The NBA season starts on October 24th. The hoop heads around the world are all rejoicing with happiness as real NBA basketball is about to start. I will make a bold prediction on each team. In this article I will concentrate on the Central Division. We all know that divisions don’t really matter in the NBA. The NBA doesn’t have a NFC East but its a good way to organize my thoughts.
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The Milwaukee Bucks made the boldest move of the off-season. They traded for longtime Portland Trailblazer Damian Lillard. In that deal they traded away Jrue Holiday and Grayson Allen. Now the projected starting line-up is Lillard, Malik Beasley, Kris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Brook Lopez. The Bucks also have a new head coach Adrian Griffin.
This is Griffin’s first year as a head coach. To start the season one of the assistant coaches on the roster was former Trailblazers head coach Terry Stotts. Stotts’ role was to be the “offensive coordinator” for the Bucks. It seemed like a perfect match with his former star player Lillard now being on the Bucks. Stotts resigned from his position in a shocking move.
There are lots of rumors swirling around this situation and I think this will affect the Bucks in a negative way. The offense will start off slowly and it will take time for this team to meld. The Bucks will have the second best record in the east because of the slow start. Once they get into the playoffs they will have worked out all of the kinks and will win the NBA championship.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Last season the Cavaliers were a very good regular season team. They finished the season with a record of 51-31 which was good enough for the fourth seed in the eastern conference playoffs. In the playoffs, they lost to the New York Knicks in the first round.
In the off-season they addressed the main issue that the Knicks exposed in the playoffs which was a lack of shooting around Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell. Cleveland signed Max Strus and Georges Niang.
My bold prediction is that the Cavaliers will be a better team this year than they were last season. Cleveland will be the third seed in the eastern conference playoffs and will make it to the second round.
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls went 40-42 last season and their biggest move of the off-season was signing Jevon Carter as a back-up point guard. This team is not good and this will be the year that the organization finally realizes that.
The Bulls will be a heavy seller at the trade deadline. Demar Derozan and Zach Lavine will both be traded during the season.
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers missed the play-in tournament last season as they finished with a record of 35-47. Unlike the Bulls, Indiana did attempt to improve their roster. They added Bruce Brown who was an integral part of the Denver Nuggets championship team. The Pacers also added Obi Toppin who is a very athletic, good shooting forward who played with the Knicks last season.
My bold prediction is that the Pacers will take a big jump up in wins and be in the play-in tournament this year. One of the reasons this team will improve in a big way is that Myles Turner will win the Defensive Player of the Year award.
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons were one of the worst teams in the NBA last season. This season they will be better if their star Cade Cunningham is healthy. Their biggest move of the off-season was signing former Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams to a six-year deal to be their new head coach.
The team won’t be good but Cade Cunningham will be a strong candidate for Most Improved Player this year. This season is about building a foundation for the future with Williams as head coach.
That is it for the central division. Do you agree with my predictions?
