World News – AU – NBA Daily: Pacific Division Ranking

David Yapkowitz is breaking down what we saw from the Pacific Division to kick off the 2020-21 regular season.

We’re about a week into the 2020-21 regular season and while it’s early days there have been a number of interesting developments across the league. And here at Basketball Insiders, we take these developments into account when we set ourselves the goal of classifying each team in their respective divisions. Yes, most teams have only played between 4 and 5 games, but we can make some seriously educated guesses as to how the rest of their season might play out.

We’ve already looked at the Eastern Conference – the Atlantic, Central, and Southeast Divisions – and now let’s turn to the Western Conference, and especially the Pacific Division.

How the mighty have fallen. It wasn’t that long ago that the Golden State Warriors were automatically inducted into the NBA Finals as representatives of the West. Then Kevin Durant left, Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry were injured, and the Warriors found themselves in the lottery for the first time since 2012.

Despite those setbacks, the team looked healthy and with James Wiseman in tow, like they were ready to head straight back to the playoff mix. But it wasn’t supposed to be – Thompson sustained an end-of-season injury just before the start of the season. Meanwhile, Draymond Green has a sore foot and Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre Jr. . I haven’t made anywhere near the pitch impact that the team hoped would. Wiseman, the No.. 2 overall pick, has shown flashes of his talent but he’s still a freshman who got used to the NBA game with no summer league and no real preseason or training camp.

Obviously, warriors still have time to change that. If the team can find a flow on offense on Green’s return, they could even run a run in the postseason. But from now on it doesn’t seem to be in sight – the Western Conference is too good as too many teams are already fighting for a place in the playoffs.

The Sacramento Kings are in an interesting place. They currently have the longest active streak in the NBA that missed the playoffs after 14 seasons. You mistreated Bogdan Bogdanovic’s free agency and he left for nothing.

But they managed to take a big, long-term move this off-season when they signed De’Aaron Fox to a maximum contract renewal. As a franchise face and all-star cross-border commuter, it was imperative that the Kings avoid a scenario similar to Bogdanovic at all costs. And this season Fox rewarded them for their efforts with an outstanding game that gave Sacramento a strong start to the season.

Fox averaged 20 in four games. 3 points, 2. 8 rebounds, 6. 8 templates, one block and one theft per game. In the meantime, he’s increased his three-point and free-throw percentages by more than 10 points each, as he shot 40 percent and 80. 8 percent to start the season. This strong game (and continued growth) is exactly what the Kings wanted their rising star to see, and if he stays on track throughout the season, the Kings could very well find themselves in the postseason hunt as the season progresses.

Of course, there are more reasons to be optimistic than Fox. Tyrese Haliburton, Sacramento’s newest lottery, looked solid in the early years. Marvin Bagley III and Richaun Holmes, who both missed time due to injuries last season, appear healthy and more than ready to contribute. In Bagley’s case, it could be his season of proving himself worthy of the No.. To be 1. 2 Overall selection in 2018.

Well with that said, the kings are still an important question mark. They could easily slip behind the warriors in the division, or – and management can only hope for that – they could just as easily measure up to the Phoenix Suns as any of the West’s newest competitors.

The Suns made the best move this off-season and brought in multiple all-star Chris Paul. Last year with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Paul showed that he is still capable of playing at an elite level and now he will try to do the same for Phoenix. Not only was Paul supposed to make the game so much easier for the two young building blocks of the Suns, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton, but he was also supposed to improve the team’s ability to close games in the fourth quarter and bring an attitude into the locker room, which has been sorely lacking in recent years.

In addition to Paul, both Booker and Ayton seemed ready to continue their upward trend. Booker has shot on all cylinders while Ayton, who had a strong performance in the NBA bubble in July and August, is still warming up. Whatever Paul brings, the Suns’ post-season dreams come first and foremost with these two – if they’re fighting, it may not be the franchise turn everyone expected after losing 8-0 in Orlando.

A welcome development for the suns so far has been Cameron Johnson’s game. A year ago, some questioned its high draft selection, which was followed by a decent, but not great, rookie season. Even so, Johnson was on fire to kick off the 2020-21 season, especially out of the three-point range.

