The NBA’s Eastern Conference has been clearly inferior to the Western Conference from the moment Michael Jordan called his second retirement after the 1998 Finals. That might finally flip this year. While the West is still home to the league’s top two title contenders in our preseason poll, the East feels stronger 1-10 entering the season for the first time since MJ won his sixth ring in Chicago.

There’s no doubt that the New York Knicks are the team to beat in the Eastern Conference come playoff time. Will that hold during the regular season? The Knicks won 53 games last year, good for the No. 3 seed in the conference. They didn’t find greatness until the playoffs, then put together one of the most dominant championship runs ever.

Let’s rank the Eastern Conference for the regular season only heading into the 2026-27 campaign. This was an incredibly difficult exercise. The Knicks might be the only team that feels like a lock to win at least one series in the East entering the season, and the teams ranked 2-10 in our projection truly feel like they could finish in any order. Check out our latest NBA power rankings for a full picture of the league based championship chances entering the season. Now, let’s predict how teams will finish the East this year.

I’ve convinced myself the Jaylen Brown trade was the right move for Boston after initially being lukewarm on it. Brown took a lot of shots and wasn’t super efficient with them, his off-ball defense has never been good, and he turns it over a little too much. The Celtics are basically replacing him with a full season of Jayson Tatum, plus Paul George and Mitchell Robinson. This team is really good in the regular season every year, and I don’t expect that to stop. I really think Derrick White is going to shoot the ball better this year, and I could easily see a big leap for Payton Pritchard with more usage. The Celtics’ formula of chucking threes, crashing the offensive glass, and playing tough defense is hard to beat. I wouldn’t pick them to go to the NBA Finals, but I think they will win a lot of regular season games.

“Knicks or the field” is a fair way to frame the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. Mike Brown found something special with this group during the last postseason, and with most of the rotation back and no one expected to fall victim to age-related decline, the Knicks should be a juggernaut again. The Knicks can get the 1-seed if they really want it, but they don’t need it. Regardless of where they enter the playoff race, this is still the team to beat when the games count for real.

Cleveland has averaged 53.75 wins per year in their four seasons with Donovan Mitchell, with one first round exit, two second round appearances, and finally a trip to the conference finals last year. Do the Cavs have one more step left in them? Last year’s playoff run wasn’t all that convincing, and at this point Cleveland needs a few things to go right just to avoid being passed up by their conference rivals. Can James Harden stave off age-related decline for one more year at 37 years old? Will Evan Mobley show any growth in his offensive game from last season? Peyton Watson is the only real new addition this year, and it’s possible he can be the athletic wing defender and spot-up shooter the Cavs have always lacked in the Mitchell era. I’m not sold that Watson’s hot January last year is proof he’s a totally new player from earlier in his career, but he better be because Cleveland paid a heavy price to get him. This feels like Cleveland’s weakest bench in the last couple years, and that puts a lot of pressure on the stars to stay healthy. The Cavs will be tough again, but I could see them taking a small step back this year.

There’s a surprise team in the East every year based on the preseason over/unders, and I feel like that team is usually young and athletic. Orlando was my preseason Finals pick last year, which proved to be a terrible call. Yet when the playoffs rolled around, the Magic looked like a different team, and they should have pulled a 1-8 upset on the Pistons if Franz Wagner didn’t get hurt with a 3-1 lead. I truly believe Jalen Suggs is the skeleton team that unlocks this team. Suggs has battled constant injuries during his short career, and at this point it’s fair to wonder if he’s best deployed in a smaller role a la Alex Caruso. If Suggs can stay on the floor, the Magic could regain their status as an elite defensive team under new head coach Sean Sweeney. Sweeney was the only real change Orlando made over the offseason, and he has a ton of pressure on his shoulders to make this team work given their high payroll even before Anthony Black starts his extension talks. The pairing between Paolo Banchero and Wagner just shouldn’t be this bad even if both are poor shooters. I’m going to guess the results are finally better this year .

