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Posted By: Jaceman Posted On: Jul 22, 2008 Views: 2600	East Teams I think the 8th spot is a toss up between Atlanta, Miami, and Miluakee, I honestly don't see Atlanta or Mluakee really stepping up to the task though. Miami arguably have the pieces and I like their pieces (Wade, Marion, Beasley, and Mario Chalmers) more than Miluakee's (Redd, Jefferson, Bogut). Chicago is way into rebuilding phase and they have to figure out what to do with Deng, I don't see them going anywhere soon. Deng is just not at the caliber to carry a team, and the remainder of the team just doesn't impress me. Atlanta just doesn't look to get better, as athletic as they are, unless Josh Smith starts taking better shots and such losing Josh Childress will be hard for them. Even with Mike Bibby for a full season. I just think Miami is the best out of them. Charlotte may lose Okafor, rumor has Gerald Wallace out of favor with owner Michael Jordan, so they're not going anywhere, New York and New Jersey are all ditching for the 2010 Free Agency, so I don't see them going anywhere either.
Posted By: LandofCleve Posted On: Jul 22, 2008 Views: 2696	14/16 Hypothesis - East I went with the Bucks as that eighth team but I must admit John makes a compelling case for the Heat. Is is interesting to me the Milwaukee Bucks are the only team out of my sixteen picks that are not in the top 16 vote percentage.
Posted By: RICK from chi city Posted On: Jul 22, 2008 Views: 2799	CHICAGO Watch out for the baby bulls. Pax is gonna make this team a contender for years to come with a big move which will happen first week in sept.
Posted By: Mike Posted On: Jul 22, 2008 Views: 863	Heat The Heat will have a healthy D - Wade, and you will again find out that nobody stops a healthy D - Wade...nobody.
Posted By: John Posted On: Jul 22, 2008 Views: 1072	Heat Don't forget Udonis Haslem, Mario Chalmers and Dorrell Wright. I'm not saying the Heat's supporting cast is amazing my any means, but it's not so much worse than the Wizards' that you can't make a comparison. People forget how good Dwayne Wade is despite the fact that he put on one of the most dominating performances in the finals just 2 years ago. Wade is easily one of the top 10 players in the league, and with another certifiable all-star in Marion (who figures to have a big year while playing for a new contract) as well as a future star in Beasley, who will be one of the frontrunners for Rookie of the Year, I'm fairly confident that the Heat are better than anyone else outside of the top 7. Really, who else from those 8 bottom teams do you like better than Wade-Marion-Beasley? The Pacers are cute, but their best three players are Danny Granger, T.J. Ford and Mike Dunleavy. The Hawks only won 38 games last year, Josh Childress might leave for Europe, and their second best player in Josh Smith is pouting. The Bobcats always tease you with what they have on paper, but always come up short in wins. The Bucks look much better with Jefferson in the mix, but I'd still take Wade-Marion-Beasley over Redd-Jefferson-Mo Williams. The Nets fully admitted they're in rebuilding mode by trading Jefferson. The Knicks are still disfunctional. Their biggest competition is the Bulls since they brought in Derrick Rose, but it doesn't look like Luol Deng or Ben Gordon will be happy playing for them next year and they still don't have a post player. Anyways, I'm not saying the Heat are amazing, but they're better than the other chaffe at the bottom of the East for sure.
Posted By: MC Posted On: Jul 22, 2008 Views: 1090	Miami The big 3 in Washington also have Antonio Daniels, and Brendon Haywoodd playing with them. The Heat have Chris Quinn, Mark Blount, and an injured Alonzo. The heat will not make it.
Posted By: Scott Posted On: Jul 22, 2008 Views: 1088	MIA For the record, Marion didn't get hurt. He simply didn't play b/c MIA wanted to go with the D-League all-stars and make sure they finished in last place.
Posted By: CB Posted On: Jul 22, 2008 Views: 839	Miami Wade, Marion, Beasley. Three reasons to think Miami can make it into the playoffs.
Posted By: John Posted On: Jul 21, 2008 Views: 1163	Miami Let me put it this way... if Gilbert Arenas-Caron Butler-Antawn Jamison is good for a 5th seed in the East, why wouldn't a team build around Dwayne Wade-Michael Beasley-Shawn Marion be good enough for at least an 8th seed? The Heat were decimated by injuries last season, and for the first half even when DWade and Shaq were healthy, it was clear Shaq was just never going to be the same again and that Wade wasn't playing at full strength. When they got Marion, he immediately got injured. In any case, Miami is just as good as anyone else; I could easily see the Heat in the lottery one more year, but they're my pick to round out the playoff teams and maybe even get a 5 or 6 seed.
Posted By: Bob Posted On: Jul 21, 2008 Views: 1248	Really, Miami? Really?
Posted By: John Posted On: Jul 21, 2008 Views: 1341	14/16 Hypothesis Yeah, after those top 7, nobody's clearly better or worse than anyone else, and I think all of them have enough talent to win 30-40 games, and the higher end of that might make the playoffs. If there was any team I'd summarily dismiss it'd probably be the Nets after they gave away Richard Jefferson for future cap space, and even with the signing of Mike D'Antoni I have to admit that I don't see how the Knicks will make their talent mesh- but even those two teams have enough raw talent (Harris and Carter on the Nets, Crawford and Randolph on the Knicks) to at least be mildly competitive. Of course, injuries will take some teams out of the running, but I wouldn't be shocked to come into the last two weeks of the season and still have 4-5 teams battling for that 8th spot.
Posted By: noaher Posted On: Jul 21, 2008 Views: 1139	It's hard picking that 8th spot The top seven seem to be pretty consensus. I went with Indiana in the eighth spot. I'll probably feel silly about that next year, but I've got this gut feeling . . .
Posted By: Teja Posted On: Jul 21, 2008 Views: 1186	Milwaukee For some reason I feel that Milwaukee might be a playoff contender the coming season; what with the addition of Jefferson and everything.