Celtics:
The Celtics are currently the number 1 seed in the East, sitting at 16-5 with both a top 10 offense and a top 10 defense. I believe that they have the best shot of coming out of the Eastern conference, because they not only have the star power to succeed, but their supporting cast has been playing great to start the season, and barring injuries I see no reason they don’t at least make the conference finals.
Nets:
The Nets are currently sitting at 12-9, and they are the 8th seed in the Eastern conference. They are the best rebounding team in the league, and surprisingly a top 10 offense. I personally wasn’t expecting much from them this season, but they have been able to keep themselves in position to compete for a playoff spot. Cam Thomas has also been pretty good this year as he’s finally been given an opportunity to play. I was rooting for Ben Simmons to have a bounce back year, but unfortunately he’s been sidelined with another injury.
Knicks:
The Knicks are also currently 12-9, and they are the 7th seed in the East. They have a bottom 10 offense, but they make up for it by having a top 3 defense. I don’t see them dropping out of the play-in, but I also don’t see them securing a top-6 seed. I personally feel that they should move on from Julius Randle. I don’t think he’s reliable enough to be the #1 on a contending team, so right now to me the Knicks just exist. They aren’t good enough to win the title, but aren’t bad enough to get better through the lottery. They are a big market, but with Dolan spearheading the team I feel that big name players will be hesitant to sign with them. I also think that they should move on from their head coach. I will say that Rj Barret has been playing well this year, hopefully he can continue this good play and help change the team’s situation.
76ers:
The 76ers are 14-7 and the 4th seed in the East. They boast a top 5 offense, and have been pretty good this season. They traded James Harden and PJ Tucker for role players, but they have been really effective for the 76ers. It also helps that Maxey has taken a pretty huge leap this season; I expect him to make an All-Star team. Before he was injured, Oubre was also having a great season, he’s returned from the injury and hopefully he can pick up where he left off. I’m not sure how I feel about saying that the 76ers are contenders. They’re playing good basketball right now but Embiid’s production takes a dip in the playoffs where fouls are harder to come by. They also have failed to reach the conference finals with better teams. I don’t see them winning the championship this year. But it wouldn’t be the craziest thing ever if they did.
Raptors:
The Raptors are 9-13 and the 11th seed in the East. Scottie Barnes has really stepped up this season, and potentially can make his first All-Star game. I’m not really too sure what to say about this team because multiple people on their teams are expected to be moved, but this has been the same story for the past few seasons. Siakam and OG always end up in trade convos, but never get moved. With the emergence of Scottie Barnes the team could possibly feel more comfortable moving on from one of them.