Biggest question for every NBA Atlantic Division team: Can Celtics repeat? How much can Knicks, 76ers improve?

We’ve hit September on the NBA calendar, which means we’re inching ever closer to the start of training camps, preseason and the tip off of the 2024-25 season on Oct. 22. It’s still the lull in the offseason, however, where transaction news has practically halted outside of some two-way deals and contract extensions. Which makes now the perfect time to start thinking about the impending season, and specifically what major storylines or questions will hang over each team.

Will those offseason signings prove valuable? Will that coaching hire make much of a difference? Can a certain player or team bounce back after a rough season? We’re going to take this one division at a time, starting with the Atlantic division, perhaps the toughest in the league, or at the very least in the Eastern Conference. The Boston Celtics are the reigning NBA champions, but two other teams in their division — the Knicks and 76ers — reloaded to adequately challenge them. The Nets and Raptors may not be competitive this season, but they have important questions to face as well. Some of these questions may not get answered until the end of the season, or even a couple years from now, but they’re worth thinking about as the 2024-25 season nears. 

Celtics: Can they be the first in six years to repeat?

There hasn’t been a repeat champion since the Golden State Warriors went back-to-back in 2017 and 2018. As soon as a champion is crowned, once the confetti and champagne hangover wears off, one of the first questions tossed around is “Can this team repeat?” The Denver Nuggets looked like they could do it after winning it all in 2023, but then they ran into a Minnesota team built to the exact specifications to dismantle them. The Bucks looked like a potential dynasty after winning in 2021, but Khris Middleton’s injuries derailed a chance at a repeat.

There was a logical explanation for why each of the last five champions before the Celtics couldn’t repeat. It was either injuries, roster regression/turnover or the rest of the league caught up with them. Will the Celtics fall victim to a similar fate? Injuries are always a crapshoot, and we saw in their championship run that with Kristaps Porzingis — who was limited him to just seven playoff games.

Roster turnover certainly won’t be the downfall of this team after Jayson Tatum got a supermax extension, Derrick White got a four-year, $125.9 million contract extension and Sam Hauser got a four-year, $45 million extension of his own. They also already signed Jrue Holiday to a four-year extension prior to the start of the playoffs, and last summer Jaylen Brown signed what was at the time the richest contract in league history. They’re set as far as roster security goes. So aside from the misfortune of injuries, the only probable way for this team not to repeat is if someone else in the league is built to take them down. 

In the East, that’s the Knicks and the 76ers right now. The Knicks — who had the best offseason in recent franchise memory — are to the Celtics now what the Timberwolves were to the Nuggets this past postseason. New York has versatile, All-Defense level players to contend with Tatum and Brown, a resilient leader in Jalen Brunson who will put his body on the line for a win and a supporting cast that can defend and shoot. The Sixers just added an All-NBA and All-Star forward in Paul George to an already successful duo of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, and if that trio works, they’ll be right there ready to challenge Boston. And if Boston manages to make it out of the East again, they’ll have likely have Oklahoma City, Minnesota, Denver or Dallas waiting for them — all of whom reloaded this summer. The Celtics are and should be the favorites to win it all again, and it’s easy to envision them doing so after such a dominant performance last season. But as we’ve seen, repeating his difficult no matter how successful last year’s team was.

Nets: What other trades will Brooklyn make?

The Nets firmly entered rebuild mode after the blockbuster trade that sent Mikal Bridges to the Knicks, a deal that projects to make Brooklyn a dangerous player down the line with a wealth of picks. But the Nets may not be done dealing. Bojan Bogdanovic, who came back in the Bridges deal, could be a valuable trade asset at the deadline in February. He’s coming off wrist and foot surgery, but is expected to be back for training camp. When healthy, he can give you 15 points and some 3-point shooting, things several contenders would love to have as the postseason nears. There’s also Cam Johnson, the last notable holdover from the Kevin Durant trade. He’s a career 39.2% 3-point shooter, and after the Bridges trade, it wouldn’t make much sense to keep him, especially when he could net a first-round pick. Dorian Finney-Smith is another valuable trade asset as a versatile defender who can occasionally knock down 3s.

