2020 Eastern Conference

After completely nailing my predictions, as in getting everything wrong, I am back to try and get things a bit closer but still completely miss all my predictions and look like a fool. I will predict the regular season and talk through explaining my decisions. Hopefully, if these blogs do well then we can get the playoffs wrong again. 

1. Milwaukee Bucks 

2. Brooklyn Nets 

3.  Miami Heat     

4.  Boston Celtics

5. Philadelphia 76ers

6. Toronto Raptors

7. Atlanta Hawks 

8.  Indiana Pacers

9.  Washington Wizards

10. Orlando Magic 

11. Chicago Bulls 

12. Detroit Pistons 

13. Charlotte Hornets

14. New York Knicks  

15. Cleveland Cavaliers 

1. Milwaukee Bucks 

This is probably the easiest choice of the lot. This is a team who has finished comfortably first in the last two seasons and they improved their team by bringing in an all-defensive calibre player in J'rue Holiday and some good wing players in Torrey Craig and Bobby Portis. The real question is can this team and the supermax, 2 time MVP Giannis Antetkounmpo do what they do in the regular season in the playoffs.  With Bojan Bogdanovic I think they would be right with the Lakers with title favourites but I think for now they will fall short again but as the 1st seed in the East, you never know. 

2. Brooklyn Nets

KD and Kyrie with a very good supporting cast and that equals a 2nd seed in the playoffs for me. Admittedly this is hoping that KD can come close to his best after the long injury lay off after rupturing his Achilles tendon which for basketball players is the worst injury. At the moment, you still have Caris Lavert and Spencer Dinwiddie are good scorers but they both are constantly involved in trade rumors, but I am not a clairvoyant so I have to make predictions on what I see. Joe Harris is a lights out shooter and with good minutes at the 5 from Jarrett Allen and Deandre Jordan and Jeff Green never seems to age. Last season they made the playoffs without Durant and Irving for a lot of the season so 2 seems to be fair with the potential for a long playoff run. 

3. Miami Heat 

Miami are the beaten finalists and they're a young team so it should all be improvements from their young core. However, I do not like their moves this offseason and I think their team is weaker than last. Jae Crowder was great in the playoffs and he can pretty much guard all 5 positions and was great defending Giannis in the playoffs. Derrick Jones Jr was a good roleplayer for them and Solomon Hill gave them a few good minutes in the playoffs. Moe Harkless and Avery Bradley are not bad but the players they've lost are a big miss. If Bam, Herro, Nunn, and Duncan Robinson continue their development, this team will be a handful for a while. 

4. Boston Celtics 

Boston is another team I think got weaker in the offseason but their young core is still developing so a similar league position awaits. Jayson Tatum could be a bonafide MVP candidate if he carries on his form from 2020. Marcus Smart is an all defensive caliber player and Jaylen Brown is a great two-way guard. A trade for James Harden is also possible with the amount of young talent the Celtics have. The loss of Gordon Hayward weakens their team but allows trade with the trade exception. Tristan Thompson allows a better big man to help off the bench and Jeff Teague is a nice acquisition. 

5. Philadelphia 76ers 

Philadelphia is probably the team in the East who have made the most changes. Daryl Morey is in at GM and Doc Rivers has replaced Brett Brown. The question with the sixers still remains. Can Embiid and Simmons work on the same team? Trade rumors have been prominent and they will persist if the two players cannot figure this out. Adding shooting in Danny Green and Seth Curry will help both Embiid and Simmons but I am not sure. Regular season I think they will be fine but in the playoffs, I think we will see the issues. 

6. Toronto Raptors

As a Toronto fan, this really does hurt me. One of the best teams in the past decade, Raptors this offseason put all their chips on landing a major player in 2021 offseason. Fred Van Vleet signed which is huge, however the depatures of Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol to the Clippers and Lakers respectively were big players in the 2019 Championship. Aron Baynes and Alex Len are not bad but they are not on the same level as the other big men. Malachi Flynn looked very good in preseason and he has two of the best undersized point guards to learn from. The added note of playing in Tampa will cost the raptors even further but it should be a good season for the "north". 

7. Atlanta Hawks 

I like the moves that Atlanta have made this offseason. Gallinari and Bogdanovic add scoring and shooting while Kris Dunn and Rajon Rondo add defense and leadership to this already very good young core. The Hawks surely can only improve upon last season and Trae Young was an all starter last year and he will help lead this team and have guidance from both of the newly acquired guards. Clint Capela is a good acquistion. as well and will help this team and anchor them from the 5. 

8. Indiana Pacers 

Indiana have necessarily gotten worse but most teams around them have gotten better. Indiana seem stuck in a loop where they are a decent playoff team but they seem to be nothing more. TJ Warren was lights out in the bubble but can he keep that up, I think not. Oladipo does not look like the same player and his injury. Sabonis and Turner do not seem to be a good match on the floor so one of them may be traded elsewhere. Former Raptors assistant head coach Nate Bjorkgren may breathe life into this franchise but how far can they really go. 

Sorry for all the rest of the teams but this is too long already. Any team could force a trade and change this list but at the moment this is how I see it. Hope you all have a good Christmas and enjoy the NBA being back. 

And that is what Jenka has to say.