As the 2025-26 NBA season quickly approaches, the Sportscasting crew has teamed up to posit one important question for every team this year. Up next is the Central Division.
Let’s get to it.
Read our other Division previews: Atlantic
Chicago Bulls: How Real Is This Offense?
As the 2024-25 Chicago Bulls pushed for a Play-In Tournament slot, head coach Billy Donovan pivoted their offense in an extreme direction. Shifting toward even more running and gunning helped the Bulls go 17-10 with the ninth-best net rating in the NBA after the All-Star Break, fueled by pushing pace and spamming threes.
Across the entire 2024-25 season, the Bulls ranked third in 3-point frequency (42.4 percent) and third in average time to shoot (10.9 seconds). After the All-Star Break, the Bulls cranked up their transition play, jumping from 11th (15.9 percent) to fifth (16.8 percent) in transition frequency, allowing them to score the second-highest points per game (121.5) over that timeframe.
Late-season offensive success correlated with the best stretch of Josh Giddey’s career; after the All-Star Break, he averaged 21.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 9.3 assists on 62 percent true shooting. Giddey is already one of the NBA’s best transition facilitators, bombing outlet passes down the court and looking to advance possessions even after made buckets.
During that hot stretch, Giddey, whom the Bulls handed a four-year, $100 million extension this offseason, made 45.7 percent of his threes and took 5.8 free throws per game, both significantly above his career averages (33 percent, 2.0 FTA). Regardless of how much improvement he sustains, Chicago’s fast-paced style facilitates that growth.
Teams without tons of talent often lean on pace and 3-point shooting to guide them, tilting the variance battle in their favor. The Bulls fielded a fairly productive half-court offense last season but they must evolve to counter playoff defenses. Aside from Coby White, the Bulls still appear light on players who can break down set defenses.
If they hope to make noise in the East this season, they must lean on Giddey pushing in transition, White’s creation and the growth of players like Matas Buzelis. It’s hard to imagine this Chicago team fielding a strong defense for an entire season. Finally avoiding the Play-In will necessitate the Bulls continuing to sharpen their offensive identity. -Ben Pfeifer
Cleveland Cavaliers: Are The Cavs An Offensive Dynasty?
The Cleveland Cavaliers finished with the NBA’s best offense last season, which played a huge role in their winning 64 games and clinching the first seed in the Eastern Conference.
Surely, they’d love to repeat that success. But the last time a team won the offensive rating crown back-to-back seasons was when the Golden State Warriors did it in 2015-16 and 2016-17. Those Warriors are largely considered one of the best offensive teams in NBA history. Is that what we’re looking at here with Cleveland?
In theory, it should be. They’re bringing back all their starters and a handful of key bench pieces. Plus, head coach Kenny Atkinson – the man credited with reimagining their offense to new heights – is still running the show.
But there are variables working against them. First, they shot 38.3 percent as a team from downtown, which ranked second in the entire league. Good shooting teams tend to make for good offenses, but keep in mind the Cavaliers were just 15th in this category the season before without any significant personnel changes.
While they added Lonzo Ball and Larry Nance Jr., they did say goodbye to one of their best pull-up shooters (Cleveland was first in pull-up shooting by a mile last season) in Ty Jerome.
I’m not saying the Cavs won’t be a good shooting team next year. But what if they aren’t a great one? Shooting was such a big part of their prolific offensive attack last year. If that fell off even a little, I worry about their overall offensive rating dropping, which could shift them from inner to outer circle contender status. -Mat Issa
Detroit Pistons: Are They More Like The 2022-23 Sacramento Kings Or 2023-24 Indiana Pacers?
What the Detroit Pistons did last season – completely outperforming their preseason expectations – was incredible. However, that phenomenon of a team coming out of nowhere to shock the basketball world in the regular season is not uncommon. In fact, we see it almost every year.
The year before the Pistons, it was the Indiana Pacers. And the year before that, it was the Sacramento Kings. One of those teams responded to their newfound success by getting better (the Pacers) and the other followed it up by regressing back to their downtrodden status (the Kings).
Which path will the Pistons follow?
The key difference between the Pacers and Kings (outside of the conference, which, to be fair, did hurt the Pacers in 2023-24 – when they won 46 games) is the construction of their roster. The Kings tried to expedite their rebuild by creating a roster of veteran players who were already close to their overall ceilings. Their only real young piece was Keegan Murray, who hasn’t quite developed into the 3-and-D ace they were hoping for (yet).
Yes, the Pacers acquired an established player in Pascal Siakam to boost their core. But they still had Tyrese Haliburton (this last season was his age-24 season), Andrew Nembhard (25), Benedict Mathurin (22) and Ben Sheppard (23), among others, to nurture and stop them from peaking too early.
