Tank & Jenks 2025/26 NBA Preview
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
- New York Knicks: 57-25 (2)
- Philadelphia 76ers: 46-36 (5)
- Boston Celtics: 44-38 (7)
- Toronto Raptors: 34-48 (12)
- Brooklyn Nets: 18-64 (15)
The New York Knicks enter this season as legitimate championship contenders. Oh how long New Yorkers have waited for this moment. The offseason was clunky, especially the abrupt dismissal of Tom Thibodeau and bizarre coaching search before landing Mike Brown. With that said, the dust has settle and the team looks ready to make a run. With Jalen Brunson closing games, Mike Brown extending the rotation to nine deep, and a healthy Mitchell Robinson; the Knicks could have one of their best regular seasons in decades. The biggest variable for this team will be how many games Robinson plays and if he is healthy for the playoffs. The addition of Jordan Clarkson gives the Knicks depth. Don’t be surprised if Deuce McBride also makes a leap forward this season.
The 76ers have a ton of talent and Tyrese Maxey has developed into a bonafide star. With that said, the health of Joel Embiid will ultimately set the ceiling for this team. They brought back Eric Gordon and Kyle Lowery, plus made a nice move picking up Quentin Grimes. If the Sixers can stay healthy, this team has depth and capable of a deep playoff run.
The Boston Celtics are entering this season after an early elimination from the playoffs, exasperated by a devastating Jayson Tatum achilles tear. The Celtics also lost Al Horford, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, and Luke Kornet. This means guys like Derrick White and Payton Prichard are going to get a lot of shots, but face defenses more focused on them as primary scorers. We will also get to see exactly how great Jaylen Brown is as he plays with a watered down supporting cast. If the Celtics can hang around playoff contention, there is speculation that Tatum could be back by March. That would give him about a month of game action to get ready for the playoffs, making Boston a dangerous darkhorse.
Where’s Drake? The Raptors won 30 games last year and the most significant addition to their roster this offseason was Sandro Manukelashvili. The Raptors did pickup Brandon Ingram last season and will have the occasional night where he carries them to victory, but don’t expect this team to make a playoff push.
The Nets are coming off a 56-loss season with little hope to expect improvement. D’Angelo Russell is gone and their biggest offseason pickup was Michael Porter Jr. This has become a depressing franchise, matching the dreary look of the Barclays Center. The best hope is to land a a big pick in the draft lottery, because they are likely the worst team in the NBA.
Central Division:
- Cleveland Cavaliers: 59-23 (1)
- Detroit Pistons: 51-31 (3)
- Milwaukee Bucks: 45-35 (6)
- Indiana Pacers 43-49 (8)
- Chicago Bulls: 27-55 (13)
The Cavs are coming off of a great regular season and disappointing playoff exit. The good news is they enter the season relatively healthy with a new addition in Lonzo Ball. They have a deep roster and can actually afford having the injury-prone Ball sit out the second half of back-to-backs. With the Pacers and Celtics suffering injuries to their superstars, the Cavs have a clear path to make it back to the finals without LeBron James.
The Pistons showed they have a bright future last year, especially in the playoffs where they played the Knicks tough. Detroit lost Tim Hardaway and Dennis Schröder, but picked up Duncan Robinson and Caris LeVert, upgrading a strong young core.
Cade Cunningham is on the brink of superstardom, as anyone who watched him in the playoffs last year will confirm. He might fully breakout this year. Jalen Duren also provides a formidable inside presence in a soft league.
The Giannis Antetokounmpo title run in 2021 with the Bucks was special, but now it feels like it was a lifetime ago. The championship roster is gone and it feels like Giannis might be gone soon too. To make things worse, the Bucks lost Damian Lillard, Brook Lopez, and Pat Connaughton. They did sign Myles Turner, who has made it loud and clear that the Pacers (who paid him $130MM in his career) simply didn’t appreciate him. Doc Rivers has a bit of a mess on his hands, but if Giannis ends up deciding to stay and plays MVP caliber ball, the Bucks will be a strong playoff team.
Everyone in Indiana is perplexed by Myles Turner acting like he escaped Shawshank after building a great and lucrative career with the Pacers. That is the least of their problems, with their superstar Tyrese Haliburton recovering from his achilles tear. Guys like Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, and Obi Toppin will get big opportunities to step up. T.J. McConnell and Pascal Siakam will need to be the leaders and anchors if the Pacers wants to make a scrappy playoff run.
The Chicago Bulls have been in NBA wasteland territory for years. They don’t lose enough to get a generational pick and don’t win enough to matter. For fans, it has been brutal. Coming off of a classic 39-win season, the Bulls lost Lonzo Ball and picked up Isaac Okoro and extended Josh Giddey. For Bulls fans, the best hope is this roster might be bad enough to get the Bulls a decent chance in the draft lottery.
