In the East, you have to acknowledge the top-end squads holding down the fort as dominant playoff powerhouses. There's the energized Cleveland Cavaliers, who have proven they are a cut above the rest. And, of course, we must mention the defending NBA champions, the Boston Celtics.
Rounding out the noise-making bunch are the New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers, and Detroit Pistons. While they may not appear to be the favorites to win it all, each possesses traits that could put them on a path to potentially reach that territory.
You’ll notice that I opted to leave out a couple of names from that conversation, and I'll explain why.
When you look at teams like the Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, and now even the Milwaukee Bucks, they were all teams in playoff contention (the Hawks and Bulls fought in the play-in but ultimately both missed out).
However, their futures as postseason teams look very bleak. I will give a bit of leeway to the Orlando Magic based on their Cinderella run from last year; I'd say it's unfair to put them in that category, considering they were absolutely hammered with injuries all year.
Now, obviously, I have a tendency to root for the Raptors, seeing as it's the team I cover. However, even from an impartial perspective, I believe Toronto is in a much better position to take over where these respective teams finished in the most recent campaign.
Raptors poised to take over in Eastern Conference playoff race
I think Miami is on track to blow it up, and Bam Adebayo's brash comments referring to Pat Riley as "the guy with the silver hair" indicate that things are not fine in South Beach. They're more likely to take a step back than a step forward, even if they've had some feel-good developments, like ex-Raptor Davion Mitchell looking like a long-term piece.
The Hawks could look good again next year with the return of Jalen Johnson and developments from Zaccharie Risacher and Dyson Daniels, but are they a playoff contender? I’m not so sure about that, and the same goes for Chicago.
As for Milwaukee, I think the Pacers will finish them off, leaving them to ponder their next steps—especially concerning their superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is likely to be disgruntled.
Philadelphia, I have no clue what’s going to happen there with all the uncertainty surrounding Paul George and Joel Embiid, so they’re not entirely locks to surpass the Raptors in the standings next year either.
It may sound like I’m getting overly confident on my high horse right now, but unless Toronto experiences some crazy turn of events, it’s highly unlikely they’ll be left watching playoff action from the sidelines next season. They'll undoubtedly be back in that hunt.
That doesn't even take into account where Toronto could add additional pieces to help boost their playoff or contending efforts, like a top-tier draft pick in the upcoming class.
Case in point, the downfall of other teams out East benefits the Raptors' playoff hopes. Now, it's up to them to live up to expectations. As I mentioned before, Toronto and Masai Ujiri cannot afford to be stuck in mediocrity; they must either make the jump now or risk being left behind with the names I mentioned above.