Ranking The Eastern Conference By Tiers
As we get into the slowest part of the NBA season, tier lists and ranking articles are always something to help stimulate the brain. Today, let’s arrange the eastern conference into five different tiers.
Tier one is championship favorites. The NBA world will declare it a failure if these teams achieve anything short of a title. Tier two is dark-horse championship contenders. If one of these teams doesn't make it to the championship, it was probably expected. However, if one of these teams made it, they overachieved. Tier three is simply playoff teams. Anything more is shocking and anything less is disappointment. Tier four is play-in hopefuls. These can be for the good or bad depending on what team it is. Finally, tier five is rebuilding teams. I expect nothing from them except to have fun and improve daily.
Tier one: Celtics, Bucks, and Heat.
The Bucks, Celtics, and Heat make up the last four eastern conference champions. Photo Credit: The Sporting News
The Celtics need little to no explanation, but we can elaborate. This team was one win away from back-to-back finals appearances, and arguably a Jayson Tatum rolled ankle away from that outcome. They added one of the best shooting and rim-protecting bigs in the game, Kristaps Porzingis. They also maintained their depth. A full offseason with Head Coach Joe Mazzulla will do wonders for the Jays and the rest of the squad.
The Bucks retaining Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton is a huge reason why they are tier one in the east. Their mentality that this team can win a championship when healthy is the right one (almost like they did it before). Giannis Antetokounmpo is arguably the best basketball player in the world, and when he is healthy, the Bucks will always have a chance.
The Heat is a team people may have to stop overthinking. If Jimmy Butler is their main guy and Eric Spoelstra is coaching, they are due for late May to early June basketball. Butler did fall off after round one last season, but his ability to take care of the ball and set up those around him led to another finals appearance. If they land Damian Lillard, they are arguably the favorite to win it all. Even without Lillard, this team should never be counted out.
Tier two: 76ers, knicks, and Cavaliers.
The Knicks defeated the Cavaliers in the 2023 playoffs in five games. Photo Credit: Ken Blaze/USA TODAYS sports
The 76ers would be tier one if they finished that playoff run in any other fashion. However, Joel Embiid essentially tapping out with four minutes left in game six cost them their season. Not to mention James Harden may be out the door at very little cost. The managers of the association are done with Daryl Morey’s games. However, they still have Embiid. One of the best players in the league when healthy. If they can even get two good role players for Harden, Philadelphia can build a strong foundation around Embiid. His health has always been the make-or-break at a deep playoff run.
The New York Knicks being in tier two just feels so right. Jalen Brunson is an amazing player and his playoff run showed that he is the guy for the Knicks, not Julius Randle. Adding to an already deep squad with Donte DiVincenzo and resigning Josh Hart were both huge. The expectation at the moment is not a championship, but if R.J. Barrett finally takes the leap, can three all-star caliber guys with a bunch of hounds around them make a finals trip? A team like this can make it if the pieces fall their way, but they couldn’t beat any contender straight up.
The Cavaliers sort of addressed their needs in the offseason. They beefed up the bench with Max Strus and Georges Niang, but nothing that could take them to the top. Almost like the Knicks, the Cavaliers need someone to take a certain leap. Donovan Mitchell is an all-NBA level player and either Darius Garland or Evan Mobley could help him tremendously by making that same jump. They got severely outplayed by the Knicks in last year’s playoffs and they need to at least make it to round two next season.
Tier three: Pacers and Hawks.
The Atlanta Hawks made it out of the play-in tournmant the past two seasons. Photo Credit: Brett Davis/USA TODAY Sports
The Pacers were actually in a very good place last season before the injury to all-star guard Tyrese Haliburton. With another expected leap from Haliburton and a hopeful immediate impact from Jarace Walker, this team should get into the postseason somehow. Benedict Mathurin showed plenty of promise and the addition of Bruce Brown brings championship pedigree to the squad. With Buddy Hield and Myles Turner unlikely to be traded, this team can definitely make some noise in round one.
