Eastern conference standings

1. Magic. The biggest addition to this team was not Vince Carter. The biggest addition was the combination of Brandon Bass, Matt Barnes, keeping Marcin Gortat and a healthy Jameer Nelson. Nelson is a clear upgrade over Rafer Alston. Bass is a clear update over Battie. Carter is a very clear update over Hedo. In all, this team is much better. Not necessarily true of Cleveland and Boston.

2. Celts. 'Sheed is still for real. He makes up for the unfortunate loss of Leon Powe tenfold. KG will be healthy, which will make a world of difference. I think the Celts with KG are better than the Cavs with Shaq, but are obviously worse than the Cavs with Shaq without KG. I think the Celts with KG are also better than the Cavs with Z. They're better, they're deeper, they're more experienced. If KG goes down, though, that's that.

3. Cavs. LBJ and Shaq is a force to be reckoned with. Sadly, that force isn't that much more dominant than LBJ and Z. Mo is going to score like wildfire again. Signings of Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon are solid, but not significant. I'm interested to see what happens with Leon Powe, how he reacts to Cleveland. His per minute stats are quite impressive. He could bump the Cavs ahead of the Celts by himself.

4. Wiz. The addition of Gilbert Arenas, Randy Foye and Mike Miller is a three man wrecking crew to a backcourt that was the only piece missing from this team. Miller's a prototypical FL, Foye's a prototypical SC and Arenas is a SH or a SC. Flip Saunders can do wonders with Arenas, making this a team to beat. Any time you have Hibachi on fire, you should be ready to get grilled, so to speak.

5. Heat. Mike Beasley has had enough. He's had enough with the redo '08 drafts with him out of the lottery. He's had enough with the weed association, and the immaturity accusation. He wants to score and rebound and show everyone what he's made of, and he knows darn well he's only got one season left before he starts getting waived. So he's going to explode, and he's going to give Miami a couple more wins. Not going to be enough. Jermaine is just not Jermaine. Dwyane is, of course, top Dwyane, but that's about it. With a rookie PG and a very young team and without that Robin to Wade's Batman, the Heat are not going to make it to the upper echelons.

6. Bulls. I like the Bulls. I think Derrick Rose is going to be bonafide. I think Tyrus Thomas is going to explode, and I think the Blazers will be very sorry they traded him. I think Brad Miller will be a suitable fill in the middle. The pieces work. Vinny Del Negro is a junk coach, but Derrick Rose can probably half coach that team on his own.

7. Bobcats (do-do-do doooo do-do-do). Hear me out. DJ Augustin is ballin'. GW and Boris Diaw are much better in Charlotte. The point is that this is quite possibly the best defensive team in the league, save for Boston, and they can pretty much shut anyone down.

8. Raptors. Hedo and DeRozan are the big reasons for this. Hedo gives Jose the ability to take on SH duties, and DeRozan takes up Vince Carter SC duties. Bargnani was stellar last year and will only get better. Running and gunning can definitely get you the 8th seed in the east, even if you don't play defense to save your life. Amir Johnson is the X factor. If Triano knows how to get him moving, the Raptors can move up this list.

9. Hawks. All decent pieces. Mike Bibby is decent. Al Horford is decent. Marvin Williams is decent. Zaza Pachulia is decent. Joe Johnson and Josh Smith are good. That's not good enough anymore. The East got better. Jamal Crawford doesn't help.

10. Sixers. Brand doesn't work here, and he might end up on the bench. Without Andre Miller, this team is a lot worse, even though Andre Miller is not exactly what he was with the Cavs and Nuggets. Jrue Holiday has my support as a bonafide high school prospect with the wrong position in college, but in the end if he were that much better than Darren Collison he would've gotten the job instead of Collison. This team was decent, and now it's mediocre.

11. Pacers. This is a good team that will get better, but not that much better. Hans and Hibbert are set to explode. Troy Murphy, under pressure from Hans and Hibbert, should get shipped out for a serious PG. Granger is an absolute stud. If those things all happen, this team will make the playoffs. As it stands, I think this is a decent team with depth chart issues and improper execution of all of its assets.

12. Pistons. I like CV, and I like CV a lot. That said, every thing else in Motor City is a mess. Ben Gordon and Rip Hamilton are competing for minutes. Tayshaun Prince is drying up. Rodney Stuckey is a 2 in a 1's chair. Ben Wallace is old. I get the feeling they'll trade Rip Hamilton for someone to clog up the middle. Mehmet Okur? and start Booze at the five for a small, run and fun lineup in Utah. Unless they do anything, same problem as the Pacers. It wasn't exactly a bad move to get Allen Iverson, but it didn't help their immediate prospects.

13. Bucks. This team is crap. Michael Redd reminds me of Tracy McGrady last year, and Bogut has a long way to go before he's the top pick we all envisioned. They do have a bright spot: Donny Motiejunas. Before they get him, they're crap.

14/15. Knicks/Nets. No explanation required.