Eastern Conference Playoff Predictions

     The seeding predictions for the Eastern Conference came out a few days ago, so now it’s time to predict how the Eastern Conference Playoffs will unfold.

    The Heat, Pacers, and Celtics will probably advance to round two and that does not really require an in depth explanation. The only possible way that would not happen is that one of those teams suffers a major injure or the Bulls get a miraculously fully recovered Derrick Rose back, who gallops in on a white horse and obliterates all who cross his path. The interesting battle could be the potential 4-5 battle between the Nets and 76ers- even if it is not these two teams it will be one of the top 5 Eastern Conference teams not names the Heat and will still be a fun watch. But the winner is pointless to pick, they will lose in the 2nd round to the Heat.

     Which brings us to the second round, which is shaping up to be the Heat v Someone and the Pacers v the Celtics. The Heat win the first matchup. The intriguing matchup is the Pacers-Celtics matchup. Both are feisty, well rounded teams that play good (in the Celtics case great) defense. The Celtics though have a few key advantages; stars, veteran savvy, and elite coaching. It should be a hotly contested series of 6-7 games which ultimate goes the Celtics way, because they have well coached guys with names like Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce and the Pacers do not.

     The Celtics and Heat will meet once again in the Eastern Conference Finals. The results should be the same. The Heat have the better team, but the Celtics are old crafty and have too much pride to not make a series of it. The Celtics almost pulled it off last year, and while Christ Bosh may not be injured again, they did pick up some talent in the offseason in Jason Terry, Jared Sullinger, and Fab Melo. Additionally the Celtics will have Jeff Green back from his heart issues to which he lost all of last season. While ultimately this probably will not be enough, it should be a fun grudge match to watch. Also let us not forget the intrigue added now that Ray Allen is with the Heat, he will be a player to keep an eye on if this series comes to be.

Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose and Adidas posted a video about his recovery which is soon to be followed by more. Its a good watch, and definitely gives hope for later this season and next season. The doctors optimism concerning his chances to come back even better than before he got hurt  makes you wonder what he could do if he does. Get well soon Derrick! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt6at8wCkbw&feature=player_embedded)

Jimmy Butler

Jimmy Butler just got some love on ESPN.com! Go check out http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8299129/nba-top-three-risers-fallers-nbarank, it is a fun read, and it’s good to see some positive news about the Bulls this off-season. Jimmy played well last season when he got the chance-remember his stellar 1-on-1 defense against Lebron James? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExwdQ_m20sE (okay the rebounding left a lot to be desired but still). Watching Jimmy Butler mature should be a bright spot this coming season, keep an eye on him. Marquis Teague could also be a young Bull that surprises this year and is worth paying attention to.

Western Conference Pre-season Preview

Same thing as the Eastern Conference, just this time its the Western Conference Predictions.

1.  The Thunder: They pretty much stood pat, but given that all the important guys are young, that only means they have the luxury of getting better by doing absolutely nothing.
2. The Lakers: Assuming they can get their myriad talented players working together in a cohesive manner, they could make a run at the Thunder. If not, this could be a fun 24/7 melt-down watch unit. And if these last 18 months showed us anything, its that as talented as Dwight is, he is a bit of an immature and indecisive individual. This should be interesting either way.
3. The Spurs: They always find a way to stay good, I do not think that this year will be different. On a side note: Their age does eventually have to catch up to them right?
4. The Clippers: They should be able to outplay the Grizzlies this year, although the fact that Vinny Del Negro (the guy who forgets to put CP3 back into the game) is still the head coach does not bode well for their playoff potential. 
5. The Nuggets: The addition of Iguodala makes the Nuggets a matchup nightmare; they could push for the 4th seed. They have no shot at a ring of course, but they sure could make another teams road there much harder.
6. The Grizzlies: Once again, their beastly front-court makes them a force to be reckoned with and a game planning issue for much of the league.
7. The Jazz: They looked good, especially when Favors got on the court, they should be able to ride him and the rest of the young guys to the playoffs again.
8. The Mavericks: Dirk may be old, and he may not have as much help as he could have had things gone differently, but teams with superstars like him do not usually miss the playoffs. If the team gels quickly, they could easily finish higher.
9. The Timberwolves: Love is great, but Rubio needs to be healthy for them to be good, and who knows when he will be back to 100%. Also, Kirilenko and Roy are most likely going to be non-entities, the signings would have been better if the year was 2009. The T-wolves will probably miss the playoffs once again. 
10. The Trailblazers: If they can avoid injury's (not a strong suit of theirs) they can contend for the 8th seed. Expect them to fall short though.

