During the 2017/18 season, five of the league’s 15 All-NBA players were from the Eastern Conference. Two of those stars – LeBron James and DeMar DeRozan – headed to Western Conference teams this offseason, leaving only three All-NBA players in the East: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, and Victor Oladipo.
Anteokounmpo, Embiid, and Oladipo will head into the 2018/19 season as virtual locks for the Eastern All-Star team, assuming they stay healthy, especially given the relative lack of talent in the conference. However, they’re not the only stars left in the East.
Kawhi Leonard wasn’t an All-NBA player last year, but he earned a spot on the First Team in each of the previous two seasons. His health remains a major question mark, given his lost ’17/18 season, but if he’s back to full strength for the Raptors, he could be in line for a monster contract year. Having lost their leading scorer in the trade that sent Kawhi to Toronto, the Raptors figure to lean heavily on Leonard on both ends of the court.
Kyrie Irving didn’t miss as much of last season as Leonard did, but injury issues ended his year early as well. Irving earned a little MVP buzz during the first half of the season, and while the Celtics’ roster may be too deep for the star point guard to put up massive individual numbers, he’ll likely be the best player on what is expected to be the best team in the East.
Another Sixer, Ben Simmons, figures to give Embiid a run for his money for the title of best player on Philadelphia’s roster. Already an excellent finisher, play-maker, and passer, Simmons is capable of becoming one of the NBA’s most dangerous players if he can add a reliable jump shot. Both he and Embiid have future MVP potential, though Embiid looks closer to reaching those heights in 2018/19.
Elsewhere in the East, John Wall, Blake Griffin, Kemba Walker, Gordon Hayward, Kyle Lowry, Bradley Beal, Kevin Love, and Goran Dragic are among the players that figure to vie for spots on the All-Star roster, but it would be a surprise if any of them is the most effective player in the conference in 2018/19.
What do you think? Who will be the East’s best player next season? Will Antetokounmpo take another step forward and claim that title? Will Leonard bounce back after his change of scenery and reclaim his spot as a First Team All-NBA player? Can Embiid stay healthy all year long and ascend to new heights?
Vote below in our poll, then head to the comment section to share your thoughts!
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
Giannis is a top 3 player in the league
False
Wrong
Above LeBron, KD, David, Steph, Harden, Westbrook, Cousins, Embiid? Hell, I could go on: Wall, Klay, Irving, George, Tatum, Horford, Love, Draymond, Butler. All have had more success than Antetokounmpo, and are more complete players. I could go on…
*Davis
You think Tatum is better than Giannis??
He’s accomplished more in terms of wins/postseason advancement and can shoot it… Not a better player, but in terms of MVP criteria, which requires a winning record, he has the edge!
you were making a good case until you included al horford, and kevin loves names. yes, giannis is better than them, easily. lebron, durant, davis, harden, curry, westbrook and kawhi are all better. tough to call this early in their careers for guys like embiid, simmons, tatum, towns, jokic but as of right now he is better than all of them. so a top 10 player but not top 5
Everyone is sleeping on Oladipo.
No one is sleepinG on oladipo.
Lol and no one was ever sleeping on Oladipo. He simply wasn’t that good and now he is. Properly rated
Kawhi has too much to prove!
Jason Tatum
stop it smh
Spencer Dinwiddie
wall, greek or a rando rookie unicorn stuffing stats on a crappy team
I like Antetokounmpo, I really do, but I think people overrate him because of his athleticism and because he sometimes played point for Kidd – an exoticism vote.
I watched every Bucks game last season, and draw the conclusion that while he’s breathtaking in the open floor, he’s next to worthless in a halfcourt set. If he had decent teammates and a jump shot we might see some Bucks wins.
If Giannis had Middleton plus a CJ McCollum and someone like Courtney Lee along with Brook, he’d have the same kind of freedom and space as, say, Miami-era Lebron, and his lack of shooting could be hidden. (I acknowledge that the above proposed line-up is horrific defensively)
At the moment he’s like Deandre Jordan with a handle and bball IQ.
He’s still young too, so I think people need to calm down with the win-now narrative.
They do, however, need to continue to jettison other projects that aren’t keeping up with Giannis’ development and positional need. Parker was the first, Maker, Snell and Henson need to go too. I’d be keeping a close eye on Demarcus this season, and looking to trade Bledsoe for a guard who can play off the ball and shoot.
Does Miami have any trade potential FormerlyZ? Dragic, the Johnsons and Adebayo/Whiteside would all be great on the Bucks – anyone the Heat would take back?
Actually, Whiteside wouldn’t be great, but he’d be better than Henson and Maker
Giannis is out of this world guys, & he can shoot, is not the best but he gets 3’s & he is sooo good doesn’t have to shoot. Realistically only 3 players in the east have any chance of MVP now or on the near future, of the players actually on the east now, Giannis, Embiid & Simmons.
Does anyone really think Kyrie, Oladipo & Kawhi have any chance to ever win the MVP… SMH
Just went I think you can’t get any more delusional, you go ahead and claim that Ben Simmons has the chance to win the MVP. I used to think it was just Jersey homerism, now I’m pretty sure its clinical
Says the guy that thinks Simmons has a chance… you need professional exp
*help
1.Embiid, 2.Irving, 3.Leonard, 4.Haywd. some of those others are overrated.