I'm going to post my analysis of each conference one day at a time starting today with the Eastern Conference Central Division. For the next six days I'll review each division and on the seventh day (the day before the player IPO's) I'll give my overall predictions for the entire NBA and player awards.
EASTERN CONFERENCE - CENTRAL DIVISION
1.) Chicago 2.) Cleveland 4.) Detroit 3.) Milwaukee 5.) Indiana
All-Central Team:
PG - Chauncey Billups / Kirk Hinrich
SG - Michael Redd / Ben Gordon / Richard Hamilton
SF - LeBron James / Luol Deng
PF - Jermaine O'Neal / Rasheed Wallace
C - Zydrunas Ilgauskas / Andrew Bogut
1. CHICAGO BULLS
-- The Bulls will put an all-around great team on the court again this season. With guards Hinrich, Gordon and Duhan, forward play from Deng, Nocioni, Tyrus Thomas and big men Aaron Gray, Joakim Noah and Ben Wallace -- Chicago will be the one of the favorites to win the East and make it to the NBA finals. With 49 wins a year ago (which was an improvement of eight wins from the previous season) a 50 win season is in order for 2007-08. The Bulls are mature yet young and have been helped by the Eddy Curry trade which has resulted in Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah.
New Additions: Joe Smith, Joakim Noah, Aaron Gray, JamesOn Curry, Andre Barrett, Thomas Gardner, Jared Homan
Losses: None.
Players Under the Radar: Thabo Sefolosha / Ben Gordon
Big Games: Nov. 8 vs DET, Dec. 7 @ DET, Mar. 2 @ CLE, Mar. 6 vs CLE, Mar. 7 @ BOS, April 3 @ CLE, April 11 vs CLE
2. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
-- The Eastern conference may have caught up to the Western conference as far as the number of quality teams that are fighting for a playoff spot. With Cleveland making it to the Finals last season, the Cavaliers have a bull's-eye on their chest from the East's best: Chicago, Miami, New Jersey, Boston, Detroit, Orlando, Toronto and Washington. But LeBron is still the King and he's not ready to give up his thrown. Returning to the NBA finals might be harder this year than last, but the Cavs competition starts and ends with their own division. The Cavs will have to face tough match-ups against Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit all season long. And despite winning 50 games for the second consecutive season in 2006-07, the Cavs had a losing record on the road (20-21).
New Additions: Dwayne Jones, Hassan Adams, Darius Rice, Chet Mason, Cedric Simmons
Losses: Scott Pollard, David Wesley
Players Under the Radar: Sasha Pavlovic / Ira Newble
Big Games: Oct. 31 vs DAL, Nov. 4 @ PHX, Nov. 27 vs BOS, Nov. 28 vs DET, Mar. 2 vs CHI, April 3 vs CHI, April 11 @ CHI, April 16 vs DET
3. DETROIT PISTONS
-- It's hard to imagine that Detroit will finish anything worse than third, but with the rise in talent elsewhere and the lack of reinforcements in Detroit, the reign over the Central might be through. Although Detroit still boasts a starting five that contains four All-Stars, they might be over the hill -- Wallace is in his 12th year, Billups in his 10th and Hamilton is in his 8th. In one of the deepest divisions in the NBA, one team has to finish third and it appears that it will be Detroit.
New Additions: Jarvis Hayes, Rodney Stuckey, Arron Affalo, Sammy Mejia, Gerald Fitch
Losses: Carlos Delfino
Players Under the Radar: Jason Maxiell / Flip Murray
Big Games: Nov. 8 @ CHI, Nov. 28 vs CLE, April 14 vs NJ, April 16 @ CLE
4. MILWAUKEE BUCKS
-- The Bucks might just surprise and sneak up the division standings as a team filled with underestimated stars. Milwaukee is my pick as this year version of the 2006-07 Raptors. The Bucks had just 28 in 2007 -- their worst season since 1995-96. Milwaukee could steal more wins this year than they had in 2006 when they won 40 and reached the post-season (all five Central division teams made the post-season in 2005-06). The Bucks have talent, they just need to put it together for a full 82 games.
New Additions: Desmond Mason, Jake Voskuhl, Yi Jianlian, Ramon Sessions, Royal Ivey, Samaki Walker, Awvee Storey, Michael Ruffin
Losses: Lynn Greer
Players Under the Radar: Charlie Vilanueva / Bobby Simmons
Big Games: Nov. 3 vs CHI, Nov. 11 @ SA, Nov. 20 @ CLE, Dec. 14 @ BOS, Dec. 17 @ CLE, April 14 vs CHI
5. INDIANA PACERS
-- The Pacers have declined in their number of wins since they won 61 games in 2003-04. Could it get any worse than the 35 they managed to win last year? The Pacers don't have much to look forward to coming into 2007-08 -- they had the worst record in the NBA after February 22nd. Another question that has been asked is whether or not their only superstar, Jermaine O'Neal, will be around for the entire year. Rumors are that the Pacer forward has grumbled about the direction of the team and might ask to be traded to a contender.
New Additions: Travis Diener, Stanko Barac, Kareem Rush
Losses: Maceo Baston, Darrell Armstrong
Players Under the Radar: Danny Granger / Troy Murphy
Big Games: Nov. 7 vs LAC, Nov. 20 vs LAL, Nov. 23 vs DAL, Nov. 24 vs CLE, Dec. 2 @ LAC, April 4 @ MIL, April 6 vs MIL
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