I think that tonight may potentially be the end of the Pistons dynasty and the beggining of a new look for the East. With Chauncey and CWebb being free agents you really don't know what lies ahead for this squad. The east has a couple teams that are falling apart and getting worse year by year, but at the same time they got squads who are just getting better and squads that you don't know how they will perform from year to year. The Sixers, Celtics, and Bucks all were potential playoff seeds this year however injuries ravaged them landing all the squads high picks. (Not neccesaraly as high as they woul've wanted though). I could see the Sixers making the playoffs as soon as next year but Boston and Milwuakee have some questions that need to be answered. With Billy Donovan as Orlando's new coach, an improving all-star, and a new second option coming in to replace Grant Hill the Magic could be headed for years of succes to come. The Charlotte Bobcats are showed shades of a potential playoff team near the end of the season. The Wiz aren't going to slow down with their perennial playoff appereances while they have 2 young all-stars. No doubt that the Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors shall continue to improve and become more and more dominant. New Jersey's future lies in the balance, it is very possible that one of the Nets big three will end up on a new team next season. With Kidd aging as well, this franchise is slowly dying. Miami will also have alot of questions that need to be answered. What will happen with Gary Payton and Alonzo Mourning? Will Shaq continue to be dominant? What will they do with all their free agents? How will Dwayne Wade react as many of his teammates retire or leave as time goes on?So my question for you is, how will the Eastern Conference look in the years to come? Who will surprise and who will fail to meet expectations?
The thing with the East is they are all young teams, I think it'll be fine in the future. Teams like Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Toronto, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Orlando, and Philly look to have nice futures ahead of them, and a couple of them (Cleveland, Chicago, Toronto) are competitive now. I think the East will gradually improve every year, but the Western Conference as a whole will be better for a while... especially with Oden/Durant.
I think NEXT year will be the low point for the east after this lotto occured, and after that things HAVE to improve for them.
Yeah next year is gonna be horrible unless someone like Kobe or KG comes to the East. Almost every team is very young or very old. Not to mention the star power is in the West, and that will continue with Durant/Oden. I mean, with all due respect, the fact that the Cavs are going to be in the Finals is pretty sad.
Pistons will be right back in the mix, and a strong competing team if we keep our core in tact. Everyone doubted us last year and we still came back strong.
I have my doubts that Billups will be running the point anywhere outside of Michigan next year. The Pistons will probably do everything in their power to keep him. They still would have possibly the best trio in the NBA with Prince, Hamilton, and Billups. If the Bulls get that inside threat, then they'll go deep into the playoffs next year and probably make it to the Finals. That's kind of a given as long as no big moves happen in Cleveland, Miami, or Detroit. If Miami does what is expected, the vets will be unloaded and they'll be in a rebuilding year so they'll be at a low next season. Cleveland probably won't go out and do anything significant with the success they had this year.I think we'll be seeing another year where the Pistons, Cavs, and Bulls battle it out for #1 in the East.
