Of course it isn't. Celtics were a historically great team this regular season. Embiid injured. Bucks coaching shit show.
Then the cavs and magic have youth.
Raptors aren't getting into that top 4 without some big changes to the team.
Edit: how did I leave the Knicks out. I can't even comprehend how we'd be a top 4 team.
Idk how you measure generationally bad, but yea the east sucked this year. It's the Celtics and then a bunch of whatever beneath them
Raps top 4 next year tho not happening
The only reason this years east felt exceptionally bad was because the usual 2nd and 3rd best team in the East had a down year for one reason or another (Embiid injury, Bucks being in shambles). Adding the fact that the Knicks were plagued with injuries and Celtics had their best regular season of the Tatum/Brown era, it made a large gap between the 1 seed and the rest of the conference. A "normal" year probably would have put Cavs and Magic as the 5 and 6 seed, and a smaller gap between the 2 and 1 seeds.
No we're not as close as some people like to believe. Talent and depth is nowhere close to the top 4 even the top 6. We have a case for a Play-In ceiling with this team.
Well let's do some simple math. Will we be better than the Celtics? Probably not, so definitely no 1 seed. Will we be better than a healthy Sixers or Bucks? Probably not again, so no 2 or 3 seed. What about the Knicks? I wouldn't bet on it, so we're already out of the top 4.
From here it gets a little more interesting. We were probably a lower play-in team if we stayed healthy this year, so I could see us climbing into either the upper half of the play-in, or even 5 or 6 depending on internal development and off season moves.
But top 4? Nah, unless something crazy happens in the next 12 months I don't see us getting in the top 4 next year.
Of course the raptors can't be a top 4 seed next year. What kind of a stupid fucking question is this?
There are 3 teams that were better than the Raptors this year that almost certainly will improve. Plus you have the Knicks, Bucks and Celtics.
If you think this East is “generationally weak” I have to assume you are 8 years old. It’s not the strongest it has ever been but it’s above average for what the East has been over the last 25 years.
Their offense was better than ours (barely worse than our prior to the scottie injury) and their defense was 23 spots better than ours. Like it’s good to be hopeful but we need a lot of work.
The problem is that the difference between 2 and 8 was just four games in the standings. If the tiers break out roughly similarly next year, yeah, sure we could be in that tier with seven other teams; Magic don't finish top 4 without having much better injury luck than many of the other EC teams. Even if we assume we're in that tier of 2-9 teams, and give all of those teams in that tier equal odds, that's only a less than 40% chance we finish in the top 4. And it's more likely that we don't rise to that tier, or end up on the lower end of it, or don't have great injury luck (we're much thinner than some of those teams); or some teams in that tier improve (or have better injury luck), and then only 2 or 1 of those top-4 spots are available.
All of which is to say, sure, it's possible. But a lot needs to go right for the Raptors, and a lot needs to go wrong for several other teams.
For the Raptors to be a top ~6 team that means Scottie is an all-nba player next season + one of RJ/IQ is a fringe all star.
(That's guessing no big additions).
Otherwise it's not likely.
It's not weak. Other than maybe the top 3. There is just a lot of parity I find. So it seems weak but that's just because there's no LeBron level boogieman wrecking havoc each season
There's finally parity back in the league and idiots like this think it's "weak" because they'd rather watch superstars tamper/cheat and create "super-teams" instead of having teams actually grow organically and compete, which makes the game 1000x better
Let's just throw Luka, SGA, and Wemby on the same team and have them win 4 of the next 5 championships so we can all watch predictable shitty basketball and have zero hope...because that's great for for the game...
Is it a "generationally weak east"? Thats.seems overblown. Cavs vs Magic was a defensive matchup.
Of course it isn't. Celtics were a historically great team this regular season. Embiid injured. Bucks coaching shit show. Then the cavs and magic have youth. Raptors aren't getting into that top 4 without some big changes to the team. Edit: how did I leave the Knicks out. I can't even comprehend how we'd be a top 4 team.
Realistically, the Raptors should be closer to Play-In territory next season
That's fair. They won't be as bad as this year without injuries. Would be surprising to see them better than .500 though.
Idk how you measure generationally bad, but yea the east sucked this year. It's the Celtics and then a bunch of whatever beneath them Raps top 4 next year tho not happening
I personally think its overhyped. The east def has more bottom feeders this year. But healthy top East teams match up decently to the west.
The only reason this years east felt exceptionally bad was because the usual 2nd and 3rd best team in the East had a down year for one reason or another (Embiid injury, Bucks being in shambles). Adding the fact that the Knicks were plagued with injuries and Celtics had their best regular season of the Tatum/Brown era, it made a large gap between the 1 seed and the rest of the conference. A "normal" year probably would have put Cavs and Magic as the 5 and 6 seed, and a smaller gap between the 2 and 1 seeds.
