LeBron James and his teammates finally delivered the city of Cleveland the elusive championship they had been wanting for so long when the Cavaliers stormed back from down 3-1 to beat the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. It was a comeback for the ages and easily the most incredible moment of LeBron’s entire career. Now the Cavaliers will turn the page to a new season with a renewed focus beginning with locking up the best record in the Eastern Conference this season. Cleveland should have no problem taking care of business in the Central Division once again but there is one team in particular that could try to make things a little more difficult for them. Here is a look at what to expect in the NBA Central division this season.
Winner: Cleveland Cavaliers
57 wins were just enough to edge out the Toronto Raptors by one game for the best record in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers’ hold on the Central division was never in question as they finished 12 games up on Indiana. Coming off the first championship in franchise history, Cleveland didn’t change much with the exception of role players like Matthew Dellavedova and Timofey Mozgov cashing in with bigger deals elsewhere in free agency. The Cavaliers brought back LeBron and then convinced Richard Jefferson not to retire with the goal of challenging for at least one more championship this season. With LeBron, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love back in the fold, there is no reason to expect Cleveland to slide from top spot in both the Central division and the Eastern Conference this season.
Biggest Surprise: Indiana Pacers
The Pacers look like a team with the potential to surprise if they can stay healthy and develop their chemistry early on. after some substantial offseason turnover. Larry Bird shook things up when Frank Vogel was fired and replaced by Nate McMillan, but the changes didn’t stop there as Indiana said goodbye to George Hill, Jordan Hill, Solomon Hill, Ian Mahinmi and Ty Lawson. The Pacers upgraded with their trades for Jeff Teague and Thaddeus Young and then signed Al Jefferson to a reasonable free agent deal. Teague will give them an All-Star point guard that should compliment Paul George perfectly while Young can step in to the starting lineup and help take some of the pressure off of George at both ends of the floor. Jefferson is a veteran big man that will help mentor Myles Turner while giving them strong minutes off the bench. And remember, everything still revolves around George, who has proven to be an MVP-caliber type of player in the past.
Indiana is coming off a busy offseason and while some might not realize it they have all of the pieces in place to be a dark horse contender in the Eastern Conference.
Biggest Disappointment: Chicago Bulls
The general lack of direction from the Bulls have been extremely confusing as they went from rebuild to loading up on veteran talent at substantial price tags in the same offseason. Chicago moved Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah in what appeared to be an effort to get younger but then signed Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo to substantial free agent deals. The result is a mix of veterans and young players that appears intriguing on paper, but likely isn’t good enough to contend in the Eastern Conference anyways.
It’s a big year for head coach Fred Hoiberg. The Bulls have seemingly regressed since swapping Tom Thibodeau for Hoiberg, but this year will tells us all we need to know. If the Bulls again struggle to make the playoffs, Hoiberg will be on the hot seat. If it was just a matter of him swapping out the old guard and working with players that will listen to him, then this is a team that could be on the rise.
The Bulls will be interesting to watch early on to see how things play out but this team could be good enough to compete with Cleveland and Indiana in the Central division, and they could also miss the playoffs altogether.
