On February 8, 2022, the Sacramento Kings had a promising trio of point guards: De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, and Davion Mitchell. The very next day, Haliburton was dealt to Indiana in the trade for Domantas Sabonis. With Sabonis and under head coach Mike Brown, Sacramento reached the playoffs in 2023 for the first time in 17 years, pushing Golden State to a seven-game series.

But in the most recent season, Brown was fired, Fox was traded to San Antonio, and Mitchell was shipped to Miami, where he has been thriving. Haliburton, meanwhile, carried the Pacers to within an Achilles injury of an NBA championship. Sacramento, in contrast, had to use the mid-level exception to sign European legend and NBA journeyman Dennis Schröder as its lead guard, surrounded by an eclectic and aging roster featuring Sabonis, Zach LaVine, and DeMar DeRozan. That group isn’t good enough for the playoffs - even a play-in berth seems like a tall order in the loaded West - and not bad enough for a full-on tank.

Last season, Portland ranked 15th in the league in points per possession generated by the ball handler in pick-and-roll (0.887 PPP), and just 18th in field-goal percentage on those plays (42.5%). On the other hand, they ranked third in the NBA in frequency, executing 20.7 pick-and-rolls per game. The gap between their heavy reliance on the league’s most common action and their lack of efficiency says a lot about Chauncey Billups’ limited creativity.

The Blazers made a few feel-good moves this past summer, including bringing back local legend Damian Lillard and trading for Jrue Holiday to serve as a mentor for their young core. But good vibes don’t always translate to on-court results (though they indeed show up on the payroll). Even with added experience, a young base of Deni Avdija, Shaedon Sharpe, Scoot Henderson, Donovan Clingan, and Toumani Camara isn’t enough to contend for a Play-In spot.

Henderson’s hamstring injury might cement him in a bench role behind Holiday and hamper his development. Another worrying factor: the franchise is still saddled with Jerami Grant’s contract, which owes more than $106 million over the next three seasons, assuming he exercises his player option for the 2027-28 season.

It’s become fashionable to take shots at the Chicago Bulls. This is a franchise stuck in Play-In purgatory, making a series of puzzling moves that keep them neither improving nor bottoming out enough to rebuild through the draft. Sure, it’s hard to justify a deal like Patrick Williams’ (another $54 million guaranteed over the next three seasons), but let’s acknowledge some positives in Chicago as well.

Billy Donovan, a Hall of Fame coach, is doing a solid job, and the Bulls’ style of play is fast-paced and entertaining for League Pass fans. They ranked third in the NBA last season in three-point attempts (42.0 per game), emphasizing spacing and a high volume of drive-and-kick action. The backcourt of Josh Giddey, Coby White, and Ayo Dosunmu is more than respectable. Soon-to-be sophomore Matas Buzelis had a promising first year, and Noa Essangue is a high-upside talent who should have been off the board before the Bulls drafted him at 12. How will it all end? Most likely in the Play-In-again.

In their first season since 2014 without the president of basketball operations, Masai Ujiri, and with Bobby Webster taking over, Toronto’s season depends on five players - all of them somewhat overpaid, all of them clogging the payroll: Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Brandon Ingram, Scottie Barnes (the latter three overlapping in role), and center Jakob Pöltl. Quickley played just 33 games last year due to injuries, while Ingram managed only 18, all with the New Orleans Pelicans. Their health is the key to any relative success.

Even when healthy, the roster raises plenty of questions, chief among them, perimeter shooting (23rd in the NBA last season at 34.8% from three-point range and 28th in attempts at 33.9 per game), and the lack of positional balance. Still, there’s no shortage of talent. Given the weakness of the Eastern Conference, Toronto has a legitimate shot to make the Play-In, maybe even more.

The Indiana Pacers played historic basketball in last year’s playoffs. They turned conventional NBA wisdom upside down: pressing full court, running at every opportunity, playing a nearly isolation-free offense, the now-famous “random offense,” and defying the cliché that “the best player wins the series” by relying on a deep, balanced rotation.

This season, things will look different. Tyrese Haliburton is out with a torn Achilles, and Myles Turner departed to Milwaukee in free agency - a loss that could haunt the franchise. Andrew Nembhard, now stepping into the primary point guard role, will continue spearheading the aggressive defense alongside Aaron Nesmith. Benedict Mathurin will join them as a starter, and his ability to blend his scoring punch with the Pacers’ selfless style of play is key for the team’s (relative) success.

With the league’s most underrated superstar in Pascal Siakam and the NBA’s best coach in Rick Carlisle, the Pacers will once again leave everything on the floor in their push to return to the postseason.