Sure, the new NBA season has already started, but you can rest assured that the second half of this exclusive desipio.com preview of the 2008/09 campaign was written in advance.  Mostly.

Anyway, it’s not as if it matters, it’s only the Eastern Conference…

The East

Atlantic Division

Boston – Just like everybody else, here’s a couple of facile sentences on how the defending champs will see the advancing age of the Big 3 and the loss of James Posey from the bench affect their mojo this season.  They will be good but not as great as last year.  Prediction - 1st 56-26.

Philadelphia – Remarkably quickly, GM Ed Stefanski transformed this former shell of a team into everybody’s sexy pick to make the leap from playoff contender to conference heavyweight.  Caution, Philly was last in the league in FT% and 3FG% last season.  Prediction – 2nd, 45-37.

Toronto – Despite gaining nothing from the draft or free agency, expect this to be a bounceback year from the Raptors; if for no other reason than they now have rejuvenated 6-time all-star Jermaine O’Neal manning the middle instead of Raso Nesterovic.  Prediction – 3rd, 48-34.

New York – Don Nelson couldn’t do it, Larry Brown couldn’t do it, and – take a breath – nor could Stu Jackson, the Vice President of the NBA itself.  It may not look like it, but the Knicks are a very challenging team to coach.  Is D’Antoni the right man for the job?  Prediction – 4th, 33-49.

New Jersey – The Nets are stockpiling not only cap space, but also a splendid set of young bigs (Shawn Williams, Brook Lopez, Josh Boone) who, until the team is good enough to start winning again, will at least enjoy dunking off the inevitable missed field goals.  Prediction – 5th, 25-57.

Central Division

Cleveland – This will be LeBron James’ 6th year of professional basketball, and during this time he has had more than 60 different teammates.  Is there any reason to believe his latest assembly of castoffs and veterans, headed by Mo Williams, is the right mix?  Prediction – 1st, 54-28.

Detroit - Apart from being on their 4th head coach since 2003, the Pistons are a model of consistency – the same or similar roster, and the same or similar results.  John Hollinger may think Joe Dumars will blow them up at the trade deadline, but don’t bet on it.  Prediction – 2nd, 52-30. 

Chicago – This time last year, the Bulls had 50-win potential, which made their dysfunctional season all the more disappointing.  Now, with inexperience on the court (Rose, Thomas, Noah) and off it (Del Negro), expectations have completely changed.  Prediction – 3rd, 36-46.

Indiana – The Pacers front office makes no apologies for the fact they’re completely re-making this team, and nor should they.  What they should be worried about however, is where the stops are going to come from.  Troy Murphy?  Mike Dunleavy?  TJ Ford?  Prediction - 4th, 33-49. 

Milwaukee – Michael Redd may have looked like the worst player on Team USA this summer, but even if that is true, it still means he’s one of the top players in the country.  Sadly for the few Bucks fans still in existence, the same can’t be said for anyone else on this team.  Prediction – 5th, 31-51.

SouthEast Division

Orlando – Behind Dwight Howard’s transformation into one of the NBA’s elite players, the Magic won 52 games last season, up from 40 in 2007. Gaining another jump in the standings is unlikely, but this will again be one of the best offensive teams in basketball. Prediction – 1st, 47-35.

Atlanta – One of the highlights from our exclusive NBA preview last season was correctly foreseeing the young Hawks to finally gell and make the playoffs.  Expect modest but tangible progress, especially if they can improve on their horrendous road record.  Prediction – 2nd, 43-39.

Miami – With most NBA observers studying Dwayne Wade’s health, Eric Spolestra’s coaching or Michael Beasley’s education, the biggest question-mark on the Heat may be Shawn Marion.  Matrix risks being the NBA’s most over-rated player if he doesn’t fire.  Prediction – 3rd, 41-41.

Washington – The tenacious but undermanned Wizards are heading for a down year – and really, that’s probably what they need in order to capture some top class young talent for the future.  Yet another season of creditably treading water isn’t going to help.  Prediction – 4th, 32-50.

Charlotte – The Bobcats won the final regular season game of last season, but haven’t tasted success since, going 0-8 during the pre-season.  New coach Larry Brown quickly identified the problem – not enough good players.  That was easy.  Now comes the hard part.  Prediction – 5th, 19-63.