After a long offseason buzzing with excitement, we’re finally on the verge of the 2025-26 NBA season. With opening night just days away, it’s only fair to take a Knicks-centric look at how things are shaping
up in the East ahead of the year.
And believe your eyes and ears; the Knicks might have a better chance to finish at the top of the conference this year than any season this century. Keep this in mind while hearing about these other teams. Winning time for New York is now. They’re all in on a new coach, an upgraded bench, and the East is wiiiiiiiiide open.
Don’t believe me? Let’s go team-by-team and discuss.
There’s Always Next Year
Apologies to these teams, but it’s hard to see any of these three teams sniffing the play-in. Sure, anything’s possible, but expectations are low for the Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, and Charlotte Hornets.
Brooklyn has a roster full of five first-round rookies (an NBA record!), and while guys like Michael Porter Jr. and Terrance Mann will be fun to watch in seriously expanded roles, all eyes are on the future this year in Brooklyn.
Same with the Wizards, who have a solid young core of players (Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington, Bilal Coulibaly) with some veterans sprinkled in across the rotation.
Charlotte is still waiting for LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller’s talent to translate into wins. It seems like they’ll have to wait another year.
Play-In Darlings
The Chicago Bulls are here every year. Clockwork. Same with the Miami Heat, who should threaten to finish around .500, especially with the addition of Norman Powell.
It’ll be determined to see how the new Toronto Raptors roster meshes, but flirting with a 7-10 seed should be a real possibility for the squad. It’s time for Scottie Barnes to make the next jump people have been talking about across the league for a while now.
In Another World…
It’s truly unfortunate that the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics will be without their best players this year.
It remains foreseen as to how these teams will perform without their 1A guys.
Will Jaylen Brown be able to take over as the focal point of the Boston offense? Can the Pacers keep up the same run-and-gun style that made them so successful without their usual PG at the reins?
We shall see.
Either way, these are great teams that aren’t at full strength – and barring something drastic, they’re not looking to win now.
Playoff Hopefuls
After the Detroit Pistons took a big step forward last year, they’re ahead of schedule in their rebuild. After winning just 14 games in 2023-24, Cade Cunningham led Detroit to their first playoff appearance in quite some time. Yes, our Knicks handled them in 6 last year, but the bar has been heightened for the franchise.
Malik Beasley is gone, as is Tim Hardaway Jr., but Caris LeVert and Duncan Robinson hope to make up for them in the aggregate.
The Milwaukee Bucks held onto Giannis after a tumultuous offseason, and Myles Turner is in town now. But after buying out Damian Lillard, it’s hard to see how the current roster construction could go deep into the playoffs. This team goes as far as the Greek Freak takes them. It’s all about the Antetokounmpos.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers are hoping the stars align this year after last season’s mess. Can Joel Embiid and Paul George stay healthy enough for the playoffs (assuming they play enough to make it)? Stay tuned.
If things go right…
The Orlando Magic are all in, locking down some of their core players under contract and trading future picks for Desmond Bane. Tyus Jones is also in town now, and these offensive-minded veterans could give the Magic the fuel they need to make a deep playoff run. If the vets can help the younger players take a nice jump forward, the franchise could see itself in the playoffs for many years to come.
And how about the Atlanta Hawks retooling around Trae Young? Kristaps Porzingis, Nickiel Alexander-Walker, and Luke Kennard are all in town. Jalen Johnson is healthy. Dyson Daniels is maybe the best defender in the East. There’s a lot that could go wrong, namely injuries… but if the stars align, the upside on this team is high.
Winning Time
There are two teams in the East that have warranted title expectations, and I can’t believe our New York Knicks are in this category. What a blessing. Not much to say here besides that if there was any year… it would be this year. The starting five showed their worth last postseason. The bench is upgraded and ready to go. The East is wide open. Let’s win.
In the other corner of the ring, the Cleveland Cavaliers look to avenge last season’s disappointing end. Lonzo Ball replaced Ty Jerome in the rotation, and otherwise, they’re running it back. Donovan Mitchell is still running the show alongside Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen. Jalen Brunson might be the biggest thing in their way this year.
Also, so cool that these jerseys are back.
To put a button on it: Cleveland and New York look poised to meet head-on in the ECF… unless one of the other teams can crash the party.
Let’s bring it home, New York.
