Last week, we dropped the Western Conference preseason tiers<\/a>, so let\u2019s take a stab at ranking the balance of power in the drastically revamped East.<\/p>\nWe have to start with the defending champs, the New York Knicks. After delivering its first title to the Big Apple in 53 years, the Knicks return virtually everyone from last season. The only key role player to depart was center Mitchell Robinson, but he was backfilled by veteran Andre Drummond. Jalen Brunson and his band of OG Villanova WildKATs, look to pick up where they left off. Whether this team got hot at the right time and caught lightning in a bottle with a great playoff run, or if they\u2019ve permanently leveled up to be the gold standard, remains to be seen. Regardless, this team will have a major say in who comes out of the east.<\/p>\n
No team made a bigger splash this summer than the Philadelphia 76ers. Poaching star wing Jaylen Brown from their rival Boston was about the most shocking trade of the summer. It cost them a very past his prime Paul George, along with 2 first and 2 second round picks. It also demonstrated the team is serious about maximizing whatever championship window is left around injury prone superstar center, Joel Embiid. This trade then paved the way for the King himself, Lebron James, to choose Philly as his final destination. While many pundits claim James is joining another super team, these 76ers haven\u2019t seen an Eastern Conference Finals since 2001.<\/p>\n
The health of Embiid is among the leading variables that determine how far this team can go. The former MVP is dominant when he plays, but that has only been in 96 games over the past three seasons. He gave it go last spring in the playoffs, and put up a crazy stat line of 33\/11\/6 over six games before finally having to shut it down.<\/p>\n
On paper, this team\u2019s starting 5 is very scary. Four of its five players can get you 30 points on any given night. The backcourt of Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe is super explosive. Although it will be the presence of James and Brown, who have the task of building championship habits for this team to reach its potential. They will have their bumps with Embiid\u2019s load management, and figuring out how to share the ball. Yet with those challenges, the Sixers are in their best position talent-wise to go after their first championship since 1983.<\/p>\n
TIER 2 The Competitive Middle (A Teams)<\/p>\n
The middle part of the Eastern Conference is where most of its teams reside. All of them will vie for seeds 2-10. There are 4 teams though who have less question marks about them, and\/or have stronger continuity. We\u2019ll call them the A teams in this group. All teams in each tier are listed alphabetically.<\/p>\n
Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit <\/p>\n
The Atlanta Hawks jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the first round against the New York Knicks last spring. It was at that point New York decided to become the best team in the league. They finished off the Hawks with three straight dominant performances. After that shellacking, Atlanta remains a strong bet to finish in the upper half of the East once again. All-Star forward, Jalen Johnson is probably the most underrated player in the league. The 6\u20199\u201d do-it-all wing has raised the team\u2019s floor, while being surrounded by a lot of unique talent that can either defend or shoot. The Hawks added Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins from Oklahoma City to help fortify their perimeter defense while adding scoring punch. Veteran CJ McCollum appears ready to transition into a 6th man role, providing leadership and clutch scoring. Under a solid coach in Quin Snyder, Atlanta looks to build on their humbling experience.<\/p>\n
The Boston Celtics have been one of the best run franchises in the league over the past 10 years. They have one championship, two finals appearances, played in five Eastern Conference Finals, while accruing the most playoff wins in the league over that stretch with 86. So when team President Brad Stevens chose to trade former finals MVP Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia for 36-year-old Paul George, it raised eyebrows across the league. Boston will be heavily relying on superstar Jayson Tatum to return to 100% after an achilles tendon injury, and will need George to expend whatever is left in his gas tank in order to stay competitive with the conference\u2019s elite. I would have put them lower than this, however, Stevens actively designed a team last season that should have finished at Play-In level or worse, and they finished with 56 wins and the 2 seed. Until we see a Joe Mazzula coached Boston team underachieve, they have earned the respect to be placed in the next tier below the east\u2019s contenders. Look for point guard Payton Pritchard to earn more responsibility, while second year forward, Hugo Gonzales steps into a larger role as well.<\/p>\n
The Cleveland Cavaliers are fresh off their first Eastern Conference Finals without Lebron James for the first time since 1992. At the poker table of competitiveness, the Cavs have pushed their chips all-in. With some creative financial accounting, Cleveland has gone from the only team over the league\u2019s 2nd apron salary tax, to now under the first apron. Their big splash came in landing prized restricted free agent forward, Peyton Watson. That wasn\u2019t all though. They committed a huge $273 million to star guard Donovan Mitchell over 5 seasons, and brought back the mercurial James Harden on a 3-year, $97 million deal. This team is pretty locked in to this core, as the price tag for its starters (sans Watson) will make them difficult to trade. Defensive ace, forward Evan Mobley, is the lynchpin for raising Cleveland\u2019s ceiling. He\u2019s been solid offensively, but has shown signs of peaking on that end, thereby raising questions about his value versus his overall production at $50+ million per season. Still, this is a talented group with a claim to being in the top 6 of the conference with reasonable health, even though it likely peaked last season.<\/p>\n
