[Billy Bibbit]

Sweet post. I'll give my own thoughts on most of the teams.

Pacers, Bucks - Hard to see these teams doing anything at all.

Hawks - Doesn't this team have a surplus of mediocre point guards and will have to release at least one of them? Between Speedy Claxton, Acie Law, Tyronn Lue, Anthony Johnson, and Salim Stoudamire, I'm wondering who's going to play and who's even going to be on the opening day roster. My guess is Claxton gets hurt by Christmas, and Law takes the starting job and never looks back. It's hilarious that last year's #5 pick in Shelden Williams is probably going to get DNP's even though he was supposedly NBA-ready. I think this team has a better chance of winning a title than the next few teams above them although their chances of becoming the 8th seed are probably worse. They have a lot of guys who could have breakout seasons.

76ers - Agreed with your comments.

Knicks - Is this team really planning on starting Quentin Richardson ahead of David Lee? I realize Lee is more of a PF but their starting lineup is so hilariously awful defensively that you'd think they'd try to find some way to fit Lee in there and bring guys like Richardson off the bench for some scoring punch. I can't imagine this team doing anything.

Bobcats - Honestly, when I look at their roster I see Adam Morrison getting DNP's. Jason Richardson and Gerald Wallace are starting and Matt Carroll will probably get all the backup minutes at both positions. They didn't give him nearly the full MLE so he could sit on the bench, and pretty clearly he's a better player than Morrison. I'm wondering when they're finally going to realize that Primoz Brezec is TERRIBLE and just move Okafor to C and start Walter Herrmann at PF. Okafor played like half his minutes at C anyway last year. I like this team too but I'm worried about their depth up front. Hopefully Jared Dudley can turn into a nice backup and this Ryan Hollins guy can give them enough that Brezec can go back to the end of the bench where he belongs.

Magic - I agree this team is overrated but if Dwight Howard keeps progressing at the rate he has been then it's tough to see them not even making the playoffs. BTW, I can't imagine them starting Trevor Ariza at SG, because teams with SG's who can't shoot usually suck and Ariza is a SF anyway. I'm guessing they'll start Hedo Turkoglu at SG and make Ariza their 6th man. Did you overlook Turkoglu in your analysis? He's definitely below average as a starter but he's a nice rotation player and way better than J.J. Redick.

Raptors - Agreed again. This team overachieved last year because they had no major injury problems and Sam Mitchell had them playing hard every night. Teams that overachieve with less talent by playing scrappy often times take a step back the next year, especially if they get hit by injuries (see Memphis last year for an extreme example). They also lost the mediocre but solid Morris Peterson and replaced him with one of the worst starters in the NBA in Jason Kapono or Carlos Delfino (take your pick) so it's hard to see them not taking a step back unless Bargnani breaks out and sends those scrubs back to the bench.

Heat - I'm even lower on these guys than you are. I realize that Dwyane Wade wasn't quite 100% when the Bulls swept them but I still think that series was a pretty good indication of how good they are. And if Wade misses 20 games like he's prone to do, they're a lottery team. LOL at their depth. Their best bench player other than Alonzo Mourning is who? Smush Parker? Dorell Wright? Wayne Simien? This isn't going to work, especially since Shaq is going to miss a ton of regular season games again and Jason Williams has injury concerns too. This team sucks.

Nets - This team always seems to look pretty mediocre in the regular season and better in the playoffs and I expect that to happen again this year. You didn't mention Nenad Krstic coming back but that'll help a lot. He was playing really well before he tore his ACL last year. Other than Jamaal Magloire, their bench is pretty awful, but they do have a few young guys in the backcourt who might be able to step up although IMHO they all suck. Like I said they'll get better in the playoffs when the starters get 40 minutes and these scrubs barely play.

Pistons - Not much to say about this team as we know what we're getting from them. I bet they'll make it to the second round but I agree with you putting them down here because I think all the teams above them have a better chance of going to the Finals.

Cavaliers - I assume this team finds a way to bring Anderson Varejao back because they really need him unless they want to give starter's minutes to Donyell Marshall and...Ira Newble? On the other hand, LOL at Sasha Pavlovic holding out. The team obviously said [censored] you to him when they signed Devin Brown (who is better than Pavlovic anyway) and he'll end up in Europe before he realizes he's obviously not worth the money he's asking for. Hughes isn't great but he's better than you're giving him credit for and if Daniel Gibson can do anything close to what he did in the playoffs last year, this team has one of the best 1-2-3 in the East with good depth too. They're right there with anyone else in the East if they bring back Varejao.

Wizards - Yes, this is the most underrated team in the league and they'll pick up right where they left off when their whole team got hurt last spring. This is another team that's pretty thin especially with Etan Thomas out indefinitely with his heart condition.

Bulls - I can't stand this team but I really think they're the best team in the East. They match up better with the Celtics than they did with the Pistons.

Celtics - Putting them alongside the best teams in the West gets a huge mehhhhhh from me. James Posey is a nice player but I don't think you realize how bad Eddie House is and after that they're a joke. Their best backup big man is Brian Scalabrine and they'll probably eventually replace him with this year's Chris Webber -- an aging ring whore who gets bought out by a bad team -- but I guess I'm just not ready to crown their asses yet.