East DTNBA Pre Season Rankings (August 2022 post draft)
4 min read
So then GM’s…. As promised I have compiled your predictions from the GMs of the Eastern conference (less Detroit who is on holiday) and a few Western GMs (Pelicans, Nuggets, Spurs and Thunder) so thank you all for the swift responses…
I’m sure we can all agree that the East has improved mightily in the last 12 months so let’s get to your predictions…
First of all I am going to run through the highest and lowest prediction per team…
Atlanta – highest 5th, lowest 11th
Boston – highest 9th, lowest 15th
Brooklyn – highest 5th, lowest 14th
Charlotte – highest 3rd, lowest 9th
Chicago – highest 6th, lowest 15th
Cleveland – highest 10th, lowest 15th
Detroit – highest 7th, lowest 14th
Indiana – highest 11th, lowest 15th
Miami – highest 1st, lowest 3rd
Milwaukee – highest 5th, lowest 10th
New York – highest 3rd, lowest 6th
Orlando – highest 5th, lowest 11th
Philadelphia – highest 1st, lowest 2nd
Toronto – highest 4th, lowest 14th
Washington- highest 3rd, lowest 10th
Now as for the averages of all the predictions we should end up with standings as follows are compiling everyone’s submissions and working out the average…
- Philadelphia- 1.12
- Miami – 2.12
- New York – 4.35
- Charlotte – 5.06
- Washington- 5.71
- Atlanta – 7.29
- Brooklyn – 7.94
- Milwaukee – 8.29
- Orlando – 8.76
- Toronto – 10.41
- Detroit – 10.88
- Cleveland – 13.65
- Chicago- 13.71
- Boston – 13.82
- Indiana – 14.00
Thoughts on the predictions
Atlanta – Do I rebuild or Do I compete…. Well Michael the public believe you are good for a 6th seed!! The east believes in you!!
Boston – there’s motivation here for the Celtics, not one team (including themselves!!) had the Celtics in the top 8… can they prove the world wrong?! Or will they tank for the lottery ping pong balls!!
Brooklyn – Solid additions of Gobert to pair with stars Ingram and Cole Anthony and the East GMs have the Nets as a lock for the post season. Unless you ask two Gms who had the Nets 13th and 14th respectively!!
Charlotte – Some solid deals for the hornets this off-season has him up there as a true contender but he does need to curb his spending, and get down from a cap of 46 to 38… can Marcus keep his solid core intact?
Chicago – Chris comes from the weaker West to the loaded East and only one GM has the Bulls making the post season as it stands. Can his grit and grind Bulls pull it out of the bag?
Cleveland – Thomas comes in and is quickly putting his stamp on his team. We have some OKC players in Giddey and Dort on the roster as he looks to retool for the future. And just like the real life Thunder I’m sure he will be looking for draft picks this season!
Detroit – Five GMs predicted 9th, and five others predicted 11th in the East for the Pistons. Easily the most consistent team in the predictions.
Indiana – Getting Chet and pairing him with Mobley is a great start to a rebuild. The results show that some more quality at Guard is required for Indiana to make the dance…
Miami – The only other team to be predicted with a first placed finish. Miami are the main challengers to the Juggernaught 76ers in the opinion of the survey!!
Milwaukee – A strong backcourt and very capable front court along with Rookie Jabari Smith Jr has the Bucks in as the 8th seed on average. Will they be able to turn in the performances to make the playoffs.. all depends on Dame’s health!!
New York – The Knicks make a massive leap with the acquisition of Giannis after Marc had done some shrewd trades this off-season!! Does he have the depth to contend with the big boys and keep the Knicks in games when Giannis and Edwards are not on the floor?
Orlando – A solid defensive front court already and a team that’s added Marcus Smart and Chuma Okeke. A lot will rely on Wagner, Suggs and Wiseman making leaps! Geraint has the Magic at 6….and a cert for postseason… Who will get it right?
Philadelphia – Only one prediction didn’t have Ilia in first! Can Philly live up to the billing. First they must find a way of slashing some more salary whilst keeping their core intact.. ilia will find a way!
Toronto – a few prediction for a playoff finish but many outside the top eight also makes placing Toronto tricky.. Nuno will have his Raps ready to make some noise led by VanVleet and Halliburton!!
Washington– For me the third best team in the East. I was surprised with the average of fifth! Some really solid pieces in Wendell Carter Jr, Ja Morant, Jayden Brown and Donovan Mitchell. I wouldn’t bet against them against anyone…
I look forward to seeing who reigns supreme as the prediction champions at the end of the year!!!!!
Great work Geraint!
Pleasing to see after a few years down the bottom of the standings the Knicks are in contention hopefully!