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With NBA players heading to training camps in two weeks, it's time to take a closer look at how the division's races pile up. Last month, we broke down where the Bulls were in the new division (not LeBron).
Now here is a glimpse of the Atlantic, with the top three teams in the East, Boston, Toronto and Philadelphia.
<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – smt Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "1. Celtics- Apart from finding enough minutes to keep all his talented players happy and productive, Brad Stevens should not have many problems in the six months of the NBA. With the return of the injured Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, Stevens will have to decide to throw all his best offensive players into a smaller formation or bring back third-year Jaylen Brown from the bench. "Data-reactid =" 13 ">1. Celtics- Apart from finding enough minutes to keep all his talented players happy and productive, Brad Stevens should not have many problems in the six months of the NBA. With the return of the injured Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, Stevens will have to decide to throw all his best offensive players in a smaller formation or to withdraw third-year Jaylen Brown from the bench.
Irving will have the ball in hand mostly as a leader, and it will be interesting to see if he is willing to sacrifice his own personal numbers to create shots for Hayward, Brown, Jayson Tatum and Al Horford. Remember that Irving left Cleveland because he wanted to be "the man" in a new team instead of playing in the considerable shadow of LeBron. Now, after seeing Tatum emerge as one of last year's playoff stars, will Irving be ready to give way to a sophomore with superstar potential?
Irving will be a free agent at the end of the season, so any potential chemical problem could affect his decision to sign with Boston in the long run. But would he really give up a second competitor? When you add bench players like Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart, Marcus Morris, Semi Ojeleye and Aron Baynes, the Celtics seem to have everything they need to qualify for the finals this season.
<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – smt Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "2. Raptors- Toronto general manager Masai Ujiri will be competing in the 2018 season after trading All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl rescue center in San Antonio for disgruntled star Kawhi Leonard and veteran guard Danny Green. "16">2. The raptors Toronto general manager Masai Ujiri will be competing in the 2018 season after trading All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl rescue center in San Antonio for disgruntled star Kawhi Leonard and veteran guard Danny Green.
If Leonard is fully recovered from last season's mysterious quad injury and completely redeems the Raptors system under coach Nick Nurse, he can be the Eastern Conference's best player and give Toronto a chance to beat Boston. -game series. But if Leonard is already thinking about the team with which he will sign as a free agent next summer, any team could collapse around him.
Remember that Toronto had the second most productive unit in the league a year ago, and they added veteran Greg Monroe to join reserves C.J. Miles, Pascal Siakam, Delon Wright and Fred Van Vleet. If Nurse can easily integrate Leonard and Green's talents into a starting unit that also includes Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka and Jonas Valanciunas, the Raptors are able to win about 55 games and qualify for the conference final.
<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – smt Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "3. 76ers- You will not find many young duos better than Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons of Philly. If these two players can stay healthy, they will create nightmare matches for years to come, similar to what Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson did in Los Angeles in the '80s. The 76ers head coach Brett Brown will also welcome former veterans JJ Redick, Dario Saric and Robert Covington, as well as 2017 overall draft pick Markelle Fultz, who would have surmounted the injuries and pulled off a set-back that has defeated his rookie season. "Data-reactid =" 19 ">3. 76ers- You will not find many young duos better than Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons of Philly. If these two players can stay healthy, they will create nightmare matches for years to come, similar to what Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson did in Los Angeles in the 1980s. The 76ers head coach Brett Brown will also welcome veteran veterans JJ Redick, Dario Saric and Robert Covington, as well as the overall draft pick of 2017 Markelle Fultz, who would have surmounted injuries and defeated his rookie season.
The biggest question for Philly is to replace the bench shot provided by Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova last season. The 76ers traded against former DePaul star Wilson Chandler and recruited two intriguing goalkeepers in Zhaire Smith and Landry Shamet, but the lack of reliable bench depth could hold the young talented team in check if injury issues occur.
