2024-2025 NBA preview Part 2

The Central division in the Eastern Conference includes the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, and Detroit Pistons. Each of these teams are obviously in different situations franchise wise, however, the top of the division still offers some very good rosters when projected to the regular season 

Milwaukee Bucks 

PG Damian Lillard | Delon Wright | AJ Johnson 

SG Pat Connaughton | AJ Green | Andre Jackson

SF Kris Middleton | Gary Trent Jr. | Marjon Beauchamp 

PF Giannis Antetokounmpo | Taurean Prince | Chris Livingston 

C Brook Lopez | Bobby Portis | Tyler Smith 

The Bucks lineup offers a lot of star power at the top of the roster. They have arguably the best two man pick and roll in the entire NBA in Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo, but the question is will they finally figure out how to play off each other. They ran a considerably low amount of pick and rolls involving the two last season, however another year under Doc Rivers should help as he continues to put his fingerprints on the style Milwaukee will play this upcoming year. Rivers took over head coaching duties after Adrian Griffin was fired shortly before the All-Star break last season. Kris Middleton will also need to stay healthy this season as well for the Bucks. He’s coming off surgery on both of his ankles and is expected to be ready by the beginning of the regular season. The only roster additions this offseason was the signing of Gary Trent Jr, a steal of a contract for the financially squeezed Bucks front office, Taurean Prince, AJ Johnson, and Tyler Smith.  Johnson and Smith were both selected in the previous draft this past June. I think if Gary Trent Jr. can get back to being a prolific three point shooting and the solid defender he was in Toronto he’ll be able to provide a very good piece of the rotation to Milwaukee this year. 

Cleveland Cavaliers 

PG Darius Garland | Craig Porter | Ty Jerome 

SG Donovan Mitchell | Caris LeVert | Sam Merrill 

SF Max Strus | Isaac Okoro | Emoni Bates 

PF Evan Mobley | Georges Niang | Jaylon Tyson | JT Thor 

C Jarrett Allen | Dean Wade | Tristan Thompson 

The Cleveland Cavaliers should feel like the team that can be the best one to match up against the likes of the Bucks, Knicks, 76ers, and Celtics and challenge for a top 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. They have a star in Donovan Mitchell and a lot of solid pieces to compliment him. The staggering minutes of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley is something newly hired head coach Kenny Atkinson will need to figure out throughout the season, but I am confident in his abilities to do so. Atkinson has been a part of the Warriors organization for the past couple of seasons and was hired to replace J.B Bickerstaff this past offseason. While the majority of the team is returning it’ll be interesting to see how they use Jaylon Tyson, their first round pick this year who played extremely well in the summer league. Darland and Mitchell having another year to figure out the chemistry between them in the backcourt is another reason why I am high on this team. 

Indiana Pacers 

PG Tyrese Haliburton | TJ McConnell | Kendall Brown 

SG Andrew Nembhard | Ben Sheppard | Johnny Furphy 

SF Aaron Nesmith | Benedict Mathurin | James Johnson 

PF Pascal Siakam | Obi Toppin | Jarace Walker 

C Myles Turner | Isaiah Jackson | James Wiseman 

The Indiana Pacers are the frisky team, who crashed the party last year and ended the Knick’s and Buck’s seasons. They have a dynamic point guard in Tyrese Haliburton, who I think needs to take another step in increasing his scoring output, but re-signing Andrew Nembhard, Obi Toppin, and Pascal Siakam this offseason should help solidify the rest of the lineup. Similar to the Cavs, and Celtics the Pacers are returning a large portion of their roster next year, a team who already has shown to have a good connection with one another. However, this needs to translate over to the defensive end of the court. They tried to limit their opponent's three point attempts last season, but ended up giving up a crazy amount of shots at the rim. This did not help in the Eastern Conference finals last season. I think ultimately the Pacers take a bit of a step back season though. However, I won’t be totally surprised if they outshoot expectations again. 

Chicago Bulls 

PG Josh Giddy | Ayo Dosunmu | Lonzo Ball 

SG Coby White | Dalen Terry | Jevon Carter | Talen Horton-Tucker 

SF Zach LaVine | Matas Buzelis | Chris Duarte 

PF Patrick Williams | Torrey Craig | Julian Phillips | EJ Liddell 

C Nikola Vucevic | Jalen Smith | Adama Sanogo | Kenneth Lofton 

The Chicago Bulls are in an interesting spot. It seems like they want to rebuild while trying to acquire young talent. The problem is not very many teams want the talent they currently have. Zach LaVine has fallen a little bit in the last two years with his production. They traded away Demar DeRozan for some draft equity, but outside of that not much else. Nikola Vucevic was a swing and a miss trade for them three years ago and now his trade value is very low. Ultimately this season gives the Bulls time to figure out what in the world they have. Josh Giddy is an exciting young player. Players forget he averaged 17 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds per game before his stinker of a postseason last year. Patrick Williams needs to stay healthy and give them production of being the quality two-way wing everyone in the league thinks he can be, Coby White finished the year on an absolute heater last year, and Matas Buzelis had a very good summer league for them. I don’t think the Bulls get into the playoffs this year. At best I think they lose in the play-in tournament (again), but they need to figure out what type of direction they want to go this year. 

Detroit Pistons 

PG Cade Cunningham | Marcus Sasser | Daniss Jenkins 

SG Jaden Ivey | Ausar Thompson | Ron Holland 

SF Malik Beasley | Simone Fontecchio | Tim Hardaway Jr. 

PF Tobias Harris | Isaiah Stewart | Wendell Moore 

C Jalen Duran | Paul Reed | Bobi Klintman

Well it’s fitting Detroit is the last team on this article considering that’s where they have been for the last two seasons. They fired Monte Williams this past year and hired J.B Bickerstaff. Bickerstaff needs to play the right players if the Pistons want to figure out what type of talent they even have right now. Cade Cunningham also needs to stay healthy. Obviously his team is what it is, but he needs to be on the court and develop with them.  I think Cunningham has potential to be an All-NBA type of player, but health plays an obvious factor. Jaden Ivey is fun and exciting and I would like to see Ausar Thompson get more playing time this season. Right now the Pistons are sitting on a ton of cap space considering they don’t have any major extension available for their current team. They will use this throughout the season to pick up draft assets in exchange for taking on bad contracts. They have already done this with Tim Hardaway. Tobias Harris also makes his way back to Detroit after being a part of the team some 6 or 7 seasons ago. Shoutout his agent as well. 300 Million dollars in on court earnings for Tobias Harris. This team right now wants to win the lottery and see if they can turn it around after.