Tiers of the East

Let's turn our attention to the Eastern Conference, where two heavyweights are sidelined to some level due to major injuries. Will that lead to a power vacuum or simply an easier path for the contenders remaining? Good morning. Let's basketball.

See Monday's piece on the Tiers of the West for an explanation of how I think about these tiers.

TIER 1: MAJOR CONTENDERS

New York Knicks
The theory of the new-fangled Knicks – that Karl-Anthony Towns would contribute to a ridiculously potent offense and Mikal Bridges, O.G. Anunoby and Josh Hart could keep the defense competitive – turned out true. This is the best Knicks team in 25 years. With a creative new head coach in Mike Brown and hopefully a full season of Mitchell Robinson, plus some veterans off the bench now, things look set up for another deep run ... maybe a return to the NBA Finals. That's the expectation at this point.

Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland flamed out in the second round for the second straight year, and pretty surprisingly mostly ran it back, swapping out Ty Jerome for Lonzo Ball. We know this is a regular season powerhouse that figures to be dominant in the postseason against lesser foes if healthy. But there's no escaping doubt once they come up against a worthy opponent until they actually get over the hump.

TIER 2: MINOR CONTENDERS

Philadelphia 76ers
I wrote about my belief that the Sixers can be a shock contender a couple weeks ago. Jared McCain torn a ligament in his hand hours later. I stand by my argument. I will say that anything less than a top-6 slot for Philadelphia is an abject disaster and should lead to a full overhaul.

Orlando Magic
Orlando feels like a team a step above the Sixers and Bucks in this category, but simple inertia has earned the benefit of the doubt over hope when it comes to the Magic's offense, which is continuously bad despite Paolo Banchero's rise. Desmond Bane will help a lot by providing a second punch when Franz Wagner doesn't have it, and by helping to stretch the floor for the bigs to operate. The floor is high with this team because the defense is so solid. I have a feeling we'll know by the end of the NBA Cup how real the concept of the Magic as a contender this season is.