The irony of the 2025-26 NBA season is that it is simultaneously extremely predictable and an unpredictable mess. We can say pretty confidently who's going to be at the top. The Thunder are leaps and bounds ahead of the field on paper. Nikola Jokić never gets hurt and the Nuggets are always great with him on the floor. The Knicks and Cavaliers should stampede through an easy Eastern Conference. Fine. And yes, the Wizards , Jazz , Hornets and Nets will presumably compete in a four-way tank-off.

Everything in between? That's much harder. Every Western Conference team we haven't mentioned fancies itself a playoff contender. The Eastern Conference, meanwhile, is so uninspiring that every other team plausibly could see itself in the playoffs. One conference is so good that it

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