NBA Offseason: Part 2

The Boston Celtics will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on the opening day of the 2017 – 2018 season in approximately 4 weeks. With the preseason starting on Saturday, we have a limited time to preview teams for the upcoming season. This will be a 7 part preview. I’ll start with the east coast, then do the west and finally Part 7 will be my take on the upcoming season as a whole. In part two, we examine the off season for the Central Division

Chicago Bulls

• Draft: Paul Zipser
• Acquired: Kris Dunn, Justin Holiday, Lauri Markkanen, David Nawba, Quincey Pondexter, Jarell Eddie, Diamond Stone, Ryan Arcidiacono, Jaylen Johnson, Antonio Blakeney and Bronson Koenig
• Lost: Dwayne Wade, MCW, Anthony Morrow, Rajon Rondo, Jimmy Butler
• Injured: Zach Lavine, Cameron Payne

This is what you call a tank. Half of the Bull’s roster has just been drafted, there are no stars in the starting roster and the longest tenured Bull is Nikola Mirotic. Dwayne Wade was released recently after a tumultuous summer. The offseason for the Bulls was particularly bad after they gave up Jimmy Butler and multiple draft picks on draft day. Fans are angry and nobody knows what the front office has in mind. This is going to be a very long season.

Cleveland Cavaliers

• Draft: None
• Acquired: Derrick Rose, Dwanye Wade, Jae Crowder, Jeff Green. Jose Calderon, Ante Zicic, Kendrick Perkins
• Lost: Kyrie Irving, Deron Williams, Derrick WIlliams, James Jones, Dahntay Jones
• Injured: Isaiah Thomas

After getting swept in last season Finals, Lebron James and Co. needed to make some changes. So what does he do? He recruits an All Star cast to Cleveland. There is no doubt, that once Isaiah Thomas is healthy Cleveland has two 5-man teams that can just dominate the NBA. You can put the Cavs in the finals now.

Detroit Pistons

• Draft: Luke Kennard
• Acquired: Avery Bradley, Langston Galloway, Anthony Tolliver, 
• Lost: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Aron Baynes, Marcus Morris
• Injured: None

Detroit opens up Little Ceasars Arena in downtown Detroit this year, leaving their long-time home at Palace of Auburn Hills. For the team that finished last in the Central Division a year ago, the offseason has not helped. However if Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson can bounce back from last year’s abysmal season, Detroit should be able to turn it around.

Indiana Pacers

• Draft: T.J. Leaf, Ike Anigbogu
• Acquired: Darren Collison, Victor Oladipo, Bojan Bogdanovic, Cory Joseph, Domantas Sabonis, Jarrod Uthoff, Edmond Sumner
• Lost: Jeff Teague, C.J. Miles, Aaron Brooks, Monta Ellis, Paul George
• Injured: Trey McKinney Jones

Losing Paul George, Jeff Teague, C.J. Miles and Monta Ellis is huge since they led in minutes played last year. The Pacers added players like Victor Oladipo and Bojan Bogdanovic too add scoring capabilities, but don’t expect much from this new Pacer team that is sure to start rebuilding.

Milwaukee Bucks

• Draft: D.J. Wilson
• Acquired: Brandon Rush, Gerald Green, Sterling Brown, Kendall Marshall, James Young
• Lost: Greg Monroe, Spencer Hawes, Michael Beasley, Jason Terry
• Injured: Jabari Parker

Jabari Parker is injured till the All-Star break with a ACL tear, but the Bucks have a solid squad going into the 2017-18 season. They return ROTY Malcolm Brogdon and 2nd Team All Defense Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis is their franchise player and they should be able to work with him until Parker comes back in the spring. The biggest road block are the Cavs, who stockpiled their team this off season. The Bucks are easily the 2nd best team in the Central Division.

Previous: Atlantic Division

Next: Southeast Division