Southeast Division:
- Orlando Magic: 48-34 (4)
- Atlanta Hawks: 40-42(9)
- Charlotte Hornets: 38-44 (10)
- Miami Heat: 35-47 (11)
- Washington Wizards: 21-61 (14)
The Orlando Magic enter the season as the class of this feeble division. Paolo Banchero signed a five-year extension over the summer, cementing his place and the face of the franchise. This Magic team is young, aggressive around the rim, and will not be a fun regular season game for anyone. If Paolo takes the next step, the Magic could win a playoff series this year.
Another franchise that seems stuck in the mud at about .500 in the play-in games annually. The Hawks turned over a lot of their roster this summer and picked up Kristaps Porzingis. On paper, he’s a perfect match to run pick and rolls with Trae Young, but you can’t rely on Kristaps for 82 games. Trae Young gets a lot of hate, but he did play 76 games last year, averaging 24/11. For Trae to reach his potential, he needs to shoot the ball with more efficiency. Less shots, better shots, and more assists, while improving on defense.
The Hornets have had their heads up their own asses since restoring the Hornets' name. This year, the roster does have some exciting additions including Pat Connaughton, Spencer Dinwiddie, Mason Plumlee, and Collin Sexton. LaMelo Ball is a unique talent who has been ravaged by injuries. He is entering the year healthy-ish and can hopefully stay that way. If so, the Hornets could sneak their way into a play-in spot and finally pick up their heads for a fresh breath of air.
Heat Culture is dead. After trading Jimmy Butler, the Heat lost Duncan Robinson, Kevin Love, and Kyle Anderson over the offseason. They will need Bam Adebayo to level up to 25/12 per night, the Heat are going to continue to regress. Pat Riley brought in no one of significance to replace all of the lost firepower. Unless Miami makes some massive trade we don’t see coming, this should be a scrap for the play-in year.
No team made more meaningless moves this offseason than the Washington Wizards. A team that is beyond hopeless, and could be the least relevent team among the four major sports. It is time for a change, the Wizards should rebrand and start all over, because they will continue to suck in anonomity.
Western Conference
Northwest Division
- Denver Nuggets: 64-18 (1)
- Oklahoma City Thunder: 59-23 (2)
- Minnesota Timberwolves: 58-24 (3)
- Portland Trail Blazers: 34-48 (13)
- Utah Jazz: 20-62 (15)
The Denver Nuggets have the best player in the NBA, Nikola Jokić. The only concern is he may tire of the NBA, and ride off
in a horse carriage to never be seen again embrassing his horse racing destiny. Until that day, the Nuggets remain title contenders. Denver has some added firepower heading into this season with additions including Cam Johnson, Jonas Valančiūnas, Tim Hardaway Jr., and the return of Bruce Brown. With this roster, the only measurement of success is another championship.
The defending champions return healthy and fortified having re-signed both Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren. They had virtually no roster turnover outside of Dillon Jones. Continuity matters in basketball! It has been a long time since the NBA had such a young core entering the season as defending champions. They are built for both the regular season and playoffs with their depth, size, defense and shooting as they try t o become the first NBA team to repeat since the Warriors in 2018.
The Timberwolves didn’t do much in the offseason and will basically run it back with the same group. I think a lot of fans forget the Anthony Edwards is only 24 years old, most likely still three years from his prime, and he averaged 27.6 PPG last year. Ant is special and had the revelation this summer that he should go nuclear on bad teams during the regular season, rather than coast (to get his stats up). While this seems borderline satirical and insulting to fans, it also implies there is a lot of upside to come.
It is a brutal situation in Portland. The Blazers two big pickups this offseason were an aging Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard for assisted living to end his basketball days in comfort surrounded by those he loves. It would seem that any where near
35 wins would be quite an accomplishment.
The Utah Jazz went out of their way to pickup Kevin Love. Shocking. The roster is a joke and they will again be one of the worst teams in the league.
Pacific Division:
- Los Angeles Lakers 47-35 (5)
- Golden State Warriors: 45-37 (6)
- Los Angeles Clippers: 43-39 (8)
- Sacramento Kings: 36-46 (12)
- Phoenix Suns: 30-52 (14)
Luka Doncic looks lean and mean, ready for an epic revenge rampage across the NBA. LeBron looks a bit insecure about Luka being the obvious alpha in LA now. LeBron not showing up to the Luka press conference this summer was just about what we’ve come to expect. Interesting that he did have time to do the “Decision 2” but not the Luka presser. Honestly, is anyone not looking forward to his retirement? Despite the imminent drama, if LeBron can accept taking a backseat to Luka, the Lakers will be dangerous.
