The Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards will once again be considered the top contenders in the Eastern Conference heading into the 2015-16 NBA season but there is a lot of uncertainty concerning which teams will fill out the remaining four playoff positions.
The Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat and Detroit Pistons all feel as though they have improved enough to make the postseason but in order for even one of them to make it, one of four teams that made the playoffs last year will have to be bumped out. Here is a look at the four Eastern Conference playoff teams most in danger of missing out on the postseason in 2015-16 with last year’s record and final standings position listed next to each team in brackets.
Brooklyn Nets
Last Season: 38-44; 8th Place
The Nets finished six games below .500 and actually registered the same record as Indiana and only one more win than Miami to sneak in to the playoffs last season. However, Brooklyn traded away starting point guard Deron Williams, lost Mirza Teletovic and while they have some decent pieces in Brook Lopez, Joe Johnson and Thaddeus Young, their backcourt is a mess with Jarrett Jack and Bojan Bogdanovic slated to start is questionable.
They also don’t have much depth behind that duo. Indiana, Miami and Detroit all improved this past offseason with the Heat in particular set to be substantially better, so it will be really surprising if the Nets make it back to the postseason after barely sneaking in last year.
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Boston Celtics
Last Season: 40-42; 7th Place
Boston exceeded almost every expectation the experts had for them last season when they won eight of their final 10 games to finish 40-42 and make the playoffs as the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. Head coach Brad Stevens did an excellent job of coaching up his young players and the Celtics added to their roster when they brought in David Lee and Amir Johnson after failing to convince Kevin Love to sign with them as a free agent.
Even so, they will be in tough to build on last year’s success. An argument can be made that the Heat, Pacers and Pistons all have better teams than Boston – at least on paper – so it won’t be a surprise if any of those two teams beats out the Nets and Celtics for a playoff spot.
Milwaukee Bucks
Last Season: 41-41; 6th Place
The Bucks don’t look as vulnerable as Brooklyn and Boston in terms of being an Eastern Conference playoff team in danger of missing the postseason – especially after they added Greg Monroe and Greivis Vasquez over the summer.
However, Milwaukee is still a very young team and their sum may have performed better than its individual pieces last season. The Bucks will once again rely on youngsters like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Michael Carter-Williams and Jabari Parker to play prominent roles for them next season. They were only .500 last season and if they don’t continue their development, they could be in danger of missing the playoffs.
Toronto Raptors
Last Season: 49-33; 4th Place
Washington appears to be in good hands with John Wall, Bradley Beal, Marcin Gortat and Jared Dudley, and considering their four-game sweep of the Raptors in last year’s playoffs, we will peg Toronto as the more likely choice for a deep sleeper pick to miss the postseason this coming season. Rumors of the Raptors’ willingness to blow up their roster were clearly exaggerated but they enter this season in a unique position after failing to win a playoff series.
Head coach Duane Case enters on the hot seat and there are trade winds blowing of rumors that DeMar DeRozan or Kyle Lowry could be moved. The additions of DeMarre Carroll, Luis Scola, Cory Joseph and Bismack Biyombo are marginal – at best – and it’s possible the Raptors spent too much money. If it doesn’t pay off, this is a team that could sink in the standings.
