The NBA’s Eastern Conference might see a bit of a shake-up in the standings this season

The Cavs completed a trade nobody saw them making by acquiring former Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell in the offseason. Cleveland has a nice young nucleus of players around Mitchell in Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Caris LeVert. Then you’ve got Kevin Love providing veteran leadership and championship experience.

Last season, the Cavs shocked the league with a hot start by hanging around as a top-four seed in the East during the first half of the year. Eventually, other teams caught up, and along with injuries, they fell back down to the ninth seed, placing them in the Play-in Tournament. While the Cavs failed to advance to the playoffs, last season was a significant improvement over what we’ve seen from this franchise since LeBron James departed for Los Angeles.

Adding an All-Star guard in Mitchell and the other talent on this roster should mean another big jump for these Cavs. Mitchell and Garland will be one of the smaller backcourts in the league, but offensively, it’ll be hard to keep this duo from averaging nearly 50 points per game. Cleveland’s size up front with Allen and Mobley could help compensate for what it lacks in the backcourt, especially on the defensive end.

The Cavs are built for a legit playoff run this year and shouldn’t finish worse than sixth. Based on bringing in Mitchell and the continued growth of Allen, Mobley, and Garland, the Cavs are a legitimate playoff contender.

Summertime 2022 quickly became the summer of Dejounte Murray, once he was traded to Atlanta from San Antonio. Murray played in some ProAm games and showed off his talents and trash-talking ability. Most notably was his run-in with Orlando Magic rookie Paolo Banchero, who was also the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft. Murray plays with a chip on his shoulder, but it seems like that chip has grown larger since leaving the Spurs.

Atlanta added a star-level backcourt running mate for Trae Young, that can help carry the scoring load and take pressure off Young defensively. Murray was a first-time All-Star last year and nearly averaged a triple-double for San Antonio. The Hawks also kept John Collins and now have a nice trio that can match up well against most other threesomes around the league.

It was tough sledding for the Hawks last year, just a season removed from making it to the Eastern Conference finals in the 2020-21 season. Atlanta made the playoffs last season from the play-in but got bounced quickly in five games by No. 1 seed Miami.

Based on the roster and offseason moves, the Hawks should be able to climb into the top six if their key players can stay healthy. They aren’t a championship-contending team yet, but they’ve got two young stars in the backcourt in Young and Murray, and good size and length in the frontcourt with Collins, Clint Kapela, and De’Andre Hunter. Anything less than 47 or 48 wins would be a disappointment for Atlanta.

Of course, when teams move up, somebody’s got to be knocked out of the way to make room. In this case, a couple of teams are coming off pretty big years that might not be as fortunate this time.

You probably felt this coming, but what we witnessed before the start of training camp with Ime Udoka’s one-year suspension for violating team rules will affect this team. How could it not? The core of this team has been in place for a few years, and they’ve bumped their heads against the conference finals ceiling multiple times until Udoka arrived last year.

Coaches usually preach to players about outside distractions and how bad they are. Well, now the head coach is the person causing the distraction stemming from reports of his alleged affair with a team staffer and what sounds like possible predatory behavior. Those things matter, and when you add injuries to the mix and the offseason talk about trading Jaylen Brown for Kevin Durant, it could equal disaster.

Robert Williams III and Danilo Gallinari start the season sidelined with lower extremity injuries which is a big blow to Boston’s frontcourt. On the plus side, the Celtics also picked up Malcolm Brogdon and Blake Griffin, which should help, especially in the case of Brogdon. But they will miss the presence of Williams immensely inside during the early stages of the season.

Boston won 51 games last year en route to the NBA Finals, where it lost to Golden State in six games. Right now, the Celtics feel like an organization in shambles and could easily lose five to 10 more games than last season. That would place them in the lower half of the top six and possibly drop Boston to the play-in. A lot is happening around the Celtics facility that isn’t conducive to winning basketball games.

Chicago started off having a magical season last year that ultimately morphed into an injury nightmare. Like teams in many sports, last winter was not kind to the Bulls. They jumped out to a hot start and led the Eastern Conference when a COVID-19 outbreak hit the team in December, placing practically the entire roster in the league’s health and safety protocols.

After recovering from COVID, pivotal players like Zach LaVine, Alex Caruso, Lonzo Ball, and Nikola Vučević all dealt with injuries causing some to miss significant time. The good news is the Bulls bring back the same core group of players to start the new year, minus Ball, who’s still sidelined with a torn meniscus. Chicago caught lightning in a bottle early last season, which will be tough to duplicate in consecutive years.

Chicago finished sixth and was on the losing end of a gentleman’s sweep at the hands of Milwaukee in the first round of the playoffs. Other teams in the East have gotten better — like above-mentioned Atlanta and Cleveland — then you have teams like Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Miami, who likely aren’t going anywhere.

A top-six finish will be tough for the Bulls this year, and that hot start doesn’t seem feasible. Finishing in the top seven-to-10 range for these Bulls is more likely this season, based on injuries, personnel, and the overall competition in the East.