Can Raptors compete for #1 seed in east this upcoming season?

[charlesnba23]

Zeller/Faverani/Anthony
Sullinger/Bass/Olynyk
Green/Wallace
Bradley/Thornton
Rondo/Smart

Not so bad at all

[JordanMariam14]

Raptors, Cavs, and Bulls will be the top 3 teams, I could easily see a tie between all of them or just two.

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[psrs1]

As they should be. Even more, sleeping on Detroit. SVG alone gets them into the playoffs.

Maybe.....

[raptors999]

Maybe.....

Or May be not...

[Other Scott]

Let's run down the candidates:

Chicago- It all depends on Rose and Gasol. I don't believe we are that far away from Pau Gasol turning into a pumpkin. He'll still be a solid forward, but I don't think he's a game changer for this team if Rose isn't healthy. If Rose is healthy and at full strength, this is probably a 60 win team and easily the number 1 seed. If Rose plays to lower capabilities, say Rajon Rondo type effectiveness, this is still a better team than last year, but is probably looking at 50-55 wins, which is the same as 4 or 5 other teams in the conference. If Rose is injured again, this is probably a number 6 seed.

Cleveland- I feel like the floor for this team is 50 wins, which is higher than anyone else. That said, I don't feel very confident about them getting much more than that. Having Lebron means really switching up what they were doing last year, and it will probably take some time to figure out the best configuration of supporting roles. Even then, this team doesn't have the talent of the peak Miami teams.

Indiana - Don't count them out. They really looked lost at the end of last year, but they recovered some in their last two rounds, and this is still the same team that came out of the gate on pace for about 65 wins, possibly minus Lance Stevenson. They could get it back together next year and take that top Eastern spot. They could also spiral horribly out of control and miss the playoffs altogether.

Washington - I really like this team and wouldn't be remotely surprised if they grabbed the top seed. Beal looked like he really turned a corner in the playoffs last year, and if that takes as well as Wall finding some consistency, this becomes the top backcourt in the East with a pretty formidable front court as well. I think Paul Pierce may be a little worse than contract-year-Ariza, but the growth of Wall and Beal should more than cancel that out.

Toronto - Toronto probably has the best bench of any of these teams, so that's a built in advantage right there. They'll also hopefully get some growth from Jonas and Ross. But I still think the absolute ceiling for the Raptors is 55 wins, which may win the East, but probably not a very high percentage of the time.

Miami- I don't see any way this happens unless all the teams above them have terrible things happen. Sorry Heat, you had a nice run.

Brooklyn - If they finally find their time machine to grab the 2010 version of most of their key players (except Lopez), they really have a shot.

[iblastoff]

I think we all need to reconsider this 'best bench' stuff going on. By best I assume we're referring to Vasquez and Patterson duplicating their performance of last season and Lou Williams going back to his 2009-10 season numbers? Even salmons was good for us last season for a bit before he sputtered out too.

[The Great One]

A team everybody has to watch out for in the East are the Toronto Raptors. They have the talent to sneak up and win the Eastern Conference.

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) July 15, 2014

[007]

If we get the top seed we must make the second round.

[YoungGunRaptor]

The Heat are definitely still a solid team.

I see them finishing the season in the 4th-8 seed range, because their lineup on paper(and when healthy) is still quite solid:

Chalmers, Wade, Deng, Mcroberts, Bosh

with Granger, Cole, and Birdman, and Napier coming off of the bench.

Obviously, the health of their players is absolutely key, as it is with many other teams.

As of now, I see the seeding like this:

1) Bulls
2) Pacers
3) Raptors
4) Wizards
5) Cavs
6) Hornets
7) Heat
8) Pistons/ Nets/ Knicks

[007]

When healthy...

Wade is going to battle injuries all year, Granger and Birdman are both old, and Bosh can't carry the team by himself.

[Primer]

I think we all need to reconsider this 'best bench' stuff going on. By best I assume we're referring to Vasquez and Patterson duplicating their performance of last season and Lou Williams going back to his 2009-10 season numbers? Even salmons was good for us last season for a bit before he sputtered out too.

Lou Williams was still above average last year, even better than that in 2012-13, and was pretty damn awesome in 2011-12 (arguably 6th man of the year). No need to go all the way back to 2009. Did you even look at his stats or just try to go from memory? You've got the internet right in front of you.

[iblastoff]

Lou Williams was still above average last year, even better than that in 2012-13, and was pretty damn awesome in 2011-12 (arguably 6th man of the year). No need to go all the way back to 2009. Did you even look at his stats or just try to go from memory? You've got the internet right in front of you.

2011-2012 = contract year.

[Primer]

2011-2012 = contract year.

So what? He was awesome for the 2 years before that as well. Must have been preparing for his contract year 3 years ahead of time. He was also playing really well in 2012-13 before getting hurt.

[Other Scott]

I think we all need to reconsider this 'best bench' stuff going on. By best I assume we're referring to Vasquez and Patterson duplicating their performance of last season and Lou Williams going back to his 2009-10 season numbers? Even salmons was good for us last season for a bit before he sputtered out too.

Just best out of those teams, and really I should have said second best, because Chicago's is definitely better. Patterson and Vazquez are two of the top bench players in the league though, plus James Johnson and Lou Williams makes it pretty formidable.

Their advantage over the non-Chicago teams in the bench department is significant. Indiana and Washington both have terrible benches. Cleveland's bench numbers were actually really good last year, but they unloaded most of it to get LeBron.

[Primer]

The Heat are definitely still a solid team.

I see them finishing the season in the 4th-8 seed range, because their lineup on paper(and when healthy) is still quite solid:

Chalmers, Wade, Deng, Mcroberts, Bosh

with Granger, Cole, and Birdman, and Napier coming off of the bench.

Obviously, the health of their players is absolutely key, as it is with many other teams.

As of now, I see the seeding like this:

1) Bulls
2) Pacers
3) Raptors
4) Wizards
5) Cavs
6) Hornets
7) Heat
8) Pistons/ Nets/ Knicks

Why does everyone forget about the Hawks? They were the 3 seed last year before Horford went down, and nearly took out the Pacers in round 1. You don't even have them as a contender for the 8 seed? Ridiculous. The Hawks are a legit contender to take the top seed now that big 3 are broken up.