With the NBA playoffs set to kick off in just 3 weeks, and the regular season becoming more and more important to determine playoff seeding, I think it’s now time to take a look at every team that can realistically make the playoffs, and see what to expect from them. 

 

At the top of the Eastern Conference, sit the Detroit Pistons. They were a team that had been tanking (losing on purpose to get better draft picks) just 2 years ago. This team has been dominating in the regular season the whole year. Cade Cunningham, the former first overall pick in the 2021 draft, is playing the best basketball of his career. Fans are putting him into MVP (most valuable player) conversations at just 24 years of age. He is averaging 25 points per game and 10 assists per game. Outside of Cade, the Pistons as a whole have been a defensive-minded team,playing physically and wearing their opposition down. Players like Jalen Duren (first time all-star), Isaiah Stewart and Ausaur Thompson are all elite defenders. In my opinion, the Pistons are a great team but have 2 clear problems that could get in their way of winning a championship. The first is the lack of offensive firepower outside of Cade Cunningham. When Cade isn’t on the floor, the Pistons offense really struggles and has to rely on their defense while they wait for Cade to check back into the game, which is a strategy I don’t see being effective against outstanding offensive teams like the Celtics, Cavaliers or Knicks. The second problem I see is the lack of playoff experience. This team made their first playoffs with this group of players last season where they lost in the first round. We’ve seen countless times that playoff experience is valuable and teams that have more usually win. Overall, I can see the Pistons losing in the second or third round of the NBA playoffs.

 

The next two teams to look at are the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks. These 2 teams are my favorites to come out of the East in the NBA finals. New York has made the playoffs for the last 4 years and have made the semi-finals last year. New York is an elite offense and has the playoff experience to make some noise. Jalen Brunson is leading the way for the Knicks, averaging 27 points per game and 7 assists per game. Brunson can easily turn into a scoring machine in the playoffs and drop 40 points on any given night. Karl Anthony-Towns is an elite centre in the NBA and is second in the league in rebounds per game. If you pair them with Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby who are good defenders and can shoot the 3-ball well, you’ve got a team that is dangerous, where anyone can step up to be a focal point on offense. The Boston Celtics are an interesting team. At the beginning of the season people expected the Celtics to be a bottom tier playoff team after star forward Jayson Tatum suffered a heartbreaking achilles injury in the playoffs against the Knicks last year. The Celtics proved everyone wrong and have held the second seed in the East for the entire season. Jaylen Brown has led the Celtics as an MVP candidate while averaging 29 points and 8 rebounds per game. Jayson Tatum returned two weeks ago, not even 10 months after a serious injury and is starting to look like the player he was a few years ago. Derrick White and Payton Pritchard have been elite sharpshooters and pesky defenders in the backcourt. Head Coach Joe Mazzulla has developed a lot of talent in players like Neemias Queta, Jordan Walsh and Hugo Gonzalez. The Celtics have also been in the playoffs for 11 straight years and have 2 finals appearances. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have made the playoffs for 8 straight years which includes a championship from 2024. Overall I think that the Knicks and the Celtics have all the pieces necessary to contend for a championship and if they face off, it'll be fun to watch.

 

Filling in the next three spots in the Eastern Conference are the Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic. The Cavaliers and Raptors have been fighting for the fourth seed all year. In February, the Cavaliers shocked everyone by trading Darius Garland for James Harden. Harden has been playing well for the Cavs and has fit right into his role alongside superstar Donovan Mitchell who has consistently been a high level scorer. The Cavaliers really cleaned up their roster at the trade deadline by acquiring Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis as depth pieces coming off the bench. The Cavs were struggling at the beginning of the season and failing to live up to the expectations of being a top team in the East. Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen have recently been elite defenders and have given the team a new defensive identity. They do have a lot of playoff experience but the one thing I worry about is whether Mobley and Allen can be consistent players in the playoffs and whether James Harden can finally break his streak of being a ‘choker’ in the playoffs. The Raptors have exceeded preseason expectations of barely being a playoff team. Scottie Barnes has shown to be a do-it-all player with his  ability to guard any position while leading and directing the offense. Brandon Ingram, who people questioned due to his injury history, has been amazing on offense and has been able to be a first option scorer. RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and Jakob Poeltl have all struggled with injuries this year and have been inconsistent players however they have all flipped the script and have been really solid for Toronto. I think the Raptors can be an underdog team that can make some noise in the playoffs but I don’t think they can make it out of the East especially considering that this will be the Raptor’s first playoff appearance together. From the remaining 5 teams in the East, I think the Orlando Magic are the strongest and will be able to avoid the play-in tournament which determines the teams that will make it to the final two playoff spots. The Magic have a lot of talent on paper but they struggle to be healthy and all on the floor together. The core four of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Desmond Bane and Jalen Suggs have played a total of 11 games together. However it does look like everyone will be healthy in time for the playoffs. The Magic have been winning a lot of their games recently and look like they will clinch the playoffs.

