Over the past decade, the Central Division has hosted some of the Eastern Conference’s most competitive squads: The Pacers that nobody messed with (that could have easily won the 2005 title if not for some little skirmish), Detroit’s and its six consecutive Conference Finals appearances, LeBron’s Cavaliers and even the Sam Cassell-Ray Allen-Big Dog Robinson Bucks teams.

During the last few LeBron years, Cleveland dominated the division, the Bulls and Pacers developed young talent, the Pistons screwed rebuilding up by wasting cap space on Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon, and the Bucks remained just good enough to get swept in every first-round series.

Now, though, the division is as competitive as ever from top to bottom. All five teams are either contenders or semi-relevant. Let’s break it down team-by-team, in order of my predictions for where they’ll finish.

1) Chicago Bulls 

Last year: 45-37, 2nd in Central, lost in 2nd round

Much of this roster is the same as last season’s, although there’s one slightly important difference: Derrick Rose will actually be playing basketball. Rose looked explosive in the preseason, and they need him after finishing 23rd in points per possession in 2012-13.

The signing of Mike Dunleavy Jr. could be a sneaky-good acquisition. Dunleavy has been underrated throughout his career, and shot the best three-point percentage of his career last season (42.8%). The Bulls have needed more shooting seemingly every season, particularly to help spread the floor for Rose to slash, and Dunleavy provides that off the bench. He also moves well without the ball, so he should fit perfectly into Tom Thibodeau’s offense.

The key to this team, though, is the expected development of Jimmy Butler. Chicago has been looking for a consistent shooting guard since MJ retired, and Butler looks like he could be a fit. When Thibodeau was running everybody into the ground during the postseason, Butler averaged 13.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and shot 40.5 percent from downtown, all while playing 40.8 minutes per game and admirably guarding LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Deron Williams and Joe Johnson. If he continues to evolve his game, it will add another measure of explosiveness and athleticism that Derrick Rose has been lacking alongside him. 

Final Verdict: This team is built for the postseason, as long as they stay healthy and Thibodeau doesn’t overwork them trying to win games in November instead of June. With a potential crunch-time lineup of Rose, Butler, Luol Deng, Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah, this team has the defensive capability and effort along with enough offensive firepower to dethrone the King James and the Heat.

2) Indiana Pacers 

Last year: 49-32, 1st in Central, lost in East Finals

The Pacers raised expectations for themselves by taking Miami to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals, and only improved in the offseason. The first major move was bringing back Larry Bird as team president. Bird - the only person in NBA history to win an MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year - was the architect behind the construction of this roster. Smartly, the first thing Bird did was re-sign David West for 3 years and $36 million— an absolute no-brainer.

The Pacers also get back Danny Granger, the team’s leading scorer from 2008-12, who will help in two ways assuming they don’t trade him (not necessarily a safe assumption). Most noticeably, he can put the ball in the hoop, which Indiana struggled mightily to do in his absence for most of the regular season. In addition, Granger’s return will either shift Lance Stephenson back to the bench, or Granger himself will play sixth man, bolstering the second unit either way.

Improving the reserve squad, in fact, was Bird’s main stated goal this offseason.  Bird acquired Luis Scola from Phoenix, who will be a massive upgrade over Tyler Hansbrough. Experienced backup C.J. Watson will also serve as an improvement over D.J. Augustin, and Chris Copeland will provide three-point shooting.

Final Verdict: There’s no reason not to expect this team to improve this season, but there are still question marks. Roy Hibbert will need to show he can be a dominant force for more than just a single playoff series, Paul George will need to continue his development and improve his ball-handling and the team will need to score more easily in the half court. The window for this team isn’t as open as it seems considering the upcoming salary cap issues, so now would be a good time for this team to make a run to the Finals.

3) Cleveland Cavaliers 

Last season: 24-58, 5th in Central, missed playoffs

After winning the lottery twice in three seasons, the Cavs are finally ready to make a playoff push. The team has complied young assets, made some shrewd singings and hired a new coach. This is a crucial step for the Cavs, not just for the sake of the rebuilding process, but also in order to prove itself as an appealing destination in case a certain Ohio native decides to return next summer.

Mike Brown returns to the sidelines to preach defense, an area in which the team ranked towards the bottom of the league last year. The front office shocked the league on by selecting Anthony Bennett out of UNLV with the first overall pick in June, but there isn’t the same pressure on him to produce right away as the team expected out of Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson. Finally, the team shrewdly signed Andrew Bynum to a non-guaranteed, incentives-based contract (1 year, $6 million) with a team option for the second year. If Bynum can contribute and play even 60 games and some big playoff minutes (at worst), the deal is a huge bargain. If he can’t, it won’t be a financial burden for the team, and all that juicy cap space they’ve compiled is unaffected. Anderson Varejao’s ability to stay on the court will also be crucial to achieve the success Dan Gilbert hopes LeBron James is looking for, particularly on the defensive end. 

