Cavaliers and Knicks Enter Make-or-Break Season in the Eastern Conference

In most seasons, the East tends to lag behind the West in the NBA; however, recently, the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks have led the East to garner more respect. That’s not the case this season.

Boston will be without Jayson Tatum and traded away Jrue Holiday, so they won’t be genuine contenders in the East. Last season's Eastern Conference defending champion, the Indiana Pacers, will be without Tyrese Haliburton, who is the heart and soul of the entire organization. Orlando and the Hawks made steady improvements and are looking to compete this year, but they both still have a ton of question marks, especially when it comes to coaching.

That leaves two teams, both of which have been on the cusp of contending in the East for the last few years. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers (+210) and the New York Knicks (+360) are the two heaviest favorites to come out of the East this season.

Since they went head-to-head in the playoffs of the 2022-23 season, both of these teams have suffered similar fates.

In 2023, both teams faltered against teams they thought they were superior to. In 2024, the Cavs lost to a significantly better Celtics team, while the Knicks stumbled against a less talented Pacers team. Just this past season, both teams were dispatched by a very underrated Indiana team.

Cleveland has had a little bit more success in the regular season, while the Knicks have gone further in the playoffs, but it’s all ended the same for both of them – disappointment.

Between injury bugs and upsets, something's always gone wrong for these two organizations in the playoffs, but there can’t be excuses this year. These are easily the two most complete teams in the Eastern Conference.

For New York, they have sold the farm to acquire Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby, and made some great veteran depth signings in Jordan Clarkson, Malcolm Brogdon, and Guerschon Yabusele. They also moved on from Tom Thibodeau to Mike Brown. I’m not sure that’s an upgrade for the Knicks, but at least with the added depth and Thibs not running the starters into the ground, the team should be less worn down when the playoffs roll around.

Cleveland made fewer moves this offseason, but also added some veteran depth pieces in Larry Nance Jr., Thomas Bryant, and flipped Isaac Okoro for Lonzo Ball. Moving Okoro might be addition by subtraction, but I’ll be interested to see how they replace the Ty Jerome minutes from last season. Jerome was run off the court against the Pacers, but he carried the Cavs’ bench at multiple points last season.

The point of describing the offseasons of these two teams is to show there weren’t any big fixes needed for either of these cores. I believe both teams' front offices know that if things go right, they can make it to the Finals this year. Not only that, but both would and should be disappointed if that doesn’t happen.

The Oklahoma City Thunder would be a tough matchup for either team, but if anyone else comes out of the West, I believe they’ll have a real shot to take home a Larry O’Brien trophy. If it doesn’t happen this year, given all the injuries and transitional periods in the East, then when will it ever happen?

The Cavs' core four is a little younger than the Knicks' core four, but if they can’t get it done this year, it sort of feels like something will need to be changed. Do the Knicks go all-in and try to steal Giannis from the Bucks? Or do the Cavs make a break-up of the young core, and try to trade Darius Garland or Jarrett Allen to add a player that better fits with Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley?

For Cleveland and New York, if either of these teams doesn’t make it to the Finals, it feels like both front offices will finally hit the “break glass in case of emergency.” You’ve seen what these cores can be, but will their front offices be patient enough to let the team continue to grow together?

Look at the Boston Celtics; that core fell short on many occasions, but then they finally got their ring. Especially this Cavs team — Mitchell is 29, Garland is 25, Allen is 27, and Mobley is only 24. Teams that blow up their cores rarely work out. Let your teams continue to grow and see what happens. However, if either of these units are healthy and gets bounced in the first round, then I might hit the panic button.