Here is the official word from the Magic:

Drano “Royal Flush” Set For September 8

The new Amway Center in downtown Orlando meets another milestone as the traditional “Royal Flush” will be held September 8, 2010 beginning at 10:00 a.m. at the construction site (corner of Church Street and Hughey). Drano is sponsoring the event.

The purpose of the Drano “Royal Flush” event is to observe sanitary sewer flows, water consumption and pressure in and around the arena. Approximately 443 toilets will be flushed simultaneously; there are 18 men’s and 19 women’s restrooms in the new Amway Center, compared to just four of each in the old facility.

Orlando Magic President Alex Martins, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, and more than 150 people will take part in the event, including fourth and fifth grade students from Nap Ford Community School.

The Orlando Magic is the developer of the Amway Center which will compete to host major national events, concerts and family shows and serve as the new home of the Orlando Magic. Opening in the fall of 2010, the facility will be owned and operated by the City of Orlando on behalf of the Central Florida community.

The Amway Center was designed to reflect the character of the community, meet the goals of the users and build on the legacy of sports and entertainment in Orlando.

The building’s exterior features a modern blend of glass and metal materials, along with ever-changing graphics via a monumental wall along one façade. A 180-foot tall tower will serve as a beacon amid the downtown skyline.

At 875,000 square feet, the new arena is almost triple the size of the current Amway Arena (367,000 square feet). The building features a sustainable, environmentally-friendly design, unmatched technology, featuring 1,100 digital monitors and the largest, high-definition scoreboard in an NBA venue, and multiple premium amenities available to all patrons in the building. Every level of ticket buyer will have access to: the Budweiser Bar and Food Court, Club Restaurant, Nutrilite Magic Fan Experience and Orlando on Demand, Kid’s Zone and multiple indoor-outdoor spaces which celebrate Florida’s climate.

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, a contributor on the Fansided Front Page, and co-host of CB Sports Radio from 5-7 pm week days (1420sports.com). Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).

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Yardbarker.com

Dwight Howard discussed his plans to help Haiti.

We are putting on “Concert For A Cause … Remembering Haiti” on Sept. 15 at House of Blues Orlando to raise money for the many organizations who are assisting in the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.

The concert will feature yours truly and also Tichina Arnold from “Everybody Hates Chris.” The featured performances will come from DJ Chino, K. Michelle, Rupee and several other talented artists. I’m planning on several of my Orlando Magic teammates being there as well, so you guys can come out and get your autographs from those guys at the event.

You can read Dwight’s blog here.

The new Amway Center will get a big flush next week.

Speaking of the new Amway Center, the Magic have a sponsor for their parking garage.

Marc Normandin of Basketball Prospectus discussed Orlando’s signing of Chris Duhon.

SCHOENE sees increased usage in Orlando and shooting that more closely resembles Duhon’s 2008-09 than his previous campaign—it’s easy to see why he will improve. The roster around him is significantly different than what he was playing with in New York thanks to Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, and Vince Carter, three scorers whom Duhon can feed. There will be less pressure on Duhon from the opposing team’s defense because of the presence of this trio, and having someone who can stretch the defense like J.J. Redick on the second unit also bodes well for his game. Context is important when projecting performance, and moving from a team that didn’t win 30 games to one that reached the conference finals is a significant contextual leap.

You can read that story here.

Dan Savage and Josh Cohen of OrlandoMagic.com had a “great debate” over Vince Carter’s restaurant.

Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post explains pace in his Advanced Metrics Handbook.

The Magic do not use the D-League well.

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, a contributor on the Fansided Front Page, and co-host of CB Sports Radio from 5-7 pm week days (1420sports.com). Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).

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We seen Boston grab two O’Neals, we seen Chicago go and get Carlos Boozer to play next to Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, we even seen Miami go from Dwyane Wade to Wade, James and Bosh and grab the world’s attention but don’t sleep on the Orlando Magic.

The Magic went out and added 2 nice role players in Quentin ( I love that name) Richardson and Chris Duhon. I believe both players were overused the past couple seasons and could fit into that role as a player coming off the bench to get 10 to 20 minutes per game. Also, the Magic still have Jameer Nelson and top 10 player Dwight Howard who’s working with the legendary Hakeem Olajuwon on those post moves but the wildcard? Vince Carter. Vince is in a contract season (18 million dollar team option) and could go one of two ways. Orlando could hope to see the 2000-2001 Vince Carter ( 27ppg, 5rpg, 4apg) since he’s working for a contract OR they could simply look to move him. I proposed a deal involving Orlando and Detroit that I think would help them reach there goal of a title.

