Watch: Windhorst, MacMahon and Goodwill break down the Central, plus Haliburton and Zubac’s first look in OKC

Brian Windhorst, Tim MacMahon and Vince Goodwill used the latest Hoop Collective to run through the Central Division before opening night, and the theme was pressure. Detroit has to back up a 60-win season, Cleveland is betting its whole roster on the group that just reached the conference finals, Indiana gets Tyrese Haliburton back, and Milwaukee and Chicago are both trying to stay out of the bottom three.

Pistons: a 60-win team still looking for a second creator

The Pistons won the division and the No. 1 seed last season, came back from 3-1 down to beat Orlando in the first round, then lost Game 7 at home to Cleveland in the second round. The panel thinks the summer left more questions than answers. Tobias Harris is gone with John Collins in his place, Jalen Duren was still unsigned when they recorded, and the hope in Detroit is that he takes the roughly $200 million offer on the table rather than playing on the qualifying offer.

The bigger issue they kept coming back to is that nobody next to Cade Cunningham can create offense consistently. Detroit looked at Austin Reaves and showed interest in Kawhi Leonard, and neither one happened. Goodwill said he had JB Bickerstaff first on his Coach of the Year ballot last season and called Ausar Thompson the best defender in the league pound for pound. He still asked whether anyone can be sure Detroit finishes in the East’s top six. The only team the three of them would call a lock for the top six was the Knicks.

Cavaliers: make-or-break, and Allen is the trade chip

Cleveland signed Donovan Mitchell to a long extension, gave James Harden a fully guaranteed three-year deal, and gave up depth to bring in Peyton Watson. That cost them Dean Wade, Max Strus, Keon Ellis and a future first-round pick. They kept Evan Mobley through the summer rather than offer him for Giannis Antetokounmpo or Jaylen Brown. Windhorst pointed out the Cavs went 8-10 in the playoffs despite reaching the conference finals, and said the move left on the table if this group stalls is trading Jarrett Allen, which would push Mobley to center, a role he has not embraced. They also agreed Kenny Atkinson starts the season under as much pressure as almost any coach in the league.

Pacers: Zubac’s fit next to Haliburton

Haliburton has been playing five-on-five since the spring, and Ivica Zubac is the new piece. MacMahon called Zubac an outstanding defensive anchor who is a better all-around defender than Myles Turner, even if he blocks fewer shots. He also said Zubac doesn’t stretch the floor the way Turner did, so Rick Carlisle may need time to make the fit work on offense. With Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam and Zubac on the floor, he thinks Indiana could have a top-five defense. Goodwill put Carlisle right behind Ty Lue and Erik Spoelstra among the league’s best coaches, and Windhorst called the Kelly Oubre Jr. signing underrated.

Tuesday in Oklahoma City gave a first look at that pairing. In the 114-112 overtime loss to the Thunder, Haliburton had 24 points with four threes, three assists and two blocks, Zubac had 13 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, and Oubre added 12 points and five rebounds.

Bucks and Bulls: stay out of the bottom three

Milwaukee went 32-50 and spent the whole season on the Antetokounmpo saga before the trade with Miami. Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. haven’t signed extensions, and Kyle Kuzma and Kevin Porter Jr. are on expiring deals. The group expects everyone on the roster to be available before the deadline. They also stressed that under the new lottery rules, the Bucks can’t afford to fall into the bottom three. That leaves Taylor Jenkins with a lot of young-player development, starting with rookie Brayden Burries.

Chicago had the same worry. The Bulls tanked their way to Caleb Wilson with a top-four pick, then added Norman Powell and traded for Nic Claxton. The panel read those as moves to make sure they don’t finish bottom three. Windhorst said Powell’s contract could make him a name to watch at the trade deadline. For fans, the reasons to watch are Wilson’s Rookie of the Year chances, Matas Buzelis in year three and Tiago Splitter’s first season as coach, with Bryson Graham in his first year running the front office.