My rankings:
1. Milwaukee: Brought back most of their main guys. Re-signing Middleton and Brook Lopez was huge. Coming off a dissappointing season and getting knocked off in the 1st round you know they will come back motivated.
2. Boston: Led the NBA in point differential last year. Traded Marcus Smart for Kristaps Porzingis so they need Malcolm Brodgon to stay healthy. Team has been together for a while they are going to break through and win a title one of these years.
3. Philly: Harden is there for now. I think moving on from Doc Rivers to Nick Nurse is a big upgrade. Even if they end up trading Harden, they have enough to be a 50+win team.
4. Cleveland: This might be controversial but I really like their team. Adding Max Strus and Georges Niang will make them hard to defend. The Cavs had the 2nd best point differential in the NBA last year and as a young team will only get better.
5. Miami: I can’t rank the Knicks ahead of the team that outclassed them in the playoffs last year. They lost key pieces in Strus and Gabe Vincent but they are the favorite to acquire Dame Lillard. They always find guys you never heard of to play well for them.
6. Knicks: I don’t want this ranking to come off as negative because I am optimistic about the future for the Knicks. I just don’t see how they got much better this off-season. Their only free agent signing was Donte DiVincenzo and he isn’t really a needle mover. They still need more spacing for their closing lineup. I expect 45-47 wins but I think the East will be even better this season and the Knicks will finish as the 6th seed.
For the full article: [https://dailyknicks.com/2023/08/12/predicting-where-new-york-knicks-finish-east-next-season/3/](https://dailyknicks.com/2023/08/12/predicting-where-new-york-knicks-finish-east-next-season/3/)
by LouieKabatnik
17 Comments
This isn’t bad… Philly is a wildcard. We don’t know if Harden will be there or if he will be motivated if he is. Heat, lost some key parts but I agree with putting them ahead of us. Cavs… I dunno. They got a lot to prove.
I think there is the potential to be in the top 4, but we would need a lot of things to break our way. Obviously Boston and Milwaukee are locked in at 1 and 2. I think 4-7 is a pretty safe bet for where we finish the season.
You’re reasoning for putting Miami over NYK is because they “outclassed us” but you put Cleveland over NYK even though we outclassed them. Just want to point that out.
I also think essentially trading Obi for Divincenzo makes us a better team. Not by a ton, but Obi didn’t really fit well here and had limited access to minutes because he could only play one position. DD makes us more versatile, faster, better defensively and spreads the floor more. It should make a difference.
Overall I think you’re probably right. We should be a Top 6 team and will fall somewhere between 3 and 6.
We’re top 4, but East is so competitive. One injury can make or break a team
I think it’s still extremely hard to predict what Miami and Philly will be this year with Harden and Lillard trades up in the air. Even if Harden stays, the vibes might be quite strange and there will be a lingering question the whole season on if he really wants to be there and him leaving in the offseason/trade deadline. Talent wise I agree they easily could be top 3, but team culture wise I don’t know…
Miami obviously had an amazing run, but they did lose 2 of their key playoff guys in Strus and Vincent, and who knows what the team looks like if Damian ends up there. Obv a lineup of Damian, Butler, and Bam is scary no matter what, but if they gut the rest of their team for that trade, I could see them underperforming.
I think the Cavs put up a similar, but worse season compared to last year. I don’t see them as improved and I think the Knicks showed how to beat them in the playoffs.
My rankings as of now:
1. Milwaukee
2. Boston
3. Miami
4. Knicks (if all goes right)
5. Philadelphia
6. Cleveland
7. Atlanta
8. Brooklyn
With possibly a team like the Magic, Bulls, or Pacers sneaking in with the play in games.
currently we’re tied for first.
I’m being optimistic so I’ll say 4th behind Bucks, Celts and Heat
Miami lost some key guys you kidding? Even if they are sneaky good again they’d probably be a lower regular season seed like they did last year.
Bro said Cavs 4 lol. You make no sense Knicks have to 4 or 5.
FWIW, Miami lost a couple of key guys, and they are not guaranteed to have Dame so not sure how far they can go
Cleveland got better, but I feel like we will be head to head with them, very close at the end of the season imho.
Philly- Harden might pull some shit and not play, it is a weird situation and their locker room might be messed up… total shot in the dark here but if they are playing legitimately you are probably not wrong
Celtics/Milwaukee…. agree there with the 1/2 spots, but we were also pretty competitive vs. them last season… if we meet in the playoffs it may be a dogfight (as long as our guys show up!!!)
Saying Divincenzo isnt a needle mover is funny not because I necessarily disagree but because we could consider Hart the same when he was traded here. And he ended up helping the team win 9 in a row and was big factor in our success
1. boston
2. milwaukee
3. philly
4. nyk
5. miami
6. cleveland
7. atlanta
8. brooklyn dumb idiot squad
Your argument for 4 and 5 directly contradict each other
4-6 is up in the air between the Knicks, Cavs and Heat. Miami lost some key guys and even though they have a knack for finding those blue collar players out of nowhere, until they actually do it, they’re coming in weaker than last year. The Cavs have improved a bit. I don’t even think the Sixers are safe at 3. That situation can become volatile real quick.
I think you are spot on with your rankings. I think CLE is the biggest wild card here. They could be better then phili or get knocked out by the Knicks again since they are still a young team. The talent is there however. If harden gets traded tho or the chemistry is bad, Phili might be at the bottom of this list then
So DDV isn’t a needle mover, but Strus and Niang are? We completely outplayed Cleveland with IQ, Randle and Grimes folding up, but somehow adding a good player to our lineup puts us below them because of Strus and Niang?
Okay bud
We destroyed Cleveland. They are our bitch. Adjust your rankings accordingly.
I see the East like this:
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Boston and Milwaukee
Cleveland, Miami, NYK, Philly
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I think those two teams are clearly the best then there’s that middle group. Even though Miami beat us and went to the finals, they lost 2 key contributors, and Jimmy/Lowry are a year older going into next season which has to count for something.
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I think anyone in that 2nd group could be anyone else in a playoff series. And yes Philly has Embiid and whoever else they get in a Harden trade, but I don’t like their roster outside of Embiid at all.