2020-2021 Eastern Conference Standings Prediction

With only about a week left until the NBA season officially starts and with preseason well underway, it’s time to try to predict what exactly is going to happen this year. We’ve had offseason signings, trades, the draft. Teams look very different now then they did just a couple months ago. There’s a lot of hope and optimism this time of year. Plenty of teams think they have a shot, and the NBA is as competitive as we’ve seen in in a long time. Trying to predict where everyone is always a fun exercise, and it’ll be really fun to look back at the end of the season and see just how wrong I am about a lot of this stuff. First we’ll try to predict an Eastern Conference that looks as competitive as we’ve seen it in a while. From top to bottom nothing is certain in the conference, and it should be just as exciting as the ever ruthless Western Conference.

Eastern Conference:

1st Seed: Milwaukee Bucks

Milwaukee may not have had a ton of playoff success the last few years, or not as much as they would have hoped anyways, but they’re still an extremely talented team. They should be just as dominant as they were last year, at least in the regular season. Though teams have been able to slow Giannis down a little bit during the playoffs with adjustments over the course of a 7 game series, during the regular season he looks unstoppable. There’s a reason he’s the back-to-back MVP. The Bucks also added Jrue Holiday over the offseason and he should add both some offense and defense to an already great team.

2nd Seed: Miami Heat

Though they were the team to come out of the east last year, Miami was only the fifth seed in conference standings. I think that year this changes a bit. Bam and Tyler Herro will both likely improve, and the team as a whole has gelled a bit more. Losing Jae Crowder I think will hurt, but the additions of Avery Bradley, Maurice Harkless and rookie Precious Achiuwa makes me think that this roster will only improve on their conference standing for last year. The team wants to prove that their finals run in the bubble wasn’t a fluke, so look out for them to send the NBA a message in the regular season.

3rd Seed: Brooklyn Nets

The Brooklyn Nets are contenders and could absolutely end up having them only at the 3rd seed look silly. But even still, the 3rd seed in a very improved eastern conference shows just how good this team will be. I expect there to be just a little bit of growing pains at the start of the season with KD and Kyrie, but as the season goes on I expect their chemistry to improve and with it their winning percentage. The team is built to win, with a strong supporting cast surrounding a superstar and an all star quality player. Look for this team to make a lot of noise near the end of the season and around playoff time.

4th Seed: Philadelphia 76ers

The 76ers made improvements to their roster this offseason, adding needed shooting in the form of Danny Green and Seth Curry. They replaced an aging Al Horford with Dwight Howards and Tony Bradley. They also added Rookie Tyrese Maxey and a young player in Terrance Ferguson. All these moves show that Philly is dedicated to winning with Simmons and Embiid and making the pair work. This year is a big one for the duo. They need to show that they can be successful together, and I expect them to have a pretty solid year with the roster built around them.

5th Seed: Boston Celtics

The Celtics finished last year as the 3rd seed, but they lost more in the offseason then they gained. Gordon Hayward was a very good player for them last year, and replacing his production and his efficiency will be difficult. They did add Tristan Thompson, and while he will add defense and rebounding I don’t think he pushes the needle for this team. They’re still a very dangerous and good team and could end up finishing much higher than this, but as of now I’m predicting them to finish as the 5th seed in a rematch with Philadelphia in the playoffs.

6th Seed: Toronto Raptors

Toronto is another team that lost a few pieces in free agency. Losing both Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka is going to hurt this team, despite how good Aron Baynes is. He will be a solid option at center for them, but there’s no way he alone can fill the hole left by those two. The team is still a good well-coached team and should be able to win a good chunk of games. They should be a safe bet to be in the playoffs, even without Gasol and Ibaka. The continued emergence of Siakam as their star and the good role players throughout the roster will make them a tough team to play all season long.

7th Seed: Indiana Pacers

Indiana is another team who has a chance of making this placement look silly. Their core members of their roster hasn’t had a lot of turnover and they were a very good team last year. Sabonis may continue to improve, and Warren looked like a star during most of the bubble. Brogdon is a very solid player, and as long as Oladipo does decide he wants to stay in Indiana he may end up being a really strong contributor for them. This team is another team that has good players up and down its roster and they should be one of the teams able to grab one of the final playoff spots here in the east.

