In the beginning of the season many people said the East would be weak and there would be no competition for the Celtics since LeBron left Cleveland. That has not been the case. There are four legit contenders and there would be 5 if Victor Oladipo didn’t get hurt (get well soon Vic).
The best record in the East belongs to the Bucks. Giannis is the best player in the Eastern Conference and they traded for Nikola Mirotic. Mirotic played out of his mind last year when they swept the Blazers last year. Look for the young Bucks to capture that number one seed.
The Toronto Raptors are absolutely all in to win the East. With Kawhi being arguably the best 2 way player in the game, they went and got big time veteran Marc Gasol from Memphis to protect the paint and bring some leadership to the Toronto squad. Torontos got a nice trio of bigs with Siakam, Ibaka, and now Gasol.
The Celtics have a star in Kyrie Irving who’s a proven winner and they have a bunch of great players who made a run without him to the conference finals last year without him. The only problem is the aren’t dominating like they were last year and now the East has 3 other contenders. It’s all about how you finish not how you start. Boston has all tools and coaching to make a run.
The Philadelphia 76ers. One of the most fun teams in the league. They are absolutely all in for winning the East after trading for long island native Tobias Harris. Simmons Embiid, Butler, Harris and Redick. That’s the best starting lineup on paper in the East in my opinion but they aren’t as deep as these other 3 teams. They gotta build chemistry on the fly and play selfless basketball in order to make a run.
My prediction is Toronto wins the East as long as Kawhi stays healthy. I think if Philly matches up against Boston or Milwaukee in the second round I honestly believe they can win that series if their players mesh. They should coexist because Ben Simmons makes everyone around him better. I can’t wait for the stretch run into the postseason. Hopefully everyone stays healthy and we get the most competitive games as possible.