Overall, I expect the Orlando Magic to be a solid team who should could contend and could make it to the NBA Finals next season. What do you expect?

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Since we talked about new Knick backup center Timofey Mozgov’s performance at the FIBA World Championship, here’s some video of the man in action:

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We’ve also talked Eastern Conference Playoff Picture (the Western Conference preview will likely be up tomorrow or Tuesday), and though we predicted the Knicks would likely make it, we didn’t really go into them at all. Well, here on CBSSports.com are Matt Moore’s thoughts as to whether our boys’ll make the big dance:

The Knicks are brand new. Fresh out the oven, piping hot, clean waxed, new car smell, brand spankin’ new. And that’s certainly a good thing as all but the last remnants of the epic failboat that was built there over the last decade have been cleansed and a new team stand in its place, faster, younger, and better built to contend. [...]  The questions are, first, is this team good enough to make the playoffs, and two, is there room in the playoffs for them?

It’s a good read, but my one quibble is with his assumption that the Bobcats are a lock to make the playoffs.

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Great news!  Amar’e Stoudemire’s been working out as hard as ever!  Odd news?  He recently did it at the Phoenix Sun’s facility.  The Arizona Republic reports:

For those who haven’t heard, multiple sources have talked about how the Knicks might go for an incredibly big line-up that’d feature 6′10″ Amar’e at power forward, 6′11″ Anthony Randolph at small forward and 6′10″ Danilo Gallinari at shooting guard.  Most likely that would leave Ronny Turiaf opening at center, but there’s a chance it could be Mozgov instead.  At first glance the big question/concern seems to be whether Gallo has the quickness to cover shooting guards.  However, remember last year after Jared Jeffries was traded, it was Gallo who usually asked to cover the opposing team’s top perimeter player, sometimes even defending little point guards.  He was no huge stopper, but the point is he’s comfortable doing it, and more importantly has wanted to do it.  And the mismatches it could create on offense… it’d be like manna from Heaven.

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Okay, one non-Knick item.  Check out this contest to vote for the best non-NBA dunkers.  The winners will compete at this year’s NBA All-Star contest in the City Of Angels.

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Brian Kronen on Knickerblogger has a great post on this bit of Unsung Knick History.

Today we look at an amazing 1995 game between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs (a season after David Robinson was voted the NBA’s Most Valuable Player) where the Knicks defeated the Spurs in double overtime with a line-up of Herb Williams and four guards!

Check it out in full, it’s a fun read even if you’re a young un’ who wasn’t watching the Knicks back then.

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I’ve been meaning to link to this for like literally half a year.  This guy has created a fantastic site that shows through flow charts how every player was acquired for every team.  Here’s the Knicks page.  It’s gotten even bigger than before so it now may seem a bit overwhelming, but it’s worth glancing at.  The most painful part?  That in order to do the sign-and-trade for Eddy Curry, we traded away two first-round draft picks that would end up being LaMarcus Aldridge (#2 overall) and Joakim Noah(#9).  Sure, there’s no guarantee we would’ve picked those exact guys.  Like maybe instead of Aldridge we would’ve gone for, say, Rudy Gay or Brandon Roy.  Also, remember, the Bulls did not want to offer Curry a contract due to concerns over his heart condition, meaning they had no leg to bargain, yet still we forked over that bounty.  And people say Isiah Thomas was a bad GM? No way.

He was an awful one.

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Lastly, need further proof Amar’e is a Jew.  Here he is yet again in a yarmulke.  Wait, whadaya mean yarmulke’s don’t usually have ears?  Well, at least it looks like in addition to spending his summer learning about Judaism, he’s also learned how to make one sweet dessert treat.  Hail to the Mouse!

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According to RealGM.com, Mr. Miles did have a tryout at the Spurs practice facility on Wednesday.

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Big 10 Divisions

The Big 10 announcing the new divisions broke news yesterday, ESPN has more here.

The divisions will be:  Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota and Northwestern.

