Outlets are split on whether the Knicks and 76ers deserve their hype in a crowded Eastern Conference.
The new NBA season tips off on October 20, and the preseason paperwork is piling up. Multiple outlets have rolled out their team-by-team breakdowns, power rankings and championship picks for all 30 teams, and the overarching theme is that nobody fully trusts the Eastern Conference's usual suspects this year.
The Knicks and 76ers, long treated as top-four locks in the East, are getting a harder look. Some previews argue both teams are overvalued given how deep the conference has become, with one count putting seven teams in the East as plausible contenders for a major playoff run. That marks a shift from recent years when the top of the conference felt more settled.
Out West, the Thunder, Nuggets and the rest of the usual contenders headline early outlooks, though one roundtable noted how wrong last year's predictions turned out to be, with Oklahoma City expected to repeat and Cleveland expected to take a step in the East, neither of which materialized as forecast.
With rosters reshaped by a busy offseason, writers across the league are hedging their bets. The games that actually decide any of this start October 20.