Is the NBA’s Eastern Conference the Widest Open It Has Ever Been?

Jalen Brunson’s 45-point Game 5 closed out San Antonio for the Knicks’ first NBA Championship since 1973, capping a 53-29 season with a six-game win over Atlanta, sweeps of Philadelphia and Cleveland, and the greatest comeback in Finals history in Game 4. Since then, however, a lot has changed. 

The ongoing offseason has detonated everything, completely flipping the script on the Eastern Conference within just six weeks of the Knicks becoming champions. Giannis Antetokounmpo finally got his wish as he left Milwaukee for Miami, Boston shipped 2024 Finals MVP Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia for Paul George and four picks, and LeBron James – in what he’s calling his last decision – took a pay cut of over $40 million to sign with the Sixers over Cleveland, Miami, and Golden State. And that’s without mentioning Kawhi Leonard returning home to Toronto, seven years on from him leading the Raptors to their first and only title. 

The 2026/27 season is still three months away, but already the Eastern Conference has never looked as wide open. Ten teams. Four tiers. And not a single one of them looks anything like it did in June.

Defending Champions

The only place to start is at Madison Square Garden. Mike Brown’s first year in charge of the Knicks wasn’t clean – a nine-defeat stretch around the New Year, including two four-game skids, briefly made the three seed look improbable – before a five-game surge, punctuated by a 120-66 demolition of Brooklyn, shut the door at 53-29. Shortly thereafter came the title, sparking scenes of jubilation unlike anything the Big Apple had ever seen. Not the NFL’s Giants, not even the MLB’s Yankees… the Knicks’ first title in 53 years was celebrated wildly, seemingly by the whole city. 

But while the entire conference has restructured in double quick time, the champs have instead opted for discipline. James Dolan let Mitchell Robinson walk to Boston rather than approach the second apron, replacing him with Andre Drummond, while Jose Alvarado and Landry Shamet re-signed for less money. Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart are all back, and that is exactly why online betting sites are predicting big things next term. 

The early NBA betting at Bovada odds make the Knicks a +325 to repeat as Eastern Conference winners. But their march to a second straight Finals will be by no means a procession. 

Heavyweights

Philadelphia climbed from 24-58 to 45-37, authored a stunning comeback from 3-1 down against Boston – a 34-point Joel Embiid game closing it – then got swept by the Knicks. What Daryl Morey did this summer reads like a fantasy draft rather than an actual roster: acquiring Brown from Boston, landing LeBron on a two-year, $8 million deal with a player option, and adding Ben Simmons for shooting. By his own description, it’s no longer about money for James – it’s one more real window. The projected five of Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Brown, James and Embiid might be the East’s most talented on paper.

Boston’s “gap year” without an Achilles-recovering Jayson Tatum still produced a 56-26 record and the two seed. Then the collapse: a blown 3-1 lead to Philadelphia, the worst series collapse in franchise history, its first opening-round exit as a higher seed since 1993.

Boston’s answer was to blow up the timeline, shipping Brown to Philadelphia for Paul George and four picks. Is there a more dramatic swing than trading your Finals MVP to the team that just eliminated you? Tatum is the last piece of the old core, flanked by Derrick White and the aging George.

Contenders

Toronto’s first playoff berth since 2022 came under a new president after Masai Ujiri’s exit, climbing from 30-52 to 46-36 behind an All-Star pairing in Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes – the first such duo since Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry – before a seven-game loss to Cleveland. Then Kawhi arrived for Ingram, Gradey Dick, and picks, only for the deal to freeze under a league investigation into Clippers cap dealings. Immense upside, shackled to genuine uncertainty.

Cleveland went from 64 wins to 52-30, still reaching the Conference Finals for the first time since 2018 – its first LeBron-less trip since 1992 – before the Knicks swept it aside. Continuity ruled the offseason: Donovan Mitchell remains eligible for a four-year, $272 million extension, and Dean Wade’s move to Philadelphia is the only real loss. 

Miami missed the play-in entirely for the first time since 2019 at 43-39, before Pat Riley pulled off the summer’s boldest swing – landing Giannis for Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, and picks through 2033, plus Bobby Portis. Crucially though, Bam Adebayo stays, and now the team that missed the play-in can plausibly be a top-four seed a year later – that’s the state of this conference. 

Detroit authored its best season in two decades – 60 wins, its first top seed since 2007 – behind Cade Cunningham’s MVP-caliber year and Jalen Duren’s first All-Star nod, then won a series for the first time since 2008 over Orlando before a 125-94 Game 7 blowout to Cleveland. The offseason got messy: Isiah Stewart, Marcus Sasser and Caris LeVert shipped out in a six-team deal, and Duren remains an unsigned restricted free agent weighing the qualifying offer.

Live Underdogs

Washington’s 17-65 record, the league’s worst, netted the top pick and AJ Dybantsa. But the Wizards added Trae Young from Atlanta on a four-year, $212 million extension, and Anthony Davis from Dallas, alongside Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly, and Bub Carrington. Davis’ 2027-28 player option carries rental risk, but Will Dawkins has declared the demolition phase over.

Indiana’s collapse to 19-63 traces to one moment: Tyrese Haliburton rupturing his Achilles in Game 7 of the Finals. The Pacers still moved, acquiring Ivica Zubac for Benedict Mathurin and Isiah Jackson, though Zubac immediately fractured a rib. Haliburton’s rehab is progressing well, with an October target. Pascal Siakam and Zubac look promisingly healthy – but this contender’s entire projection hinges on one man’s tendon.

Trading Trae Young in January liberated Atlanta – the Hawks went 20-6 after the All-Star break, climbing from tenth to a six seed. Jalen Johnson authored a historic breakout, averaging 22.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 7.9 assists, the fifth player ever to hit that line, joining Nikola Jokić and Russell Westbrook. Nickeil Alexander-Walker won Most Improved Player, Dyson Daniels earned All-Defense, and Atlanta beat the eventual champions twice in a moral-victory exit. They are the East’s most dangerous team nobody outside Georgia is discussing.