Beasts in the East

Who will emerge as the team to beat in a very top heavy Eastern Conference?

As a follow up to my article on the best teams in the West, I'm going to take a look at some changes in the Eastern Conference and give my opinion on who's the early favorites to be Conference champs. We'll start with the team that had the best record in the league last year, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavs have made some significant changes this off-season even though they finished with the league's best record a year ago. The most notable move made this summer may very well have been the acquisition of the Big Diesel, Shaquille O'neal. Cleveland gave up very little to get Shaq from the Suns and although O'neal isn't as dominate as he once was, he still commands a double team in the post and is a great passer for a big man. The Cavs also added some key role players in Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, and Leon Powe. If LeBron can learn how to play off Shaq and Shaq can learn how to play off LeBron then the Cavs will be a tough out in the Playoffs.

Boston Celtics
The key for the Celtics this year will be keeping their stars on the court. The "Big Three" of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett are all on the wrong side of 30, but if they can stay healthy they are a very dangerous trio. Add to that Rasheed Wallace, who can be a great player when he's focused, and Marquis Daniels, a combo guard with good size and strength, and the Celtics could be fighting for the number 1 seed in the East.

Orlando Magic
Last year's Eastern Conference champions made some fairly significant roster moves over the summer. The Magic lost Rafer Alston and Hedo Turkoglu, two key contributors from this past season. They added the still explosive Vince Carter to replace Turkoglu and acquired some key role players in Brandon Bass, Matt Barnes, and Ryan Anderson. If Jameer Nelson can return to his All-Star form then the Magic have got a great chance to repeat as conference champs.

Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks have finished 4th in the East each of the past two years and that's where I expect them to finish again this year. The Hawks added Jamal Crawford over the summer and he should be able to give them some instant offense off the bench. Crawford is a creative scorer and a good three point shooter. If Joe Johnson and Josh Smith continue to improve then the Hawks have the potential to give some teams some trouble in the Playoffs.

The East looks to be a three horse race this season with either the Cavs, Celtics, or Magic taking first place. Any of those three teams have a legitimate chance to win the championship this year, we just have to wait and see how it all plays it out. It should be a fun year in the East.