The NBA season is just around the corner and it’s looking like the Eastern Conference might actually be exciting for once. Before, the conference was a two tiered system where the best teams coasted and the bad teams who didn’t belong in the postseason fought their way their anyways.
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But this year that East is improved in a way that makes it exciting in a good way, and two teams looking to capitalize on that are the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards. Both teams are carry overs from the postseason last year but both look like they’ll earn their way there rather than luck their way there this season.
Nate Duncan from Basketball Insiders opines that while both the Hornets and Wizards are markedly improved teams this year, they won’t be any sort of real contender for anything beyond a fourth seed in the East.
"But the biggest reason is the youth of Wall and Beal–they should be a lot better this year, and have higher upside than anyone on CHA to me. Though for what it’s worth, I don’t think either squad is really a contender for much beyond the 4th seed unless the Bulls totally implode due to health."
Of the two teams, the Wizards show the most promise as they nearly knocked off the Indiana Pacers last year in the playoffs. But the Cavaliers, Bulls and even Heat are still much better teams and contending in 2014-15 has a ceiling for the Hornets and Wizards.
Be sure to check FanSided.com’s official NBA page to keep up to date on the latest news and rumors from around the league all summer long.
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