Divisional Preview (2021): Atlantic

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Divisional Preview
Atlantic
2021


Boston Celtics
GM: Cheddar
2018-19: 51-31
2019-20: 56-26
2020-21*: 49-33

Expect the Boston Celtics to struggle a bit more this season than they have in recent history. Although individually Al Horford and Jaylen Brown each had their fair share of flaws, the collective loss of their talents will be felt in Boston. They were able to retain perhaps the two more important pieces in Kyrie Irving and Draymond Green, but they will have a tough time filling the holes left by Horford and Brown. Expect GM Cheddar to hunt the waivers or look to trade away his future picks for help up front. C Daniel Gafford enters his sophomore year as the leader of a two-man unit. In CPU Preseason Gafford impressed, nearly averaging a double-double and blocking 2.3 shots per game. Despite their major losses in free agency and lack of yet filling those holes, the scariest backcourt in the league will carry this Boston team back to the playoffs. How far they get in the playoffs ultimately depends on the help they are able to bring in.

Current Starters:
C Daniel Gafford
PF Draymond Green
SF Dario Saric
SG Bradley Beal
PG Kyrie Irving

Looking Ahead:
Beal and Irving are still pretty young, both of them under 30. Cheddar will have to pay Beal in this coming off-season, but so long as he retains that duo this team will make the playoffs. Daniel Gafford, Robert Williams, Patrick Williams, and Kevin Porter Jr. all add something to this roster and all four are still on their rookie deals. Expect Cheddar to continue to collect assets around Beal and Irving until eventually this team wins a ring.


Miami Heat
GM: BradS4President
2018-19: 24-58
2019-20: 28-54
2020-21*: 40-42

BradS4Pres shook it up quite a bit in Miami this past off-season. The Miami Heat secured the 7th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft lottery and promptly traded #7, as well as C Bol Bol, to the Washington Wizards in exchange for 30-year-old, declining DeMarcus Cousins. Is DMC still worth a bit on the market? Perhaps. The #7 pick in a strong draft and a promising big-man replacement? I don't think so. Adding DMC to the roster will help the Miami Heat win substantially more games this season, but without a bit more trade action to shore up the guard rotation this Miami Heat team remains rather barren.** (This was all written before the trade for Nikola Vucevic). Following Brad's trade for Nikola Vucevic this team is looking slightly better. They do have a well-rounded offense that should have no trouble scoring, but they've got a lot of holes and the defense will likely be subpar. Brad needs to keep making moves if he wants to win-win with Vucevic as his headliner.

Current Starters:
C Nikola Vucevic
PF DeMarcus Cousins
SF Harrison Barnes
SG Eric Gordon
PG T.J. McConnell

Looking Ahead:
The Heat owe the Los Angeles Clippers their 1st round pick in 2021, unprotected. Which may help explain the bulk of moves made by Brad to try and add some talent to this roster. Following 2021 the Miami Heat remain owners of all their first round picks, in addition to a 2022 Minnesota Timberwolves 1st rounder. Following 2021 we may see Brad turn the tide yet again and go for a complete tank. Utilizing a few solid draft picks over a two or three season span may put the Heat in a fantastic spot come 2025/26.


Brooklyn Nets
GM: Scott
2018-19: 52-30
2019-20: 33-49
2020-21*: 41-41

In 2019-20 the Brooklyn Nets lack of help in the front-court limited their ability to secure wins. After a year of being heavily out-rebounded, the Brooklyn Nets spent their late lottery (#10) pick on C Udoka Azubuike. Udoka appeared to be the most NBA-ready prospect in the 2020 NBA Draft class and Brooklyn is counting on him to hold his own up front. In addition to drafting Udoka, the Nets were able to solidify their starting and bench rotations through the signing of four free agents. These include Mason Plumlee, Josh Jackson, Grant Williams, and David Nwaba. All four look to contribute meaningful minutes as this Nets team looks to bounce back and lock down a playoff spot. Don't underestimate Malcolm Brogdon, Jeff Teague, and D'Angelo Russell's ability to lead a team. These three experienced guards headline a well-balanced team with Udoka Azubuike and Julius Randle up front. Scott may look to send future draft picks in exchange for bench help, or add draft picks to a current starter for an upgrade.

