I want to see part IV.

[MJ Truth]

Which one do you have the problem with?

Both. Neither of these teams is stopping Cleveland from going to the Finals next season, Philadelphia isn't even relevant in that type of discussion. Even if Embiid and Simmons maintain 100% health from here on out (doubtful but let's go with it), they're not going to be contending until the natural fall off of LeBron anyway (assuming he ever does fall off lol).

Milwaukee is close/closer, but not next year, and just based off current personnel and expected individual improvements of Giannis, Thon, Jabari, etc., I don't imagine 2019 either. I don't see anyone in the East stopping part four, maybe San Antonio could throw a wrench in the West. I'm not as high on long term potential (generally speaking) than many on this site though.

 

[Malta]

Both. Neither of these teams is stopping Cleveland from going to the Finals next season, Philadelphia isn't even relevant in that type of discussion. Even if Embiid and Simmons maintain 100% health from here on out (doubtful but let's go with it), they're not going to be contending until the natural fall off of LeBron anyway (assuming he ever does fall off lol).

Milwaukee is close/closer, but not next year, and just based off current personnel and expected individual improvements of Giannis, Thon, Jabari, etc., I don't imagine 2019 either. I don't see anyone in the East stopping part four, maybe San Antonio could throw a wrench in the West. I'm not as high on long term potential (generally speaking) than many on this site though.

Philly is completely dependent on Embiid being healthy when it comes to any of these discussions and their future, he's a generational talent. We've already seen a decline in LeBron's defense, who knows what he'll look like next year or the year after.

If we're talking solely next year then the Wiz are the team that has the biggest chance of beating the Cavs in a series, provided they can add to their bench this summer. The Bucks have the talent to push them, especially if their young guys can improve, they would have been a 50 win team this year if Middleton had been there from the start so it's hard to gauge just how good they can be since they didn't have two main pieces of their core on the court at the same time.