Team to beat: Before selecting a team to beat let’s set the scene first.  This is a beast of a Division, last season the Atlantic was the strongest by far in the NLL with a win % of 0.62.  That’s tough.  And its not hard to see why with 4 of the top 6 in the East in Phi, NY, Bos & Bkn.  All of these teams finishing with at least 50 wins.  So who is the team to beat this year?  Last year Philly topped the pack with 64 wins followed by the Knicks at 62.  Both of these teams have essentially kept their core together so is it between these two?  The Knicks moving on from Millsap and the Sixers moving on from Favors being the major moves.  For this article I am selecting the Knicks who last season came within a Kyrie Irving jumpshot of winning the NLL Title.  With arguably the NLL’s best backcourt of Harden and Irving this team is extremely hard to beat in a guard dominated league -regardless of who else is on the team.  But, after coming so close last season gm dunadan and the Knicks are all in to win it all this year with a team salary right up against the hard cap and lineup full of veterans and proven NLL players including Howard, Randolph, Ginobili, Terry, Josh Smith and Nene.  The only danger I see to the Knicks success is if old age or injury sets in quicker than expected for the aforementioned vets leaving Harden and Irving too much to do to drag the geriatrics over the line.  It’s pretty much now or never for NY as gm dunadan still reeling from his second loss in the Finals to gm leeroy and the Spurs looks to finally get his maiden NLL Title.

Key story line:  Arms Race.  Yup that’s right, in this Division it really is.  It’s a wonder whether it can continue forever but it seems that at least for this season we will see another dominant display with the top 4 teams featuring a number of all-star calibre weapons.  When you travel through the Atlantic it’s really like you’re entering a battlefield night after night.  I mean these guys are loaded.  The Knicks have Harden, Irving, Howard, the Sixers have Kawhi, Lillard & Gobert, the Celtics have Durant, Lopez and Lowry and the Nets have Jordan, DeRozan and Bledsoe.  Oh yeah and then you have the minnow of the Division the Raptors led by Beal and Rondo.  If you don’t come packing a punch you’re gonna get knocked out early and often.

The Sixers led by gm vt are a perennial contender.  This gm has an uncanny knack of getting the sunny side of every deal he makes as he continues to cycle through his roster offloading players just in time before they decline whilst riding off with the next big thing.  With the ability to contend and build for the future all at once this guy really is a master gm.  It must be said though that it does seem that perhaps for the first time in quite some time this Philly team looks a little light on after you get past the big 3.  With no clear starting PF, this usually very deep team now also lists backups such as Holmes, Muscala, Oubre, Barton and Collison – not quite instilling the fear in opponents that Philly teams of years gone by may have.

We now move on to the Brooklyn Nets led by gm wizkid.  This guy is a coding genius and it seems a master team builder as well.  After inheriting the ruins of another franchise destroyed by the ‘great proid’ a few years ago, wizkid has pulled off savvy deal after savvy deal to build a 50 win team.  Major changes from last season include moving on from Kevin Love in exchange for Gallinari and Jabari Parker.  With a healthy Middleton and Gallinari the Nets now have a formidable starting 5.  However they will now head into the season with a cloud hanging over their starting PG, Bledsoe who has indicated that he would prefer to play elsewhere.  This really needs to be resolved ASAP as the Nets don’t look nearly as strong without Eric at the point.  Whether wizkid pulls the trigger on a deal or plays the wait and see approach may end up becoming a major storyline in Brooklyn the longer this standoff continues.  The development of youngsters LaVert and RHJ as well as a healthy Parker will be key and perhaps wizkid may need to dangle one of these guys should the Bledsoe saga drag on.

The Celtics just like the Knicks, Sixers and Nets also have a power packed starting 5.   With perhaps the smoothest scorer in Durant they are always in win now mode.  The recent addition of Favors may well turn out to be a masterstroke forming a formidable frontcourt duo with Lopez.  And with Lowry and Iguodala in the back court the C’s can go toe to toe with anyone.  Gm jmac once again proving he is hard to beat in the offseason adding Nick Young and securing the signatures of all his main guys including Tyreke Evans who looks like he may be ready to return to his best form.  But this team really is all about KD, if he stays healthy they will win 50 games and if jmac can get the team to gel they could easily lift that to 60.

And lastly, we have Toronto led by gm spackler.  Unfortunately this guy has to date been the whipping boy of the Division.  And with not a lot of ‘big impact’ roster change since last season it would be safe a bet to assume this will continue.  A lot will depend on the health of Bradley Beal who is clearly the teams best player.  Can Rajon Rondo help get more W’s – a lot will depend on health and how well he meshes with Beal.  The Raptors also have both Bogdanovic’s – if they can develop along with Dunn and Hernangomez we may see quite a competitive team in ‘the North’.  Gm spackler will likely play the wait and see game, but if this thing starts off badly, the Raps are likely an early tanking candidate and we may well see vets like Chandler, Rondo and Crowder packing their bags for a contender.

