Collegiate Times

For years, since Michael Jordan retired, people have talked about how much better the Western Conference is than the Eastern Conference. They’ve probably been right. From top to bottom this season, though, the East is full of teams that look like they may surprise. If there in fact is a team that is going to beat the West-leading Lakers, it most likely will come from the East. Here is a breakdown of the powerhouses, contenders, question marks, mediocre and just plain bad teams entering the 2009-10 NBA campaign.

Eastern Conference

Powerhouses

Cleveland Cavaliers

You will hear a lot of talk this season about whether LeBron James will leave the Cavaliers at the end of this season or not.

I won’t touch on that.

LeBron might want to be in a bigger market come 2010, but competing for a ring is more important to him right now and he knows how close his team is to getting there.

With the addition of Shaquille O’Neal, there is no reason that the Cavs shouldn't be in the NBA Finals this year.

Boston Celtics

Toward the end of last season and during the playoffs, the Celtics’ young starting point guard Rajon Rondo developed into a key contributor on the team.

‘Big Baby’ Glen Davis also took advantage of increased playing time last season after star power forward Kevin Garnett went down early and Davis was thrust into a more involved role.

Rondo and Davis’ improvements, coupled with the return of Garnett and the addition of veteran forward Rasheed Wallace make the Celtics look quite dangerous in 2009.

Orlando Magic

There will be a lot of people saying that the Magic will be better with Vince Carter than with Hedo Turkoglu. They are wrong.

Orlando was so good last year because they were a matchup nightmare. Having two 6'11" players that play on the perimeter was something no team could figure out how to play – and they’ll miss it.

Carter is still good, but he doesn't create the same type of matchup problems. Howard and Nelson are good enough to get this team 50 wins or so, but accomplishing any success like last year will be a tough task.

Contenders

Washington Wizards

Listing the Wizards as a contender may be a stretch, but the depth the Wizards have makes one think they could be back.

First and foremost, Gilbert Arenas must stay healthy and stay that way. Besides the never-present Arenas, the Wizards seem to be built to get through any injury.

New coach Flip Saunders hopes to turn Caron Butler into a Tayshaun Prince-like defender and have him not worry as much about scoring. That’s because with the scorers the Wizards have on their roster, it looks like – I repeat, looks like they will have no problems scoring.

Atlanta Hawks

Hawks' fans finally have a team that they shouldn’t be ashamed to root for.

Coming off a season where they finished fourth in the conference and made some noise in the playoffs, Atlanta is even better this season.

Young guys like Josh Smith, Al Horford, and Marvin Williams are a year older. The team has also added veterans Jamal Crawford and Joe Smith, who will undoubtedly help the team mature faster. The Hawks look dangerous this season but the true question is whether or not they can match up with the stacked Cavs and Celtics come playoff time.

Toronto Raptors

Many were very high on this team last year. Unfortunately, the Raptors finished last season 33-49 and showed little signs of life throughout.

This season, they look even better than last.

Acquiring Hedo Turkoglu is a big boost for Toronto. With Turkoglu, Andrea Bargnani and Chris Bosh standing at 6’10”, 7’0” and 6’10” respectively, the Raptors could pose the same matchup issues Orlando showed opponents last year.

Question Marks

Chicago Bulls

Derrick Rose is no longer a rookie and Luol Deng is healthy again. That information by itself makes the Bulls seem like a playoff team.

Add the fact that the Bulls have talented rookies in Tau Gibson and James Johnson this year and the Bulls look like a team that could really do some damage.

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