In addition to Paul, the team added veterans Jae Crowder, Langston Galloway and E’Twuan Moore, among others. Crowder was instrumental in bidding for the Miami HEAT NBA final last season, while Galloway and Moore were supposed to help clear plenty of room for the operation.

The Los Angeles Clippers have a lot to prove. Los Angeles, a proverbial favorite to win last season’s title, faced the Denver Nuggets in the second round despite having a commanding 3-1 lead at one point. Paul George has meanwhile been signed to a Max Extension, but Kawhi Leonard could make a free choice as early as next summer if he declined his player option.

It is quite possible that this season will represent the best and most importantly last shots the Clippers take to win a championship with their current group. Still, it wasn’t the best start to the season.

After an impressive 2-0 start against the Los Angeles Lakers and the Nuggets, the Clippers suffered their worst loss as a franchise, a 124-73 drubbing by the Dallas Mavericks. Meanwhile, Leonard accidentally hit an elbow in the face of his own teammate and has been playing ever since – not exactly what you want to see in an all-0ut offer to win a title.

Still, the majority of the off-season acquisitions in Los Angeles were positive. Serge Ibaka, Nicolas Batum and Luke Kennard all looked like solid additions as each of them brought a new dimension to offense and defense that they didn’t have last year.

And despite those early season glitches, the Clippers still pose the greatest challenge to the Lakers, returning from the west. Her defense remains a strength as Tyronn Lue has moved away from the isolated heavy offensive that Doc Rivers carried out last season. And except for the game in Dallas, it did the trick. If they can keep it up and get Leonard back on the ground, Los Angeles could prove the favorite that everyone expected a season ago.

Somehow the other 29 teams made the reigning champions Los Angeles Lakers even better. Not only have they upgraded the forecourt, replacing Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee with Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrel (which also hurt the Clippers), but the addition of Dennis Schroeder and Wes Matthews in the backcourt should give the lineup a little more energy than Danny Green and Rajon Rondo were able to bring, even if Matthews has not yet got going.

In the early days, LeBol James played even more off-ball by playing Gasol in the middle position. Meanwhile, Harrell has stopped where he left off before the bubble as one of the NBA’s top reserves. Schroder’s offensive strike is something the Lakers have lacked badly at both sentries, while being the same if not better defensively than a season ago.

Health seems to be the only major obstacle that could keep Los Angeles from another place in the finals. Anthony Davis pinched his ankle while beating the Mavericks on Christmas Day and later defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves and looked constrained against the Portland Trail Blazers, a loss to Laker. James, although he hasn’t missed any time yet, looked slightly limping with an ankle injury.

So far, the Pacific is the Lakers to lose. Unless you do something drastic, expect them to dig deep into the postseason again.

In the Pacific Division, the two best teams in the NBA are at home in the Lakers and Clippers. Meanwhile, the Suns and Kings have improved a lot, and they both want to go back to the postseason for the first time in a long time. And despite their difficult start, it’s still far too early to write off the warriors as well. The west will be tough this year and the Pacific will be a good reflection of that.

In the next installment of Basketball Insider’s division leaderboard, newcomer Zach Dupont takes a look at the stacked Atlantic Division.

The NBA season has started and it’s time to overreact to the first few games of the year. We’ll be looking at the Atlantic Division in the next installment of the Basketball Insiders Inter-Conference Leaderboard. In this ranking, we rank each team from worst to first based on their early performances and how we think they will project for the rest of the season.

It feels gruesome to place the New York Knicks behind the Toronto Raptors after such an impressive 20-point win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday, but that’s exactly what we did.

The Knicks will take last place in this Atlantic Division, but Madison Square Garden is way too optimistic. R.. . J. . Barrett started his rookie season with an impressive 26-point performance against the Pacers, shooting 11-15 from the field and 3-3 from three-point range. His 10-point 2-on-15 follow-up in Philadelphia was less impressive – but in two of Barrett’s three games he has shown clear signs of improvement over the previous year.

Mitchell Robinson also showed a jump at the beginning of the season. The burgeoning center started all three games for New York but has committed more than three fouls in each game while making a total of six blocked shots. Other young players like Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickly have shown promising results in their singles games this season, but both have a long way to go before they are high-profile NBA players.