Steph Curry and Seth Curry will get a chance this year to become the Literal Splash Brudders. The addition of Jimmy Butler last year and Al Horford this offseason helps, but the roster isn’t deep and all of their best players are older than 35. The regular season will be tough on their bodies, but if this team can get into the playoffs healthy, absolutely no one will want this matchup.
Steve Ballmer was accused of running the Clippers like Tony Soprano ran his crew, handing out no-show jobs to his capos. The NBA is burying that story like the CIA - in plain sight. If it was 2015, the Clippers had a massive offseason. But sadly, it is 2025, so adding Chris Paul, Brook Lopez, and Bradley Beal to an already injury-prone roster probably isn’t the boost they need. Most importantly, James Harden just signed a new contract … so don’t expect him to even pretend to play a lick of defense this year. Despite all the wacky faults, the talent and experience will likely get them back to the playoffs where they will crumble.
The Kings have been peasants for a long time and will continue to be this year. Losing Jonas Valančiūnas and picking up Dennis Schröder for a team loaded with guards, wasn’t a slam-dunk offseason. The Kings will likely take a step back and even more likely, no one will notice.
This franchise might have killed the superteam era, and we should all be grateful for that. Braley Beal and Kevin Durant are now gone, replaced by a slew of nobodies. The Chris Paul curse is strong in the dessert. It will be a dreadful season for the Suns.
Southwest Division:
- Houston Rockets:50-32 (4)
- Dallas Mavericks: 44-38 (7)
- San Antonio Spurs: 43-39 (9)
- Memphis Grizzlies: 42-40 (10)
- New Orleans Pelicans: 38-44 (11)
The Rockets surprised a lot of people with a solid season under Ime Udoka. In the offseason, they pulled the trigger on a big trade to bring in Kevin Durant. The combination of Steven Adams and Clint Capella is formidable in this small ball era. However, the backcourt has limitations after the trade and Fred Vanvleet's torn ACL.
The Mavericks traded their best player, a generational talent and international superstar for a way past-his-prime Anthony Davis. They didn’t even shop Luka around to find the best return, just FEDEX expressed his ass to the Lakers which conveniently seems like the best case scenario for the NBA and their ratings. Unrelated: weeks later, the Mavs won the completely legitimate NBA lottery. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO SEE HERE! As much as the Luka conspiracy hurts, Mavs fans could have a really fun season ahead of them. Kyrie is coming back, D’Angelo Russell adds depth without being overly relied upon, and Cooper Flag looks ready to contribute immediately.
The Spurs could sneak up on teams this year. Victor Wembanyama seems to take a massive leap forward every season and De’Aaron Fox will have both hands on the steering wheel with the departure of Chris Paul. The Spurs could become a perennial playoff team again, if Wemby can somehow stay healthy.
Ja Morant has played in just 59 games in the last two seasons combined. This season he either reestablishes himself as a bonafide star or we might be witnessing the saddest thing there is in life: wasted talented. The Grizzlies will go as far Ja takes them.
Zion Williamson has shown flashes of greatness but has been his own worst enemy. This offseason, it appears he took his conditioning as seriously. We don’t really know what Zion’s ceiling is, but if he starts to approach it this year … The Pelicans can be frisky.
Play in Tournament
- (8) Pacers over (7) Celtics
- (9) Hawks over (10) Hornets
- (7) Celtics over (9) Hawks
- (7) Mavericks over (8) Clippers
- (9) Spurs over (10) Grizzlies
- (9) Spurs over (8) Clippers
First Round
- Cavaliers over Celtics in 6
- Knicks over Pacers in 6
- Pistons over Bucks in 7
- Magic over 76ers in 7
- Nuggets over Spurs in 5
- Thunder over Mavericks in 5
- Timberwolves over Warriors in 6
- Rockets over Lakers in 7
Second Round:
- Cavaliers over Magic in 6
- Knicks over Pistons in 6
- Nuggets over Rockets in 6
- Timberwolves over Thunder in 7
Eastern Conference Finals:
- Knicks over Cavaliers in 6
Western Conference Finals:
- Timberwolves over Nuggets in 6
NBA Finals:
- Knicks over Timberwolves in 6
- MVP, Jalen Brunson, Knicks
NBA Awards:
- Coach of the Year: Mike Brown, Knicks
- Rookie of the Year: Cooper Flagg, Mavericks
- Most Improved: Derrick White, Celtics
- Clutch Player: Jalen Brunson, Knicks
- Sixth Man: Jordan Clarkson, Knicks
- Defensive Player of the Year: Victor Wembanyama, Spurs
- NBA MVP: Nikola Jokic, Nuggets