Five best players:

1) Celtics SF Kevin Durant – Kevin Durant is a scoring machine.  It really isn’t fair.  This guy is 7 feet tall, has the handles of a shooting guard and can shoot the ball as well as anybody in this league, (from anywhere).  Rumor has it he plays defense now too, making him even scarier!  Ironically the last time KD went to the NLL Finals was with Division rivals the Raptors in 2009, (in his 2^nd season) as he led the team to the NLL Title alongside Andrew Bynum and Brandon Roy!  How quickly things change in the NLL!  We all remember the trade heist gm jmac pulled a few years later convincing previous Raps management to send KD over for Batum and Marc Gasol.  The perennial question in Boston still applies, “Has jmac surrounded KD with enough talent to win his 2^nd NLL Title”?  Time will tell.

2) Knicks PG Kyrie Irving – Irving was arguably the best PG in the NLL last season.  And if he had made ‘that’ jumpshot in game 6 we would likely be talking about him as an NLL Champion.  But as they say it’s a make or miss league and the difference between success and failure can be as little as inches.  For Irving and the Knicks this season is about revenge and a chance to make things right.  One can’t help but think that they must win it all this year or the season will be called a failure, and Irving will once again hold himself accountable.  Kyrie needs to stay healthy and dominate games along with Harden for the Knicks to achieve their ultimate goal.

3) Sixers SF Kawhi Leonard – “Flashback : 2011/12/29 – The Charlotte Bobcats send Kawhi Leonard to the Philadelphia 76ers.  The Philadelphia 76ers send Marcus Morris to the Charlotte Bobcats”.  This is the sort of genius that helps team building.  After years of underperforming Leonard is finally delivering for the Sixers and this season he must step it up again for this team to reach their ultimate goal of an NLL Title.  Last season, Leonard somewhat faded in the playoffs with his averages dropping from 21/5 to 15/4 before an untimely injury forced him to miss key games ultimately leading to the Sixers losing in the EC Semis after holding a 3-1 lead.  This is something that has happened before in Philly and gm vt will be looking at Leonard to get healthy and stay healthy to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

4) Knicks SG James Harden – “Flashback : 2009 - The New York Knicks send Ronnie Price and Rudy Gay to the Utah Jazz. The Utah Jazz send James Harden to the New York Knicks.”.  Again, this stuff doesn’t happen by fluke.  Harden joined the Knicks in 2009 and has steadily improved ever since.  Last season he was an MVP candidate and alongside Irving makes the Knicks almost un-guardable.  A key for Harden has been his durability playing in all 82 games for the past 3 seasons.  If he can do this again there is no doubt that the Knicks should be considered the favourites out East.

5) Nets SG DeMar DeRozan – After coming over in a trade from Orlando, DeMar DeRozan elevated his game to the highest level we have seen leading the Nets to their best season finish in 5 years and officially announcing them as contenders in the arms race that is the Atlantic Division.  Paired with Bledsoe and now with shooters up front in Gallinari and Middleton look for them to continue their ascension this season as DeRozan earns his 4^th All-Star selection.

Sleeper: Its hard to find a sleeper in this Division with 4 teams staking a claim for 50+ wins and at least two with Title expectations.  But I’m going to select the Nets.  Gm wizkid has built what could be the best starting 5 in the Atlantic from top to bottom – yup, he has!  And that’s saying something.  I can’t see the Raps making much noise and the Sixers, Knicks and Celts could hardly be considered sleepers.  If Bledsoe can get his act together the Nets have the talent, shooting and rebounding to match it with anyone.

Breakout star: They say that the big man is back in the NLL.  Rudy Gobert is now the undisputed big man in Philadelphia.  With backups like Ed Davis and rookie Zach Collins the Sixers will be looking to Rudy to really elevate is game this season as he sees major minutes.  Last season he only started in 48 games averaging 6.6 points and 10.5 rebounds in 26 minutes per game.  I predict this season Gobert averages close to 15/15 with 3 blocks per game.  His progress or lack thereof being closely tied to how successful this Sixers team will be this season.

Best newcomer: All the gms in this Division have been in the NLL for quite some time so we scoured the teams to find a player which may fit this bill.  Candidates new to the Division included Gallinari in BKN or perhaps Favors in BOS but we have gone with rookie Bogdan Bogdanovic in Toronto.  After a successful career in Europe this guy has finally headed on over to the NLL.  An excellent shooter I predict Bogdan makes his way into the Raptors starting 5 sooner rather than later as gm spackler promotes his youth and dumps the like of Crowder for future assets.  Bogdan has the tools to become a starting calibre player in this league sooner rather than later – he just needs playing time.

Prediction: I feel like it’s all about New York this season.  Gm dunadan has foregone the future and pushed all his chips to the middle of the table surrounding his All-star backcourt with proven NLL vets.  Only an NLL Title will make this season a success for the Knicks.  Coming in 2^nd it’s going to be a tight race between PHI, BOS and BKN and a lot will depend on player health and team chemistry.  I feel as though if Gobert takes the next step and Kawhi gets healthy it could be PHI.  Similarly BKN, pending the Bledsoe situation could well take the next step and finally does KD have enough talent to help him push this team closer to a Title?  For now I’m going to go with BKN to finish 2^nd, PHI 3^rd and BOS 4^th.  The Raps will come in a distant 5^th in a season where they should focus on developing youth and collecting future assets.