The Detroit Pistons were the surprise team in the NBA last season, capturing the East\u2019s top seed and finishing with 60 wins. Point guard Cade Cunningham established himself as a superstar, as he finished 5th in MVP voting and made All-NBA First Team. However, it wasn\u2019t surprising to see them get bounced in the second round of the playoffs due to their overall inexperience. We\u2019ve seen good young teams play over their skis in the regular season, only to wipeout and yardsale on the black diamond slopes of the playoffs. This Detroit team could be back in the mix, but it has a rather sizable hole at the moment with the ugly, ongoing free agency of starting center, Jalen Duren.<\/p>\n
The Pistons and Duren\u2019s camp seem to be $5-10 million dollars apart on a starting year salary. Detroit has publicly said they will not entertain trade offers for him, which means the two-sides have little over a month to get something worked out. Otherwise, Duren will be forced to sign his one season qualifying offer to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. If it comes to that, it\u2019s hard to tell what kind of player will show up to training camp. Coming off a playoff run that exposed some glaring holes in his game, Duren\u2019s value was always going to be hard to pinpoint after he made the league\u2019s All-NBA Defensive Third Team. If they can find common ground before training camp, then the Pistons have a lot to build on. Wing Ausur Thompson has blossomed into one of the league\u2019s best defenders. They lost veteran starting power forward Tobias Harris in free agency, but were able to acquire F\/C John Collins on a great 3-year, $54 million contract. He should be able to step into Harris\u2019 spot and be a great complement to Duren. They also acquired shooting guard Isaiah Joe for peanuts in a cost cutting move by OKC. He\u2019s an excellent floor spacer for a team in need of one in its starting group.<\/p>\n
TIER 3 The Competitive Middle (B Teams)<\/p>\n
Charlotte, Indiana, Miami, Orlando, Toronto<\/p>\n
The Charlotte Hornets went on an 18-9 run after the all-star break last season that saw them finish as the 9 seed. They were another victim of inexperience during the Play-In Tournament, and then decided to make wholesale changes to their roster. Traded were controversial forward Miles Bridges and point guard LaMelo Ball. After the sensational rookie season from wing Kon Knueppel, Charlotte was convinced to turn the page on their incumbent team leaders to a new pillar to build around. Along with 4th year forward, Brandon Miller, the Hornets are hoping their wing positions are set for the next decade.<\/p>\n
Charlotte brought in several proven veterans to go around them, headlined by: PF\/C Naz Reid, guards Dennis Schr\u00f6eder and Grayson Allen, and forwards, Royce O\u2019Neale and Dennis Finney-Smith. They re-signed Coby White to start at point guard, and also the anchor of their defense, center Moussa Diabat\u00e9. The Hornets may have also hit on their two first round picks, PF Hannes Steinbach and PG Christian Anderson Jr. Both players looked smooth with some polish in summer league. Overall, this is the most talented Charlotte team since Baron Davis took the league by storm at the end of the 20th century. The Hornets are a wild card and could wind up similar to where they landed last season, or perhaps surprise some teams by making a bit of a jump. Head coach Charles Lee led a 25-win improvement in his second year, which earned him a 4th place finish for the Coach of the Year award. He\u2019s got a lot to work with going into year 3.<\/p>\n
The team everyone is wondering about to see if they can bounce back to the conference\u2019s elite is the Indiana Pacers. Everything starts with the return of all-star point guard Tyrese Haliburton from a torn Achilles tendon. The last we saw him he was putting up one of best individual playoff runs ever, by dramatically leading Indiana to the 2024 finals and pushing OKC to the brink. Now, he\u2019s expected to pick up where he left off after one of the most serious leg injuries a pro player can suffer. He\u2019ll have his running mate PF Pascal Siakim back, albeit a couple years older. The other big addition is all-defensive center Ivica Zubac, acquired at the last trade deadline. It did cost the Pacers dearly, as their first round pick traded in the deal was Top 4 protected. After finishing tied for the second worst record, they had a 52% chance of securing a top 4 pick in a massively talented draft. The lotto balls had other plans and trolled the Pacers, giving them the 5th pick, which surrendered it to the Los Angeles Clippers. They rebounded a little in free agency by signing versatile forward Kelly Oubre Jr.<\/p>\n
With Hali\u2019s return, Zubac, and Oubre Jr, the Pacers have bolstered their team. Waiting for them is a core of vets from the championship run: Siakim, Andrew Nembhard, TJ McConnell, Obi Toppin, and Aaron Nesmith. Head coach Rick Carlisle has seen it all, and will look to push this group to its limit. As of now, they are in the same boat as the Knicks: prove it was more than just getting hot at the right time. They gotta earn it back after their gap year.<\/p>\n
