NBA Atlantic Preview: 3 Heavy Hitters Threaten Orlando Magic’s Aim for East’s Top Spot

In preparation for the 2024-25 NBA season, Orlando Magic on SI is breaking down the offseason for every opponent the Magic will face this year sorted by division. Up next, the Atlantic division.

Previous: Southeast, Central

ORLANDO, Fla. – If the Orlando Magic are serious about the intentions to be one of the contenders in the Eastern Conference’s top flight, the Atlantic division is full of teams they’d better get familiar with.

Of the five teams it houses, two were atop the NBA’s East playoff picture in 2023-24 – eventual champion Boston, who won 64 regular season games a year ago, and second-seeded New York, who put together 50 wins throughout the year before falling in the second round of the East playoffs.

That’s not all, either. Philadelphia was on equal terms with the Magic and Indiana Pacers last season with 47 wins, but finished behind them as the two held tiebreakers over the 76ers. As a result, Philly went through the Play-In and fell in an extended series to the Knicks in the first round.

Boston returns everyone in 2024-25. The Knicks and 76ers added to try to and take down the reigning champs. For the Magic’s prospect of a top seed in the East this season, very few scenarios exist that avoid having to go through the three-headed trio at the top.

Toronto is a wildcard in the bottom half of the conference, and Brooklyn is already staking out a position in the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes. Of course, that doesn’t mean the Magic should get a pass when matched up against them.

With three weeks until training camp, here’s what you need to know about the Atlantic division in 2024-25.

2023-24 result: 64-18, 1st in Atlantic, 1st seed, won NBA Finals

Additions:

Subtractions:

Retained/Extended:

Over-Under: 58.5 wins

Matchups: 12/23 @ Orlando, 1/17 @ Boston, 4/9 @ Orlando

Boston is still the team to beat in the East, and for good reason. Not only did they retain every integral part of their championship core from last season that cruised comfortably to a Larry O’Brien, but every single one of their competitors is focused on building a team that can stop them.

The Celtics are rich, both historically and financially, as the outlook goes forward. With tax apron rules in effect under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, the likelihood that this core stays together for multiple years running is slim. Yet, that doesn’t mean the window isn’t still wide open for Boston to find itself hoisting the trophy after the season’s final game.

Kristaps Porzingis’ torn medial retinaculum will keep him out for the first stretch of the season, perhaps one of the few question marks surrounding this team to begin the season. But with the concern of whether or not the Jays could bring Beantown a title now behind them, the focus is set on a potential repeat.

The tools to do it are certainly in place.

2023-24 result: 50-32, 2nd in Atlantic, 2nd seed, lost 4-3 to Indiana in East semifinals

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Subtractions:

Retained/Extended:

Over-Under: 53.5 wins

Matchups: 12/3 @ New York (TNT, NBA Cup), 12/27 @ Orlando, 1/6 @ New York

For the next few years, the Knicks should come with a rollercoaster-like disclaimer: “Must attend Villanova to play here.” Finally, we’ll get the answer to the question of whether or not a college team could ever beat a professional team.

All joking aside, the Knicks have reassembled the core of the national-title winning Wildcats team – just without Jay Wright on the sidelines. Mikal Bridges has been the NBA’s most available player health-wise since his entrance to the league – he hasn’t missed a game since high school. Now, he’ll feature prominently in Tom Thibodeau’s rotation, who is notorious for high minute loads throughout the year.

Poaching Bridges from New York’s other team to slide him alongside Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby certainly came at a price. New York leveraged its future for the next several years by giving up four of its own first-round picks, agreeing to swap first-rounders another year, and giving up Milwaukee’s top-4 protected pick in the 2025 Draft.

What the Knicks do with Julius Randle still remains a question mark. Locking up Anunoby for the next five years meant the Knicks had to let Hartenstein walk, who was one of the league’s best defensive centers last season and was more-than-serviceable in the wake of Mitchell Robinson’s absence. Will Randle see small-ball five minutes to offset the loss in production at the low block, or will the Knicks trust Mitchell Robinson and Achiuwa to both stay healthy and stay prominent in 2024-25?

The Knicks will roll with the punches along the way. But there is certain intrigue surrounding them this upcoming season.

2023-24 result: 47-35, 3rd in Atlantic, 7th seed (Play-In), lost 4-3 to New York in first round

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Retained/Extended:

Over-Under: 52.5 wins

Matchups: 11/15 @ Orlando (NBA Cup), 124 @ Philadelphia, 12/6 @ Phialdelphia, 1/12 @ Orlando

In an increasingly rare set of circumstances, the Sixers not only set themselves up to reel in the biggest fish of the free agency period but followed through on signing him. Paul George slots in alongside Maxey and Joel Embiid, forming perhaps the best three-man band in all of the NBA heading into this season.

It has all the makings of an offseason success story if Embiid and George, in particular, can stay healthy. That’s in part because Philadelphia made winning moves on the margins (at least on paper – this hasn’t always panned out in the past), signing Gordon, Drummond and Martin to all fill important supporting cast roles. Gordon’s jumper has kept him in the league for over a decade, and Drummond is far and away the NBA’s best rebounder. Martin turned down a deal with the Miami Heat to jump to a conference rival, and the Sixers will hope there are more moments in him like the ones that brought him to prominence with Miami.

Whether or not Philadelphia can propel past its competitors and emerge at the summit of the East remains to be seen. But of the swings Daryl Morey has taken in his career as an executive, this may be his biggest – and best-constructed – one yet.

2023-24 result: 32-50, 4th in Atlantic, missed playoffs

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Retained/Extended:

Over-Under: 19.5 wins

Matchups: 10/25 @ Orlando (home opener), 11/29 @ Brooklyn, 12/1 @ Brooklyn, 12/29 @ Orlando

The most important date on the Brooklyn Nets’ calendar is one that’s yet to be announced: the NBA Draft Lottery.

Brooklyn attacked the offseason the way a team planning for the future should. The Nets received a king’s ransom of draft capital in dealing off its best player to a crosstown rival, reacquired the rights to its own selections in the upcoming seasons from Houston, and hired a new head coach to reset the deck this upcoming season.

No, Brooklyn isn’t trying to win games in 2024-25. Rather, it’s whether or not the stroke of luck will reward them with a high draft pick in the 2025 and 2026 NBA drafts, with each being well-documented as chock full of talented players with the ability to succeed in the NBA.

The Nets just have to get there first.

2023-24 result: 25-57, 5th in Atlantic, missed playoffs

Additions:

Subtractions:

Retained/Extended:

Over-Under: 30.5 wins

Matchups: 1/3 @ Toronto, 1/21 @ Toronto, 3/2 @ Orlando, 3/4 @ Orlando

The Raptors are an interesting case ahead of this upcoming season. Because the Play-In tournament involves the ninth and 10th seed in each conference, Toronto may find itself there on accident due to the amount of teams below them looking at a potential lottery spot.

That’s not to say Toronto isn’t talented – and they know it. Locking in Quickley and Barnes as the 1-2 for the foreseeable future up north is a solid move, and there’s some connecting pieces that surround them which can certainly help them stumble into a few more wins than the lower half of the East.

But with competition fierce to get to the bottom of the league (or the top of the Draft, depending on your preference of viewpoint), the Raptors may be restricted to the middle ground between the East’s best and worst teams. More work would need to be done to reach the top eight rather than plummet to the bottom five, but neither seems as likely as ending up right around the Play-In’s lower half.

How Toronto handles such standing is the key to watch for this year.

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