​At the start of every NBA season, we — fans, media, people in and around the league — go in certain we know how things are going to play out. A year ago, the Thunder were the clear favorites to repeat, and the young Spurs were barely going to make the playoffs, and it looked like Cleveland might be due in the East. None of that played out quite as expected.This season, again it feels like there are clear favorites, and again we’re likely going to be wrong. To get a bigger picture, we have invited a bunch of NBA writers from around NBCSports.com to answer a few questions and make their picks for the upcoming NBA season. We can’t all be wrong… can we?The defending champion New York Knicks are largely running it back and return the most complete roster in the East. They will set the bar, but if one team is going to rise up and beat them, which one will it be?Kurt Helin, NBC lead NBA writer: I don’t fully trust anybody in the East, but for the purposes of this question I’ll take the Philadelphia 76ers here. Begrudgingly. Obviously, the question with Philly isn’t the talent: Jaylen Brown and Tyrese Maxey are All-NBA-level players, LeBron is still a top-20ish player in the league at age 41, and Joel Embiid can be a force when healthy. I don’t even believe the question is how it will all fit together, I think there are a lot of high IQ guys in Philly who will sacrifice and make it work. The question is simply health, specifically Embiid’s health in the playoffs. If the 76ers can pull it all together, they are the biggest threat to the Knicks.Raphielle Johnson, NBC Sports Fantasy basketball lead analyst: I hate to be boring, but it’s Philadelphia. The additions of LeBron James and Jaylen Brown were huge, but the overall rotation should be loaded. Beyond the starters, guys like Anfernee Simons, Dean Wade and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope can provide needed depth off the bench. The 76ers’ issue is the center position, especially if Joel Embiid’s availability remains in question. Ariel Hukporti is out for the season with a torn Achilles, and Adem Bona hasn’t played in the preseason with a sprained foot. Philadelphia, especially if they can improve their center depth at some point, would be my pick to come out of the East if it isn’t New York.Drew Dinsick, NBC Sports betting analyst: Right now I have a narrow gap for the top two in the East between New York and the Boston Celtics; they both rate as approximately +8.0 (points vs average on a neutral) and I actually have fewer questions and see more upside potential with Boston. The full return of Jayson Tatum remains underappreciated by the market and I think they did a nice job building complementary pieces around him to have a more complete team for the playoffs this spring. They are also extremely well coached and have a deep bench so it is more likely they will be a Top 3 seed than some of the other boom-or-bust contenders in the East. There is one other potential sleeper in the East I have my eye on tha