There are five teams that need to do their best to strive for an extra win window.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Houston Rockets

New York Knicks

Oklahoma City Thunder

Orlando Magic

Young Cavaliers: There is still a 2-year window to win the championship, as there is no starter in their 30s, the Cavaliers should have the potential to be a championship team-provided they can manage this expensive lineup well. The contract extensions of All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley will take effect next season, which will put Cleveland into the second tier, meaning they have a two-year window before making a tougher decision that could cost the Cavaliers some of their core players.

The Rockets, who signed superstars, hope to follow in Oklahoma City's footsteps after signing Kevin Durant. Durant's joining opened a window to the championship for Houston after his first round defeat. Although the 38-year-old future Hall of Fame player does not give a strong impression of a "long-term window", the Rockets can use a series of high-potential future draft picks to build a lineup around younger stars Alperen Shinkyung and Amen Thompson to extend their championship window period

New York Knicks' 740 million starters

Last month, the Knicks signed a four-year, $150 million contract extension with Mikal Bridges, and they had reached a long-term deal with Jaylen Brunson last season. Today, the New York team has five players — Bridges, Brunson, Carl Anthony Towns, OG Anunobi and Josh Hart — with contracts that will last until at least 2028. In theory, this is the vision the team has planned over the past 18 months to give the team a long period of growth.

Oklahoma City Thunder: 820,000 three-somethings have no precedent for winning the championship and winning up as many as six additional first-round picks, not to mention trades that could significantly improve the Thunder's draft pick and make it more likely to be selected in a later round. Now that Oklahoma City has renewed its contract with MVP Shay Gilgyus-Alexander, plus All-Star Jaylen Williams and core player Chet Holmgren, paying luxury tax will be a big challenge. However, compared to any defending champion in modern NBA history, the Thunder may not be so desperate.

Orlando Magic

The question about Orlando is whether the introduction of Desmond Bain can elevate the Magic to a competitive ranks. The Magic had a record of 41 wins and 41 losses last season due to injuries to main players Paul Bancello, Jaren Sages and Franz Wagner. And their salary burden is increasing rapidly, as the total salary of the above four players will reach at least $32.4 million in the 2026-2027 season (the year when Benchero's renewal takes effect). However, Bain (27) is the only core player on Orlando to be over 24 years old.