Analyzing the Atlantic Division ahead of the 2025-26 NBA season

As the Knicks and Nets enter the 2025-26 season on completely opposite trajectories, the conference surrounding them has taken a major step backwards. Many stars are injured or gone, few clear contenders in sight, and Brooklyn doesn’t even have much competition.

Let’s dive into the Atlantic Division as a whole to see how they compare to each other and to a weakened Eastern Conference.

New York Knicks

Expected Starters: Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mitchell Robinson

Offseason additions: Mike Brown taking over as head coach for Tom Thibodeau, Jordan Clarkson, Geurschon Yabusele,

Off-Season Departures: Precious Achiuwa

The Knicks face a depleted East after winning 51 games and finishing second last season, sporting a relatively unchanged on-court roster outside of some much-needed added depth. The big question for the regular season is how quickly and effectively the Knicks will adopt the new system under the new coach.

Philadelphia 76ers

Expected starters: Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain, Kelly Oubre Jr., Paul George, Joel Embiid

Off-season additions: VJ Edgecombe, Trendon Watford

Off-season departures: Yabusele

Philadelphia is the ultimate anomaly this season, with possibilities ranging from the lottery to the Finals. The first step, as always for this team, is health, as the big three Maxey, George and Embiid only shared the court for 15 games and less than 300 minutes last year.

Just playing together and creating chemistry would elevate them in terms of talent above much of the East, but if they want to really make some noise in the playoffs they’ll need a lot more to do well. Many expect bad luck or poor construction (no bigs, small forwards) to derail this team much sooner, but in a fragile East, you can’t ignore the upside of this team.

Boston Celtics

Expected starters: Anfernee Simons, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, Neemias Queta

Off-season additions: Simons

Offseason departures: Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, Al Horford AND Luca Kornet

What a difference a year makes. A season away from a championship, the Celtics sold their team, lost to the Knicks, lost their star player of the year, and blew up the team with a soft reset.

It’s a small crew compared to what they had, but don’t doubt the courage and composition of this team. Brown is still a top-tier All-Star in his own right, Simons is a scoring marvel who finally gets a chance in a winning culture, and White and Payton Pritchard I’m still very much here.

They probably won’t compete too much in the playoffs, but they’ll be a constant nuisance during the regular season and a “crap, really?” match in the play-in and/or first round. However, a big question is how quickly Brown can recover from a preseason hamstring injury.

Toronto Raptor

Expected starters: Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Brandon Ingram, Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl

Offseason additions: Collin-Murray Boyles

Everyone’s favorite ex-Knicks team, New York partner in the legal field and colleague in Andrea Bargnani trade, your Toronto Raptors. They could quickly snatch Philly’s “anomaly” belt, boasting a talented but strange group of young, hungry players vying for the playoffs.

Their big break came last season when they traded for an injured Ingram; now we see it in action alongside this core of potential customers, for whom this is a crucial year. Oddsmakers and pundits don’t expect much more than a substantial Play-In threat, with a much more variable level.

Brooklyn Nets

Expected starters: Egor Demin, Cam Thomas, Terance Mann, Michael Porter Jr., Nic Claxton

Off-Season Additions: Haywood Highsmith, Kobe Bufkin, five first-round draft picks

Offseason departures: Cam Johnson

Ha Sean Marks “Jordi-proof” (according to Zach Lowe of The Ringer) was this team adequate enough? The end goal is clearly not to win, and running an entire point guard rotation with no rookies is one way to avoid that, but put a good coach and good talent together and you take some risks.

There’s a lot more at play here, of course. Thomas is in a contract year with an organization that doesn’t want him. Many of these veterans could be shipped via trade and everyone wants to see one of these prospects explode.

However you handle it, don’t expect Brooklyn to threaten the division or the conference.