We finally have reached South Beach! The annual destination where NBA rumors and summer drama tans on the beach without a care in the world. The Miami Heat finally landed their big fish by trading for Milwaukee\u2019s Giannis Antetokounmpo. The \u201cGreek Freak\u201d takes his generational talents to pair with center Bam Adebayo, forming a two-headed defensive hydra monster. However, the rest of the roster around them is peppered with question marks. Veteran SF Andrew Wiggins, stylistically is a great fit next to Giannis and Bam, although he\u2019s 31 and on an expiring contract. The backcourt is where many answers are needed. At point guard is Davion Mitchell, who really should be a backup, but is their best option. They signed both Klay Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr. to help with shooting, but Thompson is on his last legs and THJ will turn 35 during the season.<\/p>\n
One player to keep an eye on is second round draft pick Ryan Conwell. The senior guard from Louisville has a game and body type similar to a key player the Heat lost in free agency, Norman Powell. He should get chances to show if he can help fill the need for three-point shooting. Eric Spoelstra and Pat Riley have their culture deeply embedded. Now they have to prove that Giannis and Bam can successfully play together, by finding the right complementary talent to go around them. This year will be up and down as they experiment, which is why I expect them to finish somewhere between 6th and 10th in the east.<\/p>\n
The Orlando Magic are a tough team to speculate on. They struggled with injuries, as all-star PF Franz Wagner and starting PG Jalen Suggs missed 48 and 26 games respectively. They were able to get right during the Play-In tournament to capture the 8 seed, and then gave top-seeded Detroit all they could handle, taking them to 7 games. The Jekyll and Hyde Magic have some serious questions that require definitive answers this season. They rank among the bottom of the NBA for three-point shooting, and did nothing to address it this offseason. Suspicions have been raised about supposed franchise player Paulo Banchero\u2019s game. His shot selection is often questionable and his efficiency is below league average. 45% of his offense comes from 10 feet to beyond the 3-point line, where he shoots a paltry 35% combined.<\/p>\n
Neither he or Wagner are good deep ball shooters, and both function best with the ball in their hands. This upcoming season may determine that one of these power forwards needs to be traded to further the balance of the roster. They dealt a lot of their future draft picks to acquire shooting guard Desmond Bane last year. After next summer\u2019s draft, they won\u2019t have full control of a first round pick until 2031. They currently are also just a few million dollars away from the 2nd apron tax line. It makes no sense for a team fighting for the back end of the playoff bracket to be as expensive as the Magic are. New head coach Sean Sweeney comes over from San Antonio, and hopes to bring some of that Spur fairy dust to the Magic Kingdom. This is a team nearing a financial and roster construction crossroads, and this season should provide a lot of answers on which direction they need to go next. Still, it\u2019s a dangerous squad who cares about playing defense when locked in. Similar to their Florida brethren Heat, a 6-10 seed range feels right for them. If they discover better shooting, I\u2019d give them a crack at the 5 seed with good health.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe the North\u201d is looking to party this season like it\u2019s 2019, if the Toronto Raptors follow through and complete their trade for Kawhi Leonard. Toronto is ready to welcome back the hero from their lone NBA Championship amid an unprecedented financial scandal with the Los Angeles Clippers. Leonard has been fined $700K for his role in an alleged salary cap circumvention scheme, but is eventually expected to be sent to the Raptors for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, and a couple of draft picks. However, a new criminal probe into the Clippers has been launched by the Department of Justice this week, so everything surrounding this trade is in limbo. If the trade goes through, pairing him in the frontcourt with the multi-talented Scottie Barnes gives them an argument for fielding the best two-way starting forward tandem in the NBA. The backcourt is led by veterans Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett, while Jacob Poetl holds down the center spot. The bench is a bit on the young side, so depth is a concern. That didn\u2019t stop them from finishing as the East\u2019s 5 seed and taking the Cleveland Cavaliers to 7 games in the first round. If Leonard replaces Ingram, the Raptors should be right in the thick of the East\u2019s middle ground.<\/p>\n
The Washington Wizards get their own tier as the sole team whose ceiling is the Play-In Tournament. This team\u2019s roster is so funky, George Clinton should be the head coach. It has veteran all-stars, three #1 overall picks (2012, 2018, 2026), gave point guard Trae Young a fresh, new 4-year, $212 million contract, and it appears they are going to roll out the league\u2019s largest lineup around the 6\u20192\u201d Young. His backcourt mate, Kyshawn George, is 6\u20198\u201d and entering his 3rd season with momentum after making a nice leap last year. The frontcourt will feature well-traveled star, 6\u201910\u201d Anthony Davis. The oft-injured big man is hunting for a Max level extension, so that will likely determine how long he\u2019ll be with the franchise. If he\u2019s healthy at the trade deadline, the Wizards could look to trade him. 2024 #2 overall pick, 7\u20190\u201d Alex Sarr, showed some nice development and could form a defensive fortress in the paint with Davis. They are joined by possibly the league\u2019s next big star, 6\u20199\u201d athletic bulldozer and top overall pick in June\u2019s draft, AJ Dybantsa. \u2018Wizards\u2019 is the perfect moniker for this current team because it feels like it was made by magic.<\/p>\n