Also, the Knicks should be pleased with the early play from Julius Randle and Alec Burks. The duo leads the team in the ranking, while Randle had a very good start to the year with an average of 23. 7 points, 10. 1 rebounds and 6. 3 templates on 55. Shoot 3 percent. Since the Knicks are unlikely to be a competitive team, watch out for Randle and Burks to be near the close of trading if their strong game continues.

Despite the big win against the Bucks, the Knicks are without a doubt the worst team in this division. Kevin Knox and Dennis Smith Jr. . are still playing a long season despite their ongoing below-average performance – and with so many young pieces in the rotation, it is unreasonable to expect anything but the last for the Knicks this season.

For the only winless team in the Atlantic, the Tampa Bay / Toronto Raptors, it was a shaky start to the season. The Raptors dropped their season opener in an uninspiring 113-99 performance against the New Orleans Pelicans and then led late to the San Antonio Spurs. The Raptors have the worst point differential of the division at -9. 5 and are just one of four teams in the Eastern Conference without a win.

While Toronto should bounce back from this start, there are plenty of worries after these two games. For starters, OG Anunoby didn’t make the offensive leap some expected after signing a four-year $ 72 million extension shortly before the start of the season. In his first two games, Anunoby played 72 minutes and scraped together only 18 total points – 10 against the Spurs and eight against the Pelicans – at 44 percent shooting, 20 percent from three and 50. 7 percent real shooting.

Worse, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka’s losses this off-season were evident to the Raptors on the defensive. Gasol and Ibaka have been two of the Raptors’ strongest defenders in recent years, and replacing their minutes with Chris Boucher and Aron Baynes has had mixed results. Boucher managed seven blocks against the Spurs, but his thin frame limits his defensive ability, while Baynes’ lack of lateral movement does the same.

That being said, a core of Fred VanVleet, Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam, and an up and coming Boucher in the Atlantic won’t finish last – sorry Knicks fans – and that’s why they finished fourth. The Raptors’ early game, however, raised legitimate concerns about their ability to fight for the Eastern Conference title.

Despite having the best percentage of profits in the Atlantic, the Philadelphia 76ers come in third on our list.

The 76ers had the easiest schedule in the Atlantic so far, defeating the winless Washington Wizards, the unfortunate Knicks and losing to the surprisingly undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers (but without Joel Embiid). . So the 76’s have held up well, but there’s cause for concern as they prepare to face some of the Eastern Conference’s better competitors.

In his fourth season in the NBA, Ben Simmons appears to have made no leap as a goalscorer in any meaningful way. Simmons averages 15. 3 points per game and shoots 59 percent from the free-throw line, both at the level of his previous three seasons in the NBA. While there is no doubt that Simmons defense and passing play make him an elite player, his inability to improve his points game could continue to hold Philadelphia back. It’s also disappointing that the tradition of the 76s remains constant and that Tobias Harris continues to look no better than a third banana at best.

The 76ers looked lost against Cleveland on Sunday evening even without Embiid and let Andre Drummond run wild for 24 points and 14 rebounds. On the other hand, the positives are that Embiid looked dominant in the two games he played and 29 and 29 respectively. Collected 27 points. The team around Embiid and Simmons seem to have made a big step forward again this year as Seth Curry and Danny Green deliver some much needed shots on the wings, Dwight Howard was a nice addition from the bench and Tyrese Maxey showed a lot very promising in its minutes so far.

Shake Milton was good off the bench and with the likes of Matisse Thybulle and Terrance Ferguson barely playing, the 76ers have plenty of choice when dealing with injuries.

All in all it’s been a solid start for Philadelphia, but we have yet to see what they can do against the better teams in the league.

The Boston Celtics may have a record loss, but they have shown promise to open the season.

Especially the duo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were very fatal in the first three Boston games. Brown has made a leap as a goalscorer and led the Celtics with an average of 26 points per game, with Tatum just behind with 25 points. The pairing also showed off their high-level defense and distribution, making them a deadly option on almost every point in the game.

The Celtics’ biggest concern is what the team looks like outside of Brown and Tatum. Kemba Walker is still out with a knee injury and Boston is forced to score from his depth while not in rotation. The third highest scorer in the Celtics is currently Jeff Teague, but he only averages 9. 3 points in three games – with Tristan Thompson and Marcus Smart behind 9. 0 points. Without Walker, the Celtics struggle to find offense outside of Brown and Tatum. So if you want to head the Eastern Conference, you need Walker soon.

