1. Cleveland Cavaliers
Projected Starting Lineup: Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson
The defending NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers will still be the prohibitive favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference. No surprise. Of course, this is all assuming that LeBron James and J.R. Smith eventually re-sign with the Cavs. And they will.
In the offseason, the Cavs also helped to stabilize their depth by trading for Mike Dunleavy and adding Chris Andersen in free agency.
must read: NBA: Predicting The 2016-17 Western Conference Playoff Picture
As long as LeBron James is healthy, the Eastern Conference will go through Cleveland. And that’s probably not going to change anytime soon.