The Boston Celtics are largely seen as the top candidates to take over the Eastern Conference throne after LeBron James departed for the West, joining the Los Angeles Lakers early in July.

TNT analyst Charles Barkley is urging fans and pundits to hold their horses before handing the Celtics the crown, noting there will be others to challenge for that spot.

“Everybody is ready to concede the Eastern Conference to the Celtics. Everybody needs to take a step back,” said Barkley, according to Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated. “That’s not going to be an easy job. Brad Stevens has his hands full. If people think Kyrie and Hayward are going to come back and [Jayson] Tatum and Jaylen Brown are just going to step back and let those guys do all the shooting, people are crazy.”

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Barkley noted the Toronto Raptors could make a splash in the East if things go right with Kawhi Leonard and expressed his bias for the city along with his hope that Leonard would choose to stay instead of bolting for Los Angeles next summer.

“I hope Toronto is a better team than they were and that Kawhi Leonard stays there,” he said. “I’m biased. That’s probably my favorite city in the world: Toronto. Hopefully he’ll fall in love with [Raptors president] Masai [Ujiri] up there. They’re going to have a really good team.”

The Celtics, Raptors, and the Philadelphia 76ers are the most likely contenders for the Eastern Conference crown — but it's all up in the air until teams reach their mid-season form and make a run for the top spot.