The 5 NBA teams competing for 3 East playoff spots, ranked by who needs it most

The bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff race is three times wilder than the top. While the Bucks, Raptors, 76ers, Pacers, and Celtics have secured their place, the Magic, Heat, Hornets, Nets, and Pistons have not. Those are the are five teams jockeying for three measly playoff spots.

Most likely, they’re aiming for three chances to get swept, steal just one game, and/or get straight-up embarrassed on their own home floor. But making the playoffs and seeing an early exit serves as validation for these teams. It means their season wasn’t wasted, destined for the never-ending cycle of ping-pong balls to dictate their future. It means this is just the beginning.

It could also mean the difference between keeping a star, attracting another star, or losing a star altogether.

Which of the five teams needs a playoff appearance most? Let’s rank them, from least to most.

The Hornets are the furthest back in the playoff picture, and to be honest, it’s for the best. It’s almost impossible to see Kemba Walker re-signing at the end of this season, and making the playoffs won’t be the deciding factor either way. The lottery pick they’ll almost certainly receive in this year’s draft is more important for the franchise’s future.

The Magic want to make the playoffs, since they haven’t even sniffed an appearance since trading Dwight Howard in 2012. They don’t have anyone with a superstar reputation — hell, Aaron Gordon wasn’t even an All-Star; it was Nikola Vucevic who deservedly represented the team. But led by one of the best defenses in the NBA since the the calendar turned to 2019, the Magic have somehow played themselves into the playoff picture.

Strip away their rotten recent history, though, and there’s little tangible benefit for them making it in. They’ll get revenue from ticket sales and local TV deals because of two (or three) extra games of basketball, but making the postseason won’t sway their public perception. It won’t be the difference between landing a marquee free agent or not.

The Magic are what they are: a small-market team that must build through the draft, via trade, and with marginal free agent signings. Making the playoffs won’t change that. It’ll only give Vucevic more attention, and Vucevic is already an All-Star poised to cash in after a standout contract year.

Do the Heat actually need to make the playoffs? Not really. It would make a lot of sense for Miami to miss out (intentionally or not) and add a talented young player with a lottery pick in this year’s NBA Draft. Miami’s cap sheet is loaded with ugly contracts this summer, so their best avenue to improve is through the draft.

There’s just the very minor detail of some guy named Dwyane Wade, who’s retiring this season after a pretty average basketball career.

All jokes aside, Wade is heading to the Hall of Fame, and he wants to head there on a high note. The Heat are not a threat to actually win a playoff series, but we all deserve one more Wade playoff moment.

Detroit traded for Blake Griffin in the first year of a five-year, $171 million contract, and has been rewarded with a resurgent season from him.

But Griffin was pissed earlier this season. Why? Because the Pistons didn’t know what it took to win.

“Nothing to be proud of man, (the win) is just masking our issue,” he said during an infamous interview that Reggie Jackson video-bombed after an underwhelming win against the Pelicans. “We’ve got to lock in and finish games. Our lack of focus at the end of games has been awful. That’s why we lose games like this. I’m happy with the win but I’m not necessarily happy with how we closed this game out.”

Fast forward to April, and the Pistons have forced their way up the standings.

Still, Detroit doesn’t want to foster an environment where their best player is disgruntled because the rest of the team isn’t on the same page. The Pistons cannot afford an unhappy Blake Griffin, not during the best statistical season of his career, not with a roster that can’t win 30 games without him, and certainly not if they wish to build forward instead of regressing into a full rebuild.

This year has been everything the Nets had hoped. Management thought 35 wins would’ve made for a successful season. It’ll end up with at least 40, despite a midseason injury to emerging star Caris LeVert.

But the good vibes of their season will be undone if they can’t finish it off with a playoff berth. Brooklyn has successfully changed the perception of their franchise. Once considered one of the most dysfunctional in the league, the Nets are now set to become a free agent destination. The cream of the crop free agents, though, will only take Brooklyn seriously if it makes the playoffs this season.

Making or missing the playoffs could be the difference between the Nets using the max cap space they’ll have to actually sign a star free agent, or splitting that money between lower-level players.