With the Cavaliers being the dominant team in the Eastern Conference, and another cluster of teams attempting to knock them off their perch atop the East, there remains a group of the less fortunate. That group is comprised of the perennial bottom feeders in the East, or the teams that recently took a hard dose of reality. Either way, this group will be in a dogfight with the New York Knicks for what could end up being the conference’s final spot in the postseason. Lets analyze how much of a threat each of these teams are to the Knicks playoff hopes.
Charlotte Hornets
Offseason: Added Roy Hibbert and Marco Belinelli. Drafted Malachi Richardson. Lost Al Jefferson, Courtney Lee and Jeremy Lin.
Threat Level: High. Slowly, the Hornets have transformed themselves into respectable professional basketball organization. In fact, they shocked many by finishing with a 48–34 record in 2016, which was a whisper away from the three seed in the East. However, it’s difficult to imagine how they’ve improved, unless you believe in addition by subtraction.
Jermey Lin’s presence in the backcourt meant two ball dominant point guards were attempting to run the show often at the same time. Getting out from under Al Jefferson’s contract and his slow-paced brand of ball will help the Hornets speed up the tempo. On paper this team doesn’t look that scary, but Steve Clifford is an underrated coach and Kemba Walker might be the most underrated player in the the league. Walker is a terrific floor general lost in a sea of amazing point guard play. But he’s proven he can get this team into the playoffs.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is back after missing most of last season with an injury. This will be a make or break season in Charlotte for MKG. Somebody needs to say this out loud: He’s never been that good of a player. However he is a tremendous defensive player— in a league were everyone is about “pace & space” and “3 & D“, having a 6’7” guy who can guard multiple positions well is invaluable.
In spite of the deep shame this franchise should feel from A) the HB2 fiasco which cost them the 2017 All-Star Game and B) Michael Jordan’s wardrobe, the Hornets should find themselves contending for a playoff spot yet again.
Milwaukee Bucks
Offseason: Added Matthew Dellavedova, Michael Beasley, Jason Terry and Mirza Teletović. Drafted Thon Maker. Traded for Tony Snell. Lost Michael Carter-Williams, O.J. Mayo and Jerryd Bayless.
Threat Level: Moderate. They’re not known as the most dangerous animal in the wild, but bucks are deceptively strong and fast and can most certainly make your day miserable if you are caught off guard by one (just ask this guy). The 2016-17 incarnation of the Milwaukee Bucks may be no different from their namesake. Milwaukee has compiled a roster of marginally decent players who could steal some victories from teams who don’t come to play.
NBA champion Matthew Dellavedova (that’s right!) is the type of player that can muck up a day at the office for the most polished of players. The pure length of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greg Monroe and rookie Thon Maker alone will present defenses with tons of unique matchup problems. Alas, the roster has no fire power and in turn, no one to rely on when the chips are down, unless Jabari Parker can finally break out in this his third season.
The Bucks do have an abundance of youth on their side. If they can create space on the floor they should be able to utilize their unorthodox lineup to create mismatches. If coach Jason Kidd can get his players to generate good ball movement, the Bucks can force defenses to switch into uncomfortable matchups. No matchup will be more uncomfortable for the opposition than Giannis — who is longer than a Game diss record — playing point guard against…well anybody.
Milwaukee also dumped MCW just before the start of the season for Tony Snell, who should provide some decent perimeter shooting on the cheap as Khris Middleton rehabs a bum hamstring that will likely keep him out the entire season. There still could be enough here for J Kidd to recreate the playoff magic of two seasons ago (the making the playoffs part, not getting smoked by the Bulls by 54 in Game 6 part).
Miami Heat
Offseason: Added Dion Waiters, Derrick Williams and James Johnson. Lost Joe Johnson, Luol Deng, Chris Bosh (for all intents and purposes), and the greatest player in franchise history Dwyane Wade.
Threat Level: Less Than Moderate. The Miami Heat will be looking mighty lukewarm this season as they have effectively dismantled what was left of their “Big 3”. The team stood resilient in the face of the departure of LeBron James as he took his talents back to Lake Erie. Unlike the Cavaliers who bottomed out after losing King James, the Heat looked to restructure in a way that allowed Wade to be in control, Chris Bosh to flourish in a more prominent role and Hasaan Whiteside to showcase his defensive talents and development as a hidden gem on the roster.
The mission this offseason was clear, re-sign Wade and Whiteside, and to add skilled role players to complement their cornerstones. Though the Whiteside deal got done, as a result the “Mayor of Wade County” was treated (or so he felt) like a second class citizen in the only organization he had ever known. In the end, the same arrogance that led Pat Riley to tell LeBron he would never win a ring in Cleveland, led to Miami not taking Wade’s threat of leaving seriously.
To compound problems, Chris Bosh’s return to the team was not cleared by doctors which has effectively ended his tenure with the team (and possibly his career). As Bosh and Miami volleyed back and forth about his ability to play in light of his blood clots, the Heat signed Derrick Williams, undermining Bosh’s necessity to the organization a bit.
This is a new look Heat. For the first time in his career, head coach Erik Spoestra will have no All-Stars on his roster and will have to do some actual coaching (Gasp!). Dion Waiters spent the first five seasons of his NBA career waiting behind Kyrie Irving and Russell Westbrook. After signing with the 305 as a free agent, Miami will look to Waiters for a breakout year in order to help them redefine this new era Heat squad.
