Breaking down the NBA’s playoff picture, tanking controversy and more as 2025-26 season comes to end

This NBA season might ultimately be remembered more for the changes it prompts than for the basketball itself.

Tension over tanking, criticism of the league’s awards eligibility and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future in Milwaukee all dominated the discussion at different points, and each situation could be resolved in the coming months.

Before then, buckle in for two months of playoff basketball, with the Oklahoma City Thunder pursuing a championship repeat, LeBron James set to face Kevin Durant in a marquee first-round matchup, and the Knicks seeking their first title since 1973.

Here’s a recap of the 2025-26 season, with a look ahead at what’s coming next:

PLAYOFF PICTURE

Right now, we know what four of the eight first-round playoff matchups will be.

In the Eastern Conference, the third-seeded Knicks are set to play the sixth-seeded Atlanta Hawks, and the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers are set to face the fifth-seeded Toronto Raptors.

In the West, the third-seeded Denver Nuggets will play the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves, while the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Lakers take on the fifth-seeded Houston Rockets.

The remaining matchups will be decided by this week’s Play-In Tournament, with the top-seeded Detroit Pistons and second-seeded Boston Celtics in the East and top-seeded Thunder and second-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the West awaiting their opponents.

The Knicks (53-29) have advanced to at least the second round in each of the past three years, including the Eastern Conference Finals in 2025. They drew a challenging first-round opponent in the red-hot Hawks (46-36), who have won 19 of their last 24 games.

Atlanta’s resurgence came after it traded away Trae Young and Kristaps Porzingis. The turnaround was buoyed by breakout seasons from Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, as well as a team defense that’s been among the NBA’s stingiest since the All-Star break.

Cleveland (52-30) also made changes before the trade deadline, acquiring James Harden to be the missing piece on a core that has not made it out of the second round. The Raptors (46-36) swept the Cavs 3-0 in the regular season.

Nuggets-Timberwolves marks a rematch of a 2024 second-round series in which Minnesota upset Denver in seven games. The star power is the same for both teams, but Nikola Jokic-led Denver (54-28) is deeper this year, while Anthony Edwards and the T-Wolves (49-33) seek a third straight trip to the Western Conference Finals.

And then there’s Lakers-Rockets in what could be the final playoff meeting between James, 41, and Durant, 37, who have faced each other in three separate NBA Finals.

It remains unclear when the Lakers (53-29) will get Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) back from injuries, complicating their chances against the Rockets (52-30).

PLAY-IN FIELD

The seventh and eighth seeds in both conferences will be determined by this week’s Play-In Tournament, which begins Tuesday.

In the East’s 7-8 matchup, the Philadelphia 76ers will host the Orlando Magic, with the winner advancing directly to the playoffs to face the Celtics as the East’s 7-seed.

In the West’s 7-8 matchup, the Phoenix Suns will host the Portland Trail Blazers, with the winner advancing to the playoffs to face the Spurs as the West’s 7-seed.

The losers of those games will not yet be eliminated.

In the East’s 9-10 matchup, the Charlotte Hornets will host the Miami Heat. In the West’s 9-10 matchup, the Los Angeles Clippers will host the Golden State Warriors.

The losers of those games will be eliminated from contention.

And on Friday, the loser of 76ers-Magic will face the winner of Hornets-Heat for the final spot in the East. Whomever wins that game will be the 8-seed and play the Pistons in the first round.

That same night, the loser of Suns-Blazers will face the winner of Clippers-Warriors. The winner of that game will be the West’s 8-seed and face the Thunder in the first round.

TANKING TO-DO

Tanking has become an increasingly prominent issue in the NBA, but never more so than this year.

With a historically deep draft on the horizon, about a third of the NBA teams tanked to improve their odds in the draft lottery.

Eight teams finished with at least 55 losses — an NBA record — while two others lost at least 50.

Some tanking teams gave unheralded G League players real minutes down the stretch. Many sat key players as much as possible. Blowouts became commonplace. The Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers were fined in February for removing or resting players when they shouldn’t have.

The on-court product suffered so much that wholesale rule changes to combat intentional losing are expected this offseason.

“There is an aspect of team-building that is called a genuine rebuild. Rebuild with integrity,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said last month. “The problem we’re having these days is it’s become almost impossible to distinguish between the tank and a rebuild. … Yes, we need to do something more extreme.”

AWARDS COMMOTION

To limit load management, the NBA has required players the past three seasons to appear in at least 65 games — and play at least 20 minutes in nearly all of them — to be eligible for top awards.

Those include honors such as MVP and spots on the league’s All-NBA teams.

But that policy has been under increased scrutiny after legitimate injuries caused multiple star players to barely miss the cutoff.

Detroit’s Cade Cunningham finished at 64 games after suffering a collapsed lung late in the season. Same goes for the Lakers’ Luka Doncic after his recent hamstring injury.

Both would have likely earned MVP votes and All-NBA selections.

Jokic, who missed a month with a knee injury, played 18 minutes in Sunday’s regular-season finale when other starters sat in order to reach 65 games.

The Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama also played exactly 65 games, including the NBA Cup final loss to the Knicks, which doesn’t count in the official standings but does count toward award eligibility.

The National Basketball Players Association recently cited Cunningham’s case in a statement calling for the rule to be “abolished or reformed.”

“Since its implementation, far too many deserving players have been unfairly disqualified from end-of-season honors by this arbitrary and overly rigid quota,” the NBPA said.

Doncic is appealing his ineligibility, hoping the two games he missed in December for the birth of his daughter will be deemed an “extraordinary circumstance.”

ALL ABOUT ANTETOKOUNMPO

This is set to be a pivotal offseason for Antetokounmpo, who becomes eligible for a contract extension this October.

If he commits to sign a long-term deal, the Milwaukee Bucks can keep the two-time MVP through the summer and beyond.

But if he doesn’t, Antetokounmpo may finally be traded after years of speculation.

The Bucks listened to trade offers for Antetokounmpo before February’s deadline. Reports emerged that Antetokounmpo was ready for a change in scenery.

The situation became even trickier as Milwaukee declined to clear Antetokounmpo from a knee injury late in the season when the forward wanted to play.

After the Bucks’ disappointing 32-50 season came to an end Sunday, the 31-year-old Antetokounmpo remained non-committal about what’s next.

“I haven’t been offered an extension. So, if that is on the table, then I will try to make the best decision for me and my family,” Antetokounmpo said, per ESPN.

“But if it’s not on the table, then I have to focus on how can I improve my worth and get on the floor and do what I do.”

ACHILLES COMEBACK

Perhaps the best feel-good story of the season was the earlier-than-expected return of Jayson Tatum, who made it back less than 10 months after a devastating Achilles tear.

The Celtics star, who was injured in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Knicks last May, made his season debut on March 6.

Tatum averaged 21.8 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game over 16 appearances.

Fittingly, Tatum’s final game of the regular season came last Thursday at Madison Square Garden, where the injury occurred.

“It was a big moment, a big hurdle for me,” Tatum said after that 112-106 loss. “I was nervous and anxious to come back here. Obviously, I wanted to win and play great, but more importantly, I just wanted to walk off the court on my own two feet.”