2015-2016 NBA Central Division preview

[insidehoops]

Post your predicted order of finish for the Central division!

And, comment on each team. Strengths, weaknesses, anything.

LAST SEASON'S CENTRAL DIVISION FINISH, BEST TO WORST, WAS:

Cavs (53 wins):
Bulls (50 wins):
Bucks (41 wins):
Pacers (38 wins):
Pistons (32 wins):

[Achilleas]

Cavs (56 wins): lebron will rest,but irving and love will play better
Bulls (49 wins): new coach,many players come from injuries
Bucks (46 wins): young team
Pacers (40 wins): george health;
Pistons (32 wins) no idea

[Dro]

If PG is healthy...Id say

Cavs
Bulls
Pacers
Bucks
Pistons

[TheMilkyBarKid]

Strongest division in the east.

Cavs - should build on chemistry and teamplay from last year, think heat from 2011 to 2012. 57 wins.
Bulls - don't know a whole lot about their new coach personally but from the sounds of it he is an offensive guru which may be a perfect fit for this squad. I do expect a big to get traded. 51 wins.
Bucks - with the addition of monroe, return of parker and continued development of their young team, the bucks should only get better. 50 wins.
Pacers - really unsure on the pacers, if george is able to get back to 2013-14 form they could do damage. 41 wins
Pistons - will take a half step forward from last year. Drummond still has plenty of time to REALLY break out. I don't see it happening straight away though. 33 wins.

[chips93]

Cavs - 57 wins

Like someone else said, chemistry should be a lot better with the three stars having a year under their belts together. This was the best team in the nba for a stretch after the all-star break last year. They suddenly have a deep veteran heavy bench. Hopefully kyrie and bron dont have to play too many minutes so they can be healthy and fresh for the playoffs.

Bulls - 50 wins

I think mitoric sees a lot of time at the 4, pau plays more at the 5, and taj gets traded. their offense should be much more free flowing, with a better pace. I'd expect their defense to worsen.

Bucks - 46 wins

Potentially the best defense in the league, with ridiculous length all over the court. Shooting will be an issue, I could see them looking for a new pg as MCW ruins their spacing. Lots of good passers though.

Pistons - 38 wins

I have a lot of faith in Van Gundy to make this work. All the parts are there to be a poor man's version of those dwight era orlando teams. I like jackson, and drummond should make a leap with better shooters around him. stanley johnson looks nba ready, hes a good athlete who competes and will knock down enough 3s to keep the defense honest.

Pacers - 35 wins

It'll be interesting to see PG at the 4, and the pacers playing more up tempo, but it could take a while for PG to adjust to a whole new position, with a lot more banging, while he's shaking off rust. This roster is just completely different to what we've seen from the pacers, with a terrible defender in monta now in the starting lineup. Turner could turn out to be a steal, but he'll take a while to develop

[Marv_Albert]

You guys are underestimating the Pacers, they will be better than the Pistons and Bucks no doubt about that.

Hill/Douglas
Ellis/Stuckey/Miles
PG/Budinger/Solomon Hill
Lavoy Allen/Myles Turner
J Hill/Mahinmi

[Lebron23]

Cavs (62 wins):
Bulls (52 wins):
Pacers (48 wins):
Bucks (43 wins)
Pistons (38 wins):

[Lebron23]

You guys are underestimating the Pacers, they will be better than the Pistons and Bucks no doubt about that.

Hill/Douglas
Ellis/Stuckey/Miles
PG/Budinger/Solomon Hill
Lavoy Allen/Myles Turner
J Hill/Mahinmi


Love Your current user title.

[Dbrog]

You guys are underestimating the Pacers, they will be better than the Pistons and Bucks no doubt about that.

Hill/Douglas
Ellis/Stuckey/Miles
PG/Budinger/Solomon Hill
Lavoy Allen/Myles Turner
J Hill/Mahinmi

I'm not convinced. They have like...2 starting level players, their frontline is shit, and their bench is weak as hell.

Bucks and Pistons are deeper and have some great starters of their own. I guarantee Bucks > Pacers this season barring injury. Pistons you never know..

[Marv_Albert]

I'm not convinced. They have like...2 starting level players, their frontline is shit, and their bench is weak as hell.

Bucks and Pistons are deeper and have some great starters of their own. I guarantee Bucks > Pacers this season barring injury. Pistons you never know..

They are well coached, they made the east final with Roy Freakin Hibbert who was terrible, david west and lance stephenson. Monta Ellis brings you a hell of alot more than lance and they never really have had a solid deep bench. combo of stuckey miles and hill can make up for david wests scoring absense, and depending on how hard J Hill and mahimi play defense block shots and grab boards to make up for hibbert/west and score off screen and rolls now and then they be all good. I think they will surprise alot of people

[ballup]

Cavaliers: Same crew, 2nd attempt. Love will be able to establish himself while Irving is gone. Then we'll see the same problems of an odd man out again when Irving comes back and gets rolling.

Bulls: All signs point to health and whether Rose and Noah can bounce back. A new coach will be refreshing, but it remains to be seen whether he can translate his coaching success onto an established NBA team.

Bucks: With the lack of offensive production addressed by Jabari's return and the signing of Monroe, the Bucks are much more balanced. Kidd still has some work to do because that previous defensive identity can't be fully applicable this time around.

