What a perfect 2025 season looks like for every NBA Eastern Conference team

Preview content. It’s September. It’s time. What cool things can we look forward to this year? What can we predict?

Oops, wrong question. I, personally, find predictions to be wielded as weapons when correct and forcibly shoved between couch cushions when wrong. Much respect to the people with the fortitude to admit they were wrong, but (it could just be the product of the worst voices being loudest) so often predictions are just a means of gathering attention. I don’t want attention! I don’t like being perceived! Leave me alone!

But man, if I do say something full confidence, and I’m wrong. Please. Please please please, I am begging you to tell me. Take a victory lap if you need. I’ve earned it.

Now that all the disclaimers are ut of the way, I want to say something far more positive.

Basketball is really, really fun right now. It’s quite strange hearing people say that everyone plays the same. It’s not the case! There are hallmarks to the current era just like there are to every past era, but the actual talent on display and the things modern players can do are incredibly engaging. Many of the dudes, though not quite to the WNBA’s level, are actually interesting, compelling people. There is so much to latch on to!

And I understand if you miss the midrange game, but you have to realize. The shot didn’t just completely disappear, people just made it harder so they can get more points for it. The unexpected moment when a middling shooting guard stops on a dime and rises for a 40 percent 20-footer are just generally being replaced with more spacing and stepbacks. That’s not exactly changing the entire game. But that’s the most common complaint.

If you want big men, you got your era already. A lot of it. These present strategies wouldn’t exist if they didn’t beat the old ones. If you want your team to bring back 90s basketball, then you're asking them to lose.

I will grant you, if there is anything that feels samey, it’s the prevalence of pick-and-roll offenses, but after seeing Indiana go to the Finals with continuous hits and actions all through the play clock and Memphis making an attempt at implementing an entirely new brand of off ball motion early in the season, there are multiple examples of people trying something entirely new! Time moves one direction! Deal with it!

So yeah, I would like to focus on the more awesome things today. I’m picturing the Eastern Conference more in general tiers rather than a one-to-15 ranking. Everybody has something to look forward to! I mean it!

Let’s go. Here are your Eastern Conference best case scenarios:

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in my “contender” tier. That’s because I understand the obvious sometimes. If everything goes right for the Cavaliers, it wouldn’t be an outside shot at a championship. They’d be the East favorite.

Teams like it when they switch players all the time. GMs don’t often get a long time to build a team, to keep a team together, to let them players make mistakes in high pressure scenarios so that they can grow. People have called for the breaking up of the Cavaliers since last offseason.

And once again, the core remains together. Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, and Evan Mobley are still super best friends, but they also added Lonzo Ball, who can physically play basketball again sometimes.

Last year, the Cavaliers ran into the Pacers miracle run while being banged up. Before that, it seemed almost inevitable that it would be them versus the Celtics in the playoffs. Don’t forget how good we thought they were. They are still that good, but with more experience together and more hunger, one would think.

They’re just good. They’ve been good for a long time. It might be too simple to just say they’re going to be good again, but they will. Their best case scenario is an NBA championship.

New York Knicks

I had to debate whether to put the New York Knicks in contender tier or not. The ultimate decision came down to whether I felt like being optimistic or pessimistic today.

But.

I think the Knicks are also a contender! Yayyyyy! Just maybe a bit less than the Cavs.

The Knicks are a good team. They were good last year, and there’s opportunity to be better.

I do not want to give Thibs too much flack because he did make adjustments to his lineups and offensive game plan when the Knicks base was not producing through the Jalen Brunson pick and roll toward the end of the playoffs, but, well, there was everything else before that.

If someone wanted to complain about offense being based around two stars, a big and a guard, playing off each other on offense while everyone else spaces, here you go. I’m not going to stop you.

But I will say I believe in Mike Brown more. He may not have a ring as a head coach, but he was man who brought the Sacramento Kings back to the playoffs in the Western Conference for the first time in 326 seasons. Most dogs weren’t alive back then. As far as dogs know, Mike Brown is way better than Thibs. And I trust dogs.

My dog is telling me that there’s hope that Brown can unlock the Knicks' full rotation on offense. Not just Brunson and KAT, not just the starting five, but maybe pushing nine, ten players deep in the rotation. And hopefully actually trusting the players to perform in their minutes instead of making Mikal Bridges play 48.

