With Kawhi Out West, The Eastern Conference Is Wide Open For 2019-20

Last year the Milwaukee Bucks, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo (writer’s note: for the sake of sanity, he will just be known as Giannis in further mentions), steamrolled through the regular season on their way to the #1 seed. Unfortunately for them, they ran into a team with next level chemistry and an all-everything player in Kawhi Leonard who themselves steamrolled everyone on their way to a world championship. Are those two teams again the clear favorites in a top heavy Eastern Conference, or will Philadelphia and Boston have a final say?

Let’s take a look at the top eight future values to represent the East in the NBA Finals, with also a look at over/under futures.

Milwaukee Bucks (+150), over/under 56.5 total team wins (-110)

The Eastern Conference’s best regular season team last year returns with everyone back (except Malcolm Brogden) and look to build on what was one of the greatest single seasons in Bucks history. Unfortunately for them, they ran into a Toronto Raptors team with Kawhi Leonard in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and the rest is history. They have the returning league MVP in Giannis and the upper echelon teams of the Eastern Conference are weaker, so winning 60 games is definitely a possibility for the Bucks. The play here is ​over 56.5 total team wins (-110).

Philadelphia 76ers (+220), over/under 54.5 total team wins (-110)

When the Sixers lost Jimmy Butler to free agency, there was some chatter that they had gotten worse, that they wouldn’t be able to replace Butler’s all-court game, offensively and defensively. But losing Butler was addition by subtraction as that’s one less ego, and boy does he have a big one, to clash with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. They also added two really good pieces in Josh Richardson and Al Horford. Horford is going to help Embiid immensely, as he will do a lot of the dirty work down low, but he’s also able to take his defender outside of the key since he has a respectable outside game. Horford also allows Embiid to rest for extended periods of time without Philly losing that much. The value plays here is ​over 54.5 wins (-110).

Boston Celtics (+1200), over/under 48.5 total team wins (-110)

Say goodbye to Kyrie Irving and hello to Kemba Walker. By letting one elite point guard walk while replacing him with another, the Celtics not only got better on the court, but better in the locker room as well. Let’s face it, if there’s enough smoke, eventually there has to be a fire. And all the rumors about Irving and him being somewhat of a cancer in the Celtics locker room, has to have some truth to them. Walker will definitely help in that department, as will what the Celts hope to be a bounceback year from Jayson Tatum and also Gordon Hayward another year removed from his gruesome injury in the 2017 season opener. Losing Al Horford, however, will impact this team more than people think. He did everything for them, and took a lot of pressure off of the young Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The Celtics love being the underdog, and they will be that again this year, but they will obviously be a playoff team. That being said, the value play here is ​under 48.5 Total Wins (-110).

Brooklyn Nets (+1200), o/u 44.5 Total Wins

Speaking of Kyrie Irving, here he is, now in Brooklyn. Unfortunately, for him and the rest of the Nets, he’s without Kevin Durant, who’s still a year away. This will be the Kyrie Irving Show for the foreseeable future, but will he be enough to get to that total wins mark? He does some help with Deandre Jordan (just pray for him when he shoots free throws), and some good outside shooters in caris Levert, Taurean Prince, and Joe Harris. The Nets will be just good enough to be a playoff team, but by no means will they be one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, at least not yet (that’s next year when Durant returns). 40 wins are definitely in play. But over 44.5? Don’t think so. ​Under 44.5 Total Wins (-122) ​is the play here.

Toronto Raptors (+1400), o/u 46.5 Total Wins

The two biggest questions for the Raptors this season are will they be able to move on past the loss of Kawhi, and also, will they be able to avoid the post-championship hangover that so many teams succumb to? The core of the Raptors remain intact; resigning Kyle Lowry was enormous. Alsorememberthis,Torontowasa50-winteam​beforeK​ awhievenshowedup.Theyalsohave hit the over on their win totals for a whopping eight years in a row, which is a remarkable stat. Take into account that all that they’ve been hearing in the preseason is that they are nothing without Kawhi and that they’re no longer one of the elite teams in the East--it’s remarkable what kind of motivator disrespect is. The value play here is ​over 46.5 Total Wins (-121).

Indiana Pacers (+1800), over/under 46.5 total team wins

The Pacers will be coming into the season without their best player Victor Oladipo, out for a few more months with an injury. Also gone are forward Thaddeus Young and sharpshooter Bojan Bogdanovich. That’s two very good offensive players. In comes Malcolm Brogdon and T.J. McConnell, formerly of the Bucks and Sixers, respectively. This team is devoid of any real impactful players until Oladipo comes back, whenever that is. This is not a 50 win team, and we would take ​under 46.5 total team wins (-139) ​all day.

Miami Heat (+2700), over/under 43.5 total team wins

The Heat are a very interesting team in the East this season. They have great coaching, a solid group of players, and an all-everything player in newly acquired Jimmy Butler. Combine all of that with a pretty weak division and you have a recipe for a team that should easily be better than .500. How much better? Enough to go 2-3 games over. ​Over 43.5 total team wins (-137) ​is a safe play here.

Orlando Magic (+4200), over/under 40.5 total team wins

The Magic are a good mix of veterans and youth. Mo Bamba, Aaron Gordon, Markelle Fultz--all of them make Orlando at the very least an interesting team to watch this season. Are they going to win the Eastern Conference? No, not at all. But they can definitely win 41 games playing the majority of their games in an Eastern Conference that completely drops in quality after the Bucks, Sixers, and Celtics of the world. The value play here is ​over 40.5 total team wins (-150).

The Eastern Conference will be a pretty tight race for the #1 seed among the top four teams in the conference, but the rest of the way the conference falls out will be wide open. No matter who you like, it’ll be a fun season to watch--and make a little money on as well. Enjoy watching this year, and good luck!

*Credit to the main photo of this article belongs to Sarah Stier (Nets), David Zalubowski (76ers), Richard W. Rodriguez (Bucks), John Raoux (Heat) /Associated Press