<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – smt Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "4. Nets- Head coach Kenny Atkinson was able to convince this team to play hard last season, even though his talents were exceeded in almost every game. The list has not changed much, apart from adding veterinarians such as Kenneth Faried, Jared Dudley, Darrell Arthur and Shabazz Napier. "Data-reactid =" 21 ">4. Nets- Head coach Kenny Atkinson was able to convince this team to play hard last season, even though his talents were exceeded in almost every game. Little has changed with the lineup, apart from adding veterinarians such as Kenneth Faried, Jared Dudley, Darrell Arthur and Shabazz Napier.
Now that Brooklyn has regained control of all of his draw choices, they will be eager to add a lottery pickup next summer and also plan to create enough margin to pursue two free agents of maximum level. We spoke about Irving and former Bulls star Jimmy Butler, who were looking for a team to bring them both in 2019, and the Nets will be in first position to get there.
Still, it's hard to see new coach, David Fizdale, withdraw more than 30 wins from this group unless some of the young men appear to help Tim Hardaway Jr. deliver consistent results.
<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – smt Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "AROUND THE ASSOCIATION"data-reactid =" 29 ">AROUND THE ASSOCIATION
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NBA media members have fun with Tom Thibodeau trying to bring the old group of Bulls together in the Twin Cities. Luol Deng is the last former Bull to sign with the Timberwolves after negotiating a deal with the Lakers on the $ 72 million four-year deal signed in 2016.
Deng should be well rested after playing only one game last season, but it's a little ironic if he ended up in Minnesota, saying many NBA analysts accused Thibodeau of having shortened the game. Deng's victory in Chicago.
Thibodeau tried to create the first hard-working and defensive culture he had with the Bulls, but avoiding their old veterans like Deng, Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson could be used to alienate young stars Karl-Anthony Town and Andrew Wiggins. Thibs is sitting on a powder keg as a coach and head of basketball operations with the Timberwolves, and if his experience fails, the training will likely be destroyed next summer.
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Remember when the Bulls were interested in trading for Rodney Hood swingman from Utah last winter? Hood instead went to Cleveland and detracted from his value as a restricted free agent with a lower-than-normal performance for the Eastern Conference champions.
So, after watching Zach LaVine, Jabari Parker, Capela Clint and Marcus Smart, all free agents, sign huge contracts, Hood had to settle for a one-year $ 3.4 million contract with Cavs and a chance to increase its value without restriction. free agency next summer. Hood is a talented scorer with a three-point shot, but it will be interesting to see if he has enough attempts to shoot with so many Cavs players looking to play a bigger role in the attack now that LeBron is gone. Cleveland is one of many teams in the NBA with considerable downside potential if team chemistry continues south.
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Phoenix basketball fans are hoping their rebuilding team will have better results after adding first overall pick Deandre Ayton and villanova swingman Mikan Bridges. Ayton told reporters that he would team up with star chase guard Devin Booker to form the next Shaq & Kobe tandem, but now they will no longer have a training camp to work on their timing.
Booker missed the end of last season with a shooting hand injury, and when the hand swelled again recently, the team's doctors decided he needed surgery. Booker should now miss at least six weeks of action, which could put him out of reach for the start of the regular season. The 21-year-old has emerged as one of the league's best long-range shooters, averaging 24.9 points per game last season on 38% of 3-point shots.
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Finally, keep an eye on what's happening with Chicago-born Anthony Davis, if the Pelicans start slowly this season. Davis has fired his agent recently and plans to sign with longtime friend James Lebron, Rich Paul. It's all the more interesting as the Lakers have a number of young players that they could use in a potential trade for one of the top 5 players in the NBA. Would Paul be working behind the scenes to try to convince Davis to force a business from LA to team up with James?
Davis still has two seasons plus an option year on the contract that he signed in New Orleans and he has always said that he loves the city and plays for the franchise. But if we learned something about the NBA in the era of free agencies, it is that the leading players have been known to change their minds and that, in this case, the future of several teams can be affected.
You can count on the Lakers, the Celtics and the 76ers who offer aggressive commercial offers if Davis decides to leave New Orleans to have a serious chance to win a championship. The question is: does the 25-year-old have an interest in returning home and, if so, would the Bulls have the right combination of assets to close a deal?
Davis becoming available in a trade would immediately override the class of talented free agents of 2019 in terms of the potential impact on the teams in contention.
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