The Detroit Pistons were the story of the NBA this season after they went from 14 wins to the 6th seed in the playoffs, but things are going to be different next season.
Success comes with expectations, so getting back to the playoffs and staying there is the goal, which will be more difficult now that they have a target on their backs.
The Pistons came out of nowhere this season, a luxury they no longer have, as they put the league on notice with a strong first-round effort in the playoffs and Cade Cunningham is likely to take home All-NBA honors.
The playoffs have shown that the Eastern Conference is wide open, and if the Pistons continue to improve, they can compete for it as soon as next season, but other teams will be looking to knock them off their spot.
The non-playoff teams will look to make the same kind of leap the Pistons made this season and there are a few to look out for in the next wave of possible playoff teams in the Eastern Conference.
Philadelphia 76ers
The Sixers aren’t like the rest of these teams, as they thought they’d be competing for a title right now, not praying to the Lottery Gods.
Their nightmare season was caused almost exclusively by devastating injuries to their stars, so Philly just needs to get healthy. They’ll have another weapon at their disposal after they got lucky and moved up to the 3rd pick in the NBA Draft Lottery.
They would have lost their pick to OKC had it fallen out of the top six, so Philly at least avoided the worst possible outcome to their season.
They could turn things around quickly with better health or the right trade, so Philly could be right back in the playoff hunt next season.
Charlotte Hornets
The Hornets weren’t really lottery winners, though they at least didn’t fall as far as Utah, Washington or New Orleans.
Charlotte ended up with the 4th pick, so will add another high-end talent to LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and Mark Williams. The Hornets are another team that has had horrible injury luck, but you do have to wonder if that is ever going to change with Ball, who has missed a ton of games already in his young career.
If Charlotte can ever get healthy, you could see them making a big leap into playoff contention, but that is a giant sized IF.
Brooklyn Nets
No team will be more active this summer than the Nets, who have five picks in the 2025 Draft to go along with the most cap space in the league.
They could go big on a superstar trade, stack free agents or try to use all of those picks to make draft-day trades to move up or acquire players.
The Nets are the biggest wildcard of the summer, but if they use all of their assets well, who knows, they could be right back in the mix next year.
Toronto Raptors
The Raptors are never bad for long and were the best of the worst teams in the East, winning 30 games this season despite a bunch of injuries.
They have the 9th pick in the draft to add to a team that already has some nice young talent and should be adding a fully healthy Brandon Ingram.
I wouldn’t count the Raptors out as a playoff team next season, especially if they can avoid devastating injuries.
The NBA is in a great place right now, as there is parity across the league and after watching what the Pistons did this season, every team has to believe they have a chance to turn it around quickly.