And: Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue and Indiana.

At first I was not happy to see Wisconsin with Ohio State AND Penn State, the top two teams in the conference.  To me it looked like the other division was much weaker but after thinking about it further I think the Badgers got a decent draw and here are my reasons.

• Michigan is weak now, but they will be back, in a big way eventually.  Too much money and tradition to fail long-term.
• Nebraska is also surging back, it would not be shocking if in five years the best two teams from the conference were Nebraska and Michigan.
• Ohio State is the best team right now, for Wisconsin to make it to the BCS title game they would only have to beat them once during the regular season, which would be home every other year.  If they were in separate divisions there would be a chance of having to play Ohio State twice in a year.  I will take my chances with once a year, in Madison.
• I feel the trio of Illinois, Purdue and Indiana are much weaker than the bottom of the other division with Michigan State, Minnesota and Northwestern.

I think the Badgers got a manageable draw.  Yes they have to play what are currently the best two teams every year but they will possibly get those games at home every other year.  I feel the Big 10 actually did a very fair split and the conference should not be as lopsided as some of the other conference splits.  The Big 12 South is always dominate and should have been split years ago.  The SEC East dominated that conference up until this year.

 College Football Predictions

Here are some predictions for the College Football season, which gets underway tonight:

• The Big 10 is too good this season to have an entrant in the BCS title game.  The conference has too much depth to allow a team, like Ohio State, to run through undefeated.
• Alabama will not repeat.  They may not even win the SEC West with LSU, Arkansas and Auburn coming on strong.
• Florida will not win the SEC East, Georgia is my darkhorse for the division, conference and possible entrant into the BCS title game.
• NotreDame will start the bounce back this season with 8 or more wins.  Brian Kelly was a great hire.  He has had head coaching success at several levels, he has a system that scores a ton and is proven.  Charlie Weis was not proven, Ty Willingham had success in the Pac 10 before USC re-emerged from the abyss.  Kelly will win BIG in time, he won at Cincinnati!
• Boise State nor TCU will or should get to a BCS title game.  Last year Boise had the 114th toughest schedule, TCU had the 84th.  Give me a break, this year Boise is projected to have the 89th, TCU 75th.  I can live with 75th but once again Boise’s conference brings it down too far.  Instead of BYU maybe Boise should think about being an independent. 
• Oklahoma will win the Big 12 and be in the BCS Title game.
• Ohio State will win the Big 10.
• Georgia will win the SEC.
• USC will win the Pac 10, but not get to bowl.
• Miami will win the ACC
• The Big East is no better than the Mountain West, that is the only mention that conference deserves. 
• Oklahoma will beat Georgia for the BCS National Title

Week 1 Picks

Utah -2.5 vs Pittsburgh – Pitt is over-rated and Utah is a tough trip.

USC -21 at Hawaii – I think USC pours it on every chance they get.

Notre Dame -11 vs Purdue – The Irish will spread it out and run it up.  I really like Brian Kelly.

Connecticut +3 at Michigan – If Michigan loses this game Rich Rod will have a tough time getting through the season.

Oregon State +13 at TCU – I like the Rodgers brothers to lose but cover.

Virginia Tech +2.5 vs Boise State – The last time Boise opened the season east of the Mississippi against a BCS team Georgia throttled them.  I do not see a blowout here but when the big boys are healthy AND care, Boise does not hold up.

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ISTANBUL—Many were concerned for Team USA after barely beating Brazil in a 70-68. But they showed no fear, blowing out Iran in a 88-51 victory. Outside of basketball, it’s usually a political battle. But playing on the hardwood, there is nothing that really goes on than just trying to beat your opponent.

“For me, it’s a normal game,” Iran captain Mahdi Kamrany said.

It was a fairly easy game for the United States.

“We just respected their basketball team and we just played a basketball game,” U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “There’s no political aspect in my mind in the ballgame.”

Kevin Love had 13 points and Kevin Durant had twelve points, has both helped Team USA stay on top in the FIBA World Championships and stay undefeated at a 4-0 notch. Hamed Haddadi led the now 1-3 Iranians with 19 points while Arsalan Kazemi had 14.

“I’m very happy, I played against the best team in the world,” Kamrany said.