After a failed superteam that resulted in surrendering most of their draft assets, the Nets are finally solvent again, and the future looks brighter. Going forward, every move this season should be made with the next several years in mind. If they can trade guys like Bogdanovic, Johnson and Finney-Smith during the season, they could position themselves well to land projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg at the top of the 2025 Draft. Even if it’s not Flagg, next year’s draft is expected to have several top-tier players, and the Nets should be doing everything to try and land one of those top picks. 

Knicks: How much will they miss Isaiah Hartenstein?

The Knicks had a near-perfect offseason. They re-signed OG Anunoby, traded for Bridges, and signed Brunson on a super team-friendly deal. They have the pieces to contend with the Celtics, but I say “near-perfect” because one major issue that could plague them down the line is their center rotation. In the midst of all the great moves the Knicks made this summer, one that could prove to really hurt is seeing Hartenstein leave to join the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team the Knicks could see if they managed to make the NBA Finals. 

Hartenstein started last season as as backup center, but as injuries mounted he became a starter in the playoffs. He was one of the most important pieces for the Knicks, especially in the first round against Joel Embiid and the 76ers once Mitchell Robinson went out. Hartenstein provided offensive rebounding, had a seamless two-man game going with Brunson and was aggressive on both sides of the ball. He also provides more on offense than Robinson does, working in a combination of floaters, dunks and layups and moving well around the floor to get open and mismatches under the rim.

The Knicks re-signed Precious Achiuwa on a $6 million deal, and he’ll be part of the big man rotation along with Robinson and Jericho Sims. But they won’t have the frontcourt prowess they had last season.

76ers: Is this the year it all comes together?

On paper, this is far and away the best team the Sixers have built around Joel Embiid. The same was said when Jimmy Butler was there, so too was that the refrain when James Harden was in town. But really, the Paul George signing was a home run, so was re-signing Kelly Oubre who outperformed the minimum deal he was on last season. They brought in Caleb Martin, a proven 3-point threat, re-signed Kyle Lowry, added Eric Gordon and brought back Andre Drummond. They don’t just have one of the best — if not the best — trios in the league with Embiid, George and Tyrese Maxey, they have depth, too. Top to bottom it’s a roster that can contend with the Celtics. Roster construction and fit will no longer be a viable excuse for this team falling short of expectations, so this should be the year Philadelphia finally gets over the hump of not reaching the Eastern Conference finals, and maybe even advancing to the NBA Finals. 

With this stable of talent, there are so many different ways the Sixers can play. You can play fast through Maxey, or slow things down with Embiid and George. Opposing teams are going to have a difficult time containing all three of those guys, in addition to stopping role players like Oubre and Martin from getting hot from 3-point range. In years past, Embiid either didn’t have the right point guard, didn’t have the right second star or the depth to get over that hump. Well now he’s got an All-Star point guard in Maxey, an All-NBA forward in George who can fit into any role and depth that contend with the Celtics and Knicks. 

Of course this all hinges on Embiid’s health, because if he’s hampered by injuries again, then the outlook of this team severely changes. And really, if Embiid goes down for some time in the regular season, the Sixers do have the depth to sustain an absence from him. They can’t afford it in the playoffs, but they have the pieces to tread water in the regular season if Embiid gets injured. But barring injuries, the Sixers finally have a complete roster that very well make the NBA Finals.

Raptors: Is this the core they want to build around?

The Raptors finally traded Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby last season, probably a little later than they should’ve, and are now building around Scottie Barnes. They got RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley in the Anunoby deal to put next to him, and got some draft assets from the Siakam trade to continue adding young prospects. Quickley got a five-year deal this summer, and Barnes got his rookie max extension, so the Raptors are telling us with their money that they believe in this core. But should they?

By committing to this path, they’re probably going to be too good to win the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft, taking them out of the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes. That’s fine if you’re a championship-contending team, or a team that has potential to make it out of the first round of the playoffs. The Raptors don’t check either of those boxes, and are instead in the middle, the worst place to be in the NBA. Probably not bad enough to have a real shot at a top-three pick, and not good enough to be anything more than a bottom-tier play-in team.

They’ll use this year for development of the young guys they just drafted, and see what the trio of Barnes, Quickley and Barrett can do together now that they’ve built some chemistry. But I have a feeling we’re going to get to the end of the season and say the Raptors should’ve been tanking to get a higher slot in this upcoming draft, instead of settling for what projects to be a mediocre season.