As for the other 13 teams, T-Mac says it could swing anyone’s way, because the East is “just that deep.” For years, it’s been the opposite. Star power in the Eastern Conference was just as limited as depth—the post-season didn’t get interesting until around the semifinals, while the Western Conference regularly felt like a Battle Royale pitting established veteran stars against the new faces of the league. Now, the pendulum has swung in the other direction so thoroughly that West mainstays are willing to admit as much.
The conclusion we ultimately came to was, it's not just that the East is better, it is so much deeper. The gauntlet of what it will take to get through the East is different than an obviously top-heavy Western Conference.” Of course, the headline trade of the offseason was LeBron James taking his talents and his six blade to the Philadelphia 76ers, where he joins Jaylen Brown, touching down from Boston. Another seemingly endless question of the off-season was finally answered when Giannis Antetokounmpo departed Milwaukee for South Beach to link up with Mr. 83 himself, Bam Adebayo.
And of course, the aforementioned Knicks now find themselves in the unprecedented position of having a target on their backs. But in the East, there’s energy, excitement and promise whichever way you look. So many of the teams' ceilings are high if their on-paper manifests on court,” Rooks explains, speaking shortly after the new Superteam Sixers’ surprise defeat of the defending champs.
If I was a Sixers fan, I would be so encouraged by what just happened.” T-Mac, for his part, cautions against getting too swept up in the appeal of the Sixers’ narrative; he expects ebbs and flows for that team in particular throughout the regular season. But they'll probably have spells in the regular season where they look like they're not as strong. There’s a lot predicated on Joel Embiid's health, and I can't see LeBron, who’s turning 42 in December, playing 65 games.” But while all eyes are on James and his new team, which features three other All-Stars in Embiid, Brown, and Tyrese Maxey, Rooks thinks we should all be looking north at another Los Angeles ex-pat.
I feel like [people] don't include the Raptors in that same tier of conversation, and I actually think we should. The fact that Kawhi, Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett are all going to be on the same team…” Beyond high-value trades, there are all the comebacks—Tyrese Haliburton in particular, who touched the court Wednesday night for the first time since going down with a brutally-timed Achilles tear early in the Pacers’ game seven finals face-off against the Thunder two seasons ago. I think he’s absolutely right.” Then there are the teams enacting notable resets, like the Chicago Bulls and their fourth-overall draft pick Caleb Wilson.
Rooks even thinks the Washington Wizards, who last year boasted the worst record in the league, could be primed to pull off a “feisty upset as the season progresses” now that they’re armed with Anthony Davis, Trae Young and number-one overall draft pick AJ Dybantsa. According to McGrady, AD and Trae have chips on their shoulders that could lead to chips on the mantle. But that in itself should motivate AD, and I think it will, based on some of the comments he's been putting out there.” Trae Young has something to prove, too.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
