The Eastern Conference is going through big changes, and no one is sure who will come out on top in 2025-26.
ESPN recently conducted a poll of professionals inside the league, asking them which team would win the East, and the answer was pretty clear.
The Cleveland Cavaliers got the most votes, followed by the New York Knicks.
After that, things got very murky.
In their writing, Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst summed it up.
“With so much uncertainty around the conference, we conducted a snap poll of eight scouts and executives to see where things stand,” Bontemps and Windhorst wrote. “What’s clear is that the East is seen as having three tiers: The Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks are at the top; the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic after that; and then a jumbled rest of the conference following from there.”
The Cavaliers remain the top team in their conference, at least in theory.
Of course, that was true last season, too, and that is why some fans aren’t putting a lot of faith in this poll.
The Cavs were the best squad in the East all season, but that didn’t lead them to a championship.
In fact, it made their defeat in the postseason even more embarrassing and proved that having the greatest record doesn’t really mean anything.
The team might be favorites, and they may even create another stunning record, but that is no guarantee of their playoff success.
The Cavaliers were already going to face a lot of scrutiny and expectations in 2025-26, and they will feel even more now after this polling from ESPN.
People think they will win it all, but can they?
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