Despite Kyrie Irving’s best efforts, it looks as though the NBA will return on July 30th with teams staying at Disney World in Orlando to resume the league at a neutral site. The three hotels the teams will be staying at are the Grand Destino, Grand Floridian, and Yacht Club. Inside this bubble, players will have a players only lounge (with video games, gambling, and barbers), daily entertainment (movies, games, DJ’s), a 24-hour VIP concierge, and they are allowed to attend other games. Absolutely no part of this situation is ideal, but given the circumstances that seems to me like a fair deal for the players to begin resuming play.

However, it has been over 3 months now since the last NBA game was played and will be over 4 by the time the resumption gets under way. Who knows how things are going to shake out? The break has obviously hurt and benefitted different teams in different ways. This is also at a neutral site, with little to no attendees. Home court is out the window. Let’s take it team by team and preview how the break and the new situation will work out for each. We’ll begin with the East, which had 9 teams invited to Orlando: Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets, Orlando Magic, and Washington Wizards.

How thing stand right now:

Everyone besides the Nets, Magic and Wizards are in the playoffs; they had clinched before the season was suspended. If the Wizards finish within 4 games of the 8 seed (currently 5.5 back of the Magic), they will have a play-in game to decide the final seed. For the top 6 teams, its all about seeding. With a neutral site, seedings will be much more about matchups rather than concerned with how long you can secure home court for. The Bucks are obviously leading the pack, with the Raptors 6.5 back, Celtics 9.5, Heat 12, and Pacers/76ers each 14. I’m going to assume the Bucks 1 seed is safe. I don’t see them going 1-7 while the Raptors go 7-1 during the 8 games before the playoffs. The 2-6 seeds are however very much still in play to shuffle around for those teams. Let’s now go team by team.

Milwuakee Bucks:

Technically, the Bucks were on a 3 game losing streak before the shutdown, but hey Giannis didn’t play in those games and before that they were on an absolute tear. Their record to this point was 53-12. I can’t really think of how this break would have benefitted them. They obviously will miss all of the perks of having home court throughout the playoffs as the 1 seed. Unfortunate for a team that was 28-3 at home this year. The Bucks seemed to have a good chemistry going. Giannis obviously was having another stellar season, and is the favorite to win MVP again, but he was not doing it alone. Khris Middleton made his second all star team this year, averaging a career high 21.1 PPG. They also have solid roleplayers and shooters galore with Eric Bledsoe, George Hill, Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez, Wes Matthews, Donte Divincenzo, Kyle Korver and more. This is a unit that didn’t really benefit or improve during the shutdown, but shouldn’t have an issue rounding back into form. The story with the Bucks the past several years has always been they will go as far as Giannis takes them, but this year it feels like he has a lot more talent and help surrounding him.

Toronto Raptors:

A breakout star last year, Pascal Siakim took huge steps even more forward and leapt into superstardom. With All-Star Kyle Lowry alongside him, and other great role players surrounding them, the Raptors maintained the second best record in the East essentially all season long. Both Lowry and Siakim have a diverse skillset, capable of both scoring and playmaking for others, along with solid to above-average defense. With Marc Gasol and OG Anunoby in the fold as well, the Raptors could be well-equipped to make another deep playoff run, despite losing their best player from last year in Kawhi Leonard. The Celtics and Raptors have not met in the playoffs in this recent era, but have had many great and competitive regular season games. A second round matchup would be great if those two teams stay 2 and 3 in the East. The winner would in all likelihood go on to face the Bucks in the ECF, and although it would be a tall task, the Raptors just might have enough offense to keep pace, combined with a versatile defense to limit Giannis as much as a team could to pull off an upset.

Boston Celtics:

The Celtics may be one of the teams that benefitted the most from the quarantine. Wow, shocker, a 23 year old Massachusetts native and UMASS grad has high hopes for a Boston sports team. But hear me out because I truly believe this one is justified. The Celtics currently hold a 43-21 record, but were inconsistent at best when the season stopped, a mere 5-5 in their last 10. This was mostly due to second half collapses in which the Celtics had a commanding lead and then blew it in the late 3rd to early 4th quarter. However, I believe this had a lot to do with the nagging injuries of Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown. Although neither were major, the injuries prevented them from playing their regular workload of minutes, and they both missed several games entirely. This messes up rotations, defensive assignments, shot distributions, and more. Not exactly what you want when approaching a stretch run. Jayson Tatum however, last time we saw him play, was quickly ascending to a top 15 caliber superstar in the league. He won Eastern Conference Player of the Month for February and had been on an absolute tear since the very night he was announced as an all-star for the first time (of many to come). Now, Kemba and Jaylen have had months to heal and get to 100%, and it should be understood that Jayson Tatum is the #1 of this basketball team, and the shots and touches for everyone else follows after him. This years Celtics seemed to have good chemistry and got along well (DEUCES KYRIE), so hopefully the 8 games will be enough to hold on to the 3 seed and reestablish themselves.

