The Eastern Conference has been Cleveland's for the taking, but the Raptors have a real shot at the top seed. Let's look at the odds.
If you go back and look at the preseason predictions for the Toronto Raptors (not excluding the ones for this savant-ish website), you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who picked the team to win the Eastern Conference. That glory was rightfully reserved for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were fresh off winning two games in the NBA Finals without two of their stars and looked primed to dominate a weak conference.