2025-2026 NBA Preview part 1

The NBA season is now just under a month away, and what better way to get ready than to preview each team’s roster and what some expectations are. We will also recap some of the summer moves from the team as a reminder and the roster breakdown as we head into training camp. 

Now we will take a look at the Atlantic Division:

Boston Celtics 

PG: Payton Pritchard | Anfernee Simons | Max Shulga | RJ Luis 

SG: Derrick White | Sam Hauser | Hugo Gonzalez | Ron Harper Jr. 

SF: Jaylen Brown | Baylor Scheierman | Josh Minott | Jalen Bridges 

PF: Chris Boucher | Jordan Walsh | Xavier Tillman | Kendall Brown 

C: Neemias Queta | Luka Garza | Amari Williams 

Injuries: Jayson Tatum (Season)

The 2024 NBA champions look much different on paper than they did when they hoisted the Larry O’Brien trophy in the season of 2024. The Celtics made drastic roster changes after getting bounced in 6 games against the Knicks in the 2nd round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The addition of Anfernee Simons in a trade that sent Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers has made for interesting conversation about who will start and come off the bench between him and Payton Pritchard. Jaylen Brown and Derrick White will see an increased workload as the Celtics will be without Jayson Tatum for the entire 2025-2026 season. The Celtics also traded away Kristaps Porzingis, who saw them acquire Georges Niang from the Hawks, before trading him away to the Jazz. The Celtics also signed Chris Boucher, Luka Garza, and Josh Minott in free agency and acquired Hugo Gonzalez with their first-round pick this past year. The 2024 champs opted for a tax break for the upcoming season and will look to develop existing players to maximize the window for when Tatum comes back in 2026-2027.  

Brooklyn Nets

PG: Egor Demin | Nolan Traore | Ben Saraf | Tyson Etienne 

SG: Cam Thomas | Terance Mann | Jalen Wilson | Kobe Bufkin 

SF: Michael Porter | Haywood Highsmith | Drake Powell | Dariq Whitehead 

PF: Noah Clowney | Ziaire Williams | Tyrese Martin | EJ Liddell | Fanbo Zeng 

C: Nic Claxton | Danny Wolfe | Day’Ron Sharpe | Drew Timme 

The Brooklyn Nets started last season off strong, but flamed out to improve their draft pick. They had 5 first-round picks in the form of Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, Ben Saraf, Drake Powell, and Danny Wolfe. The Nets finally traded away Cam Johnson for Michael Porter Jr. and acquired Tereance Mann, Kobe Bufkin, and Haywood Highsmith through signings or trades. The Nets will be loaded with cap space for the upcoming season and will surely take on bad contracts for draft compensation. The only relatively large financial decision the Nets had to make was the restricted free agency of Cam Thomas. Thomas signed a 1-year $6 million qualifying offer with the Nets and will have the chance to sign a contract next year worth more value. The Nets will lose a lot this year and will also need to start making decisions about who to keep on the roster, as they don’t have a veteran player by NBA standards.

New York Knicks 

PG: Jalen Brunson | Malcolm Brogdan | Tyler Kolek | Kevin McCullar 

SG: OG Anunoby | Miles McBride | Garrison Matthews | Matt Ryan 

SF: Mikal Bridges | Jordan Clarkson | Landry Shamet | Mohamed Diawara

PF: Josh Hart | Guerchson Yabusele | Pacome Dadiet | Tosan Evbuowan 

C: Karl-Anthony Towns | Mitchell Robinson | Ariel Hukporti | Alex Len | Trey Jamison 

The Knicks have the most pressure on them to win an NBA championship in quite some time. After making the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years, the Knicks decided to reload the bench with the additions of Malcolm Brogdan, Guerchson Yabusele, and Jordan Clarkson. The firing of coach Tom Thibbidu was surprising, and hiring Mike Brown comes with the intention to take a ready-to-win roster to an NBA championship. Other roster questions come from whether Mitchell Robinson will be in the starting lineup and how the coaching staff handles the Josh Hart minutes. The other offensive pieces in Bridges and Anunoby will need to find ways to complement the Brunson-Towns tandem as well. Overall, the Knicks are heading into the season as favorites to win the Eastern Conference. 

Philadelphia 76ers 

PG: Tyrese Maxey | Kyle Lowry | Hunter Sallis | Kennedy Chandler 

SG: VJ Edgecombe | Eric Gordan | Justin Edwards | Emoni Bates

SF: Jared McCain | Kelly Oubre | Jabari Walker | Malcolm Hill 

PF: Paul George | Trendon Watford | Johni Broome | Jaylen Martin 

C: Joel Embiid | Andre Drummond | Adem Bona | Dominick Barlow 

The 76ers will be looking to rebound from an all-time disaster of a season from a year ago. After being dubbed the offseason champions, the 76ers flopped, and the only championship they sniffed was the self-proclaimed offseason championship. All three of Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey dealt with various injuries throughout the season, with the trio playing limited minutes together. Both George and Embiid had surgery this offseason and look to go into 2025-2026 healthy. The 76ers added VJ Edgecombe with the 3rd overall pick they earned through the draft lottery and added Trendon Watford and Jabari Walker through free agency. They return a majority of the team that finished 13th in the Eastern Conference. The 76ers also return Jared McCain after he underwent knee surgery on his meniscus that ended his high-scoring rookie season last year. The 76ers will look to be more competitive for this upcoming season, and for Joel Embiid, it’ll likely be the last season the 76ers make decisions based on his timeline. 

Toronto Raptors 

PG: Immanuel Quickley | Jamal Shead | Garret Temple | Chucky Hepburn

SG: RJ Barrett | Gradey Dick | Ja’Kobe Walter | AJ Lawson 

SF: Brandon Ingram | Ochai Agbaji | Jamison Battle | Alijah Martin 

PF: Scottie Barnes | Collin Murray-Boyles | Ulirch Chomche | David Roddy | Tyson Degenhart

C: Jakob Poeltl | Sandro Mamukelashvili | Jonathan Mogbo | Olivier Sarr 

The Raptors did most of their roster changes at the trade deadline of the past season. The addition of Brandon Ingram will make for a top-heavy roster, but the remaining question is how well the Quickley-Barrett-Barnes-Ingram lineups will work and how much they play together. The likely assumption is they will be staggering minutes with tandems. Not much has changed for the Raptors roster over the offseason, as the main addition was Collin Murray-Boyles, who was selected 9th overall in the NBA draft. The young guys, such as Grady Dick, Ja’Kobe Walter, and Ochai Agbaji, will be looking to establish themselves to earn a second contract either with the Raptors or somewhere else. However, this is a team that is in the luxury tax and will be looking to win in the Eastern Conference. Team President Masai Ujiri stepped away from the team for good this offseason as well. It’ll be important for the Raptors to win this upcoming season.