The Eastern Conference may be getting overlooked again, but Paolo Banchero isn’t buying the idea that the West has all the juice.
For years, the conversation has tilted the same way. Twelve of the last 20 champions have come out of the West, and in only two of the last 17 seasons has the East finished with the better combined record.
The star power has leaned that direction too, with all but three of the last 13 MVPs playing for West teams. Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić, Victor Wembanyama - the league’s brightest lights have mostly been out there.
Then the Knicks went and changed the tone a little.
New York knocked off Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in five games, a result that added fuel to the idea that the East might be closer to the West than it’s been given credit for. Banchero, the Magic forward, thinks that’s been true for a while.
"I mean it's a lot of big names coming to the East," Banchero recently told Yahoo Sports' Kelly Iko. "I've always felt like the East is the better conference, even though I think in the past we've been more slept on. I think you saw that this year with the Knicks and their run.
"The East is wide open in my opinion - a lot of guys feel that, that's why a lot of free agents are coming. But I'm excited and the team's excited."
The offseason has already added more fuel to that argument. It started with the Milwaukee Bucks sending Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat in a six-player, five-pick blockbuster, a massive intraconference move that shook the league even if Milwaukee without Antetokounmpo wasn’t good.
Other East teams have also made their cases. Indiana should pick up where it left off with Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam and Ivica Zubac.
Atlanta and Philadelphia both got better. Toronto could be considerably improved if the Kawhi Leonard trade goes through, and Detroit would also take a step if it keeps Jalen Duren, though that remains TBD.
The Knicks, meanwhile, are the reigning champions, even if they were not among the teams that improved and lost Mitchell Robinson in free agency. Still, they’re expected to be arguably the top seed in the East in 2026-27, assuming there’s no championship hangover.
Boston and Cleveland didn’t improve either. Cleveland, in particular, is a possible landing spot for LeBron James, who is a free agent for the first time since 2018.
And the middle of the conference looks crowded enough to make the whole thing even more unpredictable. Last season, six teams finished within three games of one another, and that kind of logjam could easily show up again. If Orlando stays healthy for around 50 games, Banchero believes the Magic can fight for homecourt along with Detroit, New York, Miami, Indiana and Philadelphia, among others.
"Last year wasn't what we wanted. It didn't go how we wanted," Banchero said, per Iko. "But a lot of people are going to forget about us and count us out, so it's on us to go and show that we're an elite team in this league.
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