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The most encouraging sign for all 30 teams when the season starts is this: Everyone’s tied for first place on opening night.

But what about the season ender in April? Where do those teams stand seven months later? That’s what a handful of developing teams are wondering as 2025-26 approaches. Those teams missed the playoffs last season, either altogether or after losing in the Play-In Tournament. Those teams carry the burden of doubt until they do something to erase it.

Last season’s field of 16 playoff teams doesn’t necessarily translate into this season. Nothing is guaranteed for them, either. There’s always a shift in power and performance year to year, where some teams stumble and others rise and a new pecking order is established.

That might be too much to

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