For the first time in what feels like eons in basketball years, the Eastern Conference is the place to be.
Gone are the days of the dynastic Golden State Warriors, of the LeBron James Lakers and the unfulfilled-potential Clippers. That fear that Nikola Jokic and the offensively historic Nuggets struck in the hearts of even the staunchest defences has subsided, and the “Don’t Look Up” terror that Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs once wrought turned out to be nothing more than some fear-mongering from basketball doomsday cultists.
Heading into the 2026-27 season, the East reigns supreme. The Knicks are NBA champions for the first time in 53 years, LeBron looks to be penning his final chapter in Philadelphia, Giannis Antetokounmpo took his talents to South Beach, and Kawhi Leonard figured out that home is where the heart is, right?
Though juggernauts still roam the Wild West, as the Thunder and Spurs beg to differ that their windows are anything but open, the East is the conference to watch. With all that being said, what better time than now — in the middle of a blink-and-you-miss-it off-season — to rank the best starting fives East of the Mississippi.
Here’s a look at the 10 best projected starting fives in the Eastern Conference.
Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, Joel Embiid
To put it lightly, Philadelphia has had an off-season for the ages, taking advantage of turmoil in Title Town to acquire Jaylen Brown from its historic rivals, then convincing LeBron James to pen the final chapter of his story in the same place Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence 250 years ago. Suddenly, the picture of LeBron carrying the flag at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics feels all the more symbolic.
The 76ers already looked like a solid bet heading into next season, as the young backcourt pairing of Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe looked primed to take yet another step. However, the ceiling of the group was always going to depend on the health of former MVP Joel Embiid, who found his groove in Round 1 against the Celtics, but then found his other groove on the bench, hurt, in Round 2 against New York.
Sure, James is 41 and Embiid’s knees are at least 50, but Maxey, Edgecombe and Brown are young, durable, and athletic. Their ability to attack in full-court settings will be terrifying, and they should be able to take some pressure off their elders’ shoulders. This is the team to watch.
Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns
It feels wrong putting the reigning champs here, considering most of their damage was done with their stacked starting five, but a spot below two MVPs and two Finals MVPs isn’t the worst place you could be.
Once again, the Knicks will march to the beat of their starting five. The above quintet played the second-most minutes in the regular season (541), but finished with only a plus-2.3 net rating in that action.
What this Knicks team does best, however, is win. Like the 1983 N.C. State “Cardiac Kids,” this team has a penchant for winning by the skin of its teeth, finishing with a 21-13 record in clutch situations, and putting up the third-best net rating in the NBA (20.5). No lead is too large, no bridge is too far, and when they’ve cut the lead and the other team’s palms get sweaty, that’s when those New York nerves come into play.
James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Jaylon Tyson, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen
While LeBron James’ storybook homecoming wasn’t in the cards, the Cavaliers still sport a fearsome unit, and a full season with Harden at the helm could take them a step further — in the regular season, at least.
From Feb. 7 — when the Cavaliers acquired Harden from the Clippers — onwards, Cleveland had the fourth-best offensive rating in the NBA (121.8) and recalibrated its offence around the Harden system. It resulted in a trip to the Conference Finals, the team’s deepest playoff run since LeBron was there in 2018 and only the third such trip without the all-timer on the roster.
While the Cavaliers have been quiet in free agency, surely hoping the King would come home to fill that weird spot on the wing that they’ve tried and failed to solve, sometimes resting on your laurels is the right option, particularly when the roster in place got them to the final four. If Harden can continue to develop chemistry with the bigs, and if Mitchell works his magic as one of the best dribble drivers in the league, the Cavaliers should be in a good place.
Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, Ivica Zubac
They took a year off, but the Pacers are back and looking for vengeance after being only 48 minutes away from the team’s first title since the NBA-ABA merger. It was a gut-wrenching affair last time we saw them, as Haliburton collapsed to the floor with a torn Achilles in Game 7, but the franchise point guard is back in the gym, ramping up for a comeback.
Haliburton is the straw that stirs the Pacers’ drink. The roster’s identity is built around his skill set, happy to push the pace in the full court and get up and down the floor at blistering speed. Judging by the similar roster makeup from then to now, that won’t be any different come tip-off.
The one major difference is at the centre spot, as the Pacers gambled on a trade to bring Zubac in from the Clippers at the cost of a top-four protected first-round pick. Unfortunately for them, they fell to the fifth pick and missed the chance at adding a blue-chip prospect to an already wicked roster. Zubac feasted in L.A. with Harden feeding him lobs; expect the same in Indy alongside Haliburton.
Davion Mitchell, Tim Hardaway Jr., Andrew Wiggins, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo
Whatever team managed to win the Giannis sweepstakes was destined to be left somewhat shorthanded, and that rings true for the Heat. Miami lost four key contributors in the trade, sending Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis the other way, but it’s a risk worth taking to get a top-five player in the NBA.
