Chicago could either exceed expectations and be top five in the Eastern Conference, or they could even miss the playoffs for all I know. This was probably the toughest team making a prediction for. In summary, other teams made upgrades and the Hawks did not, hence the sixth seed projection. Trae Young could definitely be an MVP candidate this season, but that won’t translate into a top seed in the Eastern Conference. So why do I have the Hawks at the sixth seed? The entire conference made significant upgrades to their respective rosters during the off-season, and the Hawks weren’t one of them. In fact, you could make the argument that given how young this team is, they’re going to significantly improve this season. Atlanta Hawks (48-34)Īfter making the Eastern Conference Finals last season, it might seem weird putting them at the sixth seed this year. Whether Simmons stays or not, I think Philadelphia will contend for a top-five seed. Other than that, they still have a talented roster from top to bottom. They didn’t do much with their roster except for replacing Dwight Howardwith Andre Drummond. Regardless, Joel Embiid is going to an MVP-caliber season once again and I think their top-notch defense (2nd in defensive efficiency) will continue winning them games. It was kind of hard ranking the 76ers in this standings prediction considering how we don’t know how the Ben Simmons drama will end. Their roster is deeper than it has been in recent years and I believe that it will be good enough for a top-four seed in this Eastern Conference. Despite whatever struggles the Celtics may have gone through in the past, this season is going to be different. On top of that, they have three great and established players in Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart. The Celtics have had a solid roster year after year, and it got even better since they added solid players like Dennis Schroder, Josh Richardson, Al Horford, and Enes Kanter. Just based on that alone, the Bucks will always contend for one of the top seeds in the conference and I think projecting them to be the second seed is fair for them. Giannis Antetokounmpo will always have an MVP-caliber season. For the most part, their roster is the same as last year (with the exception of P.J. I don’t think that it will be devastating, but the Bucks can’t have any sort of hangover if they want that first seed. That being said, I do think that they’re going to experience a little bit of a hangover. The Bucks are very capable of getting the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. I do believe that they are going to continue load managing, but their team is way too stacked to put them below the first seed. On top of what they already have, the only thing stopping them from getting the number one seed is injuries. The Nets did nothing but significantly improve their overall roster by adding solid players like Paul Millsap and Patty Mills. I’m not trying to take anything away from Milwaukee but had Kyrie Irving and James Harden been healthy, the Bucks aren’t the champs. Their team is so stacked that its kind of disgusting at this point. Honestly, I felt like giving this team 60 wins. 2021-22 NBA Eastern Conference Standings Prediction 1. The Eastern Conference has always been relatively easy to predict, however, it’s going to be tougher this time around so I’ll try my best. That narrative will have changed by the end of this season. For the past few decades, the Eastern Conference has always been viewed as a relatively ‘weak’ conference in the NBA.
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