Current Starters:
C Udoka Azubuike
PF Julius Randle
SF Kyle Kuzma
SG Malcolm Brogdon
PG D'Angelo Russell

Looking Ahead:
The Brooklyn Nets remain owners of their 2021 NBA Draft first rounder. They owe the New Orleans Pelicans their 2022 1st rounder, and return to being owners of all their following picks. In 2023 the Brooklyn Nets own their first, as well as the 2023 Dallas Mavericks first. This pick future makes it tough on Scott. His current roster holds talent at each position. He lacks a true star, but he's got solid enough starters and a deep enough bench to push for the playoffs. Yet, this remains the Nets final year without owning their own first rounder. May it be smarter for Scott to back off, tank this year, and return to competition the following year? We'll see which route the Nets choose to take. The East is tough, might be smart to suck it up and back down.


New York Knicks
GM: Eberlicious
2018-19: 32-50
2019-20: 49-33
2020-21*: 52-30

Oh lawd he comin'. The Knicks are on the up and up, slowly, but surely. A handful of off-season moves reshaped this New York Knicks roster. The most notable exchange was that of C Nikola Jokic and SF Pascal Siakam of the Golden State Warriors. Pascal Siakam showed significant improvement on his three-ball and handling during training camp and he enters 2021 looking to showcase his refined skillset. Expect Siakam, Porter, and Jackson to lead this team to an improved record and a more successful playoff run in 2021. The Knicks may look to build packages to bring in a strong two-way shooting guard or shore up the back half of their rotations. One things for certain, they've got a dominant trio, now Eberlicious just needs to add the proper helping pieces and this Knicks teams will be hard to beat.

Current Starters:
C Jaren Jackson Jr.
PF Michael Porter Jr.
SF Pascal Siakam
SG Zach Lavine
PG Mike Conley

Looking Ahead:
The New York Knicks remain owners of their first round picks up until the 2024 NBA Draft in which they own Minnesota their first rounder as part of a previous deal that brought Mike Conley to New York. Good pick management gives Eberlicious a lot of options as to how he proceeds with this team. Siakam, Porter Jr., and Jackson Jr., are all still pretty young. There is no real "rush" to add talent around them. Eberlicious's best bet may be to opt to continue to draft that talent and keep his win rating high. He may seek to trade a pick or two for bench help or that shooting guard upgrade. As I've said... he's got options.

Orlando Magic
GM: ColdJ3
2018-19: 30-52
2019-20: 20-62
2020-21*: 25-57

Now this is one of those rosters you look at and think, "man, I wish." Time will tell but by the looks of it the Orlando Magic are in one of the best positions in the league. Retainers of each of their future draft picks, the Magic are under no pressure to win games now and are allowed the freedom to try and properly build this team from the ground up. That freedom has been beneficial to them thus far, allowing them to start that ground-up build with three potential all-star caliber players, PG Cole Anthony, SG Jalek Felton, and PF Dedric Lawson. Lawson appears to be the least promising of the three, but even then, he put up decent stats in CPU Preseason and may continue to develop into a nice rotational big. Cole Anthony, the recent #1 pick, awed in training camp and will soon hit the court during his first NBA game ready to rumble. At 18-years-old the only path for Anthony is that which is up, and his fellow rookie, 22-year-old Jalek Felton, may be the perfect partner to have on that path. The Magic will struggle to win games again this year but that won't be an issue. Trust the process? Cold, you need a motto.

