Written By Jake Majka
Welcome to the Happy Hour Hoops NBA season preview. In this article we’re breaking down the Eastern conference, talking about the top-four contenders in each conference, and presenting the biggest questions for each remaining team. We hope that you’ll follow along this season in this space as we’ll be breaking down the most interesting teams, players and storylines in the league all year.
Welcome back fans. Welcome back NBA.
Eastern Conference Preview
1. Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks did it the right way. Milwaukee was able to build a homegrown champion in an era that has been dominated by player movement and superteams, aside from trading most of their future first-round picks to acquire Jrue Holiday. Does it help when you have a 7-foot freak who absolutely dominated the entire playoffs, including a 50 piece McNugget (sorry Chik-Fil-A) in one of the all-time NBA Finals performances? Maybe.
This team is primed to return to its championship form. They only lost a few players on the margins (PJ Tucker, Brynn Forbes) while adding a few new AND old rotational pieces (Semi Ojeleye, Rodney Hood, George Hill). As long as Giannis stays healthy, Middleton and Holiday continue to grow alongside their star and play as they did in the playoffs in support of him, there’s no reason this team can’t win close to 60 games again and is a favorite to make the Eastern Conference Finals once again.
Milwaukee has the potential to be an offensive juggernaut with all of the shooting they’ve assembled around Giannis. Giannis might be the best player of our lifetime and only scratching the surface of how good he truly can be. Now he’s confident, and almost defiant that he holds the top spot among the alpha dogs of the NBA. This year is a great chance to prove that once and for all.
2. Brooklyn Nets
Normal times in New York. Kyrie Irving will not be with the team because of the vaccine mandates in NYC. Other cities around the country are taking this stance as well. Kyrie is inclined to his beliefs, but the team does not want him around until he can become a full participant. As much as I would love to use this space to talk about the basketball redemption of Kevin Durant (which we will get to) Kyrie once again is stealing the offseason spotlight for the wrong reasons.
Aside from the Irving drama, this would be a team I want to jump all over as a favorite to make and win the NBA title for obvious reasons. When this team was healthy on the court together they were damn near unstoppable. Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving formed one of the most fearsome trios in NBA history. The amount of playmaking and shooting with those three alone would be enough to contend. Dunny and I could be the other two players on the court and they’d still be a title favorite. (MereKat as the 6th man of course. Stevie as the bully ball bench option.)
But that’s the thing, they went out and added MORE playmaking. Patty Mills is one of the best sharpshooting guards in the league and a perfect complementary ball-handler for this team. Blake Griffin AND LaMarcus Aldridge return to this team.
Griffin found himself in the starting lineup and showed he still has some bounce left as the team’s small-ball center. Aldridge had to retire briefly due to health concerns, but comes back this year fully cleared and ready to contribute. They also snagged Paul Millsap, a player on the back-end of his career but offers more depth than DeAndre Jordan did (although it’ll be hard to match the production of the also-departed Jeff Green. S/O Jeff Green). Cam Thomas has a chance to be a steal of this year’s draft and offers more spark plug offense to a bench that desperately needed it last year.
Brooklyn only missed the chance at the Eastern Conference Finals due to Kevin Durant’s feet being too large. (INSERT VIDEO) If they win Game 7 against the Bucks, we could be talking about the defending champions. That’s how it felt in the moment during the series. Now this year, they have a chip on their shoulder, and if everyone on the team sacrifices for the greater good (of humanity and their team) and they manage to stay healthy, they are the favorites to win the NBA title. Other than that though?
3. Philadelphia 76ers
The Ben Simmons saga continues. Ben Simmons wants out of Philly. He’s at practice, but it’s mostly to collect his cash.
But until that happens, the team is at a stalemate and it will hinder this team’s ability to do what it intends to do and that is competing for a championship. Joel Embiid is the cornerstone of this organization and is signed long-term. But we have seen how quickly a happy situation for a superstar can turn sour. The handling of the Simmons trade request is an important inflection point for a franchise that has had high hopes for so long and opportunities the past couple of years that they have squandered. We know it will be a new era of Sixers basketball, and we know Embiid will be the focal point.
