• The Milwaukee Bucks pulled off an incredible trade to land Damian Lillard for Jrue Holiday, Grayson Allen, and picks
• The Blazers flipped Holiday into a big package from the Boston Celtics
• Fans can’t decide who’s better between Milwaukee with Dame or Boston with Jrue
The Eastern Conference was fully shaken up this week with a series of blockbuster trades that have made the two best teams even stronger. The Milwaukee Bucks sniped the Heat to land Damian Lillard but had to part with Jrue Holiday to make the trade work. The Celtics swooped in to quickly close a deal to land Holiday for a sizeable trade package.
Both teams are looking stacked ahead of next season but fans cannot decide which team would beat the other when the Bucks and Celtics meet.
Call it right now… save the receipts:
Who wins in a 7-game series? Celtics or Bucks? pic.twitter.com/Px0wslzRnk
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) October 1, 2023
It’ll be hard for fans to agree, but it’s fun to see answers swing both ways and make the battle for the top of the East exciting.
Fans Are Split Evenly
It’s hard for fans to decide who comes out on top, but one fan thinks the Celtics have a massive advantage because Holiday can lock up Lillard.
Celtics in 6. Jrue 🔐 Lillard
— mr.perfect 🍀 (@emswym) October 1, 2023
Another fan thinks the championship DNA of the Bucks roster will prevail over the perennial runner-ups in the Celtics.
Bucks have done it before, Boston's just been there
I like the Bucks
— Logan Basketball🏀 (@LoganMcBucket) October 1, 2023
Similarly, one fan thinks the Celtics’ consistency in beating Eastern Conference teams will be their advantage.
Boston runs the east as usual bookmark this pic.twitter.com/OHslzcGsZv
— CELTICS ☘️ BANNER 19 (@BiggLynch) October 1, 2023
Another fan made a simple proclamation, saying the Bucks will win in six games.
Bucks in 6
— Dominique (@iWorkTheHardest) October 2, 2023
One fan went a step ahead and said Boston will win the NBA Championship this season.
https://twitter.com/OGgomesy/status/1708532840588083584
More fans chimed in to support Milwaukee.
Bucks ong
— jaylen (@KlTR0N) October 1, 2023
A fan thinks it’s all pointless, as both teams will run into the reigning champions Nuggets and Nikola Jokic, and not prevail.
All this just to lose to Jokic pic.twitter.com/b6Lb4K3Rsu
— Ding (@DingDaVinci) October 1, 2023
The battle for the East will be incredible to watch. We still have to see how fringe contenders respond to these moves being made. There isn’t a big name available on the market anymore, that can realistically swing the pecking order in the East for any of the other teams.
How Will The Rest Of The East Play Out?
Up until now, the East was mostly a four-horse race which also included the Heat and the 76ers. Outside of them, the Knicks and Cavaliers are also well-positioned to take a big leap this year.
The Heat have had the worst offseason in the NBA. My mind cannot be changed. They took free agency lightly in hopes of landing Lillard and it backfired on them. They lost Max Strus and Gabe Vincent while upsetting Tyler Herro by trying to trade him away for the second offseason in a row. Their biggest signings were Thomas Bryant and Josh Richardson. They are materially worse, but the Heat setup can yield results even when nobody expects them to.
The 76ers still have a trade chip in James Harden, but it doesn’t seem like anything of value is on the market right now. They will likely play out the season with Harden and hope to get a deal in February unless the situation blows up completely and the team has to trade him for pennies on the dollar. MVP Joel Embiid is not going to have the firepower he needs to compete with the Bucks and the Celtics.
The Cavs are poised to be a great regular-season team once again. Donovan Mitchell was All-NBA while Evan Mobley and Darius Garland still have a lot of potential to be unlocked. They took Max Strus from the Heat and hope his stable wing play will make them a more complete team than the one that played last season.
The Knicks are in a holding pattern until they can package their prime assets for a superstar and push for a title. Until then, they’re likely going to fight hard to have a home-court seed in the season. Either way, Julius Randle is a guaranteed regular-season performer and Jalen Brunson proved he’s a star by leading the team in the playoffs.
The Bucks and Celtics have competition, but they currently tower over the competition below them.
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