随着勒布朗·詹姆斯与湖人签下4年1.54亿的合同，NBA东部赛区八年抗詹历史正式宣告结束。接下来的问题是，谁能接过詹姆斯的皇冠，成为东部的新王呢？来听听ESPN几位大佬的分析。

MacMullan: It's Embiid, all day, every day, and not just because he hasn't even scratched the surface of his potential (provided he sheds a few more pounds and masters the final piece of his portfolio¹, which is conditioning).

麦克穆伦：我绝对会选恩比德，不仅仅因为他甚至还没有开发出他潜能的皮毛（倘若他能减轻几磅并且打磨他最后一项技能包：体能训练）。

The Process has strength, range, ridiculous defensive² instincts, excellent footwork and a social media command on the pulse of this league that has him on course to be the next Shaquille O'Neal. Talent and a sense of humor: best combo ever.

大帝有力量，射程，出色的防守本能，优秀的脚步移动，加上社交媒体上的巨大影响力，符合联盟的时代脉搏，恩比德正在成为联盟中下一个大鲨鱼奥尼尔的路上。他是天赋和娱乐精神最好的组合。

Begley: I'll take Giannis Antetokounmpo over Joel Embiid. The Sixers said they're at their best when they balance running their offense³ through Embiid in the post with allowing Ben Simmons and others to penetrate⁴ and create open looks for their perimeter⁵ shooters.

博格里：我会选字母歌而不是大帝。七六人最强的时候是大帝在低位（制造威胁），同时西蒙斯和其他人能突破为中距离投手们创造更多投篮空间。

Maybe that changes a bit without Marco Belinelli, but I don't think that dynamic is going away. In Milwaukee, of course, it's all about Antetokounmpo. So I think the 6-foot-11 forward will put up eye-popping numbers all year and be viewed as the conference's top star.

贝里内利的离开或许会有些影响，但我不认为他们会改变这个体系。在密尔沃基，一切都是围绕字母哥的。所以我认为这个6英尺11的前锋会整年都会得到令人眼前一亮的数据，被视作联盟的顶级球星。

Forsberg: Kyrie Irving. Giannis is probably the best player in the conference, but he doesn't have the supporting cast yet for his team to be considered any sort of conference roadblock.

福斯伯格：我选欧文。字母哥可能是东部联盟里最棒的球星，但是还没有很好的角色球员来辅佐他让雄鹿真正成为联盟里其他球队的障碍。

Irving will likely ease his way back in coming off knee surgery, but he's the best player on the East's best team, and, while his stat line might not scream MVP candidate, he'll get buzz based on Boston's overall success.

欧文膝伤恢复归来，可以容易地找回状态，但他仍东部最好的球队中最好的球员。虽然他的数据可能不会使他成为MVP候选人热门，但是他会名声大噪基于波士顿整体的成功。