For your information, I asked the editors of the sports section in "Israel Hayom" not to post this column on the website, and to save it only for the printed newspaper.
Whether they agreed to the extraordinary request or not - I can't tell at the time of writing these lines, but I can easily explain the reason: this is a prediction column (the first of three planned) for the upcoming NBA season, and I don't know a league more impossible to predict in advance .
So I would prefer that in order to trace the documentation someone would have to take their feet to the Ariela house, and not be satisfied with a few easy clicks.
Anyway, it probably didn't happen.
You don't have to wait for some special hack or disappointment to make a big mistake.
Between the injuries and demands for trades, the NBA league provides more than enough plot twists every year, which make up a scenario that just a few months ago was unthinkable.
Bradley Beal.
Will he arrange another playoff for Danny's friends?, Photo: AP
To all this, add how the 22/23 season looks right now, a little more than two weeks to the first Jump Bowl.
Five teams are given odds of between 5 and 8 to win the championship at the leading bookmakers in Las Vegas.
Never has a season started with so many favorites.
This is not an exaggeration - if these ratios remain until the start of the first game, it will be the first time since they started keeping this information, in the mid-80s, that no team gets less than a 1 to 5 ratio.
But it is what it is, and with that we will win - or be deceived.
So as a start we will give you, in the place we have left, the forecast for the East.
And we will do it in "tiers" (layers).
Tatum.
Boston wants to go all the way, photo: AP
Tier 4: No chance for the playoffs
Teams: Indiana Pacers, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons
Why pay attention?
Unlike the Pacers - who are top candidates to be involved during the season in several trades of proven players (mainly Buddy Hield and Myles Turner) in exchange for draft picks - Orlando and Detroit have quite a few promising youngsters, and there's a good chance that they will at least be fun to watch.
Lonzo Ball.
Injured in the game against the Rockets, photo: Reuters
Tier 3: Playin will be a success
Teams: Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hor Nets, New York Knicks
Why pay attention?
to Danny Avdia, who continues to carve out a central role for himself in the capital;
Lamelo Ball, who continues to climb towards superstar status in the league;
But mostly because the Knicks - with Julius Randle, RJ Barrett and newly acquired Jaylen Brunson - will try to become the first team ever to make the playoffs led by three lefties.
Yes, we checked it.
Danny Avdia.
Pay attention to him too, photo: AP
Tier 2: Playin will be a disappointment
Teams: Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers
Why pay attention?
that the Bulls, without the injured Lonzo Ball, may give up the season and trade a star or two;
that Toronto did not trade for Kevin Durant mainly because it was not ready to give up Scotty Barnes - so it will be fascinating to see how good he will be in his second season;
And also that Atlanta (Dejonta Murray) and Cleveland (Donovan Mitchell) brought in All-Stars in trades this summer, but may find themselves playing well and still finishing around seventh place.
The east is very deep.
Mitchell.
The Cubs' new hope, photo: AP
Tier 1: candidacy for the championship
Teams: Miami Heat, Philadelphia Sixers, Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics
Why pay attention?
that Miami seems unrelated to this list, but it won 53 games last year and was only eliminated in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals;
Philadelphia is almost impeccably built;
That Brooklyn's ceiling is a championship, but its floor is a complete wreck.
Durant.
Maybe this year?, Photo: AP
that Milwaukee's staff is no less good than the one with which it won the championship a year and a half ago;
And indeed Boston, with all the commotion surrounding the suspension of coach Ima Yudoka and the injuries to Rhett Williams (critical) and Danilo Gallinari (nasty), is still the favorite according to Vegas - but could just as well finish 5th in the East and be eliminated in the first round.
Because this is the world of the NBA many times, with what happened yesterday - you can wrap the fish of tomorrow.
were we wrong
We will fix it!
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