However, despite it’s a basketball game, a lot of politics-matter was going on in the scene. A fan was holding a sign that showed a USA flag and an Iran flag which would read “PEACE” in the middle. The closest warlike seen in basketball-terms was when forward Rudy Gay got a bump on Haddadi. Other than, it was a well-played, clean basketball game.

“We should leave politics to the politicians,” U.S. center Tyson Chandler said. “We’re here to play basketball.”

In a war for decades now, the war is now coming to an end as we end a chapter in both countries’ histories. After the game, both coaches nodded and had a good agreement with each other.

“That’s the first level of diplomacy. That’s one thing we’re in agreement with,” Krzyzewski joked.

This is the first time the Iranians faced the Americans, and this could start out to be a fun rivalry between the two since there is not a lot of history between both countries in the sport of basketball.

“That’s one of the beautiful things about sports,” U.S. center Lamar Odom said. “If you think about the history of sports, you take people from different cultures, from different beliefs and bring them together. Sports is the one thing that can kind of bring people together and have a great atmosphere. It was great playing a game like this.”

The U.S. struggled in the Brazil game and a little bit today, but they got a lot better.

“As the game moved along we got better in the game,” Coach K said.

The reserves played excellent for USA, as Danny Granger had ten points and Derrick Rose delivered eleven. Tyson Chandler led USA in rebound with seven along with seven points. Eric Gordon had eight points. Stephen Curry led the team in assists with five along with four points. Both Chandler and Love showed much effort in today’s game and showed that the big men on this team are very important to the team’s success and can be very competitive towards other team’s big men.

“Tyson and Kevin Love showed they could make a contribution, and I think that’s important,” USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said.

USA looks to keep fighting strong and hope to deliver that FIBA World Championships trophy since 16 years ago in 1994.

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“NO ONE…And I mean NO ONE should EVER compare Kobe Bryant to my dad and say that he is anywhere near close to my dad. He’s jagging his game.” This was what Michael Jordan’s son, Marcus Jordan, said on his Twitter account. This one of the tweets he said on his account that has caused much controversy.

But the big news came yesterday, when Jordan was caught partying under probe in Las Vegas, Neveda. Partying at the Strip nightclub, the 19-year-old was too young to be involved in such a thing, as you have to be at least 21 years of age. It was tweeted on August 20th that he spent $35,000 at a Casino.

“Last night was stupid… 35K at Haze,” the University of Central Florida sophomore guard said. “Totals 50K something the whole day.”

Since then, the tweet Marcus made has been removed from his account. Jordan told Fox Sports that he is totally aware with the situation and had a talk with his son along with his wife.

“I didn’t mean it the way it came across,” he said. “My family and friends know the type of person I am.”

Jordan was with his dad and his basketball camp and was seen hanging out with his brother who plays guard for Illinois, Jeffrey, and teammate A.J. Rompza. Jordan went as far to post a video of the three of them hanging out over there. UCF Knight’s basketball had no comment on the situation that happened.

In my opinion, this was a pretty inconsiderate and not a very well thought-out action Marcus Jordan did. He had no idea of what was to come and the consequences that should be to follow. It was not a good deal on his part. However, Jordan still hasn’t learned his lesson. Just tweeted today, Jordan wrote the following: “Im on my way! yeah Im on my way,I never give a fck about what any nga say, the bths all pretty, me Romp and Jeff about to do it for the city.”

Does Jordan need another talk with his parents or what? Does he want to get in trouble? Does he want to be viewed as a bad example? First came the underage gambling tweet, and now here is this: tweeting obscenities. Listen, if you want to share something like that, do it somewhere else. Keep it away from social networks where everybody can see it. Seriously, can it get more inconsiderate than this?

With the rising of the Internet and the decline of our old regular-day usage like newspapers, the new saying for “think before you speak,” has somewhat turned into “Google before you tweet.” Although it sounds humorous, it makes a point. Jordan obviously didn’t think of what he was doing when he was typing that tweet. Although he was most probably sending this message to his friends, obviously, it wasn’t the case as many viewed it.

I remember doing something similar. I posted a very bad song that literally just says obscenities at least once every two-to-five seconds. At the young age I am at, you don’t want that happening. As I posted this on my Facebook account, I really didn’t think about the consequences. And then I get busted as my family checked out the video. And boy you should have saw their shocking impression. However, my father had a talk with me and said the thing that should be reached out to Marcus Jordan: “Before you do something, think about the consequences. If you think something is wrong, don’t do it.”