 

The fight for the play-in tournament (a single elimination tournament to decide final two playoff spots) has been the most exciting it has been in years. The Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers are the four teams competing for the 7-10 seeds in the Eastern Conference. Charlotte and Miami have been two of the hottest teams recently. The Hornets have jumped from a 12th rated offense before January to a number 1 rated offense since January 3rd. Atlanta has won 11 games in a row as of March 18th. Charlotte has 3 offensive specialists in Lamelo Ball, an excellent passer, Brandon Miller, and rookie sharpshooter Kon Knueppel. These 3 have singlehandedly turned the team around, and went from 11 wins and 22 losses to 37 wins and 34 losses. Atlanta traded all-star guard Trae Young to the wizards and have since built their team around rising star Jalen Johnson. Atlanta has been a very good defensive team and have made defense their main focus. Philadelphia has been unlucky this season due to injuries to their star players Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid. VJ Edgecombe, the rookie, has shown a lot of potential and talent. Maxey and Embiid are both MVP caliber players when they play but if they can’t stay healthy, I don’t see the 76ers making the playoffs. The last team in the East to talk about is the Miami Heat. They are loaded with talented scorers including Andrew Wiggins, Bam Adebayo, Norman Powell and Tyler Herro. Like Philadelphia, their problem is injuries. These 4 have not played a single game together this season, and I don’t think that they will all be healthy in time for the end of the regular season. Between the Hawks, 76ers, Heat and Hornets, I think the Hornets and Hawks will round out the bottom of the East.

 

 

Now moving on to the Western Conference, in 1st place are the defending champions, Oklahoma City Thunder, with the San Antonio Spurs trailing just 3 games behind. Both of these teams are led by the two best players in the NBA, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama, who are neck and neck in the MVP race this year and are hoping to lead their teams to a championship. The Thunder have an incredibly loaded roster, completely filled with defensive-minded players who can also score under pressure. Along with Shai, Chet Holmgren, Alex Caruso and Lu Dort are 3 of the league's top 10 defenders. Jared Mccain, Jalen Williams, Isaiah Joe and Cason Wallace are all elite shooters and any one of them can step up to be a first option offensive player. The Thunder have checked off every box that is required to win a championship and it makes perfect sense given that they were last year's champions. However, the Thunder have had some problems with the San Antonio Spurs. Victor Wembanyama is hands down the best defender in the league and has the most on-court impact for his team. The Spurs have so much young talent in guys like Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, Dylan Harper and of course Wembanyama have all proven that they can win at a high level. I do think the Thunder are a better team though regardless of what happened in the regular season between them and the Spurs. The Spurs haven’t made the playoffs since 2019 and are simply not used to the completely different playoff feel and environment. While the Thunder are the slightly better team for now, in 2-3 years the Spurs will be back and completely ready to win a championship.

 

 

The rest of the West are just way below the level that the Spurs and Thunder are at. With that being said, some of these teams, especially the experienced teams, have the potential to make an underdog type of run deep into the playoffs. These teams are the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves. These teams have consistently disappointed in the regular season, but come playoff time, they look completely different. Anthony Edwards and Jamal Murray are two of the most clutch players in the NBA and have never disappointed when the time winds down and the tension is there. Minnesota has made back-to-back appearances in the semifinals and managed to win a game against the Thunder. Minnesota is loaded with scorers all across the board including: Julius Randle, Donte Divincenzo, Ayo Dosunmu, and Naz Reid. Pair that with 3-time defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert and they have a squad that can really compete in the playoffs. The Nuggets, led by generational offensive talent Nikola Jokic, won the championship in 2023 and have looked to win again every year since. Recently, they have struggled, partly due to injuries to Murray and Peyton Watson, which is why I don’t think they have what it takes to beat the Spurs, Thunder, or Timberwolves. 

