NBA basketball is almost among us once again. A lot of changes happened in the Eastern Conference during the offseason and with training camps open in about a month and the season tips off only a couple weeks after that it’s time to check in on what could happen in the 2016-17 season.
Last year, the Brooklyn Nets (21-61) finished 23 games back of the eighth seeded Detroit Pistons and only 11 games above the lowly Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference.
While the talk was about the resurgence the top half of the East saw during the 2015-16 season, the Nets were not part of that discussion at all. However, a new season means new beginnings for Brooklyn.
For the Nets the only thing New about the 2016-17 season will be some of the players that will suit up in the white and black at Barclays Center.
Anthony Bennett, Trevor Booker, Randy Foye, Joe Harris, Jeremy Lin, Luis Scola, and rookies Caris LeVert and Isaiah Whitehead were all brought into the Nets during the offseason. The Eastern Conference might be even stronger in the upcoming season, which means we could see more of the same from Mikhail Prokohov’s team.
Al Horford took the hike up I-85 from Atlanta to Boston. The New York Knicks assembled a team that would give any 35-and-up league a scare with Joakim Noah, Courtney Lee and Derrick Rose as their key offseason additions.
The Indiana Pacers let Frank Vogel walk and plan to use Jeff Teague and other offseason additions to really push the tempo in Naptown. The Orlando Magic seemingly threw millions at any player above 6’8″ including Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo.
Youth and length could spearhead the Milwaukee Bucks back into the playoff race and if John Wall and Bradley Beal ever get on the same page then the Washington Wizards could make some noise as well.
Let’s dive into my predicitons for the 2016-17 Eastern Conference standings.
Next: The Beast in the East and No. 2