The bench has a group of talented young players, any of which could break through with the right opportunity. Joining them is former all-star, 35-year-old Kris Middleton and center Deandre Ayton. It\u2019s an amazing hodgepodge of talent, and given Young\u2019s gunslinger style and elite distribution, this team should be among the more entertaining ones to watch.<\/p>\n
Brooklyn, Chicago, Milwaukee<\/p>\n
What can you say? Another season and another Brooklyn Nets team that is expected to hover around the bottom because it is perpetually retooling. The Nets made it known that they want to push for wins this year because the Houston Rockets have the option to swap first round picks next June. To address that initiative, they traded for high scoring power forward Julius Randle, as part of Minnesota\u2019s major roster shake up. At the other forward spot is another big scorer, Michael Porter. Jr. With Randle one of the league\u2019s last interior bully ball players, MPJ\u2019s superior marksmanship from the perimeter would appear to balance out\u2026in theory. Let\u2019s see it play out first. MPJ is also a likely trade candidate, as he\u2019s on a $41 million expiring contract. Brooklyn has had all summer to extend Porter. Jr, but with his chronic back issues, even MPJ himself has admitted he doesn\u2019t know how much time he\u2019ll have left. Still, he\u2019s coming off a career season, and has value for someone needing a veteran shot creator. Beyond them, there are a lot of young players trying to make their mark. Their most recent first round pick taken 6th overall, guard Mikel Brown Jr., flashed some nice skills in summer league. Last year\u2019s lottery pick, Egor Demin had a good overall rookie season, and looks to be the team\u2019s starting point guard. It\u2019s a strange roster of talent, but Brooklyn is in good shape to focus on a structured rebuild starting next offseason. They have a surplus of first round picks in 2028 and beyond.<\/p>\n
The Chicago Bulls made wholesale changes this offseason in the front office, the coaching staff, and added some significant talent. Rookie forward Caleb Wilson looked like a future star in the Vegas Summer League, and showed an array of skills he didn\u2019t show in college due to North Carolina\u2019s system. He\u2019ll be paired with 3rd year forward, Matus Buzelis who started every game he played in last season and made a nice jump as a sophomore. The Bulls were able to get new starting center Nic Claxton in a trade for next to nothing. He\u2019s in his prime while being one of the league\u2019s better interior defenders. They also were the only team with cap space who could afford free agent shooting guard, Norman Powell. With jumbo point guard Josh Giddey running the show, the Bulls should be taking steps to start a new era around their young forwards and good supporting veterans around them. Tiago Splitter took Portland to the Play-In last season as a first-year head coach. Can he repeat that with Chicago?<\/p>\n
The band-aid was finally ripped off, as the Milwaukee Bucks moved on from franchise stalwart Giannis Antetokounmpo. They did ok for themselves with the trade return from the Miami Heat, but they are in a clear rebuild and don\u2019t control their draft future until 2031. Because of that, they are forced to field the best team possible with the bevy of talent they acquired this summer. They have a lot of young players at each position now, so finding out who sticks will be a multi-year process. Shooting guard Tyler Herro is on an expiring contract and is probably the team\u2019s best player. Whether he gets traded at the deadline or they extend him will be something to keep an eye on. It\u2019s going to be a long road back to relevance unless a couple of current young players pop big time.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a wrap on forecasting what should be an exciting regular season, as playoff jockeying will be in a constant fluid state. What are your thoughts on the Eastern Conference? Who\u2019s your surprise team that will make noise?<\/p>\n
Let us know down in the comments!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Eastern Conference has been mocked for being inferior to its Western counterpart for what feels like decades.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":834634,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3784],"tags":[7,601,6,3101,687,471,3967,1617],"class_list":["post-834633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-portland-trail-blazers","tag-basketball","tag-blazers","tag-nba","tag-nba-news","tag-portland","tag-portland-trail-blazers","tag-portlandtrailblazers","tag-trail-blazers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117265595336004635","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=834633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/834634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=834633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=834633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=834633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}