NBA Preview - Eastern Conference 2009-10

Predicted Standings for Eastern Conference: 2009-10Freddy Wills breaks down the Eastern Conference and predicts the #1-#8 playoff seeds! Make sure you take advantage ofFreddy's NBA packages which are discounted $300 until the season starts. Once the season starts, the prices will go up $300! These price changes will take place on Wednesday October 28th. Cavs are #1 on my pre-season rankings. Cavs lacked the size in the playoffs last year to really be able to match up with Dwight Howard. Enter Shaq and you have a completely different style and team. Shaq will be on his 5th team and the results should be good for the Cavs and Lebron.Vegas Odds: 60.5 WinsFreddy says: Over Celtics are going to have to be #2 on this list for the fact that they get a healthy Kevin Garnett back this year and could arguably be #1 with the addition of Rasheed Wallace being bigger than the Cavs getting Shaq. However, the two need to prove a lot as Rasheed has caused problems before and is now 35 years old while Garnett’s knee is still unproven.Vegas Odds: 57.5 WinsFreddy says: Over Bulls are #3 in my book I know you may be a little shocked, but Rose really impressed me down the stretch in just his first year as a rookie. This team has talent all over with Loul Deng, Hinrich, Brad Miller, Noah, and Thomas. The key to winning games will be whether or not the team can stay healthy. Vegas Odds: 41 WinsFreddy says: Over Orlando Magic stand in at #4 and I see them falling back a little here this year I did not like the trade or swap as you would say of Turkoglu for Vince Carter. Turkoglu played a key role for this team when and was their scoring option from the perimeter through the playoffs. Enter Vince Carter? He has never lived up the hype of being the next Jordan and he is getting old.Vegas Odds: 58 WinsFreddy says: Under Atlanta Hawks stand in at #5 and could in my opinion be a top 3 team in this league with the additions of Jamal Crawford and Joe Smith. Crawford gives the Hawks another shooting option apart from Joe Johnson. Johnson is the real deal and he continues to prove it year in and year out. You can mark it off the Hawks will be in the playoffs again this year.Vegas Odds: 45 WinsFreddy says: Over Washington Wizards come in at #6 and it’s mainly due to the health of Gilbert Arenas. This team is good and very deep when he is on the court, but in the last two years he has not been able to play the majority of the regular season. If the health is there between Arenas and Brendan Haywood this team could be tough to deal with in 2009-10.Vegas Odds: 39 WinsFreddy says: Over Anytime you have a top 3 star like Duane Wade you are guaranteed a playoff spot and that is the same for Wade here in 2009, but he needs more of a supporting role in my opinion. We need to see more from Beasley and his development before we can take this team seriously as a contender. Vegas Odds: 40.5 WinsFreddy says: Under The Raptors are the 8th seed and final team in the NBA east will be the Toronto Raptors. I see them returning to the playoffs behind a healthy Chris Bosh. The addition of Turkaglu as I mentioned earlier with the Magic will be huge and will push them into the playoffs giving them an inside and outside option with Bosh/Turkaglu.Vegas Odds: 40.5 WinsFreddy says: Under The 9th ranked 76ers will just miss the playoffs as the departure of Andre Miller will mean more than the team previously anticipated. They will most likely see injuries to Elton Brand again, but AI will continue to shine and I’m speaking of Andre Iguodala not the old AI.Vegas Odds: 41 WinsFreddy says: Under This will be the first time in nine years that the Pistons miss the playoffs and it all started when they traded their point guard Chauncey Billups to Denver last year. Now Rasheed Wallace is gone and that’s 2/3 of the core. Enter two Uconn additions in Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva and you have a team stacked with Uconn alumni including Richard Hamilton. This team does have the ability to surprise a lot of people in my opinion, but it might take too long to gel as the team plays well down the stretch but not enough over ride their poor play to start the season. Vegas Odds: 40.5 WinsFreddy says: Under Charlotte Bobcats were bettor favorites last year as they continually covered as big time dogs and unders. 2009-10 season will be another disappointing year. Despite being well coached and over achieving for what many expect they will miss the playoffs once again. Vegas Odds: 35.5 WinsFreddy says: Over The 12th team on our list has to be the Indiana Pacers who will struggle again this year and will miss the playoffs. Danny Granger proved last season that he can score in this league while the Pacers drafted Tyler Hansborough out of North Carolina and A.J. Price from Uconn. I like the Price move but Hansborough may not be a solid NBA player, but could look more like David Lee from our 13th team on our list which would not be a bad thing.Vegas Odds: 34.5 WinsFreddy says: Over 13th and sadly so are the New York Knicks behind David Lee and Nate Robinson. What might be an exciting team to go watch behind their head coach that features a run and gun offense might not be so pretty for Knick fans. The Knicks are clearly looking towards 2010 when they go for free agents of the likes of Bosh, Wade, and James. Until then it’s going to be a lot of losses in New York. Vegas Odds: 30.5 WinsFreddy says: Over 14th will be the Milwaukee Bucks. There are a lot of question marks so this prediction could be way off. However, their two key players Michael Redd, and Andrew Bogut are not healthy and they don’t really have a point guard. Where this team will be is a mystery to me, but if I had to guess I’d say they’d be at the bottom of the league this year. Vegas Odds: 28.5 WinsFreddy says: Under Oh to be in the cellar. The New Jersey Nets look like they are building for the future as they traded Carter and Jefferson in back to back years. They do have a lot of young talent from Lopez, to Boone, to Williams. However, the departure of Vince Carter will leave a big void in this team and winning games behind Devin Harris won’t be that easy.Vegas Odds: 27.5 WinsFreddy says: Under