The NBA central division has improved dramatically with the blockbuster trade between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Utah Jazz. With the Milwaukee Bucks already title contenders, and the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers retooling for long-term success, I decided to evaluate these teams from two different viewpoints: 1) How these teams may finish next season within the division 2) How the division standings may look two seasons from now.
Taking this approach has obvious flaws. While we know the assets each team has at its disposal, each team’s current cap space, and some general assumptions about what each team may do given their current roster construction, predicting what teams will do with their assets is guesswork at best.