Stan Van Gundy's comments

Stan Van Gundy recently made remarks saying that he would not be surprised if D-Rose left Chicago, just like Dwight left Orlando (http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bulls/post/_/id/9743/stan-van-will-rose-be-next-star-to-bolt). He may have been a bit premature in his statements. Derrick is under contract for 5 more years, and the Bulls have plenty of opportunity, especially two or three years from now, to seriously upgrading the roster- an opportunity Magic GM Otis Smith proved more than adept at screwing his team out of (see Gilbert Arenas, Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis).  Bulls can put together a roster capable of making a championship run with before Rose’s 5 years are up. If they do not, Derrick would have every reason to leave, but there are many bridges to cross before it can possibly come to that.

Eastern Conference Pre-season Predictions.

This is how the Eastern Conference should look come playoff time, assuming that nobody important is out the whole season. Only the top 10 will be ranked, as figuring out which bad teams are going to be more awful than the rest is impossible, and rather pointless.

1.      The Heat: They won it all last year, and only got better with the addition of 3-pointer shooters Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis. Enough said.

2.     The Pacers: While the Ian Mahimi trade was rather odd, they stay ahead of the Celtics, who once again look really freaking old, but will still probably keep it together for another run.

3.     The Celtics: They could make a run at the second seed if their rookies Sullinger and Melo play well.

4.     The Nets: While it is doubtful they will be contending for a ring, they should be able to snag home-court in round one. Don't be surprised if this team slides up or down a slot or two though, nobody knows how this team will look on the court.

5.     The 76ers: Assuming Bynum keeps is head on right (a big if), the 76ers got better. While they definitely came out on top this off-season, the loses of Iggy and Brandt hurt. If Bynum plays well they have the 2nd best center in the league to go with a still young and quick back court.

6.     The Hawks: They lost Joe Johnson (and his massive contract), but they added Lou Williams, Kyle Korver, and will have Horford back, which more than makes up for the loss. 

7.     The Knicks: This collection of dysfunctional talent just got older and slower from last year’s version, not exactly a recipe for drastic improvement.

8.     The Bulls: The loss of , Korver, Asik, Watson, JL3, and Brewer are not made up for by the addition of Hinrich and the others, not to mention Rose being out. Deng's wrist and Noah's ankle are also worrisome and could send the Bulls to lottery land. Although lottery land is not exactly a bad thing when you have D-Rose coming back next  season.

9.     The Bucks: While a gutless (defensive) team, Ellis and Jennings can score, so the Bucks will once again be fighting for the 8th seed.

10. The Cavaliers: Kyrie is looking like the real deal, and this team is youthful and talented enough to make a run at the 8th seed.

The Bulls off-season moves

   The Bulls definitely have a new look to the roster this year. They lost much of the bench mob with the departures of Omer Asik, Ronnie Brewer, CJ Watson, John Lucas III, Kyle Korver, and Brian Scalabrine. But they are bringing in some pieces, namely Nazr Mohommad, Marco Belinelli, Vladmir Radmanovic, and Nate Robinson plus the return of Captain Kirk.

   In terms of basketball talent on the roster, the Bulls clearly got worse this off-season. They lost the best back-up center in the league and a legitimate 7 footer in Omer Asik and are replacing him with aged Chicago native Nazr Mohammad. They lost one of the best 3-point shooters in the league in Kyle Korver, and are replacing him with Belinelli, a worse, though by no means poor, 3-point shooter who is also a bit deficient on the defensive end. The replacement of CJ Watson and John Lucas with Heinrich and Robinson is probably something of an upgrade due to Heinrich's defensive prowess and leadership, but the Bulls need offense not defense, especially with the absence of Rose. Vladmir Radmanovic will likely (read: hopefully) not see the court much.

  What they did do this off-season, is keep the door open for future improvements. The decision to not match the Rockets offer sheet signed by Omer was unquestionably the correct one. You cannot pay $15,000,000 to a backup center as would have been required in the  deals 3rd year- it would have destroyed the Bulls flexibility. So while I hate to see him go, I do not see myself ever thinking that the Bulls would have won that championship had we forked over for Asik. While outbidding the Nets for CJ Watson could have been done without adversely affecting the Bulls future flexibility, my hope is that they let him walk in order to develop the rookie Teague. If Marcus has skills anything like his brothers (the Hawks Jeff Teague), he could be quite the asset as Rose's long term backup. Kyle Korver was probably going to be over-paid after his contract expired at the end of the season, so I understand getting rid of him now and getting something, however small to show for it, especially since the Bulls are not in contention this year. And who knows, maybe Belinelli plays well and the Bulls can lock up a younger player long term. 

  While the off-season was not what one would call exciting, it is good that the Bulls refrained from hamstringing themselves in the future in order to remain more competitive this season. Hopefully their restraint, especially in letting Asik leave, will pay dividends. And hey, we can all smile that Captain Kirk is back in Chicago.