We know they’re good. We know they’re deeper. It could go the other way, but there are just too many names I trust on this roster.

Orlando Magic

We’re out of the contender tier in my mind, but we are in a nice “You got this, man. Go ahead and make those playoffs” tier. The addition of Desmond Bane, Jalen Suggs hopefully recovering from injury well, Paolo and Franz getting another year of development while both had stints as the team’s number one option last year. There are a lot of reasons to expect further growth from the Orlando Magic if not a full jump.

Desmond Bane cost a lot, but it’s hard to picture a better fit. He’s an A-level shooter who can create a bit on his own, and while he doesn’t have great length, he is a stout defender for his limitations. He also looks really strong, and if he flexes, other teams start crying out of fear.

I mean, this is another core that has been given time to develop together. Mosley has been coaching for four years and has routinely gotten early Coach of the Year buzz. Their GM has been in Orlando in some capacity for just as long. This is an organically growing team that is moving in a sustainable fashion.

So the best case scenario I can picture is a run to the Eastern Conference Finals. That’s just for this year. If anything, they need to be careful not to get in a rush. Bane is new, but he is fairly young too. The team this year may not come close to the team they have a couple of years down the line.

Atlanta Hawks

I feel like this is the team that has received the most offseason buzz, so I don’t intend to spend much time here. The Atlanta Hawks have been a fascinating experiment into what happens when you confuse the playoffs with the play-in. You want to be in the first one.

But Jalen Johnson is back. Risacher has his first full offseason with the team. NAW is here. KP is here. These are just initials, but they stand for players’ names. They’re really hard to type for me sometimes, though. Trae Young!

Yep!

I think the Hawks have a similar ceiling to the Magic. An ECF run behind Trae and Jalen and all the fairly incredible defenders they have behind them does seem like where they top out at, but that’s exactly the kind of season they should be hoping to have.

Milwaukee Bucks

Do you ever look in the mirror and wonder why you’re crying?

This is the first of the best case scenarios where it’s like, “Damn. That’s us now, huh?” I don’t want to go over the story of the Milwaukee Bucks post-Jrue trade again.

All Milwaukee has for this season, the ONLY thing that makes them an NBA team, is that Giannis Antetokounmpo is the type of person who would stay there. In a world sickeningly dominated by “well, this results in the most money/glory, so it must be the right option,” Giannis chose to stay loyal to his teammates, his fans, and anyone in Milwaukee with whom he formed a bond instead of cutting ties at a good opportunity.

To be clear, I would not have blamed Giannis if he decided to demand a trade. But he didn’t. And he’s here.

It’s hard to imagine a team with Giannis on it not making the playoffs. But, frankly, it’s hard to imagine a team with Giannis on it being this bad. If they can make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, that would be an incredible accomplishment. That’s literally as far as I can see them going.

Detroit Pistons

We now enter the next tier of “fighting for the sixth seed.” I’m mentioning the Detroit Pistons first because they’re my favorite team, and I’m writing.

I am excited for the Pistons. I am invested in Pistons games past the point of control again. I am feeling joy talking about them.

But I do not trust them.

The Pistons’ run from January last season through to their elimination in the playoffs was the best basketball played in Detroit since the very end of the Going to Work era. If you read that sentence again, maybe you can see my problem. Going backwards from January, you see Monty Williams, a 28 game losing streak, a Blake Griffin trade, a Ben Gordon signing, and on and on. Have you heard of CPTSD?

I want to believe, but the end of last season was just too much of a jump for me to fully readjust my baseline to anything other than a team just trying to grow and maybe put on another good showing in the playoffs.

The best case scenario I can offer is that they get out of the first round. They were way, way ahead of schedule at the end of last year. If they can improve on what they did last season, that would be great! But if this year is kind of a repeat, I’m not sure that’s a bad sign.

Indiana Pacers

Considering the Indiana Pacers went to the NBA Finals last year, maybe I should have listed them ahead of the Pistons. Well, if you want someone to show them the attention and love they deserve, go sign up for Caitlin Cooper’s Patreon. You have to pay for her stuff, but look at this filth you’re reading from me for free instead. You’re getting what you pay for.