Toronto had a top-5 defense last year behind Scottie Barnes and Collin Murray-Boyles, and they earned some valuable playoff experience by pushing the Cavs to seven games in the first-round. The main thing the Raptors were missing is someone who could score against a set defense in the halfcourt, and it’s hard to do better than adding Kawhi Leonard. The upgrade from Brandon Ingram to Leonard could make the Raptors a legit Finals contender … provided Leonard can actually finish the season healthy for once. It’s not a great bet. For whatever it’s worth, Leonard did cross the 65 game threshold in two of the last three seasons, but finishing a full playoff run might be an even tougher test. The Raptors could have a hole in the middle if Jakob Poeltl remains troubled by a bad back, which would mean CMB small-ball five minutes could essentially go from a changeup to a fastball. The shooting is a concern for sure after finishing 25th in three-point rate and 21st in three-point percentage last year, and it’s critical that Barnes keeps trending up in that department. The Raptors will make every game a rock fight, but it’s going to be really hard to score on Murray-Boyles, Leonard, and Barnes when it matters, and the offense has a real late-game scoring plan now. A lot can go wrong, but I’m buying the Raptors as one of the East’s top title contenders.

I’m higher on the Sixers’ playoff ceiling than their regular season projection. It’s hard to count on LeBron James to play a full season at 42 years old, and it’s hard to count on Joel Embiid at all. The Sixers have some nice bench pieces, but they don’t really have a reliable backup center unless Adem Bona or Ariel Hukporti takes a step forward. I’m worried that this team will be soft defensively during the regular season until LeBron turns it up in the playoffs, and I’m a bit skeptical that a player like Jaylen Brown can take to a more off-ball role with so many other scorers around him. This team made the second round last year, and they feel significantly improved this season. Anything less than the franchise’s first conference finals trip since 2001 will be a disappointing, but you can’t blame Philly fans for thinking this season is championship-or-bust.

The Pistons smashed their over/under last year by winning 60 games to claim the No. 1 seed, but it was easy to see the problems they were bound to encounter in the playoffs. After nearly losing to Orlando in round one, Detroit remade the look of the team a bit over the summer by adding John Collins, Isaiah Joe, and Taurean Prince, and subtracting Tobias Harris, Isaiah Stewart, and Caris LeVert. I’m not sure it’s going to be any easier for the Pistons to score in the halfcourt this year, and Harris feels like he could be missed as the second-best creator on last year’s team. The spacing is always going to be an issue with Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson sharing the floor, and while I’m bullish on the Joe addition, he won’t change the geometry of the floor by himself. The Pistons should win a lot of regular season games again, but I’m not convinced they took a step toward making it out of the East this summer.

The Pacers are the hardest team to project entering the season, and I’m already worried I have them way too low. Tyrese Haliburton impacts winning nearly as much as any player in the league, and I’d expect Indiana to be really good again once he gets comfortable coming off a torn Achilles. Most of the 2025 Finals team around him remains in place with a couple key changes. Ivica Zubac won’t space the floor like Myles Turner did, but he does add more toughness and better rebounding on the interior. The bench feels a bit thinner than the last time Haliburton was healthy, but Kelly Oubre Jr. could be a decent free agent addition. The Pacers were a good-not-amazing regular season team when they reached the Finals two seasons ago with 50 wins, and I could see them outplaying their regular season record again come playoff time once Haliburton gets into a rhythm.

The Heat have the most talented front court in the East with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, but neither of them are outside shooters, and that’s bound to present some spacing problems offensively. Miami did well to land some shooting around them by signing Klay Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr., but it still feels like Giannis will be seeing a lot of bodies in the paint this year. The Heat are arguably the best team in the league at finding hidden gems, and they will need to do it again this season to bolster the depth. I like Pelle Larsson as a potential deep breakout guy, and Ryan Conwell and Dru Smith should get plenty of opportunities, too. If Giannis is the best player in the East and Erik Spoelstra is the best coach in the NBA, then why is Miami so low? I don’t really trust Giannis to stay healthy for an entire regular season, for one. I could see Miami being really tough in the playoffs, and we already know they can reach the NBA Finals from the play-in because they did it in 2023. The Heat have some real questions, but chances are Spo will figure things out.