The rest of this team’s season will come down to the continued development of their young assets. Kyrie Irving is already a top-10 offensive player, but needs to take some major steps on defense. Tristan Thompson looks poised for a breakout year after posting 11.7 points and 9.4 boards per game in 2012-13, and made the unprecedented move to change his shooting hand this offseason.

Final Verdict: This team has some promising young talent and a budding superstar. Mike Brown should improve the defense, although the guys around Kyrie will need to be dependable offensive weapons in order to avoid the issue of trying to score points on a team coached by Mike Brown. It’s also unclear whether they’ll be enough outside shooting to spread the floor for Irving and Waiters.

If things go right, Cleveland has a shot to win 45 games and grab a bottom-three playoff spot. Of course, things never go right for Cleveland sports, so Cavs fans should keep their fingers crossed.

4) Detroit Pistons 

Last season: 29-53, 4th in Central, missed playoffs

No team this offseason improved their NBA League Pass potential more than the Detroit Pistons. After playing some of the most unwatchable basketball over the past few seasons, they now field one of the most intriguing lineups in the Association. It will translate to an uptick in wins, but there are still plenty of question marks regarding exactly how the talent will all fit together.

GM Joe Dumars is impatient, and has clearly grown sick of rebuilding and ping-pong balls. After hiring Mo Cheeks as head coach (not exactly the biggest splash), he opened up the checkbook and inked Josh Smith to a 4-year, $54 million deal. The team then swapped young point guards with division foe Milwaukee, acquiring Brandon Jennings for Brandon Knight. In addition, the team acquired three options at the shooting guard spot, bringing back Chauncey Billups, signing Italian League MVP Luigi Datome and drafting Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. All of that doesn’t even include the two biggest components of this team: budding big men Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond, who, along with Smith, have the potential to make up the most imposing frontcourt in the league.

There’s clearly talent here, and athleticism, but there is also plenty of skepticism regarding how it will all fit together. For years, the biggest hit on Smith’s reputation is his propensity to hoist up bad jump shots, especially considering they never go in. He’s really more of a 4 than a 3, and now will be playing on the perimeter and actually be expected to take jumpers.

Similarly, Brandon Jennings is known for putting up bad shots, (unless you like off-the-dribble long twos) and is coming off a season in which he shot under 40 percent from the field on over 15 field goal attempts per game.

Final Verdict: It’s still unclear how Cheeks will be able to create spacing, balance and efficiency in the half-court offense. Either way, this will be one of the most intriguing teams in the league to watch, at least to just see how they try to figure it all out. There’s a high ceiling here, and this could very well be a playoff team, but there will be some growing pains. Also, don’t be surprised if Drummond or Monroe’s name pops up in trade rumors around February.

5) Milwaukee Bucks 

Last season: 38-44, 3rd in Central, lost in 1st round

The Bucks have been stuck in NBA purgatory, finishing ninth, ninth and eighth in the East over the past three seasons. As the summer started and the team lost J.J. Redick to free agency, opted not to re-sign Monta Ellis and shopped Brandon Jennings, it looked as though the team was finally ready for a full rebuild around its young frontcourt, most notably Larry Sanders, and jump into the Andrew Wiggins sweepstakes (which would have been the right move). 

Then, oddly, Milwaukee signed backup center Zaza Pachulia for 3 years and $16 million (because Sanders, Ersan Ilyasova, John Henson,and Ekpe Udoh weren’t enough big men), acquired Caron Butler and shelled out $24 million for O.J. Mayo. Along with the acquisition of Brandon Knight, the Bucks now field a squad that looks to be able to compete for that coveted 8th seed.

It will also be interesting to see how first-round pick Giannis Antetokounmpo looks. Bucks GM John Hammond gambled on the 18-year-old Greek—the youngest player in the league—and it looks as though he’ll actually get some time this season. He’s incredibly raw, but has an outside chance of being the exciting type of player that might make someone want to watch a Bucks game— something the team has been lacking for a while. 

Final Verdict: This team has just enough talent to compete for a playoff spot, but not much more. More importantly, Milwaukee is looking for improvement with some of its young talent, especially Larry Sanders. Believe it or not, he’s actually the franchise player at the moment. 

Reach Staff Writer Michael Corvo here.