NBA Draft Recall—Atlantic Division

The following story is not real:

Uh-oh! David Stern just announced that all current players have to be returned to the teams that drafted them. As everybody scrambles for the next flight to meet their new/old team, let’s see just how good each team would be. As long as the player has played a game this season or is under contract, he is on the roster for the team that drafted him, even if he’s a free agent right now.

So this is a project I have been working on since March. I’ve done the Pacific, Northwest, Southwest, Southeast, and Central divisions on National Sixers. But since the Sixers are in this division and since the draft is coming up, I figured I post this little “what if” scenario.

Here are the teams in the division:

Celtics

Knicks

76ers

Nets

Raptors

Right now, the Celtics are the best team here but they’re starting to age out. Knicks are looking to be contenders soon but I don’t think they can pull it off until they get more star power or better role players. Our Sixers have a bright future but still have many bugs to work out. Especially in the interior. I’m looking for the Nets to have a much better season than this past one with Deron Williams and Brook Lopez and possibly a third star to build around. Raptors are still recovering from the Chris Bosh bolt and may be recovering for a while. Let’s see how they are with their new rosters.

76ers: Jerry Stackhouse, Samuel Dalembert, Andre Iguodala, Lou Williams, Thabo Sefolosha, Daequan Cook, Kyrylo Fesenko Thaddeus Young, Marreese Speights, Jrue Holiday, and Evan Turner.

Knicks: Nene, Trevor Ariza, David Lee, Channing Frye, Renaldo Balkman, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Jordan Hill, Landry Fields, and Andy Rautins.

Celtics: Chauncey Billups, Paul Pierce, Joe Johnson, Darius Songaila, Dahntay Jones, Tony Allen, Delonte West, Al Jefferson, Orien Greene, Ryan Gomes, Randy Foye, Jeff Green, Semih Erden, Lester Hudson, Avery Bradley, and Luke Harangody.

Nets: Anthony Parker, Kenyon Martin, Brian Scalabrine, Nenad Krstic, Kyle Korver, Antoine Wright, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Ryan Anderson, Brook Lopez, Terrence Williams, Jordan Crawford, and Derrick Favors.

Raptors: Marcus Camby, Tracy McGrady, Antawn Jamison, Morris Peterson, Chris Bosh, Joey Graham, Charlie Villanueva, Andrea Bargnani, Roy Hibbert, DeMar DeRozan, and Ed Davis.

Are you looking at the Celtics? Wow. Billups, Pierce, Johnson, and Jefferson. A few nice role players in Allen, West, and Green. In the division, they’re the best. But those Raptors are looking good too. Problem with them though is no PG’s. In fact, looking at all of the teams there are not a lot of PG’s on the teams. Sixers have Holiday and Williams though so it’s not so bad for them. Celtics may be the most balanced team here with the Sixers not too far behind.

Let’s see the standings with these new rosters.

Celtics

Sixers

Raptors

Knicks

Nets

Raptors would make a leap while the Nets are at the bottom. Celtics are the only contender here. Sixers may have the brightest future. You can check out the other teams in the NBA to see which teams would be good or not. And in a way, you can tell which teams would be good or not based on their records. If the team is bad, their picks would be high and the players would be good. Of course, sometimes trades happen and bad teams don’t keep their picks.

Yeah news is really dry. I hope the Sixers draft the right player. For me, the weakest part of my NBA assestment is the draft. Never been good at knowing about the strategies involved in making the right choice. I gotta get better on that. All I know is that Sixers need a Center. Whether they draft one or trade for one they need one. Hawes is not a starter; or at least shouldn’t be. We’re stuck with Brand for two more years anyway so just focus on Center.

Here are the other divisions I did that you can check out: Pacific, Northwest, Southwest, Central, and Southeast.