For this roundtable, I thought I’d poll the staff on the Eastern Conference elite. Here was my question: What are the top 5 teams in the East right now? (your own personal power ranking)
Ian Inangelo
My top 5 teams in the Eastern Conference are: 1. New York Knicks, 2. Philadelphia 76ers, 3. Miami Heat, 4. Boston Celtics, 5. Detroit Pistons
The Knicks are coming off a championship and although other teams in the East have made huge additions, I don’t see anyone stacking up to them at this moment. The 76ers
at 2 are a testament to their acquisitions of Jaylen Brown and LeBron James but their big man position still scares me a lot. The Heat are a boom or bust team when it comes to relying on Giannis to stay healthy but I feel this year he will do everything in his power to stay on the floor. The Celtics I still believe are a top 4 team in the East due to the fact they have the same core of players they did last season with Jayson Tatum who looked incredible coming off injury last year. The loss of Brown shouldn’t be understated but Tatum is still a Top 5-10 player in the league when he’s healthy and I feel a full season of Tatum as the number one option will have great results for Boston. Detroit is at 5 mostly because of my belief in Cade Cunningham as I think he is a big enough star to drag even a mediocre looking Pistons roster to a top 5 seed in the East.
Trevor Hass
You could take this many different directions. I agree with Ian’s top five, but I have the order as: Knicks, 76ers, Pistons, Celtics, Heat. I think the Knicks deserve to be the favorite until further notice, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see them struggle early in the regular season. The 76ers are the most talented team, but a lot is riding on the health of LeBron James and Joel Embiid. The Pistons are solid but aren’t quite championship-ready. The Celtics will be in the mix but will miss Jaylen Brown. The Heat will be better than people think but will lose in the first round.
Steve Hooper
Contrarian take here. I’m not sure the Boston Celtics are even in the top 5 in the Eastern Conference anymore after trading away Jaylen Brown for pennies on the dollar. Mitchell Robinson and Paul George haven’t been healthy in the last few seasons at all, which makes the grind of the 82-game regular season all that much harder. I see a pretty clear top 3: the Knicks, Sixers and Pistons. After that I can see a see a world where the Cavaliers, Pacers and Raptors could all finish ahead of us. Personally, I think one of those teams will join the Heat and Celtics in battling for the sixth seed all season to avoid the play-in.
Jake Issenberg
I will pay deference to the defending champion New York Knicks by placing them first in the power rankings. However, downgrading from Mitchell Robinson to Andre Drummond is a significant blow. I’m higher on the Celtics than most. Jayson Tatum with a full offseason to build on his miraculous recovery will have this team primed for an eastern conference run. Last season the Celtics ranked second in offense, and fifth in defense. Next season’s Celtics team will be an improved version of the 2025-2026 team. Jayson Tatum playing the Jaylen Brown role is a significant upgrade. Mitchell Robinson fills the team’s most dire need, backup big man. Then Paul George is the icing on the cake. Icing that outplayed Jaylen Brown in the 2026 playoffs. The Celtics should also see improvements from the plethora of young talent on the roster. Next up, I would have Philly. Despite there being a considerably lower defensive floor, there is a world where the stars align and they are an offensive juggernaut. I wouldn’t bet on it but for upside purposes I have the Sixers third. Assuming the Kawhi Leonard trade goes through, the Raptors are fourth. A gritty defensive pain in the ass to play every night, and they solved their half court creation concerns by adding Kawhi. Fifth, the Cavs are still too talented to fall too far down these rankings despite having a dreadful offseason.
Nate Moskowitz
- Sixers 2. Knicks 3. Celtics 4. Heat 5. Pacers
I’ll admit that I don’t have a high level of confidence in the order of these teams, but I’m mostly comfortable with the group as a whole. The Pacers are the most questionable pick but with Haliburton back and Zubac in the mix they could bounce back quickly. I think it’s tricky though because this might be the deepest the conference has been in a while, at least on paper. Leaving Cleveland and Detroit off isn’t easy with how they’ve finished in recent years. The biggest swing team is Toronto which could jump substantially assuming the Kawhi Leonard trade is eventually finalized.
