There’s an unwritten rule that every team in this division must adhere to: only one team can do well at a time. The Chicago Bulls were far and away the best team in the Central last year, 25 games better than the Pacers, who finished second. The Pacers, Bucks, Pistons and Cavaliers combined for a .369 winning percentage, finishing 207 games under .500. Since the LeBron James era in Cleveland fizzled, there’s a new sheriff in town. His name is Derrick Rose, the youngest MVP in NBA history.
The other four teams in the division don’t have the pieces to win now, but they all have a lot of young players to build around. The Pacers have Paul George, a player who reminds many of an undeveloped Scottie Pippen. The Bucks have Brandon Jennings, who not too long ago scored 55 points in a single game. The Pistons have Austin Daye, a future double-double machine. And the Cavaliers selected Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson in the draft to complement their existing batch of motley talent.
There were some movers and shakers in the division during the condensed off-season. Rip Hamilton, one of the centerpieces to the Pistons’ 2004 championship run, took his talents from Detroit to the Windy City, joining the defending division champs. Former New Orleans All-Star David West signed with Indiana, immediately making them a more dangerous team; albeit losing Josh McRoberts to the Los Angeles Lakers. The always colorful journeyman Stephen Jackson finds his latest home in Milwaukee, where he’ll be the number one option on offense.
With the addition of West, the Pacers may be due to make some noise, not only in the division but in the Eastern Conference. But, until Darren Collison blossoms into a better decision maker and Danny Granger becomes a solidified All-Star, this division will still be the Bulls for the taking.
So, finally, let’s explore the predictions for the upcoming season.
5. Detroit Pistons
Last Season: 30-52, 4th Central
This Season: Things could not have gotten any worse for the Pistons last year. Their core of veteran players refused to listen to their head coach John Kuester, culminating in February when they boycotted a morning shoot-around to voice their displeasure. As punishment, Kuester benched every player who missed the shoot-around in their game against the Philadelphia 76ers that night.
Replacing Kuester as the head coach of the Pistons this season is Lawrence Frank. Teams coached by Frank have a knack for overachieving, just take a look at the New Jersey Net teams that made it all the way to the NBA Finals several times. Since overpaying for Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, Pistons’ management has had their hands tied to improve the team via the open market.
With Rip Hamilton’s departure, the rebuilding process officially begins in Detroit. Their most important player, restricted free agent Rodney Stuckey, agreed to terms with the team to extend his contract. Still, the team has no clear identity. They don’t defend well and the Palace at Auburn Hills is turning into a playground. There will be “DETROIT BASKETBALL” this year, it just won’t be played very well.
Next Page: King-less Cleveland, Upstart Bucks
4. Cleveland Cavaliers
Last Season: 19-63, 5th Central
This Season: The Cavs celebrated a couple of milestones last year. In their first season without LeBron James since 2002, they set a new record for most consecutive games lost (26), they lost by 55 points against the Lakers in January, and in James’ much anticipated home coming, their former King walked all over them in front of a sold out crowd. However, there is hope.
Owner Dan Gilbert’s son, Nick, was a good luck charm for his father at the NBA Draft Lottery, landing the first and fourth overall picks. Kyrie Irving is no LeBron James, but he still has the ability to change a game. Irving and fellow rookie Tristan Thompson, along with the remnants of the LeBron James era (Anthony Parker, Anderson Varejao and Antawn Jamison) aren’t a terrible team. A reason for their terrible record was their defensive anchor, Varejao, being hurt for more than half the season last year.
The Cavs are also the proud owners of one of the deepest point guard rotations in the entire NBA in Irving, Ramon Sessions and Daniel “Boobie” Gibson. Call me crazy but there’s a slight chance the Cavaliers win a lot more games this year than last. If this group of Cavaliers plays hard every night, they are no longer a doormat. Don’t look now LeBron, but the crew you left behind is already heading in the right direction.
3. Milwaukee Bucks
Last Season: 35-47, 3rd Central
This Season: In the last two years the Bucks and Brandon Jennings, their starting point guard, have gone down similar paths. During Jennings’ rookie campaign (2009-10), him and his team surpassed a lot of expectations by making a bid for the Rookie of the Year Award and making the playoffs before taking a step backwards the year after. The problem for the Bucks certainly didn’t lie on the defensive end, they were the third best team statistically in the league, averaging 92.3 points in points allowed. If only they weren’t the worst offensive team in the league at 91 points a game, the Bucks probably would’ve returned to the playoffs last year.
