NBA Notebook: Ranking every team in the Eastern Conference

With opening night just over one week away, the time feels right to take an expanded look at the Celtics' competition in the Eastern Conference. Let's go through the squads, from worst-to-best, to get a better sense of why the East as a whole will be taking a pretty step back this season.

15. Chicago Bulls: I’m not sure how this team is going to score. Five of their top seven scorers from last season play for new teams now, and the biggest asset they acquired in the Jimmy Butler deal (Zach LaVine) won’t play for a couple more months as he continues his recovery from a torn ACL. There are several intriguing young players (Justin Holiday, Jerian Grant, Kris Dunn, Bobby Portis) but no one is really capable of being a top 2-3 scoring option on a decent team. Combine that talent with a couple slow-footed defenders in Robin Lopez and Nikola Mirotic, and it’s hard to find a team that has a roster set to tank as much as this squad will for a loaded 2018 draft class.

14. Atlanta Hawks: More compelling names than the Bulls have to work with, but no real creators in this group outside of point guard Dennis Schroder. Dwight Howard was given away for a second round pick. Paul Millsap is out the door for nothing. It’s beyond bizarre that they didn’t trade the power forward midseason given how their first round went (lost in six games), but a new front office has set up a clear direction: They are set up to nosedive in the East. Mike Budenholtzer’s offense will keep them respectable most nights, but when Schroder and Kent Bazemore are your top scoring weapons, you are in trouble.

13. Indiana Pacers: A bit more promising talent than the previous two East cellar dwellers, but is there anyone to get excited about on this squad other than Myles Turner? Victor Oladipo is a known commodity at this point, so I’m not sure how much more growth we will see out of him as opponents can key on him more in Indiana than in Oklahoma City. In Nate McMillan’s uptempo offense they will score plenty with offense-first guys such as Bogan Bogdanovic and Thaddeus Young, but there aren’t any real wing defenders outside of Oladipo and Lance Stephenson in this group you can count on. Cory Joseph is a nice upgrade for the bench, but unless Stephenson plays like the guy the Pacers had four years ago, it’s hard to see them scraping together more than 30 wins.

12. Brooklyn Nets: The fact that the Nets don’t have any incentive to tank pushes them up a couple spots in the East for me after comparing them to the competition. Brook Lopez is a major loss for their offense, but they have more firepower now to play uptempo. Jeremy Lin, Allen Crabbe and D’Angelo Russell can put up points, while DeMarre Carroll (if healthy) and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson are steady wing defenders. There is a nice ensemble of role players coming off the bench too (Sean Kilpatrick, Trevor Booker, Joe Harris), and Kenny Atkinson getting a second year to implement his system will help things. If everything goes right, I envision this group hustling its way to 30 wins. You can bet the Celtics front office and the rest of New England will be rooting for it.

11. New York Knicks: It’s tempting to drop the Knicks a little lower on this list, but the departure of Carmelo Anthony and Phil Jackson clears the path for Jeff Hornacek to work some magic like he did with the 2013-14 Suns. There is far less talent with this group than Hornacek had in Phoenix for today’s NBA. They have too many traditional bigs up front (Joakim Noah, Enes Kanter, Willy Hernangomez) while the backcourt talent is too young (Ron Baker, Frank Ntilikina) or too old (Ramon Sessions, Jarrett Jack). Tim Hardaway Jr. and Kristaps Porzingis will keep them respectable, but opposing offenses will play smallball against this team all year long and will win games that way against what is bound to be a bad defense.

10. Orlando Magic: They really didn’t add anything of note from last year’s roster outside of Jonathan Isaac and Jonathan Simmons, but I expect Frank Vogel to do a little bit better in his second year on the job. Aaron Gordon will no longer be playing out of position at the 3, and a lot of other younger guys should be motivated as they play for contracts (Elfrid Payton, Gordon). In all honesty though, the Magic’s rise up the ranks here has more to do with the tanking strategies of the teams around them than anything else.

9. Philadelphia Sixers: There’s so much promise here, but it’s still a very ordinary team if Joel Embiid can’t stay healthy. It’s going to be a challenge for Brett Brown to try to make a push for the postseason while giving minutes to youngsters like Markelle Fultz and Ben Simmons, since both guys will be learning on the job. The frontcourt is overstocked with talent even behind Embiid (I’m a big fan of Richaun Holmes and Dario Saric), but there still isn’t a go-to scorer here. I just can’t get realistic about this team winning more than 40 games until I see Embiid show he’s capable of playing 40 in a season.

