The Magic made the playoffs last season, to the surprise of many. They were maybe a year ahead of schedule. Now that they’ve made the playoffs once with this core, the Magic don’t want to go back.
The Eastern Conference is stacked, however. While several teams are expected to flop, others are expected to be among the best in the league. Getting a playoff spot and perhaps even home-court advantage won’t be easy for the Magic.
The NBA season is always full of surprises. All it takes is one injury to push some teams out of the race and put others in their place. Let’s take a look at what the Eastern Conference could look like next season.
While the Eastern Conference will have some of the best teams in the league, it will also have some of the worst. Last season, the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards had some of the worst seasons we’ve seen in quite some time. That likely won’t change in 2024-25, as both teams will be competing for the worst record in the Eastern Conference as well as the league.
The Pistons and Wizards aren’t the only teams that are clearly out of the playoff picture. The Brooklyn Nets still have some good players but have officially launched their rebuild by sending Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks. Likewise, the Chicago Bulls are out of shape. They traded Alex Caruso to Oklahoma for Josh Giddey and DeMar DeRozan to the Sacramento Kings. 2024-25 should be the season the Bulls escape their consistent mediocrity, but not in the way they would have liked.
The last team not in the playoffs in the East should be the Charlotte Hornets. The Hornets have some interesting young players but not enough talent and experience to compete in a deep Eastern Conference, especially if LaMelo Ball can’t stay healthy.