 

The Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets have maintained high seeding in the West for the majority of the season, but they both have one very clear problem that should've been addressed at the trade deadline. The Lakers are led by MVP candidate Luka Doncic who is another generational offensive talent. Along with Luka, they have Austin Reaves who is another talented offensive player and a 41 year old Lebron James. To go along with the big 3,  shooters like Luke Kennard and Rui Hachimura combine to form a top 5 offense in the NBA.  However they simply do not have a playoff level defense, which will be exposed by other teams immediately. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are both super lazy defenders and Lebron is not very useful at 41 years old. Their starting centre D’Andre Ayton is labeled as one of the softest and low effort players in the league. Without defense, a team will not find success in the playoffs and this is exactly what will happen to the Lakers. The Rockets on the other hand, have the opposite problem. Their roster consists of amazing perimeter defenders like Amen Thompson, Reed Sheppard, Tari Eason and Jabari Smith Jr. Their two main offensive options, Kevin Durant and Alpren Sengun are both heavily inconsistent and can’t be expected to score well every game. Due to the injury to starting point guard Fred Vanvleet, who was the guy who ran the Rockets’ offense, the team’s offense has fallen off a cliff this year, compared to last year. The Rockets should’ve traded for a point guard at the trade deadline, who could’ve made them serious contenders but without a real floor general, I don’t see the Rockets making it past the second round of the playoffs.

 

The final 4 teams competing for the playoff spots in the Western Conference are far less competitive and interesting than the teams in the East, and any one of the Clippers, Warriors, Suns or Trail Blazers are likely to get swept in the first round assuming they win in the play-in tournament. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of talent on these teams but their future hopes after this season don’t look the best due to the fact that they are mediocre teams with aging veterans. In terms of this season, the Phoenix Suns have been the best team, but that doesn't necessarily mean they will get one of the last two spots. Devin Booker has proven why he has been an all-star time and time again by staying consistent and shooting the ball well. Dillon Brooks has added his usual defensive toughness and physicality to the team and also unexpectedly scored the ball well. Jalen Green is a player that is great both offensively and defensively. Other than these three, the Suns just don’t have enough talent offensively or defensively to keep up with other teams. The Los Angeles Clippers looked like they had finally been capable of being a serious playoff team with Kawhi Leonard and James Harden carrying the rest of the team. At one point they went 15-3 on an 18 game stretch. It all changed when James Harden unexpectedly requested a trade from Los Angeles and the Clippers would trade him to Cleveland and receive all-star point guard Darius Garland. This team's success depends entirely on the health of Kawhi Leonard, who has had the best season of his career, and Darius Garland who is good when he plays, but hardly ever gets to. The Golden State Warriors might see their last shot at being a playoff team with four time champions Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. They are both regressing and getting injured more frequently due to age. All-star forward Jimmy Butler suffered a potentially career-ending ACL tear which pretty much puts any hopes of the Warriors being a playoff team into the trash. Stephen Curry is still playing at a level that could carry the team to win in the play-in, but if he is still injured there is no hope that the Warriors will make the playoffs. The last team in this range are the Portland Trailblazers. Denia Avdija has been an unexpected surprise for them, averaging nearly 25 points per game. Shaedon Sharpe is a promising young talent and is likely the piece that they will build around in the future. Jrue Holiday and Jeremi Grant both are seasoned veterans in the NBA and do have prior playoff experience that can guide this team to beat the Warriors or the Suns but even if they do I just don’t see enough talent in this team to compete in the playoffs. Out of these four teams, my bet would be on the Clippers and the Trailblazers to advance to the playoffs.

 

After analysing each team, I can categorize these 20 teams into 5 different categories. The teams that are contenders to win the NBA championship for me are the Boston Celtics, the New York Knicks and the Oklahoma City Thunder. These three teams have everything needed to win it all. The next category of teams are teams that are almost at the contention level but need a few small tweaks to truly get there. These teams are the Detroit Pistons and the San Antonio Spurs. These teams just need a little bit more experience and a little more offensive firepower. The third category are teams that have a ceiling of the second or third round. This category includes the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets and the Cleveland Cavaliers. These teams are talented but simply cannot match up against the better teams. The next category are teams that are young and will most likely make only the 1st or 2nd round. These teams are the Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic, Charlotte Hornets, Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat. These teams have a lot of young talent and a bright future in the years to come. The last category is teams that are either going to miss the playoffs or teams that can barely clinch them. These final teams are the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trailblazers and Golden State Warriors. These teams all have older players nearing the end of their careers and not that many young players that can be built around over the next few years. 

 

It’s safe to say that we have all kinds of different teams this year fighting in the playoffs and every match-up will be fun to watch.