By Jonah Drew

Chicago Bulls: 29-53

The Chicago Bulls have been one of the more frustrating and head scratching organizations for quite a while now. They have been stuck in basketball purgatory, not nearly good enough to seriously compete, but also not bad enough to get premium draft picks. They have nobody to fault but themselves, there was no reason to keep Demar Derozan for so long, and they really should have moved on from Zach Lavine and Nicola Vucevic by now. Not that any of those guys are anything special at this point but they are good enough to keep you out of #1 pick conversations, which if your Chicago, is where you want to be. GM Mark Eversly made one of the flat out worst trades I have ever seen this past offseason. Trading the perfect modern role player in Alex Caruso for in my opinion, one of the worst rotation players in the entire NBA in Josh Giddey, is flat out incomprehensible. Josh Giddey is a god awful defender, who can’t self create or space the floor. Is he a good passer? Yes he is but even that ability is hampered because he is a non threat as a scorer. Coby White took massive strides this past season, he is absolutely a piece for the Bulls’ future. Young guys like Ayo Dosunmu and Matas Buzelis are very promising and I just hope their development isn’t held back by veterans who have no real future with the team. At the end of the the day, that it is what it is about for Chicago, the future.

Cleveland Cavaliers: 44-38

The 2024-2025 Cavaliers are really no different than the 2023-2024 Cavaliers, for better or for worse. I am honestly very suprised this core wasn’t shaken up at all, both the guard tandem and the big tandem have real questions regarding their fit. The tandem of Garland and Mitchell does have a lot of aggregate skill, it is a backcourt with 2 very small, ball dominant guards. On the big side, the duo Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen is very clunky, neither are very skilled offensively, even if they are both elite defensive players. Max Strus was a streaky shooter last year but his spacing is invaluable to this team. I expect more of the same, this will be an elite regular season defense with questionable spacing.

Detroit Pistons: 15-67

I would like to preface the atrocities I am about to commit by apologizing to Detroit Pistons fans, not just for my comments, but for your god awful basketball team. Cade Cunningham has continually been thrown in some of the worst situations possible, but he hasn’t exactly done too much to help. He has been horrid defensively and has hardly been above average offensively, in an admittedly terrible situation. This team’s spacing is absolutely god awful, there will be times where you think you are watching a game from 1975 but nope, it’s just the Pistons. Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson, Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart and now Ron Holland, all effective non-shooters playing significant minutes for this team. The spacing on this team is absolutely absymal. The defense will not be all that good either, Thompson and Duren are both great defenders but outside of that nobody else can defend much at all. I also question how much effort they will actually put in defensively with the season being over before it even starts. Pistons fans, pray for Cooper Flagg because he’s your only real shot right now.

Indiana Pacers: 48-34

Last year went about as well as Pacers fans could have possibly asked for, they won 47 games and went all the way to the conference finals. Many will say they had a “mickey mouse run” playing a Giannisless Bucks team and a banged up Knicks team but I’d say they just handled business. This was even further backed up by them playing maybe the most tightly contested sweep against what I believe was a historic Celtics team. I am in love with the Pacers’ tempo, they are by far the fastest team in the NBA which helped them to be the second best offense in the entire NBA. On the other hand, the defense was abysmal, I actually chalk some off this up to effort, when they were locked in and engaged in the postseason it was more than passable. People love to hate on Tyrese Haliburton but I am a Hali defender, he is an uber efficient playmaker and when he asserts himself, he can really fill it up. He is an ideal offensive engine. The Pacers also have a plethora of young players who are already flashing potential, players like Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Bennedict Mathurin, and even Jarace Walker. Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner are so perfect for this system, they are both great in transition and can defend their positions at an above average level. I’m a Pacers believer.

Milwaukee Bucks: 44-38

I have to say, I believe that the bucks will be the disappointment of the NBA this upcoming season. Ever since the Bucks inexplicably fired Adrian Griffin in favor of Doc Rivers, they have been a mediocre basketball team, going 18-20 and making a quick playoff exit to the rival Pacers. Giannis is still elite as ever but he has really struggled to stay healthy down the stretch the last few years, I wonder if his physical play style is starting to take a tole on his body. Dame is starting to show real signs of regression, I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt but it really didn’t look like the Dame of old last season. The rest of the roster is my real concern though, Middleton can fill it up but his but his winning impact is limited at this point and father time has just about gotten Brook Lopez. I also really question the effort this team will show in the regular season considering it’s collective age.

Sources

Basketball Index

Basketball Reference

ESPN

Statmuse