To remedy their offensive struggles, the Bucks’ management unloaded John Salmons and Corey Maggette in exchange for gunner Stephen Jackson. At media day, Jackson jokingly said the last time he was surrounded by a talented point guard and a big man, he won a championship with the San Antonio Spurs. Jackson could be what the Bucks need to improve offensively; while Maggette and Salmons are both good scorers they were never sold on being the number one option. Jackson has had plenty of experience of being the best scorer on a bad team, so he should help.
In order to achieve any type of success, the point guard (Jennings) and center (Andrew Bogut) Jackson was referring to need to step it up in a big way. Jennings needs to learn how to run the offense better, teams are learning that he is a score-first point guard, but there’s only one problem: he’s not that great of a scorer. Thus in order to open up opportunities for himself, he must find his team mates first. And Bogut needs to prove he’s fully recovered from the nasty elbow injury he suffered in April of 2010. Even at their best, these Bucks are a fringe playoff team.
Next Page: Back to the Playoffs in 2012?
2. Indiana Pacers
Last Season: 37-45, 2nd Central
This Season: On any given night the Pacers can beat any team. After several years of basketball purgatory, it’s time to welcome the Indiana Pacers back to relevancy with the additions of David West and George Hill in the summer. The Pacers look like a team that is going to be a middle-tier Eastern Conference squad this year, fighting for the fourth seed with the likes of Atlanta, Orlando and New York.
The Pacers were able to hang with the top-ranked Bulls in their first round match-up in the playoffs. In the first two games in Chicago, the Pacers were in control of both games before the Bulls clamped down defensively in the second half. While the Pacers didn’t really have any chance of upsetting the Bulls to advance but they’re a damn good team. Head coach Frank Vogel shed the interim label after delivering on his guarantee to lead the Pacers to the playoffs. Remember their offensive showcase against the Denver Nuggets last year when they shot 20-21 in a quarter? That was when they had no post presence. Since then they have added David West. Scary.
The Pacers will climb the Eastern Conference standings, I promise you that. How high they’ll climb is dependent on a host of external factors. Will Dwight Howard stay in Orlando? Can Boston’s aging big three withstand the grind of back to back to back games? How good is Atlanta now that Jamal Crawford is a Trail Blazer? With Tyson Chandler, can the Knicks be taken seriously when they only have six rotation players?
This is the perfect season for the Pacers to gain membership into the Eastern Conference cool kids club. Their extremely young nucleus will be able to withstand the compressed schedule. The Pacers have had their roster ready for months now (adding West is gravy) while some teams in the east are still trying to fill out their rotation.
1. Chicago Bulls
Last Season: 62-20, 1st Central
This Season: For starters, the Bulls won’t win 62 games again this year, that’s for sure. Still, I don’t need to tell you why the Bulls will win this division again handily. After being dominated by the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, no one on the Bulls was wearing a “Central Division champions” t-shirt into training camp. Unlike last season, the Bulls won’t be sneaking up on anyone anymore.
Miami added Shane Battier and an in-shape Eddy Curry to bolster their defense. To counter, the Bulls signed Rip Hamilton. The reason the Bulls couldn’t beat the elite teams last year is simple: when push came to shove, everyone in the building knew who was going to make a play for them – Derrick Rose. Playing one on five becomes increasingly difficult in Rose’s second season as a one man show. We’ll see if signing Hamilton bandages that problem (Ronnie Brewer and Keith Bogans were both erratic offensive options last season).
The solution to the Bulls’ crunch time woes is someone they already have. When Carlos Boozer played alongside Deron Williams in Utah, he was a 20 PPG scorer. If Rose is able to make Boozer into more of a threat, a la the pick and roll, he’ll make things a lot easier for himself.
The Bulls are years ahead of schedule in terms of success. Keep in mind, Rose is still only 23. If Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah are able to stay healthy for the full 66 game season the Bulls will be just fine, especially in the Central Division where the idea of parity is practically non-existent.