The Eastern Conference is going to have a different look in the 2025-26 season after some unfortunate injuries to key players and a bit of offseason shuffling.
The result for the Cleveland Cavaliers is a manageable path to their first NBA Finals berth since 2018, and some people around the NBA appear to think that the Cavs are indeed the favorites to get there from the East.
ESPN conducted a poll of eight scouts and executives, who were asked which team will win the Eastern Conference this coming season, and Cleveland earned seven of the eight first-place votes.
Cavs
The Eastern Conference started to take a different shape for the 2025-26 season when star players Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton suffered devastating injuries in the 2025 postseason. All of them could miss the entirety of the upcoming season.
The Milwaukee Bucks recently decided to waive Lillard and use the room to pick up big man Myles Turner, who was a key ingredient to the Indiana Pacers’ run to the 2025 NBA Finals. Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics have had to make some tough decisions this offseason, as players like Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis will no longer be with the team after trades.
With so many contending teams poised to regress in the 2025-26 season, the biggest competition for the Cavs in the Eastern Conference may be the New York Knicks, who were the only other team to receive a first-place vote in the poll conducted by ESPN.
The Knicks will have a bit of a new look themselves in the 2025-26 campaign, at least from a head-coaching perspective. After letting go of veteran coach Tom Thibodeau, the team finally found his replacement, and it will be two-time NBA Coach of the Year winner Mike Brown.
The Cavs have had a difficult time getting over the hump with their current core, but there have been flashes of dominance, something that was on full display throughout much of the 2024-25 regular season. With the East set to have an unusual look in the 2025-26 campaign, it could be Cleveland’s best chance to reach the NBA Finals in quite some time.