8th Seed: Washington Wizards

With the final playoff spot, I have to go with the Washington Wizards. I think Russell Westbrook will have an even better season in Washington than he did in Houston. Beal will have an All-NBA level player joining him in the backcourt and together they may end up being the best backcourt in the league. The rest of the roster is young, but talented. Westbrook will have size and shooting to work with in Washington, and if Deni or Rui take a big step this season Washington could be a very dangerous team.

9th Seed: Atlanta Hawks

Putting the Atlanta Hawks outside of the playoff picture feels wrong. They seem like they are poised to make the playoffs this year. They’ve improved their roster a lot over the offseason, and I think the additions of Bogdan Bogdanovic and Danilo Gallinari will help Trae Young make this team a nightmare to play against. They’ve got all the tools to be a playoff team and they may just make it, but for now I have them slotted just outside the top eight looking in. The fact Atlanta is here shows just how competitive the eastern conference has become. I think the bottom of the conference is going to be extremely tight and the final standings will come down to the very end of the season.

10th Seed: Charlotte Hornets

This placing hinges on a couple of things for the Hornets. Primarily, just how good will LaMelo Ball be in his rookie season. To a lot of people, myself included, he seems like an early favorite to be rookie of the year. The other major X factor for the Hornets is Gordon Hayward. He had a really strong season for Boston last year, but he was only the 4th option in that offense. Back into being the prime scoring option, will we see a return of Utah’s Gordon Hayward? If Ball can put together a strong season for the Hornets, and Hayward has a season reminiscent of his final Utah years, they may even end up be battling for a playoff spot.

11th Seed: Orlando Magic

Seeing as how the Orlando Magic were in the playoffs last year, putting them 3 spots out feels a bit harsh at first. But the Jonathan Isaac injury really hurts this team. Rookie Cole Anthony may come in and help out on the offensive end, but the magic really didn’t do a lot to improve their team this offseason as much as some of the teams around them. If their young players can improve, and their vets keep putting up good numbers, they will probably still compete. But I have them being on the outside of the playoff picture by a good margin this season.

12th Seed: Detroit Pistons

Detroit has had a lot of roster movement the last year or so. They are going all in on their rebuild and focusing on their core of Hayes, Bey, Stewart and Doumbouya. Despite going in on their youth movement, they still have both Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin on the roster. They also signed Jeremi Grant who is a good wing player and Plumlee who is a good rotational center. With their Vets, the Pistons will still be able to win a good amount of games, but unless their rookies and young guys show up and play extremely well from the get-go they probably won’t be a real player in the playoff race.

13th Seed: Chicago Bulls

I have Chicago finishing outside the playoffs yet again, but I do think the bulls should be a better team then they were last year. They’ve got a very young team, but there is a lot of talent on that roster. With the established young core of LaVine, White, Markkanen and Carter Jr., the bulls will be looking for internal growth this season and figuring out who figures to be in their long term plans. Incoming rookies Patrick Williams and Devon Dotson will also be trying to make their mark.

14th Seed: New York Knicks

The Knicks are another team that is in the middle of a rebuild. They’ve begun to gather a good young core with Barrett, Robinson, Knox and now Toppin. They have plenty of other young pieces that could work out for them in Smith Jr. and Ntilikina. Acquiring Skal Labissiere was another good move for the team as he could be another young player with unrealized potential. The Knicks are probably not going to be in the playoff picture either, but crazier things have happened.

15th Seed: Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland has a long ways to go before it’s going to be competing for the playoffs again. Isaac Okoro is one of my favorite rookies of this draft class and Cleveland is full of a lot of unproven young talent so they could surprise. But they will probably be near the bottom of the eastern conference regardless. Kevin Love and Andre Drummond are both former All-Stars, but I don’t expect either to return to that form this season. They may be competitive, but the Cavs are just too young and the roster is just not quite there yet.