Rank the Conferences 2026-2027

[SparzWizard]

Think we did one last year, and given that it's almost time for the regular season to start. Let's have some fun making some predictions and see how they fare!

EAST
1. New York
2. Indiana
3. Philadelphia
4. Boston
5. Detroit
6. Cleveland
7. Miami
8. Toronto
9. Atlanta
10. Orlando
11. Washington
12. Charlotte
13. Brooklyn
14. Chicago
15. Milwaukee

WEST
1. OKC
2. San Antonio
3. Minnesota
4. Los Angeles Lakers
5. Houston
6. Denver
7. Portland
8. Dallas
9. Utah
10. Phoenix
11. Golden State
12. Memphis
13. New Orleans
14. Los Angeles Clippers
15. Sacramento

[Vermont Green]

This is hard.  I think SparzWizard has it about right.  The teams that I wonder about are IND and TOR. They seem to be the wildcards in my mind.  TOR could be really good if Kawhi stays healthy, which he doesn't usually.  And I have no idea what to expect from IND.  In the finals June 2025, that is a long time ago.  I guess if Haliburton bounces back like Tatum, they should be good, but I have some doubt about them.

Below are the EC betting odds.  They have TOR a little higher and IND quite a bit lower.

NYK       +350
PHI        +360
BOS       +550
DET       +850
CLE       +900
MIA       +950
TOR     +1000
IND     +1400
ATL      +2200
ORL     +2500
CHA     +4500
WAS    +7500
CHI    +30000
MIL    +30000
BKN   +50000

[Who]

Eastern Conference

1 Boston
2 Detroit
3 Indiana
4 New York
5 Toronto
6 Cleveland

7 Philadelphia
8 Atlanta

9 Miami
10 Washington
11 Charlotte
12 Orlando

13 Chicago

14 Brooklyn
15 Milwaukee


Those teams between 9th and 12th are difficult to rank. I could have put them in any order. No real separation there.

I am nervous about Miami and Washington. Both have injury prone stars. If they healthy, they should make the play-in. But they could bottom out if they do not stay healthy.

I am surprised at how vulnerable Orlando look. Charlotte have a solid team as well. These are quality squads that historically you have bet on as a low seed playoff teams but the depth in the East is such now that they might finish outside the top 10. Someone will. Someone with talent. There are 12 playoff quality teams. Only 8 playoff spots. Only 10 including play-in spots.

I put Chicago in between the top 12 and bottom 2 because they could be a fun below average team. They have lot of athleticism and can cause matchup issues. Hopefully that will allow them to punch above MIL & BKN.

[Who]

Western Conference

1 OKC
2 San Antonio

3 Houston
4 Denver

5 LA Lakers
6 Minnesota

7 Golden State
8 Dallas
9 Utah
10 Phoenix

11 Memphis
12 Portland

13 LA Clippers
14 New Orleans
15 Sacramento


The West appears to have less depth than the East. I don't feel great about the teams 7-10 nevermind 11 & 12. Utah looked like they would be a strong team until they lost Kessler. Now it is more so-so. GSW have serious problems with Porzingis. Dallas still have question marks. Will Cooper Flagg take a leap forward? How healthy will Kyrie be? Is Lively ever going to come back?

Portland are a mess. Far too many guards. Imbalanced. Their defense is going to suffer. I expect them to underachieve. Memphis got some depth, size and young talent. They could overachieve.

[Birdman]

EASTERN

1. New York
2. Detroit
3. Indiana
4. Philadelphia
5. Toronto
6. Cleveland
7. Boston
8. Washington
10. Atlanta
11. Orlando
11. Miami
12. Milwaukee
13. Charlotte
14. Brooklyn
15. Chicago

WESTERN

1. OKC
2. San Antonio
3. Houston
4. Minnesota
5. Denver
6. Lakers
7. Utah
8. Portland
9. Dallas
10. Golden State
11. Memphis
12. New Orleans
13. Phoenix
14. Clippers
15. Sacramento

OKC winning it all

[slamtheking]

EAST
1. New York
2. Philadelphia
3. Detroit
4. Cleveland
5. Toronto
6. Indiana
7. Boston
8. Washington
9. Orlando
10. Charlotte
11. Miami
12. Atlanta
13. Chicago
14. Brooklyn
15. Milwaukee
==> I think a previously soft East becomes a lot more difficult and this C's roster does not have the same regular season success as they did last year.  I'm very confident in the top 4 teams.  5-7 will be Indy, Toronto and Boston in some order depending on how Hali/Zubac mesh in Indy and Kawhi plays in Toronto.  Wash will surprise.  Orlando will underwhelm again.  Charlotte will take time to mesh but will get to the play-in.  Giannis and Bam won't be enough to even get to the play-in --> not nearly enough support for them.  the rest are just too broken to do anything.

WEST
1. OKC
2. San Antonio
3. Minnesota
4. Houston
5. Denver
6. Portland
7. Lakers
8. Utah
9. Dallas
10. Golden State
11. Phoenix
12. New Orleans
13. Memphis
14. Sacramento
15. Los Angeles Clippers

==> OKC and SAS the class of the West again.  Minny climbs to clear #3.  Houston/Denver fight it out for last home court advantage.  Luka can only drag Lakers to #7.  Utah finally make the climb out of the lottery.  Dallas gets a bit healthier with Kyrie and Flagg making big improvements.  GSW finally fading.  PHX and NO going nowhere and should be looking to move their prime pieces (Booker, Zion) to hopefully start a smart rebuild.  Memphis and Sac in some order before the Clips bring up the rear.  Sac has the most talent on paper than the other 2 but it's Sac so they won't make that talent work together well.

[snively]

Philly looked really good when Embiid was locked in defensively.  Bona looked pretty inept behind him.

Could definitely see them struggling this year but I wouldn't want to face them in the playoffs.

[Goldstar88]

EAST
1. New York
2. Philadelphia
3.Detroit
4. Boston
5. Indiana
6. Toronto
7. Cleveland
8. Miami
9. Atlanta
10. Orlando
11. Washington
12. Charlotte
13. Brooklyn
14. Chicago
15. Milwaukee

WEST
1. OKC
2. San Antonio
3. Minnesota
4. Los Angeles Lakers
5. Denver
6. Houston
7. Portland
8. Utah
9. Phoenix
10.Golden State
11.New Orleans
12. Los Angeles Clippers
13. Memphis
14. Dallas
15. Sacramento