The troubles of this debilitating NBA Eastern Conference

So what about this Eastern Conference? It seems with the lost of Bradley Beal, Chris Bosh, and Derrick Rose this is looking more like the "short handed" conference or better yet the "banged up" conference.  A bigger question arouses of can their teams still be playoff contenders this season? The answer is simple. The Eastern Conference at this point is in no way shape or form good at this point. The teams in the Eastern Conference have now handed the baton off to the Cleveland Cavaliers to be the Eastern Conference Champion. The positive about this situation is all three of these teams still have a high chance of making the playoffs this season. The Eastern Conference has a difference of 3 games between the seventh and twelfth seed. That could also mean those teams have alot of pressure. The Bulls are currently in the best position to be a playoff team and with the possibility of the return of Derrick Rose in the next 4-6 weeks, this team could still make a deep run in the playoffs.  This team was built around Derrick Rose but they still have other pieces that can pick up the slack until his return.The Miami Heat on the other hand might have a some trouble in the last 20 plus games of the season. Without Chris Bosh in the line up they will struggle but with the addition of Michael Beasley this team could have some piece there to make it to the playoffs. Also because the Eastern Conference playoff bracket isn't as competitive as the Western Conference the possibility of being a 8th place seed is very high. Switching over to this Washington Wizards team, things haven't been to bright for this team in the past few games. Since the games leading up to the all-star break the Wizards have not looked so hot. Obviously with the lost of Bradley Beal this team is short handed but to have lost 8 of your last 10 games is ridiculous. Especially when its to teams such as Minnesota Timberwolves, Charlotte Bobcats, and Detriot Pistons. This team needs to pick their heads up and realize what there true goal is. They have went from the third seed to sitting a half a game from falling into the six seed. The return of Bradley Beal for this team couldn't be soon enough.