Current Starters:
C -
PF Dedric Lawson
SF Bogdan Bogdanovic
SG Jalek Felton
PG Cole Anthony

Looking Ahead:
Expect Cold to DLG Jalek Felton for half the season at some point during this year. Cole Anthony is almost unanimously considered to be the likely front-runner for ROTY and his career will certainly be bright. He's the ideal PG prospect to build a team from the ground up and Cold should have fun doing just that with this Magic team. Expect one to two more years of tanking before Cold looks to begin filling this roster through trades and free agency. By 2023 the backcourt duo of Felton and Anthony could be on par with that of Beal and Irving. Or perhaps not... a bit too early to tell.


Philadelphia 76ers
GM: Foreman
2018-19: 63-19
2019-20: 49-33
2020-21*: 41-41

Like the New York Knicks! Only... exactly the opposite. Oh how far they've fallen. From 1st seed in the East and best record in the NBA in 2018 to what I imagine will be a year headlined by a struggle to make the playoffs. The 76ers lost a key piece over the 2020 off-season, two-way star SF Jimmy Butler. His loss will surely be felt, as now the 76ers are forced into making previous #1 overall pick and leagues-most-hated-likely-bust, Ja Morant, a key part of their game-plan. Expect Morant to struggle holding his own defensively and for his turnovers to limit this 6ers' team from doing any serious damage this season. Expect Joel Embiid to have a career year in terms of production as this roster continues to dismantle. Anything short of 26ppg, 13rpg, and 3bpg seems unlikely. Tobias Harris will also have a career year in production. Hopefully so too, as he's set to earn $30 million (and more in the years that follow). Despite career years from these two players the 76ers will falter. Foreman needs to shake things up considerably and set his eyes on a focused goal.

Current Starters:
C Joel Embiid
PF Boban Marjanovic
SF Tobias Harris
SG Ja Morant
PG Ben Simmons

Looking Ahead:
The 76ers appear to remain owners of all their future first round picks, after settling their last owed pick with Los Angeles during the 2020 NBA Draft. This bodes well for their future, as they continue to lose talent and are not replacing it well through free agency. Foreman may need to trade players like Tobias Harris, Ben Simmons, etc. and try to fully re-build or at least significantly re-tool around C Joel Embiid. It would not be wise to trade him as well, but it may prove necessary.


Washington Wizards
GM: GetBeard
2018-19: 37-45
2019-20: 50-32
2020-21*: 55-27

How many years in a row do you suppose a GM can win GMOTY? Two? Three? Why stop there? At what point will GetBeard let one of us win the award? GetBeard nearly left this Washington Wizards team to rot away without him, but decided he'd hang around and dad-dick the rest of us. Through consistent trade wins, good drafting, and solid free agent signing the Wizards look to increase their win total for the second consecutive season. Succeeding in adding a player of Jimmy Butler's caliber through free agency, without sending out a single asset, is huge for this team. A nice mix between young and old, offensive and defensive, tall and short, this Wizards roster has the talent on it to go far in the playoffs. Expect them to push for a top 3 seed in the East. Their starting lineup is among the best and they've got decent enough players filling the back of their rotations. A few trades involving GM Cash or future picks may help GetBeard put this Wizards team over the top. I wouldn't recommend moving too much around though, this team is setup to succeed for quite a while already.

Current Starters:
C Bol Bol
PF Clint Capela
SF Jayson Tatum
SG Jimmy Butler
PG Trae Young

Looking Ahead:
The Wizards remain owners of all Washington Wizards first round picks until the 2024 NBA Draft. This gives GetBeard the freedom to either move picks from 2021-2023, or sit on them and continue to draft talent around these young pieces. Jimmy Butler is the oldest player on this roster at 31, and we've seen original file stars last well into their 30's. The Wizards have a solid two-three season window to continue to draft and sign free agents around Butler and co., or they may seek to trade him for one more round of re-tooling and go completely young. Either route puts this Wizards team atop the East for multiple seasons.​

 

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