bucks look like the team to beat despite everything, despite mirotic and brogdon walking they've tightened their system and giannis has gotten even better, carrying the team almost singlehandedly. the fact that he hit 5 3s to knock down the lakers is the icing on the cake, and while I hesitate to say unstoppable he's made himself the clear favorite for mvp. all that's left is for bledsoe and middleton to finally show up in a playoff series, but we won't see that till april at least.
I have raptors at second team in the east prob out of bias but also bc I think their flaws are the least glaring out of the east's top 4 teams, as well having the most room for growth this season and being the most likely to make a deal at the deadline to boost their chances (having all of decent picks expiring vets and younger players to comprise an offer for a third allstar, since they shouldn't deal for anything less). the fact that after a breakout season and a 32 point finals game siakim is looking like a potential mip is truly absurd, and despite some stutters he's looking like the guy. fvv has also slotted into a starting role with ease and has stepped up his scoring, og anunoby has looked like an all-defense pick, and the vets and bench mob complement this group really well. despite a stutter in the middle (blame injury luck and a rough schedule) there's no reason to say that this team can't make it back to the ecf at least.
sixers are probably the most talented team in the east - not only are they the only eastern team with two superstars (nets don't count till next year) but they also spent last year poaching the best players from the clippers / heat / celtics respectively. their size-centric approach is also weirdly reminiscent of the lakers and should give them a huge edge in the poffs, but all that said their flaws seem way too glaring. giannis has learned how to shoot and simmons has not, embiid is too up-and-down, and the way this team leans on josh richardson of all people is kinda ridic. vulnerable to smart defense and simply being outhustled as the raptors and heat proved so yeah.
celtics should be higher - brown has gotten his career back on track, tatum has branched out and looked phenomenal, kemba has been everything the celtics expected etc etc and their record def shows something. all that said you can't make it through the east playing tatum at pf and kanter / theis at center, giannis and embiid will brutalise you. sorry.
heat have prob been the biggest revelation of this season - that they've made stars out of undrafted kendrick nunn and duncan robinson is quite the feat. meyers leonard has shot really well, tyler herro's lived up to the hype, while jimmy and bam have done a fantastic job of shepherding the youngsters and closing out tight stretches. I think the one knock I have against this team is youth and a corresponding lack of poff experience but at the same time I think this team is more likely to outpunch one of the four teams above them than to suffer a shock loss.
after a long stretch of heartbreak it looks like it's finally the pacers time. brogdon has done fantastic at pg and the rest of the team, sabonis in particular have done really well. this team is at the threshold of the top 10 with oladipo yet to return and when they get him back they'll probably hit another level.
still behind the rest of the pack for now though.
