07-21-2025, 11:26 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-21-2025, 11:31 AM by HoosierDaddyKid.)
(07-21-2025, 09:09 AM)omahen Wrote: Since there is still not much going on, let me have a shout-out to our friends in the Eastern conference. Do they know, they are allowed to improve their teams? The only one that actually got seriously better is Orlando (at the cost of 4 FRP going West). Atlanta to an extent, although I am not sure if anyone can count on KP being healthy. Indy and Boston gor worse with injuries and Boston sold "half" their team. Milwaukee got worse with Lillard injury and moves they made are not making them better as they would be with Lillard. Cleveland and NY are same, Philly is probably a lost cause due to injuries. Detroit is the same. All the rest are meh or will be openly tanking (BKN, Was). None of these meh teams made any kind of serious move to give them hope to be better than last season.
Meanwhile in the West, Utah is the only one openly tanking team, while everyone else is at least hoping to fight for play-offs and are trying to improve in that aim. Although teams like Sacramento, New Orleans, Phoenix and Portland will be up for some rough reality checks early in the season, imho.
Champions kept their young team together and will have one more year of experience. Houston got better if Durant stays healthy. Denver and Clippers got better, so did Lakers. Minnesota lost one rotation player but otherwise kept their core. GSW kept their core and they might have something more up their sleeves before the season start (they have plenty of assets to make some moves). Memphis is in a soft retool, but still kept most of their core and added assets. Bane is actually the only serious player I remember that left West for East.
What injuries did Detroit incur? Ivey is back from a broken leg. Stewart was hurt during the Knicks series, Ron Holland had a great summer league. Cade has developed into one of the better lead guards in the league. And they lost Beasley to gambling accusations. Not saying they'll be better, by adding Robinson and Levert, but they're in the mix for a playoff spot with Orlando and Atlanta. If Philly can get reasonably healthy with Embiid and George, they'll be in the mix as well. They have talent.