Grant Burfeind
Knicks
Sixers
Celtics
Pacers
Raptors
I think people are sleeping on Indiana a little. Haliburton will be back, and this is basically the same core that pushed OKC to seven games in the Finals two years ago. That’s not a team I’d be excited to see in April. Honestly, the East feels wide open in a really fun way. Cleveland is still going to be good. Detroit keeps getting better. Atlanta is intriguing. Even Washington is starting to become interesting. It feels like there are a lot more paths this season could take than there have been the last couple of years.
Robby Fletcher
I’ll go with the new-look 76ers at the top because star power sways me, especially at this stage in the offseason before fit and play style are revealed. They’re followed by the Knicks, who retained the majority of their roster but took a frontcourt blow after the loss of Mitchell Robinson.
Then it’s Boston, before being rounded out by Detroit and Atlanta. The Hawks had one of my favorite offseasons, and have built a roster filled with exceptional ball-stopping wings along with a potential new star in Kingston Flemings.
Kawhi-led Toronto and the Cavs hang on the fringes of that top-5. Jeff Clark [7:51 PM]
The safe answer is that the Knicks and Sixers are in a tier of their own, followed by the Pistons, Celtics, and Heat in some order. I get arguments for the Raptors, Pacers, and even the Cavs as well. If pressed for a prediction, I’d probably slot the Celtics in at 4th or 5th.
However, if I’m allowed a homer moment, let me make the case for the Celtics to be the top seed in the East. The Sixers, like all super teams, could take some time to gel. Throw in injuries to Embiid, load management for LeBron, and probably some passive aggressive maneuvering by LeBron, and it could take a little longer to come together than some might think. The Knicks could have a championship hangover. The Pistons are a little sideways after flaming out in the playoffs and all the Duran drama. I don’t really buy the Giannis led Heat. Meanwhile, the Celtics are getting a full season of Tatum, on a mission to prove he’s healthy and able to lead a team without Brown. Mazzulla already proved that he can put together a regular season winner with one star and a bunch of try-hards. Plus they upgraded their bigs rotation. The 14 year old kid in me still believes this team could finish at the top of the conference. (And none of that will matter if they flame out in the playoffs again)
Rich Jensen
Well, a major question surrounds the Raptors–if the NBA invalidates Kawhi Leonard’s contract, which is the official punishment for contracts that violate the CBA, that really complicates their efforts to obtain him.
Thus, I can only go with a top four, alphabetical order: Boston, Detroit, New York and Philadelphia.
I don’t think you can say for sure who gets the fifth spot until you know what’s going on with Toronto and Kawhi.
Ryan Paice
Basing my spots off of potential playoff ability and not just regular season success, my top 5 in the East would be: 1) Knicks, 2) Sixers, 3) Celtics, 4) Heat, 5) Pistons.
The Knicks are the defending champs, and they deserve respect (even if their fans don’t). The Sixers have probably the most talented team in the league and should make waves if they enter the postseason healthy. They form a clear top tier for contention in the East.
After them, it becomes a little less clear. While the Heat have Giannis and Bam, I think they’ll be somewhat simple to gameplan against as they are currently constructed. For Detroit, Cade is great, but his surrounding cast doesn’t inspire confidence (even if they do end up re-signing Duren). While the Celtics have many questions to answer next season, I think they’re a better overall two-way team with the strategic flexibility to find advantages in most matchups, especially now that we’ve got a big bulky body in Mitchell Robinson to slow down other beefy centers — something we desperately needed in last season’s matchup against Embiid.
Bobby Manning
This has been a maddening process as I begin ranking these teams. A rock solid team will probably miss the postseason entirely in the east, which looks more like the west used to. For now, I’ll go with: Knicks, 76ers, Cavaliers, Celtics and Pistons. Boston catches a break with Detroit losing an important player in Tobias Harris and Toronto’s Kawhi Leonard addition getting placed on hold for the moment. Still, the Raptors, Hawks and Heat stand to improve over their solid seasons last year and Orlando changed its head coach in hopes of greater offensive outcomes. Prior to the LeBron James addition, I saw the Celtics maintaining their second seed status in the east, but greater competition top-to-bottom and my generally strong belief in what Philadelphia’s doing probably drops them a spot or two from where I began. The Cavs, despite their loss in the LeBron sweepstakes, should remain a regular season stalwart. The Knicks warrant belief, but watch their center depth and the classic championship hangover.
Your Turn – How would you answer this question?