Miami Heat:

Much like the Tatum’s season with the Celtics, Bam Adebayo has emerged as a star for the Heat this season, also being selected for his first all-star game pre-quarantine. Adebayo’s game is quite different from Tatum’s. He is much more of a bruiser down low and beast on the boards than a spot-up and off the dribble shooter. However, Bam has a nice compliment of players around him that work well with his game being built towards taking over the paint. Jimmy Butler was having his 5th all star season, averaging a respectable 20.1 PPG paired with a career high 6.1 APG, proving that he can score and be a playmaker at a high level. Butler seems like the type of personality (a hardo) who would keep his team motivated and in shape in preparation for a return. Although he has never had a deep playoff run, his vocal leadership on and off the court will be key to the Heat having success in the NBA’s return to play. I love the Heat as a dark horse contender in the East. If the seeding holds, they would get the Bucks in the 2nd round, and at a neutral site that could be a very, very interesting series.

Indiana Pacers:

One player changes the entire outlook for the Pacers, Victor Oladipo, obviously. Oladipo suffered a major injury during the previous NBA season and returned only weeks before the suspension of play. Although it was very good for Oladipo to get any sort of reps this season, he did not return all the way to form. This is of course expected, it is often not until the second season when a player gets all of their typical ability back on the court. Dipo showed flashes in his brief return, the talent and athleticism is no question still there. The break has given him plenty of time to rehab and continue to recover, which is great news for the Pacers. However, a huge part of a player returning to top form comes with an abundance of game reps, which obviously has not happened. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweeted on Saturday that Oladipo “plans to ramp-up activity with the Indiana Pacers starting next week and evaluate his repaired torn quad tendon prior to making a final commitment to playing in the season’s restart in Orlando”. I have hopes that Oladipo will be able to play, simply because the more elite players are playing the better it is for the league. If his return to superstardom is seamless, the Pacers could truly make some noise. If he is able to play at some level, a competitive 1st round matchup with quite possibly the Heat or Sixers could be very interesting. If Oladipo does not return, I expect the Pacers to be bounced in the first round. Domantas Sabonis was a first time All-Star and Malcolm Brogdon, Myles Turner, and TJ Warren are excellent role-players, but to truly have a chance as a dark horse, Oladipo has to at least be there for the Pacers.

Philadelphia 76ers:

All seemed lost for the 76ers. Ben Simmons was looking like he was quite possibly done for the year. Joel Embiid was also banged up and his work ethic was often being questioned. Al Horford’s age was appearing to continue to catch up with him. The team was drawing comparisons chemistry wise to last year’s Celtics (YIKES). And now, just like that, hope is VERY much alive for the Sixers. Ben Simmons has been cleared to return. Horford and Embiid have had months to get their legs rested and ready for intense playoff basketball. The one argument that would have gone against the Sixers is that they won’t have any home games, in which they were a completely different team than on the road. The Sixers have a 39-26 record (29-2 at home and 10-24 on the road). However, I don’t see this as a huge deal. Its true that they won’t be playing at Wells Fargo with a roaring and wild Philly faithful crowd. But their opponents won’t be at home either, and currently as the 6 seed the 76ers will be a dangerous team to play round 1. Please, oh please let them pass Indiana for the 5 seed so the Celtics don’t see them. I think that we will truly see talent, preparation, and dedication win out in these playoffs. And with Simmons, Embiid, Horford, and Tobias Harris, the Sixers have all of those things going for them. Although he isn’t the most vocal guy, Celtics fans know that Al Horford is a great veteran locker room and on the court leader when a team is locked in. And Simmons and Embiid can ball with anyone at any time. If things click, the Sixers could make a deep run.

Brooklyn Nets:

If Kyrie and KD were returning, I would say look out and be absolutely terrified of the damage that they could do. But that duo’s premiere will have to wait until next season it appears. I honestly don’t see the Nets being serious contenders, but competing in the NBA return, even if for just a round shouldn’t be a bad thing. I don’t think the break should really benefit or hurt the Nets any more than the average team. But playing in a playoff-type atmosphere should be beneficial for the younger pieces on the Nets that they will most likely keep around next season like Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen. Much of the Nets roster may be different next year, as the Nets could look to clear space to pair a 3rd all-star with Durant and Irving.

Orlando Magic:

Similar to the Nets, I don’t expect the Magic to make any real noise come playoff time, even though they get to stay in their home town. However, it will be good experience to get as many playoff games as possible for a young core. Aaron Gordon, Vucevic, Mo Bamba, Johnathan Isaac, and Markelle Fultz will all benefit from this NBA resumption. If they end up staying the 8 seed, they will in all likelihood lose to the Bucks in 4, maybe 5, but again, it can’t hurt.

Washington Wizards:

With the Wizards 5.5 games back, its possible that after their 8 games they won’t even get to a play-in game, but if they do I feel they could beat the Magic or the Nets to steal the 8 seed. Again, it most likely won’t matter because I don’t see them taking more than 1 game in a series against Milwaukee either, but you never know. It’s worth playing it out when playing with essentially house money. I was hoping that John Wall would return as reports surfaced that he is fully healthy now, but it doesn’t sound like he will give it a go this season. It very well could be the right move for the long term, no sense risking another setback when the title aspirations are unrealistic, but it still would have been cool to see a top tier point guard return in a unique situation.