With both the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers down their best players heading into the 2025-26 NBA regular season, it is safe to say that the league's Eastern Conference is going to be having a down year. But just how bad is a down year going to be in a conference that has rightfully had the reputation of being the worse of the two by a notable margin for over a decade now?

There are some familiar faces among the tank commanders in the Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets, but there are also cases to be made that the Charlotte Hornets and Philadelphia 76ers will trade in their tanks for a competent approach to the season. Most analysts agree that the top of the East is the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks to lose, but do the Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks, and Milwaukee Bucks have anything to say about that? And speaking of Boston and Indiana, where exactly do we think these two enigmatic rosters will end up?

To get a bead on how the East might look next season, the cohosts of "Havlicek Stole the Pod" linked up with cohost of the CLNS Media "How Bout Them Celtics!" podcast, Sam LaFrance. We also get into the flurry of late-offseason moves made by Boston, from the Chris Boucher signing to the Joe Mazzulla extension and the rest of the news still percolating into the month of August, so be sure to tune in.

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