* - The Pistons finished slightly ahead of the Cavaliers in our average prediction.

ESPN - Summer Forecast: Which way is the East going? - NBA

Maurice Williams isn't even as good as Delonte West. That Cleveland projection is a bit too high.

pistons 50+ wins, easy.
They will still blow the West away and the competition is feeble in the East.

They may be counting on the Cavs having a full team for the entire season. No hold outs, no mid-season trades.

I know it's iffy, but if Big Ben and Z can give them anything, then they'll be very strong.

The Nets not in the top 5?

I am amazed. Someone will pick them to at least make the post season.........

Probably because they don't have Kidd anymore. He was everyones favorite player to overhype.

I have to disagree with the Sixers placement. I know they are the logical choice to put there and the safe choice. I think they over excelled last year and Brand has never made any team that much better.

Toronto can be very dangerous if O'Neal stays healthy but I am going with the Hawks at that 5th spot. I like their potential better.

I would have to say Big Ben is done. He was a non factor with the Bulls the first half of the season, and after being traded to Cleveland he was supposed to be "reenergized" but nothing seemed to change. It seems like he's lost his passion for the game of basketball, after he got paid. Z is still solid for 15-8 a game. He's solid defensively, and I'd assume he's going to have another good season. And even with the acquisition of Moe Williams I wouldn't say the Cavs are a better team then us.

The Cavs will be the better team in the playoffs simply because of their King, but i think they'll have their troubles in the regular season again.

I used to scoff at them for being a "one-man-squad" but despite being an offensively retarded team because of their stupid coach, they ALWAYS find a way to play neck and neck with so-called superior competition.

Big Ben was just a better fit here. There's no way he could have been a better player elsewhere. However, Cleveland only needs him to play decent/effective for 20-25 minutes a night IMO.

Now, I don't want the Cavs to be better than us, but they've had our number in the most recent playoffs. Plus, arguably, they did better against Boston than we did in '08.

And, remember, most of us wanted the 2nd spot in the '08 playoffs so we wouldn't have to play Cleveland. We wanted the Cavs and Boston to beat each other up.

I don't think it is much of an argument, CLE did do better against the C's and would have beaten DET badly had they met.