LeBron James to 76ers solidifies one thing: The East is back, baby

The East is back, even if it was hardly ever here. LeBron James’ return to the conference he once dominated is only part of its rise.

On Friday, James announced he would join the Philadelphia 76ers, the fourth and, he says, final organization of his career. And yet, the Sixers are hardly automatic favorites to go to the NBA Finals or even the conference finals — and not just because James is 41 years old or because of Joel Embiid’s unfortunate injury history.

The makeup of the conference is not the same as it was when James frolicked to eight consecutive finals berths before heading to Los Angeles in 2018. The path for Sixers — whose healthy starting lineup is now loaded with two reigning All-NBA performers in Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown, a talented up-and-comer in VJ Edgecombe and two former MVPs in Embiid and James — is littered with obstacles.

The largest one, of course, is the New York Knicks, a franchise that lived in the cellar for most of James’ stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat but just roared to one of the most convincing rings in NBA history. The Knicks aren’t just champs; they’re definitive ones that reeled off 13 consecutive playoff wins and set the all-time record for postseason point differential.

Allegations of a weak Eastern Conference were levied against the Knicks only a couple of months ago, when they wrecked the Atlanta Hawks, 76ers and Cavaliers in three playoff series. After disposing of the San Antonio Spurs in only five games, that perspective changed. New York remains the team to beat.

And beyond the Knicks, the conference is deeper than in decades past.

Sure, the Boston Celtics turned Jaylen Brown into Paul George, the most controversial transaction of the summer, but they also just won 56 games during a season in which they barely had their best player, Jayson Tatum. This time, Tatum will be healthy. Derrick White is bound to shoot better than he did a season ago, when his jump shot declined. The Celtics can deploy a more reliable center rotation after signing Mitchell Robinson. Maybe Boston doesn’t win as many games this year, but the Celtics have a system and roster that pump out victories.

The Detroit Pistons are having a funky offseason, having lost part of their ‘Dawg Pound’ identity by dealing away Isaiah Stewart and parting with veteran leader Tobias Harris. But once Jalen Duren likely re-signs, they will retain the young core of a 60-win team that includes a possible MVP candidate, Cade Cunningham.

That’s three teams to give Philadelphia a battle, and we’re not done.

The 76ers’ offseason officially supercharged with the addition of James, the only quadragenerian in existence who could change the landscape of the NBA. They added role players Dean Wade and Anfernee Simons. But the roster is still shallow in an era where offenses speed at lightning pace, injuries are prevalent and long benches have carried teams far into the playoffs. As the Sixers showed just a few months ago, when they punched the Celtics in Round 1 but flamed out against the Knicks in Round 2, winning four playoff series takes a different type of depth and health than winning one does.

That’s how New York won it all last season. It’s how the Indiana Pacers raced to the finals (and almost won it) the year prior. And now, after a gap year as All-NBA guard Tyrese Haliburton recovered from a ruptured Achilles, the Pacers bring back seven of their main rotation players from that magical 2025 run. They’ve replaced Myles Turner with Ivica Zubac, a superior starting center. They brought in energizer wing (and former 76er) Kelly Oubre Jr. this summer.

The Pacers are the squad that wins from exhausting you, a strategy that performs particularly well against older or shallower teams. Including the Sixers, they make the East five teams deep.

But there’s more.

The Toronto Raptors are waiting on a Kawhi Leonard trade that may or may not happen. If it does, the defense will suffocate hopeful scorers, and Leonard can provide the elite one-on-one scoring weapon they seriously lacked during a 46-win season a year ago.

There is one guarantee: Some Eastern Conference teams will finish the upcoming season disappointed. Too many will expect to be better than they were in 2025-26: the Sixers, the Pacers, the Raptors and more at the bottom. And yet, at least one of the six aforementioned teams is likely to fall into the Play-In Tournament — because we are yet to get to the conference’s reigning runner-up, the Cavaliers, who retain a core that’s won 50-plus games in three of the past four seasons.

We have yet to mention higher hopes for the Orlando Magic, who imploded last year, yet still managed to win 45 games and nearly upset the No. 1-seeded Pistons. They hope better injury luck and a coaching change can revamp a stagnant offense, along with a defense that slipped in 2025-26.

We are yet to get to the Atlanta Hawks, whose starting lineup dominated anyone it faced after acquiring C.J. McCollum midseason. The Hawks reaped the benefits of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s salary-shedding, adding Aaron Wiggins and Lu Dort to a squad that now employs 12 or 13 capable rotation players. Dort, Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker could argue they make up the NBA’s feistiest defensive trio on the perimeter.

That’s nine teams. At least one of them will miss the playoffs altogether.

Maybe more than one, considering the Miami Heat just traded for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Though they gave up much of their roster for the two-time MVP, they still can hand him a costar in Bam Adebayo, top-notch defensive talent and an all-world coach in Eric Spoelstra. Meanwhile, the Washington Wizards have Trae Young, Anthony Davis, No. 1 pick A.J. Dybantsa and a slew of interesting young players. The Charlotte Hornets may have traded LaMelo Ball, but they are stocked up on shooting around a young core that’s only getting better.

That’s 12 teams with ambitions of being anywhere from competitive to elite. James’ 76ers fall somewhere into the mix.

This version of the East won’t be as welcoming for him as the one he got to know for the first 15 years of his career.