Milwaukee Bucks | Bucks fans shouldn’t worry about Giannis Antetokounmpo leaving anytime soon despite his offseason comments about potentially playing for Chicago. The All-Star trio of DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic is enough for the Bulls to contend with the Eastern Conference’s elite, but the difference in the playoffs will be how Chicago’s secondary players perform. But what glooms over Chicago is the status of Ball, who will not be healthy for the start of the season. Chicago got off to a fast start with a 27-14 record halfway through the season before injuries and COVID-19 resulted in the team limping into the postseason.Ĭhicago looked strong defensively when Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso and Patrick Williams were all on the floor and healthy. While they won’t yet contend for a championship in 2022-23, a top-six seed should be attainable, especially if players like Isaac Okoro continue to develop.Ĭhicago Bulls | Bulls fans heard all the noise about how DeMar DeRozan was a bad signing - and then watched him emerge as an MVP candidate. This Cleveland roster has the potential to be a real threat in the East for years to come. By acquiring a star like Mitchell without giving up their core in return means that Cleveland has one of the strongest starting lineups in the league with Mitchell, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. The Cavaliers made a big splash late in the offseason by acquiring guard Donovan Mitchell from the Jazz in a blockbuster trade. But they eventually slid all the way to the Play-In Tournament as the eighth seed, losing to both the Nets and Hawks, ending their playoff aspirations. For much of November they hovered between the fourth and eighth seeds before peaking in December - when they were knocking on the door for No. They went into the season with low expectations but quickly got off to a great start. While this is not the year for Detroit fans to buy season tickets, the Pistons can continue to build around Cunningham and Ivey as they try to construct the foundation for a future playoff team.Ĭleveland Cavaliers | The 2021-22 Cavaliers were a rollercoaster. Ivey’s ability to score at the rim will be a sight to see, although he’ll need to work on shooting from deep. A loss is still a loss, but the Pistons looked like a young team on the rise late in the spring.Ĭade Cunningham showed a lot of promise in his rookie season, and now Detroit will have a very entertaining backcourt after drafting Purdue guard Jaden Ivey fifth overall in the 2022 draft. Pacers fans will have to witness growing pains but with Haliburton, Mathurin and Chris Duarte on the court together, this franchise is bound to find success in the future.ĭetroit Pistons | The Pistons will look to be as competitive as they were at the end of last season, as they had a streak of over 20 games where they covered the spread. Indiana then continued their push to get younger, trading Malcolm Brogdon to the Celtics for draft compensation and more young talent, including Aaron Nesmith. At the trade deadline, the Pacers acquired Tyrese Haliburton and guard Buddy Hield from the Kings in exchange for a package headlined by All-Star Domantas Sabonis.Īfter finishing the season in 13th place in the East, the Pacers used their sixth overall pick in this year’s draft to select Arizona wing Bennedict Mathurin. Indiana Pacers | The Pacers entered last year with playoff aspirations, but after multiple injuries and close losses early on the schedule, the writing was on the wall for a rebuild. In order to prove themselves as one of the top teams in the East, the Hawks will need to keep opponents from getting whatever they want on offense. Defensively, Atlanta will need to improve as they gave up a disastrous 112.4 ppg last season. Looking ahead to this upcoming season, Atlanta decided to get more help for the talented Trae Young, trading for 2022 All-Star Dejounte Murray from the Spurs to pair with Young in the backcourt (Murray had career highs in points, rebounds and assists last season with San Antonio). It did serve as a coming-out party for De’Andre Hunter, who showed promise in the series loss to Miami, leading the team in postseason scoring at 21.2 ppg. There’s a strong chance that if everyone in the NBA remains relatively healthy, we will witness one of the greatest seasons in NBA history this year, and the Points in the Paint podcast with Ben Wittenstein and myself will cover all 30 teams with insider analysis and next-level content.īut before the regular season tips off, let’s break down each team and predict where they’ll end up.Ītlanta Hawks | The 43-39 Hawks won both of their play-in games to get into the playoffs, ultimately losing in the first round to the No.
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