Before this NBA season began, I made 30 bold but realistic predictions, one for each team. In retrospect, some of them made me look prescient and smart. Others... less so.
So as the 2025-26 season winds down and the offseason approaches, it's a good time to reflect on those scattered prognoses. I'm grading each of my predictions, looking back, as well as spinning it forward to forecast how these 2025-26 outcomes might influence the 2026-27 season to come. (Hat tip to David Schoenfield, who does this exercise for ESPN's MLB coverage.)
Teams are organized from best to worst grades below:
Jump to a team: ATL | BOS | BKN | CHA | CHI CLE | DAL | DEN | DET | GS HOU | IND | LAC | LAL | MEM MIA | MIL | MIN | NO | NYK OKC | ORL | PHI | PHX | POR SAC | SA | TOR | UTAH | WAS
New York Knicks
The prediction: The Knicks finish third in the East in the regular season... but still reach the Finals.
Grade: A+
Nailed it! New York landed the 3-seed because it struggled through some growing pains and inconsistency under new coach Mike Brown, but it turned into the most statistically dominant team in NBA playoff history and reached the Finals on an 11-game winning streak.
Looking ahead to 2026-27: First things first: The Knicks are on the precipice of their first championship since 1973. Considering this prediction as it relates to next season, however, it's likely they will fare better in the regular season than they did in 2025-26, now that they've fully jelled and flourished under Brown. And regardless of how these Finals finish, the Knicks will likely enter next season as the favorites to emerge from the East once again.
Atlanta Hawks
The prediction: Jalen Johnson makes the All-NBA third team.
Grade: A+
Johnson was one of the breakout stars of the season. The do-it-all forward averaged career highs across the board (22.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game) and took over for Trae Young as Atlanta's best player. He comfortably slotted into the All-NBA third team.
Looking ahead to 2026-27: Johnson wasn't able to replicate those highs in the playoffs (19.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game), but the 24-year-old's emergence gives Atlanta a new direction after trading Young. The Hawks should remain a fringe contender next season, with Johnson leading the way.