6) Boston 42-40
7) Cleveland 41-41
I'll eventually put out a list, not enough time right now...but really quick, Cleveland didn't change much at all from last season, when the finished 21-45. Unless Zeller and Waiters do big things and surprise everyone, I'm not really sure about them going .500 this season.
You could also argue that Boston could be a better team than they were last season. Ray Ray may be gone, but he was limping around all year long and being a liability out there, and replacing him with Jet was a great idea. Not only that, but they'll have Jeff Green back, they picked up Courtney Lee, and drafted two big men (Fab Melo and Jared Sullinger) that could actually overachieve, especially Sully. Plus, Pierce was injured for most of last season as well.
Derrick Rose's return is still unclear but Im guessing he returns around late January? if thats the case I dont think CHI makes the playoffs
If he returns in February, that's 36 games he'll play. That's quite a few to jump into the bottom four seeds (and possibly #4, depending on where they stand when he comes back). They have Kirk Hinrich, Nate Robinson, and Marquis Teague as their PG's, and honestly, that could be enough to keep them in the playoffs even if Rose decided he wants to wait until April. Just look at how they were playing with John Lucas and CJ Watson running the show. They went 18-9
without Rose.