Tyrese Haliburton, barring something very strange, is not going to be playing this season. Tyrese Halburton is their best player and the engine of the entire Indiana Pacers offense as we know it. This year will be different.

We can kind of project how the play will shift, more Nembhard running possessions, TJ ball being a thing for more extended minutes, lineups that are a lot of “Pascal, go to work.” All of these approaches have done fine for the Pacers in the past.

However, that is a little dependent on the fact that all those listed approaches are a departure from their base. They’re engaged as a change of pace, not a game plan. Their base was one of rapid, rapid turnaround between cuts or picks or any other action. They weren’t the fastest, but they were the most persistent. And so much of what made that offense with so many inflection points possible was that Tyrese Haliburton just does not turn the ball over.

And he’s not playing.

The Pacers still have a solid team even without Haliburton (and Turner, which is worth mentioning), but it’s kind of a wheel without an axle even if the Pacers have done pretty well off of people not believing in them. All the same, there is just so much missing talent. They could well pull off a round one win as well if the matchup is right.

Boston Celtics

[placeholder text come back to this later]

[more placeholder text because I came back later and still don’t want to write about the Celtics]

THE BOSTON CELTICS, HUH? GOD I LOVE THEM. HAVE YOU NOTICED WHAT A LOVELY DAY IT IS OUTSIDE?

Jayson Tatum is injured. Jrue is gone. KP is gone. The team’s sale has been weird. The whiplash going from “We might actually repeat” to “wow this and next season are both washes” is still kinda lingering. We wear a neckbrace in the car just to be safe.

There really is no best case scenario here as far as results go. Ownership wants to save money this year. How about that repeater tax, huh? Spooky.

There is still a good amount of talent on the team, and good coaching, and ostensibly good management when management is actually trying to win basketball games, but that’s not what this season is. If the players’ can carry them, maybe they can get out of the first round, just like these last couple teams. I just don’t think they have the horses after that.

Moo.

Philadelphia 76ers

This team is in their own “wtf” tier. Like, a year and a half ago, Joel Embiid was the best player in the league for a few months. He hobbled the team’s way to a real series with the Knicks, through so, so many troubles. They added Paul George, who I really hope doesn’t suck??? And Tyrese Maxey is supposed to be reaching his prime still.

But everyone got injured, and nothing good happened, and Joel is still injured.

However, Quentin Grimes did cool stuff! And Jared McCain is so cool! Maybe it was just an all-time bad luck season.

I truly do not know how to judge this group. The best case scenario is that they just have a feel good story of some sort. A healthy year for one of their two oft-injured stars, maybe. Health at the right time for a postseason run. That’s all you can ever hope for with the Embiid Sixers, so that kind of makes it the default best-case.

Embiid. Healthy. Right time.

Toronto Raptors

For the sake of my partner, who is a Toronto Raptors fan, I want to be hopeful here.

I am not.

Look, Scottie Barnes is better than I ever thought he would be. Unfortunately, I kind of thought he would top out as the kind of contributor Jalen Green is right now, just in his own way. I’m very, very happy for who he has grown to be.

And look! Brandon Ingram! R.J. Barrett gets to play in Canada, half the time! Gradey Dick has some driving chops, and he could have some Desmond Bane in him. It’s all possible.

But if they get out of the play-in, I would be stoked. Seventh or eighth Seed would be wonderful. Make that first step.

Miami Heat

Best case scenario: nothing so dumb happens that Riley is forced by circumstance to let go of Erik Spoelstra to keep his own job.

Chicago Bulls

How far can Coby White and Josh Giddey take you?

We’re going to let that be a thought exercise for you. What is the best case scenario here? What can the wonderful good vibes of Coby White create when combined with the heretical ugliness that is Josh Giddey?

Is it a yin and yang situation? Or just kind of mixing two complimentary colors and getting a gross, useless brown? “Oh boy, I can paint tree stumps.”

I don’t understand the point of The Giving Tree. It just seems like the dude was a complete jerk.

Just make it to the play-in.

Washington Wizards

Young guys. Neat. The culture was a bit suspect, but there’s new energy in the building.

Best case scenario is that everyone shows some growth in hopes of making a leap next year or the year after.

Charlotte Hornets