Mark Cuban wants the Dallas Mavericks to become an Eastern Conference team, and he appears to be dead serious about it.
Based on how the respective conferences look these days, can you blame him?
The West has absolutely demolished the East in the early going with a combined record of 55-23 (!!!). With that kind of differential, it’s no surprise to see that the West has nine teams with a 60 percent or better winning percentage, while the East only has three such teams. The Brooklyn Nets currently hold the eighth seed with a 6-8 record in the East. Conversely, the Sacramento Kings have a 9-6 record and are out of the playoffs picture in the West.
Yikes.
And lets take a look at the Phoenix Suns – a team that missed the playoffs last season despite winning 48 games. Had they been in the East, that record would have been good enough to put them in a three-way tie for third best overall. It’s almost deja vu in the early going, as they tightly hang onto the eighth seed with a 10-6 record. Again, that would be the third best record in the East right now.
Simply put, this is some B.S.
The playoffs should be represented by the best teams in the league, but the current alignment fails miserably in that regard because of the imbalance of power between the conferences.
There are plenty of folks out there who believe conferences should simply be abolished. Tom Ziller of SB Nation has been putting in some great work on ways to accomplish just that. Whether we’ll actually get to see any of it any time soon is another story.
Cuban has another idea: do a simple switcheroo with a few of the teams. Dwain Price of Star-Telegram has details:
Although he hasn’t requested anything formally with the Competition Committee, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is seeking realignment in the NBA which will take his team from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference.
In addition to the Mavs, Cuban wants the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans moved to the East, with Detroit, Milwaukee, Indiana and Chicago switching to the West.
“I actually look up the distances between Dallas, and Chicago, Detroit, etc, (to Portland). . .and I don’t think it changes the travel,’’ Cuban said. “It doesn’t change the considerations for playoffs and I think it shakes things up in terms of balance of power today.
[…]
“Take teams that are currently in North Central, in the East, they’re about the same distance from Portland as we are. Put them in the West.’’
“It changes things up, it changes the thought process for a lot of teams and it makes both conferences very competitive, at least for the short term,’’ Cuban said “And I think based off the history of the teams, for the long term as well.
“But I think it makes things more interesting.’’
Any time there’s a major change in the league, it’s more interesting. That said, lets take a look at how things would look right now in the standings if Cuban’s proposal came to fruition.
East: Toronto, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Washington, New Orleans, Atlanta, Miami.
West: Memphis, Golden State, Portland, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix, Chicago, Sacramento, Milwaukee.
Would you look at that? Cleveland would be out of the playoffs picture (they are currently in as the seventh seed) and the fourth best team in the East would suddenly be fighting for the eighth seed in the West. Even!
It’s obviously all hypothetical at this point, but the idea would certainly balance things out much better. Make it happen, Cuban.
OTHER NEWS AND ITEMS FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE:
Talk about a tough way to spend Thanksgiving day, as Sebastian Telfair was waived by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Not nice. Unfortunately, that is sometimes the nature of this business, from NBA.com: “The Oklahoma City Thunder waived guard Sebastian Telfair, it was announced Wednesday by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti. This season, Telfair appeared in 16 games (one start) with the Thunder, averaging 8.4 points, 2.8 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in 20.5 minutes per contest. Oklahoma City’s roster now stands at 15.”
So why did the Thunder make the unexpected move? Because somebody a tad more important may soon be ready to play, from Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: “But the most significant aspect of the move is its implications for injured stars Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. There is a growing belief that one or both could rejoin the lineup soon, perhaps as early as Friday against New York. They returned to practice this week and are scheduled to have their respective injuries evaluated over the Thanksgiving holiday. The Thunder’s decision to waive Telfair as opposed to apply for a third 10-day stint on Smith serves as confirmation that the team is confident that either Durant, Westbrook or rookie forward Mitch McGary will be available at some point over the next three games.”
There has been some concern about the severity of Carmelo Anthony’s sudden back issues, but the forward believes he’ll be back in action sooner than later, from Marc Berman of New York Post: “I could barely walk or do anything yesterday so I’m doing a little better,’’ Anthony told The Post. “I’m walking.’’ Anthony stepped slowly into the arena with an arena security guard and seemed subdued. “I don’t think it will be too long,’’ Anthony told The Post. “I think the spasms will go away. But I’m not going to play with spasms.’’
Kyrie Irving wants to become a great defensive point guard. He has a long, long way to go to achieve that, but is embracing the challenge, from Bob Finnan of The News-Herald: “It’s just more or less a personal challenge,” Irving said. He took the challenge in an earlier game against San Antonio when he held Spurs point guard Tony Parker to eight points. Irving has appealed to his coaches to let him defend the opposing team’s top offensive threat at point guard or shooting guard. “Based on the lineup, whatever our team needs, (whether the ‘1’ or ‘2’) gets going, I’m going to guard them,” Irving said. “I just have to do the job at stopping the head of the snake.”
- Stephen Curry has been absolutely lights out over his last two games, and Isiah Thomas is quickly becoming the best interpreter for what the point guard can do on the floor. Check out the hilarious, must-watch clip below:
- Oh, and in case you missed how Curry has been getting his buckets, click here and here to find out. You’re welcome.
- Nick Young explains how he scooped up Iggy Azalea in this clip. If you want to pick up a famous pop star, just follow the advice of Swaggy P and you’ll be set to go:
- DeAndre Jordan made an awesome no-look shot after the buzzer sounded against the Detroit Pistons that no one cared about.
Kevin Garnett hit a critical shot late against the pathetic Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday. Here’s what got the power forward going when it mattered the most, from Tim Bontemps of New York Post: “I had some females there that kind of got me going, I appreciate them,” a still fired-up Garnett said. “I want to shout them out on the baseline. They was talking that [expletive].” Asked what they said to get him going, Garnett said, “I’m not going to get into it. They put a little kick in my juice. I needed that. … I don’t know what you call it, but I got it going.” Apparently, it doesn’t take a whole lot to get the man fired up.
Monty Williams is surprised by how consistent Anthony Davis has been in terms of his ability to score, from Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports: “Williams said Davis, still just 21, doesn’t have a go-to move yet. “I am surprised that he is able to be this consistent with his outpouring of scoring,” Williams said. “But I look at how he works every day. The guys that work like that with his talent typically get better.”
- Is Derrick Rose lying about his health? Is there something more going on than what’s being told? That’s what Stephen A. Smith is speculating. This clip explains his thought process behind the accusation. It’s kind of ridiculous, but what do you expect?
James Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.
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Irving wants to be great defensively, unfortunately, that isn’t exactly what is going to get the Cavaliers a ring. He needs to learn to be a pass first PG like Chris Paul. Thus far, he and Love and Lebron haven’t shown great chemistry although that will take time.
Great idea by Cuban. It maintains rivalries and travel distances are reasonable.
However, what happens when Duncan & Ginobili retire? Bucks look exciting & IND could be good next year when Paul George returns. Should consider change at end of July. Would have to be prepared to change again, in future.
I really hope for his sake, that Durant doesn’t return to action for some time. He had a serious foot fracture. Brook Lopez returned after the same fracture/surgery in early 2012, and after 5 games, would suffer a hairline fracture and miss the rest of the season. At least Westbrook can wear a protective glove. I suspect that he’ll be back first, as KD isn’t supposed to get his first evaluation until Monday.
The Derek Rose situation is interesting. I disagree with SAS in that Rose shouldn’t even have been chosen to play in the World games. I suspect Rose’s situation is more physical than mental, and could be serious. I agree with SAS on that. Either way, DRose is a selfish person. He already has his money. He scared away Melo from playing with Bulls.