First in the east is definitely there for the Raptors taking: Boston has lost 3 in a row, is about to head out on a 4 game roadtrip, and have an absolutely brutal road stretch awaiting them in March (11-15 on the road, with almost all of those road games outside their time zone). Cleveland has lost 9 of their last 12, and still have two 3 game road-trips and a 6 gamer. They'll get some free agent signing that will help them out before the deadline, but they're way back of the pace they need to be to finish 1st. Just between now and the allstar break, they've got road games in SA, Boston, OKC, plus home games against Miami, Houston and Minnesota.
Toronto's got by far the easiest schedule remaining of those 3, and it may be a long time for the east to be as winnable as it is this year. But it makes a tough choice about whether they should make trades; they've got a couple glaring weaknesses, particularly rebounding support after JV, and 3-point consistency. The roster as composed should be enough to win the conference and maybe even go on a deep playoff run, but obviously isn't going to hold a candle to GSW, or a 'hitting on all cylinders' Cleveland. But there probably isn't an upgrade out there that really moves the needle against an elite team. Is it worth trading some of the promising bench for a playoff rental? Or better to hold onto the current rotation?
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