Preview 2021: East / Central

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 6. CHI, Tad

  • 2020: 93-46-5 (2)
  • 2019: 127-59-3 (2)
  • aODE: 8 / 6 / 8

Without much preamble, this is the most consistently winning team in RDA. CHI has a combined regular season record of 220-105-8, good for first overall in our young league. The kings of the Central division have proven their bonafides as top contenders through superior coaching and a deep roster that is devoid of stars but solid in chemistry and execution. Despite an upset loss to eventual Finals participant MIL, CHI is heading into 2021 as one of the favorites for the next title.

This veteran-laden group is headed by Jrue Holiday, DeMar DeRozan, Eric Bledsoe, Jonas Valanciunas, and John Wall — acquired in March via trade. All these guys know how to play and familiar names like Danilo Gallinari, Rudy Gay, Goran Dragic, and Kelly Olynyk round out the roster. The only under-thirty key contributor is Delon Wright, and possibly twenty-seven year old Kris Dunn if he can get healthy next season.

One of the secret sauces to CHI’s winning formula is Games Played, where they ranked first in the league with 574 — LAC was next with 571 — which gavee them a plus seventeen percent GP advantage over the league average. Just getting guys on the floor and playing can’t be discounted as a winning strategy.

Looking at ODE for the 2020 season, CHI was tops in points and rebounds, while being ranked top five in six different categories. However, adjusted down to 475 GP, those ranks lower a bit, even though that still left CHI top-eight in all three offensive, defensive, and efficiency ratings. With a win-now formula and a proclivity for savvy veterans, CHI have their eyes set on more postseason success and a ring in their immediate future.


7. CLE, Michael

  • 2020: 61-79-4 (21)
  • 2019: 98-90-1 (14)
  • aODE: 21 / 17 / 27

In 2019, CLE was a solid if unspectacular playoff team, winning slightly more than half their games but not threatening for a title. After falling out of the playoff picture last season though, they are now more focused on building out their young core.

The starting five should be in good shape with Markelle Fultz and Darius Garland in the backcourt, flanked by Andrew Wiggins and PJ Washington on the wings. (Recall that Garland and Washington were brought in in-exchange for Zach LaVine and Josh Richardson.) Myles Turner is an outstanding fantasy center, almost single-handedly taking CLE to a top five ranking in blocks. And that starting fivesome is young, with Wiggins being the old man of the group at twenty-six.

All that means CLE has plenty of room to grow in upcoming years, especially with the rest of the roster begging for more depth and talent. The hope is that Mo Bamba, Harry Giles, or Aaron Nesmith — acquired along with a first-rounder for Dillon Brooks — can really step it up soon. The bench is definitely weak, lacking anyone scoring even over five points a game, aside from Bamba. Three first-rounders in the upcoming draft will help, as CLE will pick at no. 10, 17, and 27.

Aside from the outright tanking teams, CLE had one of the lower Games Played on the season — ranking twenty-fourth overall — and even adjusted to 475 GP, they don’t feature a lot of statistical strengths aside from blocks. They are almost league average shooting from distance and the free-throw line, but their overall FG% is pretty bad. Still, this is a growth-orientated team with an undefined future. A lot is riding on Garland in his upcoming third season, and if he can prove that he’s a franchise-type player, CLE will have something very exciting to build around.

8. DET, Tony

  • 2020: 84-56-4 (9)
  • 2019: 120-65-4 (5)
  • aODE: 12 / 19 / 13

Exhibiting patience and faith in their season-to-season progress, DET has been RDA’s third-best regular season team over two seasons at 204-121-8, good for a 0.628 winning percentage. They lack a division title to show for their efforts — CHI has been a slightly better regular season team — but are clearly in the conversation as one of the better teams in the league. Losing in round-one of the playoffs to division-mate MIL stung a little but that should just give DET more motivation to improve.

Twenty-two year old Collin Sexton really jumped up a level last year, throwing in nearly twenty-four points per game on excellent percentages. That scoring mark was good enough to overtake Nikola Vucevic for the team lead, and made up for a bit of overall stagnation from Pascal Siakam. With Sexton, Vucevic, Siakam, and Buddy Hield as its core four, DET was able to combine their production with a top-ten Games Played mark to grind out wins and continue fighting in an ultra-tough Central division that features five franchises that have all been playoff worthy at least once.

