From "The Block" and "The Shot" to Teague becoming a Pacer, to Wade going home, the Central Division is the toughest division in the Eastern Conference. The division has options with talented teams in the Eastern Conference this year:
Option 1) A team is a team who will make it to the playoffs.
Option 2) A team who could play the role of spoiler.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are definitely a top option team, especially since they're the defending NBA champions, Seeing them on opening night, October 25, 2016, was a thrill when they received their championship rings and raised their championship banner to the rafters. Then it was game time and the Cleveland Cavaliers went right to work taking apart the New York Knicks as they showed why they were able to win the championship and might repeat this year.
The starting lineup is really the core of this team and they played exceptionally well on opening night against the New York Knicks. LeBron had 19 points and 14 assists, Kevin Love had 23 points and 12 rebounds, Tristan Thompson had zero points, but he did have six rebounds, JR Smith had eight points and three rebounds. The top guy was Kyrie Irving with 29 points and four assists. In their 128-120 win against Houston, LeBron finished with 19 points, Kevin Love had 24 points, Tristan Thompson had six points but he also had 10 rebounds, JR Smith had 15 points and Kyrie had 32 points.
In addition to being the defending NBA champions, what really makes Cleveland an Option 1 team is their depth coming off their bench. The Cleveland Cavaliers' have the best bench. They have players who can really contribute to the team: Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye, Iman Shumpert, and one of the newest additions to the team Mike Dunleavy. Against the Rockets, Frye and Dunleavy led the bench in scoring with 11 points each. The Cleveland Cavaliers are the defending NBA champions, but Milwaukee is always a tough team and that will be no different this season.
Right now, the Milwaukee Bucks are an option 2 team. Again, an option 2 team is a team who can play spoiler but might make the playoffs. Milwaukee is almost on the verge of being an option 1 team, which again is a team who will make the playoffs. Milwaukee seems to always play teams tough, a great example of this from last season is when they handed the Golden State Warriors their first loss of the season in Milwaukee. When a team is getting ready to face the Bucks, they better be ready for a fight. That's because the Bucks are a scrappy team who will play the whole 48 minutes until the final buzzer sounds.
The Bucks starting lineup consists of Matthew Dellavedova, Jabari Parker, Miles Plumlee, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Tony Snell. This is a decent starting lineup but it definitely needs some improvement. In their 117-113 win against New Orleans, Antetokounmpo lead the way with 24 points, Dellavedova finished with 11 points, Parker had 21 points, Snell had 13 points. Plumlee had three points. Milwaukee's leading scorer off the bench was Brogdon with 14 points. Milwaukee has the fourth best bench in the division. Some of their key guys coming off the bench are Greg Monroe, John Henson, Steve Novak, Mirza Teletovic, Jason Terry, and Rashad Vaughn. In their win against the Pelicans, The Bucks did somewhat improve during this offseason but it might not be enough to get them in the playoffs yet. They will be trouble for their opponents throughout the season. Indiana made a big improvement in the offseason that will make them a real threat.
The Indiana Pacers are for sure an option one team, and they got even better during this offseason. Last season, the Indiana Pacers pushed the Toronto Raptors to the full seven games in the first round of the playoffs, but they couldn't close the deal. They made some changes in the offseason and now they are a very dangerous team. They still have Paul George, who for some strange reason, is still a very underrated small forward. They made a very important trade with Atlanta and Utah where the Pacers got Jeff Teague and sent George Hill to Utah, and Atlanta received the 12th pick in the NBA draft.
The Pacers starting lineup went from pretty good to really good this season, and they MIGHT be on the verge of becoming great. In their 115-108 win against the LA Lakers, Paul George lead the way with 30 points, Monta Ellis finished with 17 points, Thaddeus Young put up 14 points, Jeff Teague had nine points but he had six assists, and Myles Turner also had nine points. So Indiana does have a decent starting lineup that will for sure frustrate teams. But the frustration for teams won't stop with the Pacers starting lineup. Of the five teams in this division, The Pacers have the 2nd best bench. They've got some good players coming off the bench like Lavoy Allen, CJ Miles, Al Jefferson, and Rodney Stuckey. Against the Lakers, the Pacers bench was lead by CJ Miles with 16 points. A state over from Indiana, there's a team that's looking to maybe charge back into the playoffs.
The Chicago Bulls have the potential to be an option one team, but they could also be an option two. The Chicago Bulls always seem to be a very tough team to beat, so in that respect, they're somewhat similar to the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bulls went through a season of changes during the offseason. They traded Derrick Rose to the New York Knicks, Joakim Noah also went to the Knicks, but they Bulls did add Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo and course they've got Jimmy Butler. The Bulls lost in Boston 107-100. Butler led the way for the Bulls with 23 points, Wade had 15 points, Rondo with 12 points, finally, Taj Gibson and Robin Lopez had eight points each. The Bulls starting lineup has to gel together for them to have a chance, especially that backcourt of Rondo and Wade, but the Bulls do have some decent guys coming off their bench.In the division, the Bulls have the third best bench. Some of their key bench players: Michael Carter-Williams, Nikola Mirotic, Doug McDermott, Denzel Valentine and Bobby Portis. The top scorer off the bench against the Celtics was Mirotic with 17 points. If Chicago can play a balanced game and play excellent defense they can be an Option one team and get into the playoffs, but they could also be an Option two team. The Bulls are going to be a tough team, but there's a team in the Motor City that's looking to build on its success.
The Detroit Pistons are most likely going to be an option one team, but like the Chicago Bulls, they could be an option two team as well.Their starting lineup is decent: PG Ish Smith, SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, SF Tobias Harris, PF Marcus Morris, and C Andre Drummond. In their 109-101 loss to the Brooklyn Nets, Tobias Harris and Marcus Morris led the scoring effort for the Pistons as they each scored 23. Ish Smith had nine points and seven assists, Caldwell-Pope had 15 points, and Andre Drummond had six points along with six rebounds. Reggie Jackson, the primary starting point guard for the Pistons sprained his knee on September 15, that is why Ish Smith is the starting PG for Detroit right now. Out of the teams in the division, Detroit has the weakest bench. Their best players that come off the bench are Stanley Johnson, and Reggie Bullock. Other than those two guys,there are no other strong players coming off Detroit's bench. Against Brooklyn, the top bench guy was Jon Leuer with 11 points. Due to how weak of the bench the Pistons have, they won't make the playoffs, they might play spoiler, but last year was a lucky year for the Pistons.
Overall, this division has competitive teams but Cleveland, Indiana, and Chicago are the three strongest teams The other two teams, Milwaukee and Detroit aren't quite there. Although, the Pistons made the playoffs last season but that was a fluke. The Cavs are the clear-cut favorite to win the division, but the Pacers will be right on their tails the entire season. Chicago will be close but they'll most likely finish 3rd, The Bucks will give teams trouble but they don't have a true point guard and they don't have a great shooting guard, I project they will finish 4th. The Pistons playoff appearance was flukey, they don't have a bench. So the Pistons will finish last in the division.
