The teams haven’t even gone to training camp, yet there’s already been a change atop the NBA this season.
No, not the top player. That remains Victor Wembanyama.
And not even the top team, although the Spurs could duel the Thunder to the final regular-season horn on that one.
I’m talking about the King of Conferences competition, a crown worn by the West almost every season since the turn of the century.
But riding recent momentum – the East improved by 17 games last season – as well luring LeBron back, retaining Giannis and Jaylen Brown, and snatching the top pick in the draft, the East is no longer the Least and the West cannot be labeled the Best.
Pushing the East upward are four of the league’s top six on my list of Projected Most Improved Teams for 2026-27.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
Well, duh. The 76ers have won as many as 54 games and lost as many as 58 over the last four years, but their scouting report has remained the same: They’ll be tough to beat if Joel Embiid stays healthy. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been often.
But now, by swapping a has-been Paul George for a motivated Jaylen Brown and by basically adding the league’s greatest winner in LeBron James for free, suddenly Embiid’s daily injury update hardly seems to matter. With or without him, the off-season champs are likely to sniff 60 wins, which would be a 15-game improvement and make last year’s No. 7 playoff seed the team to beat come May.
SAN ANTONIO SPURS
Jun 13, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) attempts a reverse dunk as New York Knicks guard Mikal Bridges (25) looks on at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Bet you weren’t expecting this one, but improvement doesn’t just come from outside. The Spurs made a remarkable run for such a young team last season and then had a brilliant off-season … by doing nothing but getting a year older.
America’s new darlings have surrounded Victor Wembanyama with a bunch of guys who get up and down the court faster than he does, and that’s saying something. Blinded by the brightness of the championship lights, these guys just need to get their brains running as fast as their legs. Once they understand 20 lob passes a night to their Unstoppable Force could result in a 50-point scoring average, this team will be the league’s best … until rules are changed to prevent it.
MIAMI HEAT
The last time Eric Spoelstra had a player as talented as Giannis Antetokounmpo, he coached LeBron and a Heat team that had averaged 35 wins the previous three seasons to the NBA Finals four years in a row, winning two titles.
Giannis didn’t bring Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh with him like LeBron did, but then again, LeBron didn’t have Bam Adebayo as a sidekick. That said, how much Miami improves upon its 43-win season comes down to this: Can the brilliant Spoelstra turn Giannis’ career average of 150 3-point heaves per season into 150 additional assaults on the rim? That would make him an even greater force than LeBron ever was.
BOSTON CELTICS
Apr 30, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) reacts to his score against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images They were surprisingly good last season despite not having Jayson Tatum for the first 62 games. You might have forgotten, but they were better than the Knicks over that stretch.
The Celtics don’t have Jaylen Brown anymore, but they’ve in essence replaced him with Tatum AND Paul George, which is a huge net positive. Now mix in the improvement they received from a supporting cast that had a chance to shine without Tatum hogging the ball and … let’s just hope Tatum is as smart as that one year at Duke would indicate.
INDIANA PACERS
If you define improvement as number of additional wins from one season to the next, then the Pacers deserve to be on top of this list. After all, they went from NBA finalist with 50 regular-season wins in 2025 to accused NBA tanker with 19 wins last year.
Getting Tyrese Haliburton back won’t necessarily assure a return to 50-win status, but like the Celtics, the development of young talent during the leading man’s absence should benefit the club moving forward. It’s not as easy piling up wins against Eastern softies as it was two years ago, and let’s not forget that Myles Turner is no longer around, but Pascal Siakam still is and getting a full season from Ivica Zubac should help fill that void.
UTAH JAZZ
Jun 23, 2026; New York, NY, USA; NBA commissioner Adam Silver greets the second pick in the 2026 NBA draft, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson after he was selected by the Utah Jazz at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images With the state of California now in an NBA freefall, moving from Western doormat to playoff contender isn’t the unrealistic season-ticket pitch it used to be. The Trail Blazers did it last year even after losing their coach. With LeBron – and the Busses? – leaving the Lakers, the Warriors crumbling with old age, the Clippers a hot mess and the Kings still, well, the Kings, the door is even open wider for a perennial nag to come from out of the back this year.
Having retained Lauri Markkanen to pair with Jaren Jackson Jr., with Darryn Peterson joining up-and-comers Keyonte George and Ace Bailey, having less incentive to tank and starting at a baseline of 22 wins last season, the Jazz certainly have to be on a short list of teams likely to win at least 10 more games than a year ago. If the enigmatic Peterson proves himself to be the best of the Fab Four rookies, a play-in playoff game could be in Utah’s future. Imagine that.
