The dust is slow but will certainly be in the 2025 NBA offseason. The playoffs between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks have been somewhat different, with one tinkering in the roster while the other bringing a new head coach.
Crossing the Eastern Conference landscape, these two teams can be regarded as the best in the Eastern Conference. In fact, the Cavaliers might think that they might be the obvious best team after winning 64 games last season.
However, New York did go further than Cleveland in the playoffs, even though it was 13 games behind in the regular season. Indiana Pacers have been more than just the Knicks meat in the past few seasons. With Indiana star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, the Knicks will now believe no one will be in the way of their way this year due to a torn Achilles tendon.
Which team is more capable of sitting in the East?
Let’s dive very early.
What separates the Knights, the Knicks from the Rest?
First, let’s see why these two teams should be viewed as a step for the rest of the Eastern Conference teams.
Cleveland and New York were the first and third seeds with 64 and 51 wins last season. The Celtics are the No. 2 seed, but with the departure of Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kornet, it has been a few steps back. Jayson Tatum is not expected to compete in the 2025-26 years.
The Pacers won their fourth last season with 50 wins and reached the NBA finals. Halliburton’s injury and Myles Turner’s departure left them with several gaps.
Yes, for all intentions and purposes, the Orlando Magic will surely upgrade, replacing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with Desmond Bane. Mo Wagner will return from the left ACL; the healthy season of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs should make Orlando’s total of 41 wins a year ago should be improved.
Despite this, this is a team relative to the Knicks and the Cavaliers.
What about the Atlanta Hawks you mean? In one offseason, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Luke Kennard and Asa Newell plus Porzingis, added Porzingis. However, the team already has a lot of health issues, and the lack of TRAE Young expansion also adds uncertainty.
If there are some ways to guarantee that Jalen Johnson and Porzingis will play at least 65 games, then there may be a more serious conversation. Until we see this, this team is still the lower level.
What are the new features of the Cavaliers and the Knicks?
Between the two teams, the Knicks undoubtedly made a bigger turn, firing Tom Thibodeau and hiring Mike Brown as head coach. Ironically, they will hope to get the type of booster they get by swapping JB Bickerstaff to JB Bickerstaff to Kenny Atkinson’s Cavaliers before last season.
Atkinson modified the offense and set a break by reducing the regular season count for stars like Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. Thibodeau is notorious because he doesn’t trust his bench enough. Brown will be expected to ease the burden on his starters, especially Jalen Brunson.
But, in the case of the Knight, rest does not equal health when it matters most. Garland suffered a toe injury at the end of the regular season and missed several playoff games. Evan Mobley also missed a big game against the Pacers. It all means Mitchell has to do too much again.
Isaac Okoro was actually a total non-factor in the playoffs, and the Cavaliers moved him to Chicago in exchange for Lonzo Ball. Ty Jerome also left the stage. The Cavaliers have many sizes in the frontcourt, but lack in the backcourt. Ball is there a much-needed addition.
The Knicks also changed several staff members, bringing Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele. Clarkson should particularly alleviate New York’s concerns that Brunson didn’t score enough when he wasn’t on the floor. Yabusele may not be used too much, but should offer a more comprehensive option than the precious Achiuwa.
What are the priorities for the regular season?
Cleveland looked very easy in the last regular season, with three independent winning streaks of at least 12 games. However, a 64-win season was indeed a bit hollow when accompanied by the second round exit.
Will this team hope to fix it through a new playoff strategy in the regular season? Adding a ball is one thing, but there may be a desire to explore new strategies on both ends of the floor. There may be some battles that have sacrificed themselves to win the well-known war.
Since they haven’t overreacted to the early playoffs and made wholesale changes, the Cavaliers can imagine just run it and believe they’re really unfortunately injured. That is probably true.
They lost somehow to the Pacers in the regular season with a 34-7 record in the regular season, with two of them leading the way in most games. Family occasions should be important enough to push the top seeds again.
As mentioned earlier, Brown is now facing a similar task to Atkinson a season ago. Incredibly Atkinson was able to overhaul to be the league’s best offense and reduce game time and Win 64 games. Is it reasonable for the Knicks to expect Brown to have similar effects?
It may not be 64 wins all the way, but even teams close to 60 wins may see their sight. Last season, New York beat only 15-23-500 teams, and Brown wanted to solve that goal. They are very opposed to bad teams (36-8 vs. 500 teams), but that’s the next level right now.
An improved key statistic
Surprisingly, the team of shooters like Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Og Anunoby and Mikal Bridges was surprisingly surprised, with the Knicks hitting the lowest point with three-point shooting percentage, ranking 11th in 3-point shooting percentage but 29th in two-thirds but 29th in non-corner three-pointers.
Clarkson should help with some of these issues, but it’s interesting to see Brown encourages people like Arnold Beach and Bridge to shoot from above the breaks too. Let’s not forget that Miles McBride (39% over the last two years) is more than just a willing shooter.
Although the Knicks accounted for a healthy triangular three-pointer in three-point efficiency (38.7%). From a perspective, the Bucks hit the highest 44.4% from three-pointers. It’s time to see Brown’s lessons learned as he works with the Golden State Warriors.
From the Cavaliers’ point of view, it’s about being picky with a 64-win team. It’s actually more about what the team does in style.
One thing that’s obvious in the Pacers Series is how much the Cavaliers get when they transition. In the regular season, Cleveland ranked the lowest in transition frequency, with 80% of the games being played in half.
Cleveland has to have a path to an easier bucket. As long as there are two big men in the starting lineup, is this the Cavaliers’ marriage style? Atkinson’s challenge this season will be dialing the transition score.
Final judgment
Cleveland has a reliable system and has already performed it with outstanding results in the regular season. The Cavaliers played against Galley-500 teams 28-11, which shows that there are many teams you like.
Their sudden playoff exit wasn’t enough to deviate from thinking it was a great team. The Cavaliers should still be a favorite to win the East.
If Brown offers the improvement the organization is looking for, the Knicks can flirt with 60 wins well. Among the five starting players, there are many talents and some notable improvements.
All in all, it should not be considered as a thibodian culture established in New York. Brown cuts his work for him, taking the Knicks to the next level of winning.