Jordan really needs to know what he is saying out there to the world. With how famous he is right now and all of the hype that is following towards him, he doesn’t want stupid things happening like this that can damage his career. One way to be successful is obviously thinking before what you do. You want to be viewed as a good, civilized human-being in his society. And when you do things like these, it hurts your reputation and makes you look like a thug.

Obviously, Jordan isn’t a thug. But saying obscenities like he wrote today; well, it just isn’t necessary. Along with that, ripping on Kobe Bryant is just totally wrong. Keep that opinion to yourself. Although I agree, you just shouldn’t be saying that. First of all, Kobe isn’t nowhere near Jordan but it also means you (Marcus) are nowhere near Kobe. It’s true. That’s the fact.

All I am trying to say is think about the consequences. Marcus Jordan is a good guy, like he quoted to the Associated Press. But he seriously needs to stop with what he is doing. He hasn’t learned from his lesson yet, and it is clear when you look at his Twitter account. Obviously, people are going to see that too and be like, “Man, he still hasn’t learned a single thing yet, hasn’t he?”

With over 8,000 followers, Jordan should know what’s to come now.

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Yardbarker.com

Dwight Howard is one of the league’s best players on the court but his off the court work is underappreciated.

He is co-hosting a benefit for Haiti in Orlando and will visit the country as well.

Both events take place in September.

Philip Rossman-Reich discusses the way Amway Center pricing is taking shape.

Perhaps in response to the sudden rise in demand for Magic tickets and the completion of the new arena, the team is introducing variable ticket pricing for the first time. This has been a growing trend throughout the NBA, beginning in Portland a few years ago.

The basic premise of variable pricing is to have the market determine how much tickets should cost. For instance a ticket that would have cost $20 in Amway Arena, would now cost $25 for the Thanksgiving Eve game against the Heat but only, say, $15 for the November 3 game against Minnesota.

The price of the ticket will be determined by the opponent, the day of the week and how well teams are playing.

On a purely economic basis, it is a good business decision. Why should you pay the same price to see the Nets as you do the Lakers?

You can read that story here.

Shaun Powell of NBA.com thinks J.J. Redick is a rising star to watch.

It’s only a matter of time before he replaces Vince Carter, or at least gets more minutes in the rotation. That was assured when Redick outplayed Carter in the playoffs (especially against the Celtics in the conference finals) and when the Magic matched the 3-year, $19 million offer sheet he received from the Bulls. It’s no secret that Redick’s biggest fan, after Coach K, is Stan Van Gundy, who showed plenty of confidence in Redick during the post-season by using him in big spots. Redick has spent the last two years toning his body, working on his dribble game and his defense, to the point where neither are major weaknesses anymore. With more time and responsibility, he could become the Magic’s most reliable outside shooter, ahead of Rashard Lewis. This should be the season Redick averages double-figures and makes people pay for doubling on Dwight Howard.

You can read the full story here.

Eddy Rivera of MagicBasketball.Net wonders if Redick will become Orlando’s starting shooting guard.

Happy Birthday, Chris Duhon!

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, a contributor on the Fansided Front Page, and co-host of CB Sports Radio from 5-7 pm week days (1420sports.com). Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).

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With the Cavs having lost the unstoppable Delonte West (plus I think some other guy?), how bad will they be? You might be surprised by our take. (Source: Yardbarker.com)

We already examined how much teams improved/regressed during the off-season, but now we’ll talk about how they stack up against each other.  Meaning, we gave Orlando a zero for their summer and the Wizards a +2, but now we’re here to tell you that yes, of course Orlando is still gonna be far better.  For those who haven’t seen those posts on off-season grades, click the following links to see what we had to say about the Northwest, Atlantic, Central, Southeast, Pacific and Southwest Divisions.  Also, we’re only gonna be talking about the regular season here.  So even though we don’t think the Celts will be a top two team record-wise, it doesn’t mean we think they’re incapable of making it through the gauntlet again.  Lastly, some teams will be put in clusters ‘cuz they’ll likely end up with similar records and what does a victory or two here and there matter?

