re:

The Magic run a small ball lineup with lewis at the 4 so the lack of a PF isn't taht big of a deal, they're still a top 3 Eastern team. The Sixers are interesting. Not much depth and the depth they have is very young (Thad Young and Speights). I expect them to finish behind the Cavs and Wizards with the Wiz taking the 4th seed from the Cavs, seeing as they claimed the 4th seed back when they had all 3 of their big 3 for the majority of the season (2 years ago I think it was?).

sixers are definitely playoff bound

just having Brand makes a world of difference. Philadelphia is back in effect.
- Freddie Footballer

re:

But how much better does it actually make them? They were already in the playoffs, so what happens now? In my opinion, they won't be a higher seed than the Wiz or Cavs but they'll make a lot of noise in the playoffs and probably beat one or both of those teams.

washington

has its own set of problems. Mostly, their role players are either very raw or capped by a low ceiling (depending on how you look at it). Also, the lack of a true point guard hurts bad. That being said, they showed a lot of resilience last year and seemed to bind as a team. I think if one group has a chance to improve based off of "intangiables," it's this one. Fourth or third place finish.

re:

I agree completely about the bench and lack of a true PG. They lost Roger Mason Jr. to San Antonio, so they're even more shallow now.

but does the top really change?

boston and detroit (as of right now) are still tops in the east. and let's not forget that toronto just got jermain o'neil, putting a lineup of calderon (who is really coming on as a PG), anthony parker, the feel-good story jamario moon, bosh, and o'neil. that lineup can run the triangle to either side effectively and push the ball in transition, which makes them an offensive threat in any way. their bench is also solid with bargnani, kapono, brezec (who they need to re-sign), humphries and graham (two energy guys). jawai might also surprise some people coming in as the first indigenous australian in the nba. not as deep or as talented as the celts and pistons, but dumars is looking to deal guys (wallace and billups at the top of his list), so don't be surprised if the raps finish 2nd to boston (and boston is an injury to paul pierce away from 2nd or 3rd place finishes in the east). i think that puts orlando, philadelphia, cleveland and washington in a gridlock for the final home court seed, with orlando maintaining an edge because their half-court offense is better than either the 76ers or wizards. on top of that, agent zero is coming off a serious injury, and caron butler has been injured multiple times the last few years, so their record is likely to dip if that bug bites them again. philly is really interesting; brand gives them a half-court threat, but teams can pack it in against him if they don't develop some three-point shooting. meanwhile, unless cleveland makes a move, they will probably finish 5th or 6th (depending on injuries to washington or how quickly philly develops an offense). So what i have based on things as they are now is: 1.Boston 2. Detroit 3. Toronto 4. Orlando 5. Cleveland 6. Philadelphia 7. Washington 8. a tight race between Chicago and Milwaulkee, but the Bulls are a year away with Rose's development, so the Bucks here with Jefferson, Redd, Mo Williams and Bogut.

small correction

primoz brezec is actually going to play for an italian club next season, which could hurt toronto, but i don't think significantly enough to drop them below 3rd in the east, especially if Jawai plays well.

re:

The top 3 in the East probably won't change. The middle to bottom will change quite a bit from last year though.

re:

interesting point about Jermaine O'Neal, but I won't give him the benefit of the doubt on playing well with another low post star. He and Bosh could be great together, they could be confused together, or O'neal might just get injured, as he is prone to do. He's always been the man in the post in Indiana, so we'll see. I love Calderon and I agree that Toronto has enough talent to make some noise. They might have anough talent to make a trade to improve themselves at the SG position as well. They certainly have the three point bench scoring (Kapono, Bargnani) that Philly lacks. The sixers are definitely missing Korver now.

top teams

Boston will be very good for the next two or three years and all the top 3 guys will get old. Raptors are young and upcoming as Calderon and Parker are two of the most underrated guards in the league. As long as O'Neill and Bosh play more physical, they could be last year's Magic. Philly does have a true point guard and his name is Andre Miller. They have many young players to build around and with a healthy Brand in the post could help this team contend for a while. I think the Pistons, Celtics, Magic, and Raptors will take the top 4 spots and the Cavs are pathetic for not adding anybody next to Lebron.