It’s hard to see anyone but the Cleveland Cavaliers winning the Eastern conference and making the NBA Finals. Maybe, the Chicago Bulls, although they fell in six games a few months ago in the playoffs. Anyone else? Not a chance.
The Miami Heat might have gotten a little better, but also a little older. The Washington Wizards seem to be in a year of waiting for Kevin Durant. The Toronto Raptors haven’t won a playoff series in over a decade, and don’t look capable of doing much more than just one, even if they’ve learned a valuable lesson from getting swept against the Wizards.
The Milwaukee Bucks will be better, but they aren’t there yet. The same can be said of the Boston Celtics, and probably the Detroit Pistons. Don’t be surprised if the Orlando Magic are finally in the playoff mix, for the first time since Dwight Howard left them in 2012, but a threat on winning a title? Nope. And not the Indiana Pacers either. The Atlanta Hawks? They’re not going to top what they did last season.
Did the Bulls get better? They stayed the same. They’re counting on Bobby Portis having an impact as a rookie under a head coach who has just came in from coaching college basketball. They’re relying on Jimmy Butler getting even better (and he should), and the same for Derrick Rose, hoping this time he’s healthy for the entire season, and along with Butler be part of the best backcourt in the league. Most of all, they’re counting on Fred Hoiberg figuring things out on offense; the kind of things that Tom Thibodeau seemed to struggle with for quite a few years.
But are they a match for the Cleveland Cavaliers? Irving wasn’t 100% and Kevin Love wasn’t even playing when the Cavaliers beat the Bulls in six games in the conference semifinals, which should have been the de facto conference finals. The Cavaliers haven’t added anyone except for Mo Williams, but they were loaded last season. Tristan Thompson will re-sign, and J.R. Smith probably will too. Anderson Varejao is back from injury. The Cavaliers should be as strong, and maybe even the best in the league, if no one gets injured when it matters the most.
But the Bulls are probably the best team suited to give the Cavaliers problems. But there are a lot of ifs in that possibility. It will be the collision we’ll be waiting for all season. This time, hopefully, both teams are good enough during the regular season in order to make it the conference finals in the playoffs and there, maybe it’ll be a bit more even than in the 2015 postseason.
One response to “NBA Rumors – Cleveland Cavaliers & Chicago Bulls Only Teams That Can Win the Eastern Conference”
I’m a heat fan and u said only the bulls can unthrone the Cavs far as the east goes lol u say Miami is old but doesn’t mean anything Miami has a nice bench with both young and vets .i dont see how Cleveland’s bench nor the bulls bench are better than south beaches’ but its kool count Miami out all u writers want too but Miami broke even with wins and losses when they played each other despite injuries Miami has worthy bench players who could put up on any giving nite this means even with injuries lets say wade only plays 70 games in kool with that or even 66 games u still have to account for Gerald green’ using wade’s mins can he put up while wade is absence yes he can go back and check his 2014-2015 stats in a few games he even put up 30’s his shot has improved also plus green is back out east a soft conference and there’s not many 2 guards’ in the east thats Élite no ways Miami’s bench can b lighting if bosh doesn’t b there Amare and mc Roberts can rotate to handle bosh’s work load both forwards can spread the floor like bosh can do both are capable last yr Amare put up ok numbers in short mins and played great he can still score outside and inside then there Winslow outta duk he might struggle offensively because no matter his IQ is he’s still young and needs to b NBA ready he can play the 2 or 3 but at 6/6 225 he can do it but it might take a yr for him to grasp but defensively he’s going to make noise on that end rookie oe not plus again there’s not many 3 towards in the east u got Mello ‘Labron’ Joe Johnson ‘ derozen hell not many .Miami’s bench vs eastern conference bench’s ill pick Miami .south beach is starting to look like the eastern spur’s a team full of vets looking to battle back after a down Yr look for Miami to play the underdogs outta of the east .heres wise words for u writers …Never Count the heart of a champion out !!! Bulls they have so many expiations’ yr in and Yr out but they need a 2 gaurd thats consistent they cant have butler guarding everybody’s 2’s and 3’s like they did against Cleveland or good as he is he’ll break down because Chicago is asking him to do too much and until the bills can sign a nice 2guard and get help from there bench thell have UPS and downs even now the bulls cant not beat Miami with Whiteside at center and dragic running point and there bench Miami’s bench can slow em down now with our own free agent signings and u cant forget the pacers now have monta Ellis and Paul George heathy again those 2 are going to light it up in the east same as for Beal and wall …but Miami is the bulls and Cleveland biggest threats simply because of depth only if Spo uses everybody