Pistons: It'll be tough to judge whether Morris will damage the team with his attitude. Even so, Jackson is unleashed with no one but Stan to defer. The Pistons will need Ilyasova to stay on the court and for KCP to make some kind of jump. The bench doesn't seem too bright and I suspect that will cause them trouble throughout the season.

Pacers: Yes, I know they have PG back and a very good player in Ellis. We don't know if PG will be back to form yet. The Pacers lost their entire front court and didn't find great replacements. Vogel will make them competitive, but there isn't as much outside of his starting perimeter to work with here.

[Dro]

I'm not convinced. They have like...2 starting level players, their frontline is shit, and their bench is weak as hell.

Bucks and Pistons are deeper and have some great starters of their own. I guarantee Bucks > Pacers this season barring injury. Pistons you never know..
So you're saying Miles Turner is shit? How so? Sure, he's a rookie but he's a rookie who's shown a ton of potential. I wouldn't say he's shit. And Ian does what he's supposed to do off the bench. Wouldn't call him shit either because he plays his role. Jordan Hill's not all that great but we needed another big man and he fits the role.

My main thing is PG. I'm not worried about Ellis or George Hill or Miles or Stuckey, they'll do what they do.

Its all about PG to me. Healthy PG, Pacers could finish 2nd at the max. If he's so-so, Pacers could be 5th.

[Dbrog]

So you're saying Miles Turner is shit? How so? Sure, he's a rookie but he's a rookie who's shown a ton of potential. I wouldn't say he's shit. And Ian does what he's supposed to do off the bench. Wouldn't call him shit either because he plays his role. Jordan Hill's not all that great but we needed another big man and he fits the role.

My main thing is PG. I'm not worried about Ellis or George Hill or Miles or Stuckey, they'll do what they do.

Its all about PG to me. Healthy PG, Pacers could finish 2nd at the max. If he's so-so, Pacers could be 5th.

I'll be honest, I know nothing about Miles Turner. If he shows potential then that definitely is their only hope this season. Ian and Hill are shit (in terms of winning impact) because they are both bench players...Ian being 3rd string. I think without defensive production other places, PG and Ellis are gonna have to pull a KD and WB in order to make the playoffs.

@ Marv - David West and Lance leaving means a huge hole in the defense. Instead of filling this hole, they went with pure offense (Ellis). Not saying this is necessarily bad, but I'm saying they will struggle defensively without these guys. Hill and Mahimi are certainly not defensive juggernauts, though Ian is probably the better defensive player of the two. Again, sounds like Turner is their only hope for any kind of nice production from their bigs. Even Hibbert (while he sucked dick for some reason), was an intimidating presence.

[chips93]

So you're saying Miles Turner is shit? How so? Sure, he's a rookie but he's a rookie who's shown a ton of potential. I wouldn't say he's shit. And Ian does what he's supposed to do off the bench. Wouldn't call him shit either because he plays his role. Jordan Hill's not all that great but we needed another big man and he fits the role.

i really like myles turner at college, but even there he looked a little lost, like the game was too fast and physical for him. i think he'll be a very solid player someday, like a poor man's aldridge, but it'll take him a couple years to adjust to the nba imo.

the frontcourt is terrible though. aside from the knicks and sixers, they probably have the worst frontcourt in the east.

[Lebron23]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rRGO27Tj8Q

Miles Turner had a solid NBA Summer League. I think he's one of those rookies who can be a solid contributor in their first NBA Season. I predict a 14 ppg, and 7 rpg numbers.

[Dro]

I'll be honest, I know nothing about Miles Turner. If he shows potential then that definitely is their only hope this season. Ian and Hill are shit (in terms of winning impact) because they are both bench players...Ian being 3rd string. I think without defensive production other places, PG and Ellis are gonna have to pull a KD and WB in order to make the playoffs.

@ Marv - David West and Lance leaving means a huge hole in the defense. Instead of filling this hole, they went with pure offense (Ellis). Not saying this is necessarily bad, but I'm saying they will struggle defensively without these guys. Hill and Mahimi are certainly not defensive juggernauts, though Ian is probably the better defensive player of the two. Again, sounds like Turner is their only hope for any kind of nice production from their bigs. Even Hibbert (while he sucked dick for some reason), was an intimidating presence.
To be fair, West defense was absolutely atrocious last year, like he didn't even care. So whoever fills in for him, Jordan Hill probably, can't be any worse. Ian is a pretty good defender and a good shot blocker. And Turner is also an excellent shot blocker.

I'm not too high on Jordan Hill's defense but Ian and Turner, I'm confident they can protect the rim. Can they stay out of foul trouble is my question because there's no depth really on the front line. I like Lavoy Allen, maybe he'll produce if he gets more playing time.

I feel like the offense will be much improved, defense will definitely drop without Hibbert.

[Dro]

i really like myles turner at college, but even there he looked a little lost, like the game was too fast and physical for him. i think he'll be a very solid player someday, like a poor man's aldridge, but it'll take him a couple years to adjust to the nba imo.

the frontcourt is terrible though. aside from the knicks and sixers, they probably have the worst frontcourt in the east.
I know its just summer league but Turner was arguably one of the 3 best players in summer league along with Justice Winslow and Stanley Johnson.

I hope he can carry it over to the season...