Boston has had mixed results so far, even in the middle position. Thompson was the team’s best offensive option at the center, while Robert Williams has proven to be a more reliable defensive option. Daniel Theis wasn’t either, but the big man was absolutely solid last year – and he’ll get a respectable serving of minutes despite a shaky start to the year.

Despite a 2-1 start, Boston has plenty of reasons to be optimistic and if Walker returns soon and stays healthy they could outperform the Atlantic.

Kevin Durant is back looking as dangerous as ever after the entire 2019-20 season. Durant and Kyrie Irving give the Nets the best duo in the Eastern Conference. Irving averages 29. 3 points per game and Durant averages 26. 7, and both do it with extremely efficient shot counts.

The Nets don’t lack depth behind their star duo either. Caris LeVert is a great offensive off the bench, Joe Harris is one of the best marksmen in the NBA, and the combination of Jarrett Allen and DeAndre Jordan is a great duo of great men to have at your disposal. While news of Spencer Dinwiddie’s partial ACL tear isn’t great and leaves Landry Shamet to be desired in his first few games with Brooklyn, the nets are more than enough depth to cover those road bumps early in the season.

Staying healthy will be the number one question mark in Brooklyn this season. Durant and Irving will miss both games this season to create load management. The duo has already lost the Nets’ overtime to the Grizzlies on Monday evening. If Durant and Irving play three-quarters of their games, the Atlantic networks could fall behind Boston. It is also far from a given that either Durant or Irving will remain perfectly healthy.

If either is injured, the Nets’ view of things changes dramatically – of course, Durant and Irving have missed a lot of time in recent years.

If the Nets stars stay healthy, they are favorites to win the Atlantic Division, and their depth behind them gives the Nets a chance to compete without Durant and Irving.

The Atlantic Division is one of the best in the NBA, with possibly four of the best teams in the Eastern Conference … and the Knicks. Brooklyn, Toronto, Philadelphia and Boston have strong teams this year, and it should be a great time to see them this season. While these rankings seem pretty short and dry for now, the process is sure to change a ton over the course of the year. So keep an eye on one of the smartest and best divisions in the NBA in the 2020-21 period.

As at the beginning of every NBA season, the leaderboard comes with it. Whether you love the classic tag teams or are looking for the couples with a little more creative ingenuity, there really isn’t a wrong answer. But with procedures more in the air than ever before, we wouldn’t be diving for our own sake. Here at Basketball Insiders, we rank the best duos in the Eastern Conference.

Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook are perhaps one of the more talented duos in the Eastern Conference, but their cap is likely still a first-round exit. Beal projects much better than the No.. 2 or no. 3 option in a championship team instead of a No.. 1. Westbrook will continue to come up with big numbers, but its impact on winning is still a question mark. Expect the wizards to at least make it through the box office, but anything else would be a stretch.

Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam also have championship résumés – proven winners that are responsible for the success the Raptors had after Kawhi Leonard’s departure. Expect Toronto to be very competitive, but the only downside is that this duo just doesn’t have the advantages that are above them.

While the fit of the two can be discussed, their talent cannot. Simmons and Embiid are two of the best defensive players in the NBA. Elsewhere, Simmons is an elite passerby and a high IQ player. while Embiid is unguarded in the post and a defense can extend to three points.

But their pairing on the pitch has always been a bit clunky. Both mainly want to score their points on the edge, and Simmon’s inability to shoot is still a major concern. The 76ers have been experimenting with Simmons and Power Forward and Point Guard but still don’t seem sure where the two of them are best to play together. This season is going to be huge for this duo, and Simmons is set to show up in Harden rumors.

Philadelphia will hope the extra clearance is exactly what they need for the next step – but if not, this entry could be tricky.

First things first, it’s tough to put Butler and Adebayo at # 1. 4 when these two were just taking the Miami HEAT to the NBA final. Butler and Adebayo are both top-notch defenders, great playmakers, and some of the league’s toughest competitors. What they were able to achieve was something special and they deserve all of the world’s credit.

Even so, this duo lacks the shooting and the shooting. Worse, Butler also has a long injury history and a ton of minutes played. It wouldn’t be shocking to see his demise, or at least he would sit out games to rest. The man in the middle is a stallion, but he still has room to grow offensively – but multiple all-star appearances should be on the horizon.

