The landscape of the NBA’s Eastern Conference when LeBron James decided he was going back home to Cleveland after four straight trips to the Finals and two titles in Cleveland. Then, the Cavaliers worked hard to finalize the trade of #1 picks Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett to Minnesota for Kevin Love, who joins James and Kyrie Irving for a team many expect to win the East. However, the Cavs will have to deal with Chicago at some point. Here is how the two teams stack up.
Why The Bulls Will Win The East
Odds To Win NBA Championship: +725
The Bulls made a few moves in the offseason by signing Pau Gasol to take some of the offensive pressure off the returning Derrick Rose, who has looked great so far with the American national team this summer, but there are always going to be concerns about the state of his knees, which have caused him to miss most of the last two seasons. If Rose returns to his former MVP level, the Bulls have one of the most explosive players in the game and with Gasol manning the post, they have a nice inside-outside duo. Doug McDermott was one of the best scorers in college basketball, and he’ll hope to do the same in Chicago, where the Bulls are still going to be one of the best defensive players in the league. There might not be a more active defensive player in the NBA than Joakim Noah, who won the Defensive Player of the Year award and they have a lot of length and athleticism with Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson.
Why The Cavaliers Will Win The East
Odds To Win NBA Championship: +245
It’s tough to bet against the Cavaliers when they have James, the four-time MVP and best player on the planet. James won’t be asked to do as much as he did in Miami, when Dwyane Wade missed almost half of the season resting his knees for the playoffs, and that will make a world of difference later in the season. James has averaged 39.5 minutes throughout the regular season, and over 42 minutes in the postseason; Cleveland would do well to keep him fresh this season. Now they have Love, who is a legitimate 25/12 guy, but now we’re going to find out if he was just stat-stuffing on a really bad team in Minnesota, or one of the best seven or eight players in the league as he has been called. Irving struggled last season and this is a huge campaign for the point guard, who won the U.S. starting job over Rose, but that might be more due to Rose’s knees. The wildcard in Cleveland might be Dion Waiters – if he can take a backseat to the “Big Three” after making a fuss last season about being a star, he can carry the Cavs’ second unit.
The Cavaliers are much, much better offensively and have three players that can drop 30 points if need be, and while Chicago is better defensively, the margin isn’t as large as it is on the other end of the court. Take King James and the Cavs in Cleveland.
