The Eastern Division of the NBA seems poised for a topsy-turvy season, or maybe it would be more accurate to say that 2024-2025 was topsy-turvy and maybe 2025-2026 will simply see a return to normalcy. Well, 2024-2025 was topsy-turvy, but I don’t think normalcy is in the cards for 2025-2026, as long as the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers are both hobbled by injuries to Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton. And, so, the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were the #1 seed a year ago and are favored to be the #1 seed again this year, and the New York Knicks, who surprised the Celtics last year in the conference semi-finals as the #4 seed, those are your two favorites to advance to the conference finals. There, it will be anybody’s ball game. If there’s going to be a surprise in the semi-finals again, the Orlando Magic, who won just 41 games last year, are the team that will have to supply it.
Atlantic Division
New York Knicks 53-29, 51-31 a year ago, +2 wins. The Knicks surprised even themselves with 50+ wins, then doubled down by beating the #2 seeded Celtics in the conference semis. Jalen Brunson emerged as one of the league’s best guards with 26 ppg and 7 assists and 49% shooting and, most importantly, a huge post-season. KAT Towns, OG Anunaby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart fill out one of the league’s top starting fives, and now they’ve added Josh Clarkson and Guershon Yabusele to a much strengthened bench. Strengthened but not necessarily deep, but the boss, Tom Thibodeau, plays his top 6 or 7 players exclusively anyway. So injuries and burnout are a threat. Still, the enter the season healthy and there’s no reason, except for injuries, why they won’t win more games this year than last, at least in the regular season. Then, in the playoffs, its all about the matchups but Brunson and KAT can match up with pretty much anybody.
Toronto Raptors 43-39, 30-52 last year, +13 wins. Toronto’s starting 6 missed 160 games last year. The young point guard Immanual Quickly missed almost 50 games, and the Raptors success this year will be a reflection of the readiness and the results that this young fellow is able to provide. With Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, Jakob Poeltl and Ochai Agbaji, the Raptors are poised to, you know, spread their wings.
Philadelphia 76ers 39-43, 24-58 last year, +20 games. Last year was wrecked by injuries, first and foremost, to Joel Embiid, but also to Tyrese Maxey and Paul George. It’s not clear that Embiid and George are ready to go and, at their age, it’s possible that they might never be ready to go. George they can live without, if they must. Embiid, not so much. And, oh, yeah, 6 of their top 10 enter the season hurt–Embiid, Paul George, Maxey, Jared McCain, Eric Gordon. If Embiid is not pretty close to 100% and if he misses for than the usual 10-15 games, then they’ll be closer to last year’s 24 wins than the forecast of 39, and the Knicks will have an absolute cakewalk in the division.
Boston Celtics 37-45, 61-21 last year, -24 wins. The Celtics lost Jason Tatum to injury, then sent Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Jrue Holiday away. Still, there’s some talent here and I’m not sure that some analysts aren’t overreacting. But of course I’m only showing 37 wins for them. They could be better than that with Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard returning. But of course I’m only showing 37 wins for them.
Brooklyn Nets 22-60, 26-56 last year, -4 wins. Very little is expected of the Nets. 27 wins (+1 versus last year) is probably generous. Cam Thomas (24 ppg, 44%) will lead the way, but there are no veteran point guards. Rather Egor Demin or Ben Saraf or Nolan Traore, rookies all, or whomever is the Nets point guard on opening night will almost surely be the least experienced point guard in the NBA
Central Division
Cleveland Cavaliers 58-24, 64-18 last year, -1 win. Cleveland was totally poised for a trip to the NBA finals last year, though the Boston Celtics represented a significant challenge along the way. Well, neither of them got to the Eastern finals. Now, with the Celtics catching an injury bug and then choosing to rebuild, the stars are really aligned for the Cavs. The 2026 Knicks are not the 2025 Celtics. Cleveland is of course led by guards Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. Last year Garland got hurt at the wrong time and Indiana got hot at the wrong time. The wrong time for the Cavs. Now it’s true that Garland and small forward Max Strus opens the season on the IL but Cleveland has excellent depth especially at Strus’ position with 6th man DeAndre Hunter. Injuries can derail any team, but you just don’t think it will happen to the Cavs 2 years in a row.
Detroit Pistons 45-37, 44-38 last year, +1 win. The Pistons made their giant leap last year. How much better can they get? Point guard Cade Cunningham has already become one of the top 5-6 1’s in the league. This year, post Jalen Duren or off guard Jaden Ivey might be the most improved. I see them improving by just one win, but moving from #6 to #4, which is a lot better come playoff time, thanks to the decline of the Celtics and the Pacers.
Indiana Pacers 41-41, 50-32 last year, -9 wins. Tyrese Haliburton went down and suddenly there was a race to see who could devalue the 2026 Pacers first. Well, I’ve got ’em dropping 14 wins, so I should talk. But there’s some talent here. Pascal Siakim, Bennedict Mathurin, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin. All scored in double figures, and they shot 49% among them. I actually think they’re gonna be OK. Not great. Not a contender. But not bad.
Milwaukee Bucks 38-44, 48-34 last year, -10 wins. Milwaukee still has Giannis Antetequomnpo, but his aura of invincibility is wearing a little bit thin. I even saw one prognosticator who picked him as the pre-season fave for MVP. I ain’t buyin.’ They might be improved in the post with Miles Turner replacing Brook Lopez, but Kevin Porter (or whomever) at the point guard just does not scream “contender.”
