BSN Staff Picks: NBA Eastern Conference predictions

The 2015-16 NBA season gets underway later this evening with three games on the slate to get us started. This is part one of our conference predictions for both the Eastern and Western Conferences (coming later today) in the NBA. It’s time to view how we see the East unfolding.

Our writers: Nate Timmons (@NateTimmonsBSN), Harrison Wind (@NBAWind), Kalen Deremo (@PrincePickaxe), An Nguyen (@The_NGUYENNER), Kevin Keller (@CoachKCK), Luke Binder (@303Luke), Jeremiah Penaflor (@JPenaflor86), Johnny Domenico (@JohnnyD_BSN).

Nate Timmons: There is no question that this is the Cavaliers conference to lose. That said, I’m not sure Cleveland will be healthy enough to claim the top seed in the East, and I’m not sure they need it to make a return trip to the NBA Finals. I’d say be on the lookout for the Miami Heat, I like the mix there with Goran Dragic, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Hassan Whiteside, and rookie Justise Winslow could usurp the starting small forward job from Luol Deng as the season progresses. I don’t see the Hawks disappearing, their system, like the Spurs, could be better than the sum of their parts, and if I had to take a sleeper team to make the playoffs, I’ll take the Detroit Pistons.

Harrison Wind: Cleveland is once again the class of the East and it’s not close, but after that things get murky. To me, Washington is not necessarily the second best team in the conference, but potentially the safest team outside of the Cavs. Randy Whitman looks like he’s finally realized that long two point shots from Nene, Marcin Gortat and Kris Humphries won’t lead to an efficient offense and the small ball, spatial approach, he used in the playoffs last season does. Atlanta will regress, but still has a lot of the same parts in place and will sneak up on a lot of people. Milwaukee will build on the defensive success they had last year and improve on their offense with the addition of Greg Monroe. Skinny Kyle Lowry is a thing and Fred Hoiberg will spread out the Bulls offense, but there might be growing pains. I’m not a fan of college coaches jumping to the NBA and while I think he has the demeanor and potential to excel long term, the chemistry with this team scares me. I’m also nervous about how the Heat’s parts fit together. Dragic wants to run, Wade doesn’t. Deng’s production could very well fall off a cliff and I’m not sold on Whiteside’s half a season of production. The eighth seed will be a fight all the way to the end of the season, but Brad Stevens should be able to coach the Celtics to the playoffs, staving off All-NBA second team selection Paul George and Andre Drummond, who could make a leap of sorts into the DeAndre Jordan realm of centers. The Magic could surprise some people if they can make the predictable “Skiles Leap,” but I still think they are one year away from the eight seed and losing Michael Kidd-Gilchrist for the year is an enormous blow that I don’t think the Hornets can recover from. Finally, while the Knicks got better by adding a stabilizer in Robin Lopez inside, I still don’t trust Jose Calderon and Arron Afflalo to stay healthy enough to get into the playoff picture.

An Nguyen: Cavaliers are King with LeBron James and his crew hopefully healthy. Washington I believe makes a leap into the league’s elite this year, John Wall is a dark horse for MVP. Atlanta will still be good, losing DeMarre Carroll won’t make that big of a difference, and they added an actual center in Tiago  Splitter from the Spurs. Miami is being slept on and people forget how good Chris Bosh is because he missed half the year battling blood clots. This team still has Bosh and Dwyane freaking Wade. Dragic, Luol Deng, Whiteside, Winslow, Gerald Green, Amar’e Stoudemire make a pretty damn good supporting cast too. Chicago will be good but if people are expecting the old Derrick Rose back they’ll be disappointed. This is Jimmy Butler‘s team now. Toronto was hurt by the loss of Amir Johnson, but Carroll projects to be a good pickup. Kyle Lowry is in good shape too so the Raptors most likely make the playoffs. I have Detroit higher than most people, I really like what they’re building over there. Ersan Ilyasova is the perfect compliment to Drummond and Stanley Johnson will have an immediate impact. Another team I have higher than most is the Knicks. While it’d be nice for them to give Denver a great lotto pick, Carmelo Anthony, Afflalo, and Lopez are not that bad. They won’t be bottom feeders, but I still have them missing the playoffs. Looking at the Pacers front court I can’t see much success for them. Roy Hibbert and David West made up the team’s identity, and I don’t know if this new one of wing dominant play from George and Monta Ellis will be enough to outweigh the lack of paint presence.

Kevin Keller: The easy pick in the East is picking Cleveland to win the conference. They have Kevin Love back, and without him they still held their own against a very good Golden State team in the Finals last year. After that first spot, things get really interesting. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Chicago, Washington or Atlanta finish second. Those “eastern powerhouses” will continue to be Cleveland’s competition in the conference. Miami, Toronto, Milwaukee and Boston aren’t as talented as the above teams, but they’ll do enough in a weaker conference to be in the bottom half of the playoff bracket. Orlando, Indiana, Detroit and Charlotte will make the race interesting, but the lack of depth and star power across that quartet will keep them out of the playoffs. Last, the most interesting thing we’ll see from untalented group of New York, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn is the race for the most ping pong balls in the lottery (come on Knicks!).

Luke Binder: Cleveland has LeBron and that makes them the best team in the East. A bold prediction is that Kevin Love will become the Robin to LBJ’s Batman. If not for the injuries to Love and Kyrie Irving, I firmly believe Cleveland would have swept Golden State in the NBA Finals last spring. A fully healthy squad should translate into a very successful season for the Cavaliers. Chicago is going to be the biggest challenge for the Cavs in the East, and I’d like to add that I love the hire of Fred Hoiberg for the Bulls. Atlanta surprised many people with their run last season and I do not see a repeated feat this year. Let’s go with a Cavaliers/Bulls conference final that will see Cleveland win in five.

Jeremiah Penaflor: With another year together and the assumed health of Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, the Cavs are the favorites out of the East. The Eastern Conference, which isn’t as competitive as the West, had three teams under .500 make post season play in the last two seasons. This year could be different in the East with five solid teams and big improvements from the Bucks and Pistons. The team to watch is the New York Knicks. With Nuggets draft interests, let’s hope the popular prediction of 27 wins for the Knicks is on the high side.

Johnny Domenico: Cleveland has plenty of health questions and distractions, but it’s King James’s No. 1 seed to lose and unless he takes an extended vacation this season, it’s hard to imagine a situation where the Cavs don’t end up with the top seed. The Wiz and Heat will emerge as the East’s toughest challengers, while the Bulls and Hawks fall back into the midst of the second tier. The Raptors and Bucks will have their moments again, but they’ll  ultimately join the Celtics , Magic and Pistons in a battle for the last couple of playoff spots. The Pacers will suffer a  season in the NBA’s mid-lottery purgatory as will the 76ers, despite their best efforts, as they field a semi-competitive team (for the East). The Knicks may look decent early, but will  ultimately battle the poorly constructed Hornets and Nets  for the bottom of the barrel when the 2016 Melo-drama begins.

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Western Conference Predictions coming later this morning…