Title Tiers, Part 3: Cases for and against 3 East contenders

Dynasties have historically ruled the NBA, but we're in an era of nearly unprecedented parity that's produced six different champions over the last six years. This coming season features another deep and diverse field of contenders. We're laying out reasons to believe in them and reasons to doubt them.

Part 1 featured the Eastern and Western Conference favorites. Part 2 examined the next tier of West contenders. Last up, a crop of secondary contenders in the East.

New York Knicks

Reasons to believe: The Knicks are looking at their best chance in decades of ending pro basketball's most famous drought. The Eastern Conference's second-best team a season ago added one of the most skilled offensive big men ever in Karl-Anthony Towns, as well as one of the best (and most malleable) two-way wings in basketball in Mikal Bridges.

Towns' shooting and overall offensive skill set should give Jalen Brunson and Co. more room to operate than ever before. For a secondary scorer and floor spacer, it doesn't get much better than a 7-footer with a career mark of 39.8% from deep. Towns is an almost perfect offensive fit, capable of sleepwalking his way to 20 points while also warping opposing defenses without touching the ball.

Though his defense can be a mixed bag, Towns' sheer size is more in line with traditional defensive centers, giving head coach Tom Thibodeau a feasible option to start the season while Mitchell Robinson remains sidelined.

Bridges not only gives the Knicks another capable scorer, shot creator, and off-ball threat as a shooter, but also a second elite defensive wing to pair with OG Anunoby. In that duo, the Knicks are better equipped than anyone to slow the type of stars who will often serve as the opposing team's best players.

As for New York's best player, Brunson's size and defensive concerns don't usually lend themselves to postseason success, but it's impossible to argue against the All-Star guard's playoff resume at this point. As a Knick, Brunson has looked plenty capable of being the type of superstar who can lead his team to the mountaintop, and he's never had a supporting cast this loaded.

Reasons to doubt:

For starters, Towns is still prone to bouts of tepid play, indecisiveness, and poor decision-making, especially in the season's biggest moments. The margin for error against Boston and the top of the East is too slim for the Knicks to survive the spring getting anything less than Towns' best.

In addition, while New York's top six (the starting five plus Josh Hart) is as impressive and balanced as anyone's, the rest of the rotation is murky. Is Miles McBride ready to be the type of star reserve Knicks fans envision? Can a Thibodeau-led team that's now all-in on chasing a championship stay fresh and healthy enough to peak in May and June? The Knicks have used virtually all of their bullets constructing this star-studded squad, so they better hope so. - Joseph Casciaro

Philadelphia 76ers

Reasons to believe: In adding Paul George to the duo of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, the Sixers have constructed arguably the best and most balanced big three the league has seen in years. Rather than the awkward skill overlap and diminishing returns that often accompany big-name trios, Philadelphia's star guard, wing, and big man fit seamlessly together on both ends of the court.

George will be the NBA's most overqualified third option. That should help him stay healthy and age gracefully after playing 74 games last season, his most in any campaign since 2018-19. But whether it's holding the fort when one or both of Embiid and Maxey are on the bench, on the shelf, or just underperforming, George is still capable of carrying his team on any given night. The 34-year-old averaged 22.6 points on a career-high 61.3% true shooting last season, becoming just the eighth player ever to average at least 22 points while shooting better than 50% inside the arc, 40% from deep, and 90% from the free-throw line.

On the other end, George's presence as a big wing defender will provide a measure of insurance behind the improving Maxey at the point of attack and an extra layer of resistance in front of Embiid, who remains one of the game's most fearsome rim-protectors. Essentially, the Sixers have taken a duo that already gave the team a top-10 floor on both ends of the court (when healthy) and added a third All-Star who happens to be one of the best two-way wings of his generation.

If Embiid, Maxey, and George remain healthy – with their collective efforts easing the burden on all three – Philly is looking at its best chance at a title in the Embiid era.

Reasons to doubt: Uh, have you watched the 76ers' Embiid era unfold? Some injury or unfortunate stroke of terrible luck will befall them. In addition, Embiid is good for at least a couple of playoff stinkers even when healthy, and George's postseason track record is less than stellar. This team only works if all three of its stars are healthy and playing their best, but there's little evidence (if any) to suggest that'll ever be the case from April through June.

