2018-2019 NBA Previews – Eastern Conference Odds
Looking for 2018 NBA Eastern Conference Predictions? We’ve got your back. The Eastern Conference may be as weak as we’ve seen it in recent memory following the departure of LeBron James to the West, but that also means that parity among the top teams is at an all-time high. There are three consensus teams atop the conference that make up the top tier, with a handful of second-tier squads looking to play spoiler.
2018 Eastern Conference Season Preview
Conference Favorite: Boston Celtics -130
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Here’s a look at the top teams out East in terms of odds to win the conference:
2018 Boston Celtics Eastern Conference Prediction:
Head Coach: Brad Stevens
2017-18 Record: 55-27
Odds To Win Conference: -130
Odds To Win NBA Championship: +500
With no LeBron out East, the Celtics are the easy favorites to win the conference. Not only did they push James and his Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago, but they did it without arguably their two best players in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward.
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Now with both back on board, it’s brutally apparent who has the most stacked record out East. The catch, of course, is that we need to see if the team ends up with an odd-man-out situation.
Jaylen Brown came into his own last year while Jaylen Brown proved he just might be the most polished young player in the league. And don’t forget about Al Horford, who is underrated in just about every facet of his game considering he’s not flashy or overly expressive.
If those five players can work together as a cohesive starting unit, the rest of the conference is in big trouble.
2018 Toronto Raptors Eastern Conference Prediction:
Head Coach: Nick Nurse
2017-18 Record: 59-23
Odds To Win Conference: +400
Odds To Win NBA Championship: +1400
What a summer it was for the Toronto Raptors. Not only did it start earlier than anyone in The North was hoping, courtesy of LeBron, but it fired its head coach, Dwane Casey, just weeks before he was named the NBA’s Coach of the Year and they traded franchise fixture DeMar DeRozan for a gamble in Kawhi Leonard.
The good news is that Kawhi is well worth the gamble. If he’s healthy, this team is going to compete for a top-two seed out East. And if they find success in the postseason, they have a good shot at convincing him to re-sign when he’s a free agent during the summer of 2019.
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The catch in all of this is that the Raptors have yet to prove they’re anything more than a fun story to watch considering the lack of postseason success that led to all the changes.
The Raptors officially have our attention. Now they just need to prove they’re a show worth watching.
2018 Philadelphia 76ers Eastern Conference Prediction:
Head Coach: Brett Brown
2017-18 Record: 52-30
Odds To Win Conference: +375
Odds To Win NBA Championship: +1600
The Process is finally starting to pay off for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Last season, Joel Embiid was able to play in 63 games, and while that’s hardly an accomplishment for the league’s best bigs, it was huge for someone who has dealt with as many injuries as he has. He flashed potential of being one of the NBA’s top centers, and that’s saying something considering the big man “is back” in its new unicorn form.
There’s also the emergence of Ben Simmons as one of the game’s great attackers and distributors who also happens to be a point guard in a power forward’s body.
The only real question here—aside from can the role players remain as solid as they looked last year—is whether or not Markelle Fultz is over his case of the yips. If he is, and if his shooting touch has found its way back, Philly is in great shape going forward—beginning in 2018-19.
2018 Milwaukee Bucks Eastern Conference Prediction:
Head Coach: Mike Budenholzer
2017-18 Record: 44-38
Odds To Win Conference: +2000
Odds To Win NBA Championship: +10000
The Milwaukee Bucks, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, begin the list of second-tier contenders from the Eastern Conference. There’s the Bucks, Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards, Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat. After that, question marks surround teams like the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers that make them wild cards to either compete for the playoffs or “compete” for a No. 1 draft pick.
But what none of those teams have is Giannis. The Greek Freak is the kind of player who can by himself get his team to a higher seed.
Milwaukee will need to prove it can compete with the top three teams ahead of them. But their floor remains high, making a home-court series in Round 1 of the playoffs very doable.
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2018 NBA Eastern Conference Prediction
The East may be overall worse without LeBron James, but the competition at the top is going to be improved. That said, this conference belongs to the Boston Celtics until proven otherwise. They were the closest team to knocking off the Cavs a year ago, and with their stars back to full strength, they deserve to be known as the top contenders ahead of the Raptors and Sixers.
Brad Stevens’ squad is ready for the challenge.
Full 2018 Eastern Conference Odds
- Boston Celtics – 130
- Toronto Raptors +400
- Philadelphia 76ers +375
- Milwaukee Bucks +2000
- Washington Wizards +2200
- Indiana Pacers +2500
- Detroit Pistons +7000
- Miami Heat +7000
- Charlotte Hornets +8000
- Chicago Bulls +8000
- Cleveland Cavaliers +8000
- New York Knicks +8000
- Atlanta Hawks +12500
- Brooklyn Nets +12500
- Orlando Magic +10000
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What do you think about our 2018 Eastern Conference predictions? Please leave us a comment below telling us how you think they’ll do in the 2018-2019 NBA Season!
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