Almost Hoop Time: East

Can't wait!  Chomping at the bit for the NBA season to begin.  D Rose is baaaack! Unreal, a few years ago he was a force in the league and seemed poised to lead his Bulls to many epic conference finals versus the Heat.  Russ, Kobe, and Rondo are still out for awhile with injury.  Howard is now on the Rockets, it will be interesting to see how that works out.  Can they make a leap into the Western Conference elite.

East
1. Miami- Wade has a strong year, proving all his critics wrong.
2a.- Indiana- The spotlight is on George, Hibbert, and Co.
2b- Chicago- Well coached but injury concerns being Roses Knee an Noah.
4. Brooklyn- Good on paper yet aging with a rookie coach.  Williams will not endear himself to the vets.
New York-  Could be a disaster?  Melo contract and poor defense.
Milwaukee- Deep team.  Breakout years for Knight.
Cleveland- Kyrie is the man.  Bynum works for his next payday.
Washington- Is Jon Wall ready?
Atlanta- Are Milsap and Horford something special?
Toronto- Will Jonas take a giant step forward?  Can Rudy Gay see?
Detroit- The new pieces, Smith and Jennings, are shiny but will it work.

After #4 in the East it should be a crapshoot.  Each team has the chance to surprise and pull it together for a playoff run.  Yet the chance for things bottoming out for a few of these teams is in play.  It should be very interesting to watch.  Cleveland, Washington, and Atlanta could all underwhelm and blow things up.  Cleveland wants to make a run at Lebron over the summer.  Washington is always plagued with injuries.  Dany Ferry is a dealer in Atlanta.  The Raptors new GM doesn't have his pieces in place yet  New York, Detroit, and Milwaukee are playoffs or bust teams with little flexibility.  Anything short of April ball will be a failure for these markets.

Tankers abound at the bottom of the pile in the East.  Philly is done before the first whistle.  A Rondo less Celtics team is almost unwatchable, save for the golden locks of Olynk.  Orlando has some talent in Vucevic, Harris, and Oladipo.  If the chips fall right for these in terms of draft picks, etc things could be looking up in a year or two.  The Charlotte team is unmentionable.  Dammit.  I did it.