AtlanticWas the laighing stock of the year for the majority of last season and even previous seasons. Looks to me though that the division is headed uphill and in the right direction.Toronto is another year old and experienced. Can't deny them. They have added Kapono now as well.NJ is adding Krstic back, resigned Vince Carter and look to possibly regain that top spot.The Knicks added a 22 and 10 bigman. SHould be a huge increase in wins. If not no doubt they improved anyway in the right direction.Celtics added Ray Allen to go along with Pierce and Jefferson along with Rondo adding a year rof experience to his resume. Team should compete for a division and still has pieces to make other thing happen too.76ers will probably finish in last, so not a huge improvement happening here.Last year only 1 team in the division finished over .500. I think this year we will have 3 of them..with one finishing pretty close.Then you have the NorthwestUtah and Denver will be just as good next year if not better. Portland added Greg Oden and a few other nice rookies to go along with him. Seattle added Kevin Durant and Jeff Green. Both teams lost big players in Randolph and Ray Allen though. So will the wins be there yet?I dunno maybe I just wanted to ramble for a little bit. Which division do you guys think has or will improve the most?
Yeah, the Atlantic will be alot better next season...If the season started tomorrow, I would think the standings would be:RaptorsNetsCelticsKnicks76ersAlthough the top 4 would all challenge for playoff spots in my opinion...Those draft day trades saved the Atlantic
76ers might be last... but we'll be better than people think. I can see us winning 35+ next year...I'm not too optimistic about the Knicks though... don't know what everybody sees in them.
The Northwest did get better in this years draft, but they will not be better next season. yes Utah and Denver will be good, but Portland and Seattle are still a year or two away.
How can you not pick the Atlantic? No other division was bad enough last year to have that much room to improve. So far the most of the teams have improved themselves.
^Agreed, the Atlantic division improved the most, because the only way they could go was up, lol.No division has caught the Southwest, or probably not even the Central...
This is another topic that came too early, I think we should have topics like this in October, when training camp starts. It's too early and there is still a lot to happen.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (KCX @ Jul 2 2007, 02:44 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>whoa whoa, someone fill me in on korver going to toronto</div>Kapono is going to sign with Toronto... Korver is still with Philadelphia.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BottomOfDaMapTX @ Jul 2 2007, 02:51 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Anybody who says anything other than the Atlantic is nuts IMO.</div>For the short-term, yeah, the Atlantic improved the most so far bringing in Ray Allen and Zach Randolph, but for the long-term, I'd say definitely the Northwest. Obviously Portland and Seattle brought in 3 of the top 5 picks, Portland also picked up some steals later in the draft, and Minnesota brought in Corey Brewer. 4-5 years from now, that could be a star-studded division.
The Northwest Division improved the most longterm. Portland has pretty much punched their playoff ticket for the next 10 years. Seattle could be a hotbed in coming years. I'm not a big fan of the Knicks and that salary mess, a majority of their players have a lot of flaws. I think the Celtics, if healthy could rebound big-time, but it depends more on the growth of Jefferson and Rondo than anything.
Am I the only one who sees the Sonics struggling last year? Yeah, they got Durant...But he's not Jesus. He's going to be a rookie, and although he's likely going to average in the 20's in points, everyone hits the rookie wall. And with Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis leaving, the captain of the team will be a rookie. The scoring load will be dumped on him, and he can't fulfill those absences in his rookie season. They're going to be a worse on offense, and the defense still isn't there. And they still have no big men who can put the ball in the basket...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CB4AllStar @ Jul 2 2007, 11:46 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Am I the only one who sees the Sonics struggling last year? Yeah, they got Durant...But he's not Jesus. He's going to be a rookie, and although he's likely going to average in the 20's in points, everyone hits the rookie wall. And with Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis leaving, the captain of the team will be a rookie. The scoring load will be dumped on him, and he can't fulfill those absences in his rookie season. They're going to be a worse on offense, and the defense still isn't there. And they still have no big men who can put the ball in the basket...</div> I see them being a very below-average team next year, assuming Rashard Lewis isn't coming back. I don't think anyone thinks the Sonics will be a playoff team with that roster. I think it's more of a future thing with them, the Sonics, if they don't resign Lewis, will have a ton of future cap room....It's a great start with Durant and Green but they are a ways away.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BrewCityBuck @ Jul 2 2007, 01:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I see them being a very below-average team next year, assuming Rashard Lewis isn't coming back. I don't think anyone thinks the Sonics will be a playoff team with that roster. I think it's more of a future thing with them, the Sonics, if they don't resign Lewis, will have a ton of future cap room....It's a great start with Durant and Green but they are a ways away.</div>There is 0% of Rashard Lewis resigning considering they now have Wally (not even going to attempt to spell his last name), Kevin Durant, Jeff Green (still don't understand this at all), and Damien Wilkins, who I think is a very nice offensive player off the bench.
