NBA Season Preview: Atlantic Division

Hedo has joined a Toronto team on the rise

Predicted Finish:

1. Boston (65-17)

2. Toronto (53-29)

3. Philadelphia (39-43)

4. New York (35-47)

5. New Jersey (20-62)

1. Boston Celtics - The Celts suffered greatly last season when Kevin Garnett’s health was in the red. This season he is back to full strength and the team has added some firepower to combat Lebron’s Cavs and Dwight’s Magic. Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels will prove to be monstrous additions to an already championship caliber lineup. Both Wallace and Daniels can defend and hit the big shot, and will make Boston’s bench one of the deepest, if not the deepest, in the entire league.

2. Toronto Raptors – With an effort to do everything possible to keep Chris Bosh from leaving, the Raptors have made some major moves this summer. They brought in the reliable Hedo Turkoglu and added an excellent backup point in Jarret Jack, along with a freakishly athletic rookie in Demar DeRozan to give Toronto a legitimate chance of joining the East’s elite. It all depends on how quickly this group can build chemistry.

3. Philadelphia 76ers – This squad cannot seem to break through the barrier that is mediocrity and hasn’t done much this off season to combat this. The only ‘new’ thing going for them is a potentially healthy Elton Brand, who missed all but 29 games last season. However, with Philly thriving in the up-tempo offense will a healthy Brand make them better or worse? For their sake it better make the team better because this team has not done enough to have a good chance of escaping the 40 win mark.

4. New York Knicks - The D’Antoni coached squad is certainly fun to watch, but can they win consistently enough to make the playoffs? The Knicks are a couple years away because they still have not gotten rid of Isaiah Thomas’ failed projects. Best case is the team steals a star with an expiring contract to make them better in the short term and long term. They will make their move towards relevancy again once/if they sign a superstar free agent next off season.

5. New Jersey Nets - The Nets could only get worse after shipping out cornerstone Vince Carter for Courtney Lee. Not to say Lee won’t be a productive player in the league, but he absolutely is not a Vince Carter. Where is the scoring going to come from besides Devin Harris? Simmons? Lopez? The squad from the Jerz might be the worst team in basketball next season.

Player on the rise: Thaddeus Young (PHI) – The former Yellow Jacket is a star in the making after increasing his scoring average from 8 to 15 a year ago. The kid can shoot the hell out of the ball from anywhere on the court and has excellent length and quickness to make a difference on the defensive end as well. Look for 20 a game from the Sixers lone all-star this season.

Rookie to watch out for: Toney Douglas (NYK) – This guy can defend and shoot with the best of them and it will translate directly over to the NBA. In a high scoring attack, he will get quite a few looks from the perimeter and should capitalize from the Knicks’ lack of overall talent and depth.

Tags: atlantic division, carter, courtney lee, devin harris, hedo, knicks, lee, Magic, nba, nets, new york, preview, raptors, Season Preview, sixers, toronto, turkoglu