Chicago Bulls 30-52, 39-43 last year, -4 wins. The guards are OK. Not as good as Indiana’s, but OK. Josh Giddey, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, Josh Huerter. And Nikola Vucevic at the post, 18 ppg, 53%. But, otherwise, the front court is not particularly impressive. Google “treading water” and you might get a Bulls logo.
Southeast Division
Orlando Magic 52-30, 41-41 last year, +11 wins. Paolo Banchero has become one of the top players in the East, maybe better than Giannis. 26 ppg-7 reb-5 ast, 45%. Teammates Fritz Wagner and Jalen Suggs have been hurt, so their status will be a big factor. But they also added Desmond Bane, so they’ve got that spirit, that desire to get better than somehow seems to be missing in Milwaukee and Atlanta.
Miami Heat 42-40, last year 37-45, +5 wins. Miami mostly stood pat, and the #1 factor in their success is the health of off guard Tyler Herro, who is hurt as we enter into the new season. The addition of wing Norman Powell (22 ppg last year as a Clipper) is a plus. Bam Adebayo, Kelel Ware and Nikola Jovic give them some toughness.
Atlanta Hawks 41-41, 40-42 last year, +1 win. Trae Young is solid at the 1 but Atlanta hasn’t put a supporting cast around him, and they treaded water this offseason. They added Kristaps Porzingis but gave up DeAndre Hunter, Caris Levert and Georges Niang. I’ll be surprised if their replacements represent any improvement.
Charlotte Hornets 28-54, 19-63 last year, +9 wins. Charlotte may well be improved but that’s not a big deal when you finish 13th anyway. The big addition is shooting guard Collin Sexton along with rookie Kon Knueppel. But the loss of center Mark Williams trends the other way. Still, they’re deeper and maybe a little better.
Washington Wizards 21-61, 18-64 last year, +3 wins. C.J. McCollum has to be an improvement at the point. After that, it’s a question of if and when Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulilably and Josh Champagnie mature. It could take some time.
Playoff Seeds
1. Cleveland Cavaliers–Cleveland defeats Philadelphia 4 games to 2; Cleveland defeats Detroit 4 games to 3
2. New York Knicks–Knicks defeat Indiana 4 games to 2; Knicks defeat Orlando 4 games to 3; Knicks defeat Cleveland 4 games to 3; Knicks lose to Oklahoma City 4 games to 2
3. Orlando Magic–Orlando defeats Miami 4 games to 3
4. Detroit Pistons–Detroit defeats Toronto 4 games to 2
5. Toronto Raptors
6. Miami Heat
7. Atlanta Hawks
8. Indiana Pacers–Indiana defeats Atlanta to win the #7 seed
9. Philadelphia 76ers. Milwaukee defeats Philadelphia, and defeats Atlanta to win the #8 seed.
10. Milwaukee Bucks
11. Boston Celtics
12. Chicago Bulls
13. Charlotte Hornets
14. Brooklyn Nets
15. Washington Wizards
All-Pro East
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Most Improved |
| Center | Karl-Anthony Towns, New York | Eric Mobley, Cleveland | Jakob Poeltl, Toronto | Jalen Duren, Detroit |
| Power Forward | Giannis Antetekuomnpo, Milwaukee | Paolo Banchero, Orlando | Pascal Siakam, Indiana | Scottie Barnes, Toronto |
| Small Forward | Fritz Wagner, Orlando | Jaylen Brown, Boston | Brandon Ingram, Toronto | Jalen Johnson, Atlanta |
| Point Guard | Cade Cunningham, Detroit | Jalen Brunson, New York | Trae Young, Atlanta | Josh Giddey, Chicago |
| Shooting Guard | Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland | Josh Hart, New York | Tyler Herro, Miami | Dyson Daniels, Atlanta |
| 6th | Guershon Yabusele, New York | DeAndre Hunter, Cleveland | Bobby Portis, Milwaukee | Jared McCain, Philadelphia 76ers |
Ranking the Point Guards
1. Cade Cunningham, Detroit, 6-6, 26 ppg-6 reb-9 ast, 47%
2. Jalen Brunson, New York, 6-2, 26-3-7, 49%
3. Trae Young, Atlanta, 6-2, 23-3-12, 41%
4. Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia, 6-2, 26-3-6, 44%
5. Darius Garland, Cleveland, 6-1, 21-3-7, 47%
6. LaMelo Ball, Charlotte, 6-7, 25-5-7-, 40%
7. Josh Giddey, Chicago, 6-8, 15-8-7, 46%
8. T.J. McConnell, Indiana, 6-1, 9-2-4, 52%
9. C.J. McCollum, Washington, 6-3, 21-4-4, 44%
10. Payton Pritchard, Boston, 6-1, 14-4-3, 47%
11. Immanuel Quickley, Toronto, 6-2, 17-3-6, 42%
12. Jalen Suggs, Miami, 6-4, 16-4-4, 41%
13. Davion Mitchell, Miami, 6-0, 8-2-5, 47%
14. Kevin Porter, Milwaukee, 6-4, 10-4-3, 45%
15. Egor Demin, 6-9, rookie; or Ben Saraf, 6-6, rookie; or Nolan Traore, 6-4, rookie; Brooklyn