On paper, the Pistons seem suited to walk in Indiana’s footsteps. Marcus Sasser (25), Cade Cunningham (24), Isaiah Stewart (24), Ausar Thompson (23), Jaden Ivey (23), Jalen Duren (22) and Ron Holland II (20) are all still young and could take meaningful leaps next season.
However, there is a chance they fall back into the abyss with Sacramento. While they have a young core, they relied heavily on veteran players last season. Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. were all among their top four in total minutes. Two of those veterans look like they won’t be coming back. What if none of the young guns step up and the new players they brought in can’t fill their predecessors’ shoes? That could lead to a rocky season for Detroit. -Mat Issa
Indiana Pacers: Who Steps Up Offensively In Tyrese Haliburton’s Absence?
The Indiana Pacers will play the 2025-26 season without their superstar point guard. With the pain of a Game 7 NBA Finals loss in the rearview mirror, the Pacers will ask themselves an obvious question: how can we stay afloat without our offensive engine? Over the last two seasons (including playoffs), the Pacers outscore opponents by 4.5 points per 100 possessions with Haliburton on the court. When he sits, opponents outscore the Pacers by a point per 100 possessions.
Across that 8,883-minute regular season and playoff sample, Haliburton improved Indiana’s offense by 6.3 points per 100 possessions, vaulting the unit from below average to elite. The Pacers won’t replicate that success without their captain but someone will benefit from the usage and on-ball vacuum left in his wake.
Andrew Nembhard and Bennedict Mathurin are the obvious backcourt candidates to absorb Haliburton’s offensive load. Over the last two full seasons, Nembhard’s efficiency has dropped (minus-6.1 percent true shooting) while his turnovers (plus-0.7 per 75 possessions) have increased when he plays without Haliburton. The same was true for Mathurin, seeing a slightly less pronounced efficiency drop (minus-4.3 percent true shooting) and turnover increase (plus-0.6) per 75 possessions.
Haliburton’s playmaking mastery forms the bedrock of a potent Indiana offense. There will be growing pains in his absence but a disastrous injury for the Pacers could provide critical development chances for key young pieces. Even if the Pacers don’t come close to replicating their success from last year, growth from Nembhard as a creator and Mathurin as a decision-maker has significant long-term benefits.
There will be chances for other young players as well, notably third-year forward Jarace Walker, whose development is also critical for Indiana’s future. Regardless of how well they play, the Pacers almost certainly won’t make another deep playoff run. Leaps from Nembhard, Mathurin or Walker would be a worthwhile silver lining, providing the team another gear when Haliburton eventually returns to the court. -Ben Pfeifer
Milwaukee Bucks: Can Giannis Antetokounmpo Lead A Dominant Offense?
The past eight months have seen a drastic reshaping of the Milwaukee Bucks around Giannis Antetokounmpo. Gone are Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez, who helped bring the Bucks a title four years ago. Damian Lillard has also departed, the superstar point guard acquired to team with the aforementioned Milwaukee mainstays in pursuit of another championship.
Yet Antetokounmpo remains, joined by headliners such as Myles Turner and Kyle Kuzma. Milwaukee is not a contender. That much is certain. Among injuries, aging and roster reshuffling, the talent drain has been too significant. This group is even fighting an uphill battle to nab home-court advantage out East.
But as long as Antetokounmpo continues his MVP-caliber ways, the Bucks will prioritize immediate winning and strive for a deep playoff run. In 2025-26, beset by dubious perimeter stoppers and defensive wing depth, the likely path toward that is through a spread offense with Antetokounmpo lording over most possessions.
This summer, the Bucks brought in numerous useful shooters, namely Turner, Gary Harris, Amir Coffey and Cole Anthony. The likes of AJ Green, Ryan Rollins, Gary Trent Jr., Bobby Portis Jr. and Taurean Prince should all factor into the rotation as well. That’s a whole lot of spacing with which to flank Antetokounmpo — the league’s preeminent slasher, a magnetic presence capable of collapsing multiple defenders on every paint touch to ease life for everyone else.
With so little proven ball-handling and creation behind Antetokounmpo — Anthony and Kevin Porter Jr. are the best options — I anticipate astronomical usage and responsibility for the Greek great this year. He’s among the NBA’s best scorers who’s diversified his repertoire and refined his playmaking the past half-decade. Great regular-season offenses have been built before with him at the helm. Is Antetokounmpo + shooters a suitable formula to field another one and ride that into the playoffs, despite such limited personnel? -Jackson Frank
