I edited out the parts of your post I will reply to, hope you don't mind.
I can't name 7 teams in the East better than NJ right now. Boston, Cleveland, Orlando, Atlanta, then it's a crapshoot. I say Philly and Toronto will right the ship. That's 6 teams I can definitely see making the playoffs. The 8th seed will come down to NJ, Miami, and possibly Indiana. Milwaukee and Chicago probably won't make it. I don't believe in the Knicks. Charlotte is Charlotte. Washington's dug themselves in too deep of a hole and Agent Zero will need to lead them to about Zero Losses in 8 weeks for us to stand a chance unfortunately. So, I like NJ's chances and Harris might warrant a look for MVP if he keeps it up.
You're right about there being more fun when there's elite teams to hate. I hate there being elite teams but it's no fun when they win 53 games and are bounced out. Let them win their 65 so I can put more anger in towards them come playoff time.