It’s difficult not to see their performance in the bubble as the best scenario for a Butler-Adebayo pairing, which isn’t a blow to them. The three submissions ahead of us all have players who could realistically win the MVP Award this season. Your ranking on this list is not to be regarded as insignificant, but is representative of the current talent level in the conference.

It can be argued that this spot should belong to Butler and Adebayo for their performance in the bladder alone. However, Tatum and Brown are both on the rise – even better, they’re under 24 and have attended the Eastern Conference finals three times in the past four years.

Tatum is quickly developing into one of the best wings in the league, scoring at the elite level and continuously improving as a playmaker. Brown has also improved year on year, especially with his jump shot. Both players should see additional responsibility this season due to Kemba Walker’s injury and the aspiring team will see the next step in their development.

These two stand a chance of being a tandem that will stay together for a long time – and that’s bad news for the rest of the NBA.

Due to the strength of Antetokounmpo alone, this could be the second best duo in the Eastern Conference. The Phenomenon is the reigning consecutive MVP and thriving Defensive Player of the Year. Antetokounmpo is undoubtedly a top 4 player in the league at worst, and any team that hires him becomes an instant title contender. The questions regarding his jump shot and his effectiveness in the playoffs have yet to be answered, but there are few players in the league who have his kind of influence on a game.

However, Middleton’s dismissal would be disrespectful to one of the league’s most underrated players. Middleton was percentage points away from last year’s season 50-40-90 while averaging 20 points. 9 points per game. The All-Star had one of the best performances of the playoffs last season when he scored 36 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists in an elimination game against Miami.

There is no other duo in the Eastern Conference as proven and successful as Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Between the two, they own 11 All-NBA appearances, 16 All-Star berths, and three championships. In the 95 minutes in which they spoke together this season, the nets outperformed their opponents by 64 points.

It can be argued that both are top scorers in their respective positions. In three games, Durant averages 26. 7 points per game with an actual shooting percentage of 69; while Irving averages 29. 3 on a real shoot of 76. Both look healthy, engaged, and high volume with high efficiency – and unlike every other duo on this list, these two have proven to be the No.. 1 can win. 1 or 2 option.

The only question is whether you can stay healthy throughout the season. Kyrie Irving has only played 70+ games twice in a season. Kevin Durant has been long-lived throughout his career but missed the last 18 months due to an Achilles tear. If the duo can stay healthy, expect the nets to make a deep playoff run.

They certainly still have a lot to prove in the postseason, but there is no doubt that they will continue to attend the Eastern Conference for the foreseeable future. Between Boston’s Jays and the newcomers to Brooklyn, there are many challenges facing the Milwaukee and Miami conference throne.

While it’s still incredibly early in the 2020-21 landscape, these are the eye-catching pairings that the media will focus on as the season progresses.

Basketball Insiders continues its rankings this week with a look at newcomer Tristan Tucker’s Southeast Division.

Here at Basketball Insiders, we take a look at each division at the start of the season. Jonathon Gryniewicz has already looked at the central section, and today we are going to look at the southeast section.

So far it has been up and down in the southeast, but which team looked the worst? The best? Let’s take a look.

If nothing else, the Wizards had fun getting the season started despite their 3-0 record. Russell Westbrook finished ninth all-time in the Wizards’ triple-double leaderboard in just two games with the franchise, while the team played closely with the rival Philadelphia 76ers in their first game of the season.

And despite the bad record, there are many reasons for optimism in the team’s first three games. Deni Avdija has already taken on a starting role, Washington was competitive without Rui Hachimura. Meanwhile, Raul Neto has evolved into a seemingly decent role-playing player, hitting his career high in the team’s final matchup against Orlando Magic.

This next stretch of play should give a better indication of where the Wizards stand in the Eastern Conference pecking order, as they face the Chicago Bulls in consecutive games before they face the Minnesota Timberwolves and Brooklyn Nets.

Charlotte is arguably the funniest team in the division, despite having a 1: 2 record. The Hornets looked dead in the water in their first two games against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder before fighting back and scratching their way back into each game. Then, on Sunday evening, the hornets knocked off the apparently unbeatable nets.

