The Race for Eight
The way I’m seeing things, the 1-7 seeds in the East seem pretty solid. The Bucks, Celtics, 76ers, Heat, Raptors, Pacers, and Nets all should make the playoffs, barring any unforeseen issues. This just leaves the issue of which team will fill the 8 seed in the playoffs. In my personal opinion, the Magic, Wizards, Bulls, Hawks, and Pistons all have a real chance at this spot. It would take a long time to go super in depth about every team, but I’m going to give you who I think is getting the 8 seed, as well as ranking the teams. I’ll start with the potential 12-seed in the East, and work my way up.
12 - Chicago Bulls
While I’m rooting for the Bulls to make a run and pick things up, this hasn’t been an amazing start for them. Zach LaVine just had a monster game last night against the Hornets, but not every team is the Hornets. If I’m being completely honest, I don’t even think they have a bad roster. If they’re a top 10 seed come All-Star break, LaVine could even have a chance at the All-Star game. The only issue is, I don’t think the chemistry is fully there yet.
11 - Atlanta Hawks
Trae Young is playing like an All-Star, and he should be one when the time comes, but this team just isn’t ready yet. Similar to the Bulls, they are too young and inexperienced this year, and I think that’s what’s going to do them in. Trae needs a better player as his second in command before this team can start truly competing. I’m not saying this can’t be John Collins, I’m just saying that it isn’t yet.
10 - Washington Wizards
These last three teams were hard for me to rank, but this is what I ended up with. Bradley Beal is an amazing NBA player, and will for sure be an All-Star this season, but the team behind him just isn’t enough to make it this year. I think the team will be much closer than last year, especially with the help of Isaiah Thomas and rookie Rui Hachimiura, but with the other teams that they are fighting for the spot with, I think they’ll fall just short.
9 - Detroit Pistons
I think the Pistons are easily good enough to be a playoff team this season. The trio of Derrick Rose, Andrew Drummond, and eventually Blake Griffin will be killer in the East. The only issue is, they don’t have enough juice to back it up. They’re bench is super weak, and in a league that survives on depth, that won’t cut it. Unless Christian Wood and Bruce Brown have huge jumps in production the rest of the season, I don’t think the Pistons make the playoffs.
8 - Orlando Magic
The Magic might not have as much star power as the Pistons, but they do have the depth. Vucevic is the star of the team, but he has a ton of players that are there to back him up. Johnathan Isaac has been great this year, especially on the defensive end of the ball. Then you have Evan Fournier as a great scorer to help out, with Terrence Ross, Aaron Gordon, and DJ Augustin as even more talent on the roster. Overall, these guys have the best chance at the 8 seed in the East.