Anything short of a surprise All-Star campaign from Justise Winslow however will have Riles and the Heat back in the lottery for consecutive seasons for the first time since they drafted Wade in 2003.
Ibaka in Orlando. It’s a good move by the Magic…isn’t it?
Orlando Magic
Offseason: Added Serge Ibaka, Bismack Biyombo, Jeff Green, Jodie Meeks and D.J. Augustin. Traded their lottery pick in the Ibaka trade to Oklahoma City. Lost Victor Oladipo. Hired Frank Vogel to replace Scott Skiles.
Threat Level: Low. The clock is ticking for Rob Hennigan. Still the youngest general manager in the NBA, the 34-year-old took has manned his post for four years, but has made little progress towards turning the Magic back into a playoff team in the post-Dwight Howard era.
Funny how that works, right? If you’re GM when the next great sensation is set to hit the draft and you bottom out, you might land that Dwight-type player that can turn you into a contender within a couple of years. Hennigan came closest to landing the top pick in 2013, quite possibly the worst draft ever in terms of star power. Not a single player from that class has made even one All-Star Game. So Orlando nabbing Oladipo with the #2 overall pick in ’13 really didn’t move the needle at all. Neither did pairing him with Elfrid Payton, Aaron Gordon or Mario Hezonja.
Orlando took more drastic steps to turn things around in June by dealing Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova and their lottery pick (Domantas Sabonis) for Serge Ibaka. Does it accelerate the process? Maybe. But by having Gordon, Green, Nikola Vučević and now Biyombo on the roster, there’s a clear logjam up front on this team, with little difference-making talent in the backcourt.
Orlando extended Rob Hennigan’s contract in April of 2015, through the 2017-18 season, which means he basically has this year and next to make the Magic’s losing days disappear.
Maybe next year.
Philadelphia 76ers
Offseason: Added Jerryd Bayless, Sergio Rodríguez, Irsan Ilyasova and Gerald Henderson Jr. Drafted Ben Simmons #1 overall. Lost Elton Brand, Carl Landry, Jerami Grant, Isaiah Cannan, Ish Smith, Kendall Marshall…basically a bunch of guys you never heard of or forgot about.
Threat Level: Low with upside (finally). Well, we told y’all not to trust “the process”, and here we are. Sam Hinkie quit his GM job in spectacular fashion — akin to Homer Simpson quitting the Springfield Nuclear Plant — as soon as the Colangelos were brought in as “consultants”. Ironically, Philly finally got the top pick two months later, and Hinkie didn’t even last long enough to see it.
Yet as karmic sanction for intentionally throwing away the last several seasons, the Sixers were dealt another setback when Ben Simmons broke his foot and Nerlens Noel underwent another knee surgery, all before the season started.
In spite of that, Jahlil Okafor had a solid rookie year in 2016 (17.5 points, 7 rebounds on .508 shooting) when he was on the court (of course, he missed time due to injury as well). But more importantly, this fall Joel Embiid actually started playing in competitive basketball games, and he’s pretty good too. Embiid flashed the nimble moves and a shooting touch out to three-point range that garnered him the #3 pick in the 2014 Draft and comparisons to a young Akeem Olajuwon. Embiid himself has actually been hilariously nicknamed “The Process”— it will indeed be a process for Embiid though if he’s not able to play at least 65 games this year.
With Embiid and Dario Šarić now in uniform, things are looking up in Philly. Unfortunately, there was no place to go but up for this franchise, which means it’ll be awhile before they compete for a playoff spot.
Brooklyn Nets
Offseason: Added Jemery Lin, Luis Scola, Greivis Vásquez and Randy Foye. Hired Kenny Atkinson as their new head coach. Lost Jarrett Jack, Wayne Ellington and America’s respect.
Threat Level: LMAOOO! Where Brooklyn at? Try the bottom of the East. When your team’s stars are Jeremy Lin, Brook Lopez and Luis Scola you know that you will be in for a season of tempered expectations. First-year coach Kenny Atkinson will simply need to kick the proverbial tires this season and see what he has. Power foward Anthony Bennett was a former #1 overall pick— Brooklyn is offering what may be his final clean slate to try to live up to his draft stock. Jeremy Lin showed flashes early on in New York (and bounced back nicely from a disastrous stint in Houston) to have a decent run in Charlotte. He’s hoping to rekindle some of that magic in a familiar city.
The Nets roster looks less like a well-oiled machine and more like the nameless groomsmen for for the wedding on any arbitrary NBA “nice guy”, say, Kyle Korver. They are the types of guys to keep the noise down and help you clean up afterwards. Jokes aside, the Nets will need to dig deep to become competitive this season. And when they finish this year at the bottom of the heap, their pick will essentially go to the Boston Celtics.
And it’ll go to the C’s again in 2018, the final remnants of the worst NBA trade of the decade.
Kenneth’s East Playoff Picks: Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks, Washington Wizards, New York Knicks
Justin’s East Playoff Picks: Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks, Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons
Anthony’s East Playoff Picks: Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks, New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks, Detroit Pistons