06/07 Season Preview - East
@weetee and
@Samid are on the
Cleveland Cavaliers (29-53)
You know, the Cavs don't actually seem like such a trainwreck anymore. Admittely they are tipped to finish 12th in the East, well off a playoff spot, but they'd be on for 7th if they played in the West. They've also got a fairly solid set of core players (
weetee and
Samid included), who all have a few years left on their contracts and are more importantly young enough where improvement is expected (if not certain). While some teams are on a clock, the Cavs might get better and better. Until
Samid is inevitably traded again, that is.
@Solius and
@Skizzo are on the
Orlando Magic (45-37, Conference Final)
This is an important season for the Magic. While
Solius is still easily a superstar, as he gets further into his late 20s we can probably expect more decline than improvement. His team also has a lot of expiring contracts, so who knows what the team will look like next year. Right now they are still a really good team, with a good mix of stars and solid players. This might be
Skizzo's best chance to win a title.
@Dr. Dwayne and the
Indiana Pacers (33-49)
Dr. Dwayne has had a very good career so far, with great numbers and All-League and All-Star performances aplenty. But he still hasn't made it further than the 2nd Round in the playoffs. Will that change this season? Probably not, but he's on that interesting type of team where there are lots of perfectly playable players for the Pacers to play.
@BenitoSTARR is still on the
New York Knicks (53-29, 2nd Round)
Did the Knicks get better over the off-season, or did they get worse? It's a matter of perspective, I suppose.
BenitoSTARR improved further, as did some of the young-ish players on the team. Some didn't, though. I don't know what that amounts to in the end. Benito likes it in New York, but his contract expires after the season, so for their own sake they better show him they can still make playoff runs.
@Salt Bailly is on the
Washington Wizards (37-45)
Look at all that green! It seems like
Salt Bailly has found himself on a team on the up, with lots of players taking very significant steps. He himself took a minor step, but improving at 29 is not a given in the first place. The Wizards also seem to have good players for all positions (instead of several PGs in the starting line-up, like some other teams I could mention).
@V.O. has found a new home on the
New Jersey Nets (31-51)
Lots of green here too. Perhaps the most important improvement is from
V.O. himself, as when you start getting into the 70-75 range you suddenly have the potential to do a lot more for your team. The Nets have been bad for a while, but they don't see
that bad anymore, do they? I'm sure V.O. would really like to see the playoffs again.
@hobbers is trapped on the
Charlotte Bobcats (51-31, 1st Round)
Are the Bobcats good? Yesn't. While hobbers continues to decline slightly, we're still talking
the best player in the league by some margin. It's possible that his teammates are
just good enough to make something happen this season. They probably can't make a deep run in the playoffs, unless hobbers goes nuclear, but their starting 5 seems at least almost not incompetent.
@sebsheep and the
Detroit Pistons (38-44)
sebsheep is another one who took a slight step backwards over the summer, though he's only 26 years old. Beyond that there's not a lot of change on his Pistons, as far as skill goes. A bit up, a bit down. In the end it probably doesn't amount to a great season in a very strong East, but the squad is deep enough that anything could happen. We've seen how injuries can derail seasons before, which Detroit seems inoculated against.