Fronted by Antetokounmpo and Adebayo, the Heat sport one of the toughest vanguards in the league, capable of jamming it down the opposition’s throat on one end and combining for the most versatile interior defensive core on the other. Add Wiggins to that, who has evolved into a more-than-capable three-and-D piece, and Davion “off night” Mitchell, and the Heat should be one of the top defences in the league next year.
Miami also addressed its shooting woes in free agency, bringing in Hardaway Jr., and Adebayo has become a more willing perimeter player, shooting 5.5 a night last season — albeit on 31.8 per cent. There are question marks, but Pat Riley finally landing a superstar could well be the answer.
Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Kawhi Leonard*, Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl
Let’s preface this by saying that the Raptors’ placement on this list is pending the Leonard acquisition, as the ceiling on the team as it currently stands is rather apparent — first-round exit.
Adding Leonard, however long it may take, is a game-changer for Toronto, giving the Raptors the superstar they need to get over the hump and handle bucket-getting duties in primetime. Though he’s entering his age-35 season and his hospital bill isn’t the cleanest, Leonard proved he’s still a top-10 player in the league last season, averaging a career-high 27.9 points along with 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists.
Couple that with the emergence of Barnes — who looked like a man on a mission in the playoffs — and the dogged defensive identity, and the Raptors could be a serious threat in the East. However, the Poeltl question remains unanswered, and it could be argued that where this team can really excel is with its depth, rather than its starting five, so it takes a hit in these rankings.
C.J. McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniel, Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu
The darling of the back half of the season, the Hawks closed the 2025-26 campaign on a 19-5 stretch to finish sixth in the East.
Perhaps a case of addition by subtraction, the Hawks found their identity after trading franchise point guard Trae Young to the Washington Wizards and leaned on a defensive front that a player like Young had no business contributing to. From the deadline onwards, the Hawks had the fourth-best defensive rating in the league at 110.9 and the ninth-best offensive rating at 119.1.
Spearheaded by an emerging do-it-all star in Johnson and the most improved player in Alexander-Walker, the Hawks look like a team on the rise. And while they’re still lacking that true top-10 to 15 player, the Hawks have proven that they’re better than the sum of their parts, and were the only Eastern team to beat the Knicks on their path to the championship.
Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Paul George, Jayson Tatum, Mitchell Robinson
The losers of the off-season, parting ways with a franchise forward like Brown without getting genuine win-now talent in return could be a backbreaker for Boston. We won’t have the full picture of what went on in the locker room or front office until the autobiographies come out in a couple of decades, but for now, the Celtics will have to turn the page and turn to Tatum.
While his return muddied the waters last season, getting a healthy Tatum back for a full season sets Boston up for success, regardless of Brown’s departure. The Celtics, in their off year, managed a 56-26 regular-season record through their true-to-the-core identity and unwillingness to waver from the three. Tatum, with his 58.2 per cent career true-shooting percentage and playmaking chops, fits into the Celtics’ system better than Brown, which sets them up well for another strong season.
However, White took a step back last year, George and Robinson are often in street clothes, and Tatum was a step slower after rushing back from his Achilles injury. The Celtics were written off last year and surpassed expectations, but the task could prove more daunting this time around.
Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero, Wendell Carter Jr.
On paper, the Magic should be battling for a top-six spot in the East. Unfortunately, the game is played on hardwood.
For all that Banchero and Wagner have shown, the duo still has yet to prove they can truly thrive together. It’s positive, no doubt, as in their 24 games together last year, the two-man lineup finished with a 113.7 offensive rating and 109.3 defensive rating, but it’s certainly nothing to write home about. Both occupy similar spaces on the floor, doing most of their damage inside the arc, and while the spacing Bane brought helped, the Magic still finished with the fourth-worst three-point percentage at 34.3 last year.
Just when you think the Magic are ready to take that next step, they fall flat. And without much change in the starting five, particularly as it pertains to picking up more shooting, it’s hard to rank them any higher.
Cade Cunningham, Isaiah Joe, Ausar Thompson, Ron Holland, Jalen Duren*
In the grand scheme of things, that 60-win season last year may look like an anomaly unless the Pistons figure things out and fast.
It’s been a quiet summer in Motown, as the Pistons have done little to supply franchise superstar Cunningham with help. They lost Tobias Harris to the Spurs, are still without a proper secondary ball-handler, and have yet to re-sign Duren. That last point is the most intriguing, as the third-year centre earned his first all-star nod and all-NBA nomination after a breakout campaign but wilted in the playoffs, casting doubt on whether he’s worth a max extension. The longer the situation goes unresolved, the more questionable Detroit looks heading into 2026-27.
Cunningham alone could carry this team to a solid record, while Thompson and Holland make up a fearsome defensive tandem, but Detroit has done nowhere near enough this summer, and it’s hard to project any more moves to come.