Gordon Hayward, a heavily mocked contract, looked like the former self in three games while Terry Rozier played the best ball of his career after hitting a career high of 42 points in the season opener against Cleveland.

Devonte ’Graham was a playmaker and P. . J. . Washington has already grown into one of the most fascinating young great men in the NBA. Washington had a bad first outing in Cleveland, but put up 18 points and eight rebounds against Oklahoma City and 14 points, 12 rebounds and five assists against Brooklyn.

Once Miles Bridges and LaMelo Ball get going, and should absolutely do so, this team can be extremely dangerous and be able to win a few more angry games, much like they did in Brooklyn.

The biggest story this season for Orlando will be how Markelle Fultz, Cole Anthony and Chuma Okeke can contribute to an Orlando team that brings back most of its core from last season. With Jonathan Isaac for the year and Al-Farouq Aminu for the foreseeable future, Orlando will have to rely on his young blood to breathe new life into the team.

So far, the return has been cheap. Fultz scored at least 15 points in each of Orlando’s three games and looked like the undisputed lead guard of the future. Anthony was also very impressive in his rookie season and sparked off the bench in one of the most underrated units in the league.

After a duel against Washington, the Magic 3-0, one of the last undefeated teams in the league. Aside from the expected size of Terrance Ross and Nikola Vucevic and the youth of Anthony, Fultz and Okeke, the rest of the group leaves a lot to be desired.

Evan Fournier has been a solid starter, but Dwayne Bacon hasn’t done much with his minutes despite seeing Steve Clifford again and having the potential to be a great rotation player for this team. Aaron Gordon looked great in his first two games but only scored one goal with four points in the last game against Washington.

If Orlando is to be in the playoff mix in the east, it will need more input from its rotation players outside of its young core and stars.

Atlanta had some of the most roster sales in the league for the off-season, adding a mix of youth and experience to attract Trae Young and co. over the hump and into the playoffs. So far, these additions seem to have paid off.

In the first game of the season, the Hawks stepped on the brakes in front of Chicago and scored a whopping 83 points in the first half alone. Without a 13-point quarter from Atlanta, the game would have looked even more one-sided than the end result of 124-104.

As expected, Young looked phenomenal, scoring at least 36 goals in the first two games and collecting at least seven assists in each. The supporting cast, however, looked like a full 180 from last season.

Even in their game against the Memphis Grizzlies, in which Atlanta was severely understaffed, players like Nathan Knight, a rookie from William & Mary, appeared. Knight finished the game with 14 points in just nine minutes.

De’Andre Hunter looks like a great tertiary or fourth option on this team and a staple for the rotation, while Kevin Huerter, John Collins, Cam Reddish, Danilo Gallinari and Bogdan Bogdanovic have all flashed.

The Hawks may not have the best record in the Southeast when all is done, but there is so much to look forward to for this team, including its insane depth. The fact that an uncovered rookie two-way contract player could make an important contribution against greats like Jonas Valanciunas and Brandon Clarke shows how competitive Atlanta is from top to bottom.

Aside from the annual Orlando snafu that Miami faces every year, the team and its fans have no reason to believe they won’t be the best team in the Southeast this season. Key to Miami will be the health of its stars, including Jimmy Butler, who prematurely retired from his game against New Orleans on Christmas Day.

Duncan Robinson still looks like a top scorer in the league, while Goran Dragic’s age and plantar fasciitis from last season don’t seem to be holding him back anytime soon. Meanwhile, rookie Precious Achiuwa looks like another bargain price for HEAT as it could be a big intrigue alongside Bam Adebayo.

Once head coach Erik Spoelstra has figured out all of the wrinkles in his rotation, me. e. Miami will likely run a run of which centers to give minutes and where Okpala concentration camp might fit into the equation.

Next up for HEAT is one of the biggest tests the team will face all season, with a duel against the Milwaukee Bucks and games against the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics on the horizon. If they can escape that stretch with a decent record, Miami has no excuse not to take the division crown all over again.

While the tip of the Southeast should look like it did last season, there is plenty of room to maneuver among all other teams in the division. An extended play-in tournament could mean all five teams in the division take a run in the postseason. While other divisions offer more stability, the Southeast will no doubt be one of the most exciting of the year.

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