The King of the East is journeying to the West.
Yes, LeBron James will be a Los Angeles Laker and will be forced to battle the demons of the NBA’s Western Conference after saying goodbye to his Eastern Conference family.
But as James traverses the dangers of the West, it leaves an entire conference open and free from what has been an eight-year run of dominance.
With James leaving the East, there’s suddenly hope for teams in the conference that came up short for so many years now.
The throne is empty now and that means new rulership can be established. So, with that in mind, here’s a look at the most likely teams, in order, to succeed the Eastern Conference’s crown this coming season.
1. Boston Celtics
The Celtics had James’ Cavaliers on the brink of elimination in the conference finals, and then proceeded to squander away Games 6 and 7 thanks in large part to James’ brilliance.
That scenario won’t be happening again next season, and when you consider the fact superstar guard Kyrie Irving had to miss the entire post-season with injury and the Celtics still performed the way they did, it’s tough not think of this team as anything but the East’s class.
Restricted free agent guard Marcus Smart is still business Boston needs to take care of, but even if the Celtics can’t bring him back, the post-season emergence of other young players like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier should have the rest of the conference absolutely terrified.
Plus, the impact of Gordon Hayward’s return for this coming season shouldn’t be overstated, either. He only played five minutes for Boston last season, so him coming back healthy will be just like getting a shiny new max-level free agent all over again.
The East should be considered the Celtics’ to lose.
2. Toronto Raptors
While perception of the Raptors is deservedly low these days, it doesn’t erase the fact this was a team that won 59 games last season and looks to be bringing back everyone that helped accomplish that, minus head coach Dwane Casey.
It’s also a fact that Toronto had only lost to James’ Cavaliers in each of the last three post-seasons, even making the East Finals in 2016.
So, while the pessimistic view of things with the Raptors and how they’re a year older and can’t get it done with their current core has merit, it’s important to remember that this is a team that’s won an Eastern Conference-best 263 games over the last five seasons, 19 more than the next closest East rival (Cleveland) in that span.
In other words, the Raptors have been pretty damn good, except against James.
There’s hope yet for Toronto.
3. Philadelphia 76ers
There are many who believe the 76ers will be the ones competing with the Celtics for tops in the East this coming season, and for good reason.
The emergence of a healthy Joel Embiid becoming an all-star along with rookie of the year Ben Simmons gives Philly fans plenty to be excited about, but until this club actually shows that it can repeat what it did last season, it’s tough to set in stone that the Sixers are definitively better than the Raptors.
The 76ers were buoyed by a soft schedule in the second half of last season that helped catapult them up the standings to third, so it’s legitimate to question whether what we saw then was really who they are or just the result of beating up on weak competition.
There’s also a little bit of concern as far as their second-unit shooting is concerned, as they lost Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova in free agency. And while the trade with the Nuggets for Wilson Chandler helps alleviate this a little, you can never really have enough shooting in the NBA.
Make no mistake, the 76ers are a good team, but absolute best-in-the-East good? There’s a lot they still need to prove.
4. Milwaukee Bucks
Are the Bucks actually a good team? Their 0.7 net rating from last season suggests they’re mediocre at best, but that doesn’t really matter when you have Giannis Antetokounmpo on your team.
With James no longer in the East, Antetokounmpo is the heir apparent for title of “best player in the Eastern Conference.”
A transcendent talent, Antetokounmpo’s ability alone should have the Bucks in the thick of things for tops in the East, but – similar to James in Cleveland – the question remains whether he has enough help around him to give Milwaukee that final push over the hill.
A full season with Eric Bledsoe running the point should help, but at the moment the Bucks, as long and athletic as they may be, don’t appear to be in the same class overall from a talent perspective as the Celtics, Raptors and Sixers.
Other East “contenders”
Besides the four listed above, there are other teams that should be considered a tier below, but could still surprise in the East and definitely take advantage of a conference with the world’s best player no longer reigning over it.
Indiana Pacers: The Pacers are a nice team on the rise and made some unexciting but solid moves in free agency by picking up Doug McDermott and Tyreke Evans. With that said, while Victor Oladipo and Myles Turner are very good players, the jury’s out on whether you can say they’re transformative, game-breaking ones. The kind of guys you need to win a conference.
Washington Wizards: Essentially replacing Marcin Gortat with Dwight Howard would’ve been the kind of off-season maneuver that would have the NBA world viewing Washington as a legitimate championship threat five years ago. Now? Not so much. It’s not that Washington is bad, per se, as it has dynamic players in John Wall and Bradley Beal, but until proven otherwise this is a team that should perennially be considered just alright.
What now for the Cleveland Cavaliers?
Obviously James departing for the Pacific coast is good news for the rest of the Eastern Conference, but what about the Cavaliers, the team he once again left in the dust?
It feels like a crapshoot right now whether Cleveland will be decent or not this season.
Looking at it optimistically, when you see good players on the roster like Kevin Love, George Hill, Tristan Thompson and Kyle Korver, along with promising incoming rookie Colin Sexton, you could talk yourself into thinking the Cavaliers might be decent.
But then the likely reality sets in and you see that Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. will be starters next season, and that Rodney Hood could also be back – three guys that were brought in at the trade deadline to try to re-invigorate James and convince him to stay but ended up being duds – and that optimism starts to fade.
And then you look at Love’s contract status, realize that he has a player option for 2019-20 making him a likely trade chip this season and the hope that may have been there is snuffed out.
The patchwork roster that James was helping keep together will probably start to be torn down this coming season, meaning lots of pain is heading Cleveland’s way.
Then again, this is a team that won the draft lottery twice in a row the last time James skipped town, so maybe things won’t be so bad for the Cavaliers.
Just don’t count on this scenario happening.
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