![]() More than likely, however, they’ll tail off toward the end of the season in hopes of joining a legendary race to the bottom. ![]() Overall, they added to their pool of young talent and depth and I think there’s a universe where they crack the play-in this year. ![]() They also acquired Bojan Bogdanovic in the Utah fire sale, providing much-needed veteran stability. The Pistons had the best draft of any NBA team, acquiring Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren to serve as franchise building blocks alongside Cade. Cade Cunningham is entering his sophomore season, and the Pistons are hoping he can make a Luka-like jump to stardom this year. The Mavericks will have to fight for the Southwest division title Tier 3: First Steps Out of The Rebuildĭetroit has been rebuilding seemingly forever, and it finally seems like they have some pieces worth getting excited about. First-round pick Dalen Terry is intriguing, and the Bulls should be plenty of fun to watch, but I don’t think anyone is really scared of this squad, especially with Lonzo Ball out indefinitely. As much as Dallas Mavericks fans wanted Goran Dragic, the additions of him and Andre Drummond do little to inspire any kind of renewed belief in this Bulls roster. Zach Lavine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic provide a stable regular season floor, but this team doesn’t have the defense or playoff-tested performers to be considered a real threat. The Bulls were dubbed the winners of the 2021 offseason and came out of the gates firing last year before crashing back down to Earth and getting bounced in the first round of the playoffs. I think there’s a real chance that the Cavaliers could edge out Milwaukee for the division title, and wouldn’t rule out a deep playoff run for this group, either. They also added solid depth in Ricky Rubio, Robin Lopez, and Raul Neto, improving their roster from top to bottom. Cleveland had an incredible offseason, acquiring all-star guard Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz and cutting bait on guys who didn’t fit with the rest of their roster in Collin Sexton and Lauri Markkanen. Drafting Evan Mobley and pairing him with Jarrett Allen gave them an old-school, twin towers setup that, along with the emergence of Darius Garland as a star point guard, propelled them to the playoffs a season ago. There’s a real argument to be made that the Cavaliers are the most interesting team in the NBA. The question becomes will their roster stagnation put them behind teams like the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics, who made meaningful offseason additions to get better.Ĭleveland Cavaliers- Over/Under 47.5 wins If the big three stay healthy, the Bucks will likely win the division. Outside of adding Joe Ingles to help bolster their playoff rotation, Milwaukee is running it back with virtually the same roster as last season. The case for the Bucks is a simple one: they have the best player in the NBA, a two-way All Star as their #2 in Khris Middleton, one of the league’s best defenders and complimentary playmakers in Jrue Holiday, and solid depth surrounding these pieces. The Pistons do have an outside shot of making the play-in if everything goes right, but I think the allure of the tank will prove too much for them to resist. While these three teams battle it out, the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers will most likely be competing in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes. However, the re-tooled Cleveland Cavaliers represent a serious threat to steal the division crown and the Chicago Bulls are also a team that exists. Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks will look to re-assert their dominance in the Eastern Conference by winning this division on their way back to the NBA Finals. The 2022-2023 version of the Central Division features one clear-cut title contender, two teams on the cusp of being taken seriously, and two rebuilding teams with some fun pieces that will be worth keeping an eye on.
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