With teams preparing for the 2017-18 NBA season, they are all chasing the defending champion Golden State Warriors. As the Warriors re-signed their core and improved their depth, there are interesting storylines in the Eastern Conference.
Although numerous All-Stars took their talents to the Western Conference, the Toronto Raptors re-signed Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka while acquiring CJ Miles via sign-and-trade. However, the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers recently completed a blockbuster trade and DeMar DeRozan discussed how this impacts their conference with Cari Champion of ESPN as transcribed by Sportsnet:
“It’s hard to say, the last couple years we’ve always felt that we’re only a piece away, a piece away. Whatever piece that may be we’re still trying to figure that out,” he said. “Going into this season, we added and subtracted some things so we’re going to see.
“As long as we stay healthy anything is possible.”
While the Cavaliers and Celtics are considered the favorites, the Raptors and Washington Wizards are also in the discussion to represent the Eastern Conference. With Toronto still possessing a strong starting lineup, it will be interesting to see if they can take the next step after making significant long-term commitments.
For the Raptors to have any chance of exceeding expectations, they will need DeRozan and Lowry to perform at All-Star levels in the postseason.
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