Statistically, DET is top-ten ranked in four categories: PTS, 3PT, FT%, and REB. What they are really lacking however, is some sort of defensive presence at the rim and better shooting from everyone, especially Hield. However, with only one first-round pick in the next three years, DET is a little pressed for extra assets. They do have some additional second-rounders to wheel and deal and a slew of useful veterans — Elfrid Payton, Tristan Thompson, Avery Bradley, Pat Connaughton, Ben McLemore, etc. — but there isn’t much in the internal growth department outside of Sexton, Jalen Brunson, and Oshae Brissett.

What can GM Tony do to improve upon the current build? Being a consistent playoff contender isn’t anything to scoff at, but can Sexton take his game up another level and bring DET along for the ride and contend for a ring?

9. IND, Zac

  • 2020: 47-96-1 (26)
  • 2019: 120-66-3 (7)
  • aODE: 26 / 26 / 2

After a stellar first season that saw IND finish as one of the better teams in the league, GM Zac took a real about-face and went into tanking mode, moving for multiple future firsts while divesting themselves of everyone that wasn’t Jaren Jackson, John Collins, DeAndre Ayton, or Aaron Holiday. Perhaps fueled by the injury to Jackson and the slow sophomore start by Ayton — or maybe by the presence of promising 2020 rookies Saddiq Bey (RD1.15) and Theo Maledon (RD1.24) — IND went all-in on a youth movement.

Eleven 2020 trades later, IND had acquired five extra first-rounders in the next four seasons, and after the draft lottery, was sitting in the enviable position of having both the no.3 and no.4 selections in the upcoming 2021 draft.

With the tank job in full effect, the question is if IND is ready to start roster balancing or if they’re still in talent acquisition mode. One key pickup from all those trades could be Kevin Porter Jr. — acquired for a future first — who actually led IND in minutes last season and could possibly evolve into a number-one scoring option on the wing. IND will need that from Porter Jr. since, as currently constructed, they are somewhat frontcourt heavy and in dire need of shot-creation and guards.

With one of the lower Games Played logged last season, IND was focused on getting to a higher draft position and they succeeded with aplomb. It’s not worth even looking at IND’s ODE splits last season, as the focus was on losing anyway. The upcoming draft will go a long way toward determining how soon this young bunch can get back to postseason contention. Given some luck with health — mostly surrounding Jackson — IND could definitely see the postseason again sooner than later.

10. MIL, Dr. Zev

  • 2020: 94-49-1 (3)
  • 2019: 48-139-2 (30)
  • aODE: 1 / 1 / 29

There were a lot of jokes at MIL’s expense as the 2019 season wound down. What was MIL doing buying veterans and selling draft picks? Shouldn’t the worst team in the league do the opposite? Well, after a worst-to-third regular season turnaround and a Finals appearance, no one is laughing now. MIL took their postseason seventh-seed — an unfortunate side effect of postseason seeding rules — and rampaged past DET, CHI, and WAS on the way to the Finals versus eventual champion DEN. Despite that disappointing loss, there’s a great chance MIL will be right back as a title favorite next season.

MIL had an adjusted ODE split of 1 / 1 / 29, meaning they were an incredible first-ranked in both offensive and defensive ratings. By category, they were top ranked in AST, STL, and 3PT, plus top-five showins in PTS, REB, and BLK. MIL's main area of improvement would be from the line, as they are only average there.

A whopping twenty-one trades in 2020 — good for thirty-four total, second all-time only to MEM — resulted in GM Zev completely re-imagining his team. The only 2019 players that remained was Fred VanVleet, Draymond Green, Brook Lopez, and Chris Boucher. Out the door went former All-Stars like Klay Thompson and John Wall but in exchange came back Russell Westbrook, Mike Conley, Kevin Love, and Terry Rozier, helping to make MIL one of the deepest teams in the league. MIL went a full twelve deep with their lineup, and used a whopping 549 GP — fourth-most in the league — to power themselves through the season.

There’s no signs of MIL having any sort of drop off next year, and despite only a lone round-two pick over the next three years, MIL will actively be working toward not just another Finals appearance, but a title this season. Congrats to Dr. Zev for showing us how a proper franchise resuscitation can be done!