I'm not going to assume health or elite performance.
I agree, 4-6 will be a rotating door of those three teams. A healthy Rose could do a lot for the Bulls and I could see them as the 1 seed but in the playoffs I don't see them beating a team lead by LeBron or a battle tested unit like the Pacers. Also as great as Gasol is, he is injury prone at this point in his career.