The Hawks have been scraping into the postseason by the skin of their teeth for the past two seasons. This category is just the expectation to make the playoffs, but they need to win a series. Trae Young has not had a good playoff series since that 2021 run and Dejounte Murray was disappointing in his first year in the A. Hopefully, a full season of Saddiq Bey and a healthy Deandre Hunter can help boost the Hawks past the play-in. If they can get a date with one of the dark horse teams, be on the lookout for the upset.
Tier four- Nets, Bulls, Hornets, and Magic.
Paolo Brancherò nearly won NBA Rookie of the Year unanimously. Photo Credit: Scott Kinder/Associated Press
The Nets making the play-in should be their standard. The team that narrowly avoided the play-in last year despite the head start Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving gave them is not a serious playoff team. If they somehow get Lillard, maybe things can be reevaluated but for now, just hope that Cam Johnson and Mikal Bridges can build on the flashes of talent they showed last season.
The Bulls are the most dysfunctional team in basketball right now. They have win-now players with the inability to win-now and they don’t want to start over. This is one of those situations where being in the play-in is bad. This tier should be for young teams looking to make a leap and here are the Bulls on no man’s land once again. If this is the same roster they are rolling out on the opening night, the 9th seed is calling their name.
The Hornets have play-in nightmares, but they do have the talent to get there and potentially make it out. The readdition of Miles Bridges provides much-needed scoring alongside LaMelo Ball. Gordon Hayward has been a very helpful piece when healthy and so has Terry Rozier. More important, Brandon Miller will be a three-level scoring wing with defensive instincts that can help out even with the shot not falling. Expect much better play from him when he gets to play with Ball instead of summer league guys.
The Magic are a fun squad. Markelle Fultz is going to be a most improved candidate while Paolo Banchero is looking to make the leap into an all-star. Banchero is one of the least talked about number-one overall picks despite how good he was last year. Franz Wagner had another good season for Orlando and he works as a perfect Robin to Banchero’s eventual Batman. Along with their new rookie Anthony Black, who showed he can serve as a point guard or a small forward with his size. His playmaking ability and defensive prowess will help a young squad out of the gate. Depending on the leap of some of these young guys, they could make it into the playoffs and make real noise.
Tier five- Raptors, pistons, and Wizards.
Jordan Poole was traded to the Washington Wizards in a deal around Chris Paul. Photo Credit: Ben Golliver/The Washington Post
The Raptors could have themselves in a position for a generational rebuild with loads of picks and young talents like Scottie Barnes and Gradey Dick. Instead, they are going to be a bad team while hanging onto all-star Pascal Siakam and all-defensive member, OG Anunoby. These players could bring in a future full of promise, yet Toronto somehow believes they will stay competitive. I could see maybe keeping Anunoby as he could still fit the timeline somehow, but Siakim is a guy who is in his prime and would have a pretty good market of teams interested. Instead, they’ll be just like the Bulls.
The Pistons would be a playoff team if Cade Cunningham was going into his actual third season. Cunningham can still do many things this year, but his connection with Jaden Ivey will take some time, not to mention the integration of rookie Ausar Thompson. Another vision of a play-in hopeful team is Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart getting the majority of the front-court minutes over Marvin Magley and James Wiseman. It was fun to experiment with the draft busts, but these dudes will only function as the vocal point on a team. They are not Cunningham, Ivey, and Thompson. Expect some fun basketball in Detriot.
Last and maybe least, the Wizards had an over-hated off-season. They didn’t get too much high-quality draft capital, but the ability to move off big contracts is undervalued. Instead of keeping Bradley Beal, they turned that into young guards like Jordan Poole and Tyus Jones. These guys can be real pieces in a rebuild. Also, who won’t enjoy 48 minutes of Kyle Kuzma and Poole taking more than 22 shots each every single night? Slowly but surely down in D.C.
Final thoughts
It would take some groundbreaking trades or injuries to reorganize this list, so for now, what you see will be the same around the start of the season. Some teams that could fluctuate are the Magic, 76ers, and Hawks.