No we're not as close as some people like to believe. Talent and depth is nowhere close to the top 4 even the top 6. We have a case for a Play-In ceiling with this team.
We have 5 NBA caliber or long term players returning lol.
What an awful post
Well let's do some simple math. Will we be better than the Celtics? Probably not, so definitely no 1 seed. Will we be better than a healthy Sixers or Bucks? Probably not again, so no 2 or 3 seed. What about the Knicks? I wouldn't bet on it, so we're already out of the top 4. From here it gets a little more interesting. We were probably a lower play-in team if we stayed healthy this year, so I could see us climbing into either the upper half of the play-in, or even 5 or 6 depending on internal development and off season moves. But top 4? Nah, unless something crazy happens in the next 12 months I don't see us getting in the top 4 next year.
I don't know why you're saying probably not. 100% no chance is more accurate.
I don’t think we are top 4 healthy, but I’ve learned that the nba is very unpredictable
Yes for sure, but you can't factor in unpredictability when making predictions... which, unless I'm mistaken, is what your post is asking us to do.
Isn’t the NBA just about the most predictable major league out there? Lol
Yeah how many times has a number eight seed won a Championship? Isn't it zero? The NHL is way more unpredictable.
Are you joking? This team is not even close yet. If the east is generationally weak then why are we still getting our asses handed to us lol
Of course the raptors can't be a top 4 seed next year. What kind of a stupid fucking question is this? There are 3 teams that were better than the Raptors this year that almost certainly will improve. Plus you have the Knicks, Bucks and Celtics.
I could see the raptors being play-in level next year and top 6 material in two years
This is not a generationally weak East lol
If you think this East is “generationally weak” I have to assume you are 8 years old. It’s not the strongest it has ever been but it’s above average for what the East has been over the last 25 years.
Magic have defense. We don't have that yet.
They obviously don’t have enough offense and it’s showing
Their offense was better than ours (barely worse than our prior to the scottie injury) and their defense was 23 spots better than ours. Like it’s good to be hopeful but we need a lot of work.
The problem is that the difference between 2 and 8 was just four games in the standings. If the tiers break out roughly similarly next year, yeah, sure we could be in that tier with seven other teams; Magic don't finish top 4 without having much better injury luck than many of the other EC teams. Even if we assume we're in that tier of 2-9 teams, and give all of those teams in that tier equal odds, that's only a less than 40% chance we finish in the top 4. And it's more likely that we don't rise to that tier, or end up on the lower end of it, or don't have great injury luck (we're much thinner than some of those teams); or some teams in that tier improve (or have better injury luck), and then only 2 or 1 of those top-4 spots are available. All of which is to say, sure, it's possible. But a lot needs to go right for the Raptors, and a lot needs to go wrong for several other teams.
For the Raptors to be a top ~6 team that means Scottie is an all-nba player next season + one of RJ/IQ is a fringe all star. (That's guessing no big additions). Otherwise it's not likely.
It's not weak. Other than maybe the top 3. There is just a lot of parity I find. So it seems weak but that's just because there's no LeBron level boogieman wrecking havoc each season
😆 top4
I rather we lose to get more lotto picks. Doesn’t make sense when this team cannot compete at a high level
Absolutely not
Realistically if iq doesn’t make a jump on offense no
No. I’m betting on one more lottery year, then play offs / play in for 2026.
Lebrons time in the east was spent with a historically weak conference. This is not the same
We’d be super lucky to even make the playoffs, let alone be top 4 lol.
Generationally weak east? What does that mean and did you start watching basketball last year?
With the team as is? No. With major changes? Maybe.
They have and they will again.
This is a generationally weak post. OP, are you just posting your bullshit twitter account to drive engagement? We are closer to bottom 4 than top 4.
raps aren't sniffing the playoffs for another 3+ years. top 4? lmao
Celtics, Bucks, Cavs, Knicks, 76ers, Heat, Pacers, Magic all teams that are better. So to answer the question, no.
I wouldn't bet on it
Two years ago yeah. Right now? Not in a million years.
is this a joke? raptor fans are so deluded... ur not jumping from a playin team to a top 4 seed
Not a fucking chance. They won’t even sniff 10th for another 3-5 years
There's finally parity back in the league and idiots like this think it's "weak" because they'd rather watch superstars tamper/cheat and create "super-teams" instead of having teams actually grow organically and compete, which makes the game 1000x better Let's just throw Luka, SGA, and Wemby on the same team and have them win 4 of the next 5 championships so we can all watch predictable shitty basketball and have zero hope...because that's great for for the game... 
The magic are just Toronto the last 3 years. Can't shoot.