The final Eastern Conference division covered in my preview of the 2027 NBA season is also probably the strongest division in the entire NBA, featuring four championship contenders and the woeful Brooklyn Nets.
New York Knicks
Additions: Andre Drummond
Subtractions: Mitchell Robinson, Ariel Hukporti, Jeremy Sochan
Other: Re-signed Landry Shamet, Re-signed Jose Alvarado, Re-signed Jordan Clarkson, Re-signed Mohamed Diawara
Outlook: The Knicks had one of the greatest playoff runs in recent NBA history last year, dropping just three games in the postseason on their way to an NBA championship. Unsurprisingly, the Knicks are mostly running their championship squad back this year, with the only losses being to their center rotation. Losing Robinson is definitely a blow, but he wasn’t even that effective in the postseason, and Andre Drummond is at least a fine regular season stopgap. The Knicks have a team composed of players nearly entirely in their prime, and were able to re-sign almost all of their key bench pieces to cheap long-term deals. They weren’t a regular season juggernaut last year and probably won’t be this season, but the Knicks are primed and loaded for bear to repeat as champions in the 2027 season.
Prediction: 54-28 (Last year 53-29, predicted 53-29)
Philadelphia 76ers
Additions: Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, Dean Wade, Anfernee Simons, Labaron Philon (20th pick in 2026 Draft), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Ariel Hukporti
Subtractions: Paul George, Quentin Grimes, Kelly Oubre, Andre Drummond, Trendon Watford, Johni Broome, Dalen Terry
Other: Replaced Daryl Morey as GM with Mike Gansey
Outlook: The Sixers added a little player this offseason by the name of LeBron James. You may have heard of him. LeBron is very, very old by NBA standards, but he’s still a highly effective player, and more importantly, his playmaking and rebounding are exactly what this Sixers team needed. The Sixers paid a lot to get Jaylen Brown, and it will be interesting to see how he settles into more of a secondary role after being the head of the Celtics’ snake last year, but he’s an undeniable talent upgrade over the departed Paul George. The Sixers’ starting unit of Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Brown, LeBron, and Joel Embiid has a strong case for the most talented in the entire NBA, while Dean Wade, Anfernee Simons, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are solid veterans to bolster the Sixers’ bench. The main reason to be skeptical of the Sixers is Embiid’s health – as good as the rest of the roster now is, Philly will need the big fella to make a championship run, and at this point it’s jut hard to imagine Embiid staying healthy for most of a regular season much less a grueling postseason. Still, the Sixers should be very good and will be must-watch television.
Prediction: 51-31 (Last year 45-37, predicted 42-40)
Boston Celtics
Additions: Paul George, Mitchell Robinson, Chris Cenac Jr. (27th pick in 2026 Draft), Mike Conley
Subtractions: Jaylen Brown, Nikola Vucevic, Dalano Banton, Charles Bassey
Other: Re-signed Ron Harper Jr.
Outlook: The Celtics were one of the teams I (and most NBA pundits) was most off on last year. The Celtics shocked the league by winning 56 wins despite missing their best player, Jayson Tatum, for most of the season. Well, Tatum should be back healthy, but his long-time running mate Jaylen Brown is gone in a controversial trade, and the much older Paul George is in. George is a downgrade from Brown, but if Tatum is healthy and back to his 2021-2024 levels, the Celtics should still have more starpower than they did last season. Mitchell Robinson will help shore up the center position despite his injury and free-throw shooting issues, while Chris Cenac Jr. should add a pop of athleticism in a deep bench role. Overall, the East’s improvements and the lingering effects of Brown’s departure have me feeling the Celtics will take a step back this year, but underestimate the regular season winning of coach Joe Mazzulla at your peril.
Prediction: 48-34 (Last year 56-26, predicted 38-44)
Toronto Raptors
Additions: Kawhi Leonard (probably), Kyle Anderson, Allen Graves (19th pick in 2026 Draft)
Subtractions: Brandon Ingram, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Gradey Dick, Garrett Temple
Other:
Outlook: It might seem odd to people that I’m only projecting the Raptors to win one more game than they did last year considering that they are (most likely) getting a superstar in Kawhi Leonard in exchange for Brandon Ingram (meh) and Gradey Dick (back of rotation player). The answer is simple: the Raptors were incredibly healthy last year, with 6 of their top 9 rotation players logging at least 70 games played. The Raptors probably won’t be as healthy this year as last year, and that combined with Kawhi’s own long-standing injury issues make them a less likely bet to win 50 games, even if they’re a far, far more dangerous postseason team with Kawhi. However, if Scottie Barnes and second-year Collin Murray-Boyles make further jumps, it’s possible the Raptors’ defense will be good enough to make it to the top-tier of the East in the regular season. I think the Raptors will be quite good, and if healthy, nobody will want to see them in the playoffs.
Prediction: 47-35 (Last year 46-36, predicted 35-47)
Brooklyn Nets
Additions: Mikel Brown Jr. (6th pick in 2026 Draft), Julius Randle, Mo Wagner, Keon Ellis, Joshua Jefferson (28th pick in 2026 Draft)
Subtractions: Nic Claxton, Ziaire Smith, Jalen Wilson, Ochai Agbaji, Tyrese Martin
Other: Re-signed Day’ron Sharpe, Re-signed Josh Minott
Outlook: I think the Nets are one of the easiest teams to predict this season – they are going to be very bad. Yes, they won’t tank because they don’t control their pick. And yes, they did have an influx of talent this offseason, including adding a floor raiser in Julius Randle. But the entire NBA, especially the East, has also gotten better, and tanking disincentives will mean even the bottom feeders are trying harder. Even with Randle, Wagner, and Ellis, plus holdover vets like Michael Porter Jr. and Terance Mann, the Nets remain really young, with most of their roster being first, second, or third-year players. Those types of teams are normally bad, especially since none of the youngsters are blue chip prospects (I like Mikel Brown Jr., but very, very few NBA guards impact winning their rookie season). The Nets might be more competent than last year, but I don’t know how much that will translate to winning.
Prediction: 25-57 (Last year 20-62, predicted 21-61)