And that's before getting into the Sixers' concerning depth chart. Caleb Martin, Kelly Oubre, and Andre Drummond should be fine, but that still only gets them to six rotation players. Can Philly get enough from the likes of KJ Martin, Kyle Lowry, Eric Gordon, Reggie Jackson, Jared McCain, and Olympic standout Guerschon Yabusele? There are a lot of NBA names in that mix, but no surefire rotation piece for a team looking to contend in the spring of 2025. - Casciaro

Milwaukee Bucks

Reasons to believe: Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the Bucks last season. They had a disastrous head-coaching hire, schematic mismanagement, and untimely injuries, and they still won 49 games on the strength of the league's sixth-best offense. The Bucks outscored opponents by 16.6 points per 100 possessions with their core quartet of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton, and Brook Lopez on the court during the regular season. The fact that those four only shared the floor for 677 minutes was the biggest reason the team underwhelmed.

Milwaukee very likely would've knocked off the Pacers - eventual Eastern Conference finalists - if not for those untimely injuries. Antetokounmpo missed the whole first-round series with a calf strain, and Lillard aggravated an Achilles injury that caused him to miss Games 4 and 5 and return hobbled for Game 6. After a choppy season, Lillard finally looked like vintage Lillard in that series, averaging 31 points on 64% true shooting and scoring an absurd 1.46 points per possession as a pick-and-roll ball-handler. We also got a glimpse of peak Middleton for perhaps the first time since his knee injury back in 2022.

Antetokounmpo is still one of the three best players in basketball, a two-way monster who can break any defense as either a finisher or an initiator. Lillard could be primed for a bounce-back campaign after getting a proper offseason under his belt in Milwaukee. He and Antetokounmpo took a while to hone their pick-and-roll synergy last season, but it steadily improved as the campaign wore on; they could hit the ground running this time around. A healthy Middleton is a perfect third option. Lopez remains one of the best rim-protectors, savviest drop defenders, and one of the game's only legitimate stretch fives.

The starting lineup is stocked with shooting around Antetokounmpo and should be a smidge more versatile with Gary Trent Jr. in Malik Beasley's place. Delon Wright and Taurean Prince were nice offseason depth additions that should help defensively, where the Bucks quietly improved from 21st to a respectable 13th after Doc Rivers took over for Adrian Griffin. It's not hard to imagine Milwaukee getting back into the championship mix with a stable bench presence and better injury luck come playoff time.

Reasons to doubt: The short answer? This team is old, man.

Lopez remains essential to propping up Milwaukee's deteriorating defense. He'll turn 37 this season. Lillard is 34 and coming off his worst offensive campaign in almost a decade. Middleton is 33 and coming off offseason surgeries on both ankles after separate lower-body injuries cost him 76 games over the last two years. Even younger, role-playing vets like Pat Connaughton and Bobby Portis have shown signs of decline.

Antetokounmpo is ostensibly in his prime and is as good as ever offensively entering his age-30 campaign, but his defense has slipped in recent seasons. For what feels like the eighth year in a row, this team possesses troublingly little athleticism around him, especially on the wing. And there aren't really any young players waiting in the wings who can plausibly emerge to patch the obvious holes on this roster. We saw encouraging flashes from A.J. Green, Andre Jackson Jr., and Marjon Beauchamp last season, but nothing to suggest they're ready to contribute consistently.

The Bucks' perimeter defense doesn't figure to be much better than it was last season. Lillard isn't going to get any stickier at the point of attack. Middleton isn't going to reverse his defensive decline. And Trent is a slight defensive upgrade over Beasley at best; he'll apply more ball pressure and create a lot more turnovers, but he'll make just as many off-ball gaffes that compromise the team's shell. Also, Trent is a more stationary shooter than Beasley without the same quick-trigger release off of movement.

In short, Milwaukee's offense might be worse than it was last season, and there's no guarantee its defense will improve. Even banking on better health feels a bit like false hope given the ages and injury histories of the team's most important players. Considering how much better the rest of the Eastern Conference is shaping up to be this season and in the future, it may be time to accept that the Bucks' championship window has already closed. - Wolfond