NBA Eastern Conference: Most important need for each Central Division team heading into the NBA Draft

With the 2018/19 NBA season officially in the books, the focus of the teams will turn to impending free agency and the 2019 NBA Draft where a ton of talent will be up for grabs.

For the first time since 2015, a team from the Central Division failed to make the NBA Finals. With the departure of LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers entered free-fall, finishing the season with a miserable 19-63 record.

However, the Division was still well represented, with the Milwaukee Bucks surging to the Eastern Conference Finals but coming up short against eventual champions Toronto Raptors.

While the Bucks will look to assert their dominance once again next season, other teams like the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons will look towards the NBA Draft as a chance to revamp their rosters and develop a squad capable of competing in the future.

On that note, here's a look at the most important need for each Central Division team heading into the NBA Draft:

Cleveland Cavaliers (Picks 5, 26)

Needs: Guards, Wings

The Cleveland Cavaliers are entering a new era with a new head coach and a soon-to-be-revamped roster.

It is unclear how exactly John Beilein will want to set his side up moving forwards, but the focus is likely to be on youth.

The Cavaliers have a number of damaging contracts on their books this season which limits their role in free agency.

They will, as a result, have to look to the draft and hope to strike gold. The Cavaliers were among the worst teams in the NBA last season and need upgrades in almost every position.

They need scorers, rebounders, shot blockers and basically everything in between. The Cavs possess the 5th and 26th picks in the draft and will in all likelihood look to select a guard to share the burden with rising star Collin Sexton.

If they do go that route, their eyes will be on Vanderbilt's Darius Garland. Garland is considered one of the best shooters in this draft class and averaged 16.2 points per game on 63.9% effective field goal shooting for Vanderbilt last season.

However, Garland is expected to be a top-4 pick and this would force the Cavs to turn to Jarrett Culver, who is a pretty prolific scorer himself.

With the 26th pick, they would look to target a wing player - Matisse Thybulle, Luka Samanic and Eric Paschall fit the bill perfectly.

Indiana Pacers (Picks 18, 50)

Needs: Guard, backup center

A whole chunk of the Indiana Pacers' rotation will hit free agency this month. Bojan Bogdanovic, Thaddeus Young, Darren Collison, Cory Joseph and Wesley Matthews will all become free agents and it remains to be seen how many of them the Pacers decide to try and keep.

They will likely try and retain Bogdanovic and if they decide to part ways with the rest of the bunch, they could free up as much as $30 million in cap space - enough to sign a top free agent.

Coming to the draft, the Pacers will need a center and a pure scorer. Indiana ranked 29th in three-point shooting last year and their rebounding numbers were not much better either.

They have two picks in the draft - 18th and 50th. The 18th pick will likely be used to draft one of Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Tyler Herro or PJ Washington, while the 50th can be used to draft a backup centre or wing to help improve their rebounding capabilities.

Ultimately though, regardless of whom the Pacers end up drafting, their fortunes will depend on whether Victor Oladipo can remain fit.

Chicago Bulls (Picks 7, 38)

Needs: Point Guard, center

The Chicago Bulls have an enigmatic bunch of players in their ranks. Their future looks secure with the likes of Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr. flourishing at the franchise.

In Zach LaVine, they have one of the most prolific scorers in the league. Their trade for Otto Porter leaves them stacked in the forward position as well.

However, point guard is where their main issue lies. Kris Dunn has flattered to deceive and the Bulls will be keen to look at other options in the draft.

With the 7th overall pick, they are likely to target one of Darius Garland, Coby White and Jarrett Culver. All three of them are prolific scorers in their own right and would help take a major load off of LaVine.

Reports suggest the Bulls are seriously looking at White, who averaged 16 points and 4 assists per game last season for North Carolina.

If the Bulls do land one of the three aforementioned names, they could then use the 38th pick to target a center.

The Bulls were among the worst rebounding teams in the league last season and might look to address that in the draft. Realistic targets would include UCF’s Tacko Fall and UCLA’s Moses Brown.

Milwaukee Bucks (Pick 30)

Milwaukee Bucks v Toronto Raptors - Game Six

Needs: Backup centre

The Milwaukee Bucks catapulted themselves into the upper echelons of the NBA last season, finishing with the league's best record.

While they failed to translate that dominance into a ring, their team remains one of the strongest on paper heading into next season.

Their most pressing concern is trying to retain the core of their 60-win team. Khris Middleton, Malcolm Brogdon, Nikola Mirotic and Brook Lopez are all entering free agency this season and the Bucks would ideally like to retain each one of them.

They do not have the cap space to make any significant upgrades, so the 30th pick could be used to draft someone who really fits into the team and strengthens their rotation rather than fulfilling a particular positional need.

Ideal targets in the draft would be the likes of LSU’s Naz Reid, UCF’s Tacko Fall and Florida State's Mfiondu Kabengele.

Detroit Pistons (Picks 15, 45)

Needs: Point guard, wing

The Detroit Pistons are not in a great spot at the moment. They lack the cap space to land a top free agent and their roster is filled with bad contracts. They have 2 picks in the upcoming draft, but neither is good enough to land a player who can solve the issues plaguing the side.

Blake Griffin's resurgence is the lone bright spark for the Pistons heading into the offseason. Griffin averaged close to 25 points and 8 rebounds per game in the regular season in what was a return to his dominant self.

What the Pistons truly lack though is sharpshooters. Detroit need to be more efficient from deep, having shot just 34.8% last season, which ranked among the league's worst teams. They were also the second worst rebounding team in the league, with the likes of Andre Drummond and Griffin receiving little to no support from the rest of the roster.

With Ish Smith hitting free agency and Reggie Jackson likely to be released next year, they also look severely depleted in the guard department.

That's something they really need to address heading into the draft. Realistic targets include Nickeil Alexander Walker of Virginia Tech, Romeo Langford of Indiana, Kevin Porter Jr. of USC, and PJ Washington of Kentucky.