#1 – The Miami Heat

A no-brainer ‘cuz these guys have the most to prove and both Dwayne Wade and LeBron James have shown they can bring it hard consistently every night (okay, maybe not LBJ in the playoffs, but he’s sterling during the regular season).  Do I think they’ll make it out of the Eastern Conference come playoff time?  Who knows at this point?  People have worried that there won’t be a clear top dog or that these guys won’t be able to blend together, but I doubt those will be issues.  Their true one big weakness will be defending bigs, which is the strength of their top two rivals, Boston & Orlando.  People use the Celts as an example for how a super trio can turn everything around and win a ring in one season, but it’s not a perfect analogy.  While this new trio is perhaps even better, they don’t have the same level supporting cast.  Kendrick Perkins is arguably the best big defender in the league, while Rajon Rondo has shown himself to be an All-Star in his own right.  Plus, that first year they won it all, they needed big time contributions from vet players like James Posey and PJ Brown.  The Heat will win a championship, but it might not be this year.  But expect them to run away with the regular season.

#2 – Orlando Magic

Expect them to be more motivated than ever after being easily dismissed by the Celts.  They won’t catch the Heat in wins, but no one else in the East (or West) should catch up to them for second.

#3 – Chicago Bulls

With new coach Tom Thibodeau, plus players Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer & Kurt Thomas, not to mention the improving (or newly found?) jumpshot of Derrick Rose, and this team should take a big leap in the standings.

#4 – Boston Celtics

Last season proved to them that the regular season ain’t too important and that the focus needs to be on not overtaxing the players.  Expect the same again, but this time don’t be surprised if they upset the #1 seed in the second round one mo’ time.

#5 – Atlanta Hawks

A week ago they might’ve been #3, but word has come out that Jamal Crawford is bitter that he’s not being offered an extension after all the dough that was showered on Joe Johnson.  As a result, there’s even now been rumors that he wants to be traded if he can’t get the extension.  With management seeming unlikely to pony up the money now, that seems like bad locker room mojo.  Since they haven’t really added anything new to this team, expect that dissonance to cause a drop in wins.

#6 – Milwaukee Bucks

They could jump as high as fourth, but sadly that depends mostly on whether their two stars, Brandon Jennings and Andrew Bogut, are able to bring their games to the next level, NOT on all the players they paid big bucks for over the summer.

#7-10 – New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards

Expect the last two playoff participants to come from this foursome, with my money on the first two (yeah, yeah, I realize I’m biased when it comes to the Knicks).  People are seriously underestimating the Cavs for this upcoming season.  These are players who have gotten very good at winning, which is a skill that can be more important than technical know-how or athleticism (see Fisher, Derek).  When Jordan retired for the first time, the Bulls were still pretty darn good ‘cuz they had excellence ingrained in them (okay, and they had Pippen).  I don’t think the Cavs will be an elite team or anything, but they should easily be in the race for one of the bottom playoff spots.  Likewise, many people have written off the Pistons, but they suffered through an insane amount of injuries last season.  The Wizards, besides adding John Wall and Kirk Hinrich, will have a Gilbert Arenas who’s had an additional year to recovery from his injuries, plus adding a potentially healthy Josh Howard.  If JaVale McGee and Andray Blatche can continue with their growth, this team could have a huge about-face.

#11-15 – Indiana Pacers, Charlotte Bobcats, New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia Sixers, Toronto Raptors

Expect decent improvement from both the Nets and Sixers that could even keep them near the playoff picture for a chunk of the season.  The Raptors struggled mightily without Chris Bosh last season, so it’s reasonable to assume that’ll continue.  They already have point guard controversy with Jarret Jack now potentially unseating Jose Calderon, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this team ends up being the worst in the East.  The Pacers’ future looks good with new addition Darren Collison, but since they’re so thin at power forward, the loss of Troy Murphy could keep them at the same level for this season.  Plus their star, Danny Granger, has shown an inability to make it through a season healthy.  The Bobcats lost two starters in Ray Felton and Tyson Chandler, which should cause them to take a big step back.  Although if they can get something of worth for Eric Dampier’s unguaranteed contract that could change things.  If not, they’ll cut him, and while he could re-sign with them on the cheap, it’d seem a much smarter move for him to do so with Miami.

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