NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE OUTLOOK

ATLANTIC DIVISION BOSTON CELTICS

Will the Celtics miss Kevin McHale, who led the league in field goal percentage at .604 and was sixth in scoring with a 26.1-points-a-game average? Does the Boston Garden have rats?

For the first time since 1975, three rookies have made the Celtics’ opening-day roster--7-foot center Brad Lohaus of Iowa, swing man Reggie Lewis of Northeastern and forward Mark Acres of Oral Roberts. Acres, who attended Palos Verdes High School, was signed by the Celtics as a free agent. He played the last two seasons in Belgium.

The Celtics, looking for room to maneuver under the salary cap, unloaded veterans Sam Vincent and Scott Wedman.

Whatever the Celtics’ problems, Larry Bird seems determined to succeed. He began lifting weights just nine days after the playoffs ended and dropped 15 pounds. Guard Dennis Johnson also lost 10 pounds during the summer.

WASHINGTON BULLETS

Bob Ferry, the Bullets’ general manager, has been making more deals than Monty Hall lately.

The Bullets, a bust in the playoffs last spring acquired forward Bernard King from the New York Knicks.

King, who led the NBA in scoring in 1984-85, has played just six games in the last two seasons after undergoing knee surgery, but the Bullets, who ranked 22nd in field goal percentage and 19th in scoring last season, were desperate for another scorer to share the load with the Malones, Moses and Jeff.

The Bullets made another big deal earlier this week, trading forward Jay Vincent and guard Michael Adams to Denver for guard Darrell Walker and second-year forward Mark Alarie.

Vincent, acquired from Dallas for a first-round pick, was a bust last season, averaging a career-low 13.3 points and shooting just .447, also a career low.

Center Moses Malone, acquired from the 76ers last season, was a big hit in D.C., averaging 24.1 points, but the Bullets were a big bust in the playoffs. Washington bit the bullet in three games, losing to the Detroit Pistons in a first-round sweep.

The Bullets will have the tallest and shortest players in the NBA this season in 7-6 center Manute Bol, and 5-3 guard Tyrone (Mugsy) Bogues of Wake Forest, the 12th player drafted last June.

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

The post-Doc era will begin this season, and with Julius Erving no longer making the rounds, the 76ers will have to rely even more on All-Star forward Charles Barkley.

Barkley, who has the biggest mouth in the NBA, is coming off a phenomenal season. He led the league in rebounding, was third in field goal percentage and 15th in scoring. Barkley, who seemed to resent Dr. J’s farewell tour last season, will have the spotlight all to himself.

The 76ers, however, are in serious need of a center, and Christian Welp, a 7-footer from Washington, who was the team’s top draft pick, is what is known as a project. So, the team is stuck with plodding Tim McCormick in the middle. Still, the 76ers have Maurice Cheeks, one of the league’s most fluid point guards. He averaged 15.6 points last season, was third in the NBA in steals and 10th in assists.

NEW YORK KNICKS

Rick Pitino, who left Providence to return to the Knicks, is the youngest head coach in the NBA at 35 but he may get old fast.

Pitino, who took Providence to the Final Four last season in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament, was an assistant to Hubie Brown in 1983-85. Pitino didn’t take long to rebuild Providence but he may need a little longer to rebuild the inept Knicks, who came within one loss of setting a team record. They also finished last in the NBA in both rebounding and scoring.

Pitino plans to run and press all over the court and has signed free-agent forward Sidney Green of Detroit to help on the boards. Green was the second-leading rebounder for the Pistons, who led the NBA in that category.

The Knicks, who traded away their lottery pick to Seattle for Gerald Henderson, drafted guard Mark Jackson of St. John’s late in the first round. Jackson figures to play a key role in the Knicks’ rebuilding.

NEW JERSEY NETS

Things may be dull around the Meadowlands without Darryl Dawkins, the NBA’s leading flake, who now is with the Utah Jazz, but the team will probably get along just fine without Chocolate Thunder, who was sidelined for all but six games last season.

Rookie guard Dennis Hopson of Ohio State, the third player drafted, is expected to light up the Nets’ offense. Hopson, who averaged 29 points, was the Big Ten Player of the Year.

Wednesday, the Nets acquired 6-foot 9-inch rookie Dallas Comegys of DePaul from Atlanta, which selected him with the 21st pick in the draft.

CENTRAL DIVISION ATLANTA HAWKS

This team came within two wins of beating out the Celtics for the best regular-season record in the Eastern Conference last season.