But how do Daryl Morey and Doc Rivers handle a superstar player wanting out and how do they thread the needle to make sure that in whatever deal they decide to make, they remain contenders in the Eastern conference? Time will tell, but until this is settled it’s hard to predict what the Sixers will look like this year. But if Embiid is healthy? He’s a potential MVP candidate who can carry the Sixers to the top of the east and another chance to knock off Milwaukee or Brooklyn.
4. Boston Celtics
A new coach, new vibe, and pushing the chips in on the Tatum/Brown core. The Boston Celtics had a *relatively* quiet offseason compared to their Eastern conference contemporaries listed above them. By that we mean, longtime general manager Danny Ainge stepped down, former coach Brad Stevens took over the front office and hired longtime Spurs, Sixers and Nets assistant Ime Udoka as Head Coach, a move that was praised by the core of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart as they have had great experiences with Udoka during their time with him in USA Basketball.
The roster will look different this year, as Kemba Walker moved on to the Knicks, Evan Fournier signed with New York as well while Tristan Thompson, Semi Ojeleye and Carsen Edwards found new homes via trade as well. Coming into Boston is a familiar face and Robert Williams role model, Al Horford. The Celtics also traded for Josh Richardson and hope the tandem of him and Smart form a formidable defensive backcourt with shot creation ability. Juancho Hernangomez will provide good frontcourt depth as well. But we’re burying the lede because this team will go as far as Tatum and Brown take them.
While it seems like the Celtics may be angling to make a splash next offseason in free agency with the cap space they have freed up, you’d be hard-pressed to believe that Stevens doesn’t want to just see how his young superstars will develop with a different voice on the bench and another year under their belt as primary ball handlers and scoring options for the C’s. Jaylen Brown has All-Star starting potential and Jayson Tatum has MVP potential.
These guys both showed they can be two of the premier scorers in the league on any given night, and now it is up to Udoka to figure out the best way to deploy them both and maximize their potential as a dynamic duo, as opposed to individual forces of nature. Everything we imagined for Kawhi and Paul George? It’s right there for Tatum and Brown. They are talented enough to warrant those expectations. Want to take over the East? Time to prove it against former champions in Durant and Giannis.
5. Atlanta Hawks
- Can Trae Young keep elevating his game and bring the Hawks into the league’s elite?
6. Miami Heat
- Does Kyle Lowry really push this team over the edge? Do the young shooters rebound after a tough year?
7. New York Knicks
- Can Julius Randle do it again? How will the young guys develop with increased expectations?
8. Toronto Raptors
- I have no idea what to expect post-Lowry, is this team really a playoff contender?
9. Chicago Bulls
- A lot of shiny new pieces in Ball, Derozan, and Caruso, but do they actually come together as a formidable playoff threat?
10. Indiana Pacers
- Last year was plagued by injuries, but Rick Carlisle is a great coach who has to be an improvement on last year. Can they find their way into the top 5 of the East again?
11. Charlotte Hornets
- Welcome to the LaMelo show. Are we underestimating the talent they’ve amassed?
12. Washington Wizards
- How far can Beal take the most talented roster he’s ever had? Yes, I mean that.
13. Cleveland Cavaliers
- How many guys above 6’7” can you have on one team in the modern NBA?
14. Orlando Magic
- An overabundance of young talent at the guard positions and no clear direction. How do Suggs and Anthony fit with each other?
15. Detroit Pistons
- A solid young core with a lot of growing to do still. Is Cade generational?
Check out my Eastern Conference preview here and be sure to listen to Happy Hour Hoops throughout the season on all streaming platforms!
The sports desk can be reached at editorialtrainwrecksports@gmail.com. Follow us at @happyhourhoops1 on all social platforms.
4 Responses
Let’s Go Nets!! Love the in depth look at the top teams.