After combing through the season, the Atlantic Division did not disappoint one bit! In fact, after looking at the records of all the teams, it’s safe to say this division will give us 3 contenders in the playoffs (no, not the play-in)! While there may be a big disparity in W’s between Boston and the next contender, the improved play is apparent! You may even see that improvement lead 2 out of those 3 contenders to the ECF! 

We broke down the league by division. Here are the results and questions for each team!

Atlantic Division Winner – Boston

  • Boston (60-22)
    • The best thing when a champion is crowned is when the Front Office recognizes the urgency to lock up its main contributors. It did that with Tatum, Brown, White and Holiday. So far, there are only 2 things that will get in this team’s way in leading the NBA in wins this season: Time and each other. 
    • The achilles heel of this team might be ego. We just saw the best scorer on the Celtics in Jaylen Brown get snubbed twice: Once by the league with the Finals MVP vote, and the 2nd time by Nike/Team USA with its selection of Holiday and White to contribute instead of Brown. The C’s will need to navigate their feelings amongst the swirling stories created by the media, else in-fighting and miscommunication may disrupt the flow started over 2 seasons ago. 
    • While 2 other teams in their division pose game-to-game threats to the overall standings, Boston matches up well with the rest of the league. The great equalizer, time, will play a factor this season, as it is only a matter of time before a team outside the Atlantic division catches up offensively to this team that featured the league’s best 3-point shooting. 
  • Philadelphia (54-28)
    • A seven win improvement last year thanks in part to the addition of Paul George gets this team and Joel Embiid closer to the NBA Finals. An immediate need for a 3rd star to solidify and secure Philly’s offensive power left the Sixers needing to swing big. Fortunately they hit this one out of the park in acquiring PG13. Philly’s penchant for flailing towards the end of seasons may have been rectified by getting a player that has been one of the more healthier and more available players late in the season. 
    • The one thing I cannot hang this record on is the health of Joel Embiid. Although he no longer has to battle a big like Hartenstein 5 games this season, he still doesn’t show a quickness that will be needed against faster and more athletic centers in the division. When he went down last year, it took a miracle, some run flat and Tyrese Maxey to even get Philly to the playoffs. That cannot happen again this year, regardless of the availability of PG13. 
    • This team is going all in with getting Maxey and Embiid help. 3 point shooting should see a marked improvement with Caleb Martin coming into the fold. There should also be an improvement upon assist-to-turnover ratio with Lowry and Reggie Jackson being added to this team. Both stats will be important, because they will equal better possessions – something they’ll need if they want to get through Boston.
  • New York (53-29)
    • How is it possible to both improve and decline at the same time? Knicks gonna Knick. Three wins over their total from last season allows this team to be the 3rd best in their division within a top-heavy conference. Their grit-and-grind methodology should carry this team to a few more wins against teams like Cleveland, Philly and Boston. The question then remains – will Thibs have a healthy squad by the end of the season?
    • This team will need to answer 2 questions this season: Can it play a better brand of offense through 8 players than it did last season? Also, can this team be better on the interior? They lost Hartenstein to Free Agency, Sims to injury and so on. Can this team get back the paint? Note: Health is 3rd on this list, as we expect this team to lay it all out physically through the end of the season. Hopefully there will be enough bodies to finish it. 
    • The team’s acquisition of Mikal Bridges was a smart move, even for the short term. This team now has enough release of pressure on Jalen Brunson to create offense – something desperately needed towards the end of last season. They will also get a healthy Julius Randle back, which should give this team a very potent offensive core – potent enough to outscore Philly and Boston some nights. 
  • Brooklyn (22-60)
    • While Brooklyn didn’t sign its death wish in the Bridges trade, its a wonder this team hasn’t made more of an effort to either get in the mix of paying bigger names, or getting a squad together that has direction. A lack of volume and direction leaves this franchise devoid of acceleration and nullified its vector to success.
    • This team needs a leader, not just a scorer. Can Cam Thomas or Ben Simmons be those players? 
    • This team has holes all around between the lack of veteran leadership (most tenured player: Dennis Schroeder) to the mashup of players. They lack size (tallest Center is 6’ 11”) and depth in the interior, their lineup at G is a mess and they have no specialists. 
  • Toronto (15-67)
    • This team will be fun to watch as one of the younger teams in the NBA. It just has to go up for 20-plus games against teams that want to use the Raptors as a stepping stone to further their own agendas. There aren’t any names on this roster that shout “GOAT-stopper,” nor can we expect much of a team that looks to be in the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes. 
    • The drawback of this team is youth. A lot of these players will see inconsistent playing minutes, adjustments in roles and a ton of movement at the front end of the season. While some players may see the benefit of it, it may come as a detriment to guys like Poeltl and Quickley – players deserving of a consistent role but lacking the impact and talent to move the needle for this team. 
    • The benefit of this team is that it can be flexible enough to give its rookies significant time to play – which could lead to a faster turnaround for the franchise, some seasoned players like Barrett and Barnes and the fans.