The Hawks missing the top-8 of the East playoff bracket in this projection might be the best example of the conference’s improvement. Atlanta is a very solid team that had a strong offseason coming off a playoff appearance where they were the only team to take multiple games off the Knicks. The trio of Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and newly added Lu Dort might be the best group of perimeter defenders in the league. Onyeka Okongwu started to turn into a legit stretch five last year, and Jalen Johnson could be a perennial All-Star as the team’s closest thing to a franchise player. I just worry that Atlanta will be really dependent on CJ McCollum again for halfcourt creation until rookie Kingston Flemings is ready for primetime, and he’s still a cut below the other star creators in the East. It’s possible I’m too low on Atlanta, but hey! The East is really good.

I hated the LaMelo Ball trade for Charlotte, but even I can see the vision long-term … especially if Ball’s ankles can’t stay healthy. The Hornets were the best team in the league by net-rating after Jan. 1 last year, so it feels odd to trade your best player for not the greatest haul of assets. There’s still plenty of reason to think this year’s Hornets will still be competitive even without the star point guard. Head coach Charles Lee has built a strong identity with a team that will chuck threes and crash the offensive glass. Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller should be able to pick up a little bit of the creation burden, and Coby White is a solid veteran replacement at point guard. The Hornets lacked toughness inside last year, and while Naz Reid can help add more offensive firepower, they still need an enforcer down low. If Charlotte exceeds expectations, they have tons of assets to make a big deal. It sure seems like the Hornets are comfortable playing the long game, though.

I wish I could buy into the Wizards this year with Anthony Davis, Trae Young, A.J. Dybantsa and a slew of interesting young players in tow, but I can’t fully get there. Davis is famously unreliable, and I’m not convinced he’ll be on the team the whole season. Head coach Brian Keefe hasn’t shown me anything. I like Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, Tre Johnson, and Will Riley, but it’s usually pretty hard to develop that many young players and still have playoff expectations. The Wizards finished dead-last in defensive efficiency last season, and they still have tons of questions on that end even with Davis. Dybantsa will be awesome, but I’m not solid on the Wiz yet.

I trust the Nets to beat their very low expectations coming into the season … provided they don’t trade Michael Porter Jr. before opening night. Porter enjoyed a career-year under Jordi Fernandez in Brooklyn last season one year after Cam Johnson enjoyed similar success. Fernandez is one of the best young coaches in the game, and he has a little more talent to work with this season with the arrival of Julius Randle. Add in a potential sophomore leap from Egor Demin, a possible center upgrade with Day’ron Sharpe taking over for Nic Claxton, and the arrival of rookie guard Mikel Brown Jr., and I like Brooklyn more than the early prognostications. Fernandez will get the most out of this group as long as it doesn’t sell off parts.

The Bulls are beginning yet another rebuild under new lead executive Bryson Graham, but this one is already off to a more promising start after moving up in the lottery for Caleb Wilson. Wilson has the tools and the mentality to eventually become the franchise player Chicago has been desperate for, and his sudden improvement as a three-point shooter during summer league feels like a great sign for his ability to continue to improve. Wilson and Matas Buzelis should produce tons of above-the-rim plays on both ends of the floor this season, but the Bulls are still staring down a long road to contention. This team could be pretty weak on the glass after landing Nic Claxton as their new center, and the perimeter defense is going to be an issue with Josh Giddey and Norm Powell at the point of attack. The spacing around Wilson remains a question mark, and it’s likely going to produce an ugly halfcourt offense. No one is expecting the Bulls to be good this year, but it’s important that new head coach Tiago Splitter can show progress with this group as the season goes on. Expect the roster to look quite a bit different a year from now as Graham continues to put his stamp on the team.

The Bucks are going to be pretty sad in their first season without Giannis, but you don’t have to search too hard to find a few reasons for optimism. Kel’el Ware was a nice get in the trade as an athletic big man who can space the floor, rookie lottery picks Brayden Burries and Nate Ament will get a long runway to show their long-term talent, and new coach Taylor Jenkins has a history of getting the most of his teams. I love Ryan Rollins as a lead guard with more untapped upside, and I’m willing to buy Kasparas Jakucionis as an upsdie gamble for the backcourt. Milwaukee would do well to trim the fat here, starting with moving off Myles Turner and Kyle Kuzma. It’s hard to know what to make of Tyler Herro as he enters a contract year, but I’d be surprised if he’s around long-term. For now, the Bucks will probably be pretty bad, there’s already a decent collection of young talent on the roster with more assets coming down the pipe from the Giannis trade.