8. Detroit Pistons: On paper, this should be a playoff team. However, there have been chemistry issues here for a couple years now. Reggie Jackson has been a vast disappointment since signing a big deal, and he hasn’t been able to get healthy either. Andre Drummond is paid like a franchise player, but the Pistons can’t keep him on the floor in crunch time due to his free throw woes. Avery Bradley will certainly help on the perimeter, but this group also lost some key pieces in Aron Baynes, Marcus Morris and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The fact that Stan Van Gundy was already playing his starters 30+ minutes in a preseason game has me worried about whether this group will ever mesh. Still, there is no other East team I trust to leave them out of playoffs. I wouldn’t rule out a big midseason trade of Jackson or Drummond either.

7. Charlotte Hornets: This may seem a little bit optimistic for them given that swingman Nicolas Batum will be sidelined several weeks with a left elbow injury. They added Dwight Howard for the low cost of Miles Plumlee and a second round pick this offseason, but did little else to improve their rotation beyond that. Malik Monk should provide some shooting for a bench unit in need of an offensive spark, but this team is still painfully mediocre. In the Eastern Conference however, that’s still good enough for the seventh seed.

6. Miami Heat: I’m not sure what the heck Pat Riley is thinking by investing in expensive multi-year contracts in the likes of James Johnson, Kelly Olynyk and Dion Waiters, but he’s clearly a believer in the Heat’s hot streak during the second half of last year. Olynyk is a nice add with his ability to space the floor and passing acumen. I’m a huge fan of their backcourt (Goran Dragic, Josh Richardson, Tyler Johnson), but they are going to need a big bounceback year from Justise Winslow in order to get out of the first round in the Eastern Conference. A lot of unreliable veterans had huge seasons for them last year (Waiters, Johnson), and I wouldn’t bet on them replicating that magic again.

5. Milwaukee Bucks: Almost everyone is back from last year’s 42-40 squad, and that’s probably the right move for this up and coming franchise. A healthy Khris Middleton for a full season should help that win total shoot up, as will the development of a promising young core of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Malcolm Brogdon and Thon Maker. Jabari Parker will be out for awhile as he continues to recover from another ACL tear, but he should help later in the season. The Bucks’ athleticism and length will create problems for opposing teams on most nights, and if the Greek Freak continues to ascend, this projection might be a little low. I’m not a fan of Jason Kidd’s coaching ability, so that keeps them locked into the No. 5 spot for now.

4. Toronto Raptors: The bench looks pretty thin and young at spots after Cory Joseph and Patrick Patterson departed. C.J. Miles will be an upgrade on the wing over Carroll, but this is the same core that has impressed in the regular season over the past couple seasons and then underwhelmed in the playoffs. Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka are entering their early 30s now, so a decline could be on the horizon. The starting five is still imposing, but the pressure is on the likes of Norm Powell, Deion Wright and Jakob Poeltl to keep the Raptors second unit competitive. A drop off in depth will make it harder for this group to sustain 50+ win regular seasons.

3. Washington Wizards: For the third straight offseason, the Wizards tried to upgrade their bench with a number of underwhelming names. Jodie Meeks can shoot, but he hasn’t been able to stay on the floor in years. Tim Frazier is a nice guard, but he isn’t going to push the needle. They have a bloated payroll so they are almost entirely dependent on their dominant starting five to stay healthy. That won’t be the case at the beginning of the year as Markieff Morris (hernia surgery) will be out for at least the first month, forcing a guy like Jason Smith or Kelly Oubre into the starting five. Celtics fans saw firsthand what to expect out of those guys last postseason, and it’s not much.

2. Boston Celtics: A full comprehensive preview will be out on these guys in the coming days at BSJ, but I just don’t think they mesh fast enough to keep pace with a loaded and deep Cavs squad (even without Isaiah Thomas for the first half of Cleveland’s season).

1. Cleveland Cavaliers: While their offseason moves won’t help them in the postseason in my opinion, it’s hard to look at this roster and not be impressed. They have depth at every position, they have shooting everywhere, and I have a hunch that we’ll be seeing a motivated LeBron James in uniform all year long after Kyrie Irving asked out of town. Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose have been showing this preseason that they have something left in the tank, and Jae Crowder is going to be getting more open 3s than he knows what to do with. As long as Thomas returns by the All-Star break, they will make their way to the top of the East.