The Hawks, who had the best defense in the NBA and were second in rebounding, have the best forwards in the division in Dominique Wilkins and 7-foot power forward Kevin Willis, who averaged 16.1 points and 10.5 rebounds in his best NBA season.

Still, 7-1 center Tree Rollins is 32 and isn’t getting any younger, and 7-foot John Koncak, his young backup, isn’t getting any better. Rollins’ scoring average, which has declined every year since 1980, fell to 5.4 points last season. Koncak averaged 5.6.

DETROIT PISTONS

Winners of just three of their first nine games before they got hot last season, the Pistons may start slowly again this season. Detroit was 3-5 in exhibitions, and Coach Chuck Daly said his team is out of shape.

Guard Vinnie Johnson, who had his best pro season and was runner-up in the voting for the NBA’s top sixth man, joined the team just two weeks ago after holding out.

The Pistons gambled by acquiring 7-foot center William Bedford from the Phoenix Suns to back up Bill Laimbeer. Bedford, the sixth player picked in the 1986 draft, was implicated but not charged in the drug scandal that hit the Suns late last season.

Adrian Dantley, acquired last season from Utah, blended in well with the Pistons, leading them in scoring with a 21.5-point average.

Detroit also has the second-best point guard in the NBA in Isiah Thomas, who averaged 20.6 points and 10 assists.

CHICAGO BULLS

The Bulls, who compiled their best record since 1981, sent for reinforcements to take some of the load off Michael Jordan and forward Charles Oakley, the league’s second-best rebounder last season.

The Bulls drafted well, getting 6-10 center-forward Horace Grant of Clemson, then dealing for 6-8 forward Scottie Pippen of Central Arkansas, who was selected by Seattle with the fifth pick of the draft.

Chicago also reacquired 7-2 center Artis Gilmore from San Antonio for a second-round draft pick next year. Gilmore, 38, who is nearing the end of his career, spent six seasons in Chicago before he was sent to San Antonio in 1982.

MILWAUKEE BUCKS

They will begin life without Don Nelson, his fish ties and his knack for winning.

Nelson quit at the end of the season after a dispute with owner Herb Kohl, leaving former assistant Del Harris as the top man. Harris coached the Houston Rockets in 1979-83. After winning 50 or more games for the last seven seasons, the Bucks are showing signs of wear and tear. They failed to win the division title for the first time since 1979.

Guard Sidney Moncrief, the Bucks’ second-leading scorer in the playoffs last season, will miss the first six weeks of the season with bone spurs.

There also are whispers that center Jack Sikma, 32, has lost it. Sikma, who was supposed to solve the Bucks’ problems in the middle, was a flop in his first season in Milwaukee, averaging just 12.7 points, worst since his first year in the NBA.

The Bucks also didn’t get much help in the draft but they still have Terry Cummings and Paul Pressey.

INDIANA PACERS

After being run out of Portland, Jack Ramsay proved at Indianapolis that he can still coach.

Ramsay, 62, the NBA’s highest-winning active coach, did a complete overhaul on the Pacers last season, and they improved by 15 games, making the playoffs for the second time since they joined the NBA 11 years ago.

Ramsay wants to take the next step and win 50 games.

The Pacers will have one of the NBA’s top rookies in forward Reggie Miller of UCLA and they also have Chuck Person, who averaged 18.8 points and 8.3 assists en route to being named Rookie of the Year.

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

They had a new look last season as Wayne Embry rebuilt the team in his first season as general manager.

Embry hired Coach Lenny Wilkens, who had worn out his welcome in Seattle, and the Cavaliers went with three rookies in the starting lineup--guard Ron Harper, 7-foot center Brad Daugherty and 6-11 forward John (Hot Rod) Williams. All were named to the NBA’s all-rookie team.

Harper, runner-up to Person for Rookie of the Year, averaged a team-high 22.9 points.

They Cavaliers continued housecleaning in the off-season, unloading Mel Turpin, John Bagley and Keith Lee in trades. They acquired forward Kent Benson and guard Dell Curry from Utah and forward James Bailey from New Jersey. They also drafted guard Kevin Johnson of California.

CONFERENCE AT A GLANCE

New Coaches: Rick Pitino, New York; Del Harris, Milwaukee.

New Faces: Reggie Lewis, Boston; Kevin Johnson, Cleveland; Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant, Chicago; Reggie Miller, Indiana; Dennis Hopson, New Jersey; Mark Jackson, New York; Tyrone (Mugsy) Bogues, Washington.

Developments to Watch: Artis Gilmore’s return to Chicago; William Bedford at center in Detroit; Bernard King’s comeback at Washington.