The NBA, like most sports, can often be defined by its different eras.
And those eras are often defined by players, teams and rivalries.
LeBron James has come to define this era of basketball, and he continues to shift the landscape of the NBA, specifically the Eastern Conference. In terms of competition, the East has been in another league compared to the Western Conference.
And not it a good way. Last year, almost any team that made the playoffs in the West would’ve been considered the favorite over an Eastern Conference team that wasn’t the Miami Heat — the Spurs, Thunder, Clippers, Rockets, you name it.
It took the 8-seed Dallas Mavericks 49 wins to make the playoffs in the West compared to the 38 it took the Atlanta Hawks in the East.
But with LeBron’s move back home to Cleveland — staying in the East — and a few other strong additions, some think the East may be closing the gap. Including Al Horford and Jeff Teague of the Atlanta Hawks:
It’s gonna be fun. RT @Teague0: The east has made a comeback a lot of quality teams for this upcoming year should be fun
— Al Horford (@Al_Horford) July 25, 2014
We all know about the Cavaliers new addition that has made them contenders — if not favorites — in the East. And if they are able to pry Kevin Love away from Minnesota (likely) that will be a major game changer. Either way, with James, Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters and Andrew Wiggins, the Cavs are looking like a 50-plus win team.
Their toughest competition will be the Chicago Bulls, also favorites in the East. The Bulls added Pau Gasol to a frontcourt that already includes Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson. Let’s not forget about European sensation Nikola Mirotic (who Chicago has reportedly promised not to trade). If Chicago can get a healthy Derrick Rose back, they will catapult back to the top of East and should be considered legitimate title contenders as they have been the past two seasons.
And after all of this, the Miami Heat rebounded in the best way they could — bringing back Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade and signing a two-time All-Star in Luol Deng to replace LeBron.
Other additions that have strengthened the conference have been Paul Pierce to Washington to replace the departed Trevor Ariza (signed with Houston). Pierce can handle the ball and create for others in ways that Ariza never could, which will relieve the young John Wall and Bradley Beal of ball handling duties in crucial situations.
In the other major shocking move of the offseason, Charlotte was able to steal Lance Stephenson away from Indiana. Stephenson adds a playmaking element to Charlotte’s decrepit offense that it has been sorely lacking and adds another layer of defensive tenacity. Don’t be surprised if the Bobcats finish ahead of the Pacers in the standings. Zach Lowe of Grantland put a great piece together on what Indiana will be losing without Stephenson.
And last but not least, the Hawks will be getting Al Horford back, who after missing the second half of last season will act as new addition. The Hawks were sitting pretty in 3rd place and above .500 before Horford went down.
Is the East catching up to the West? In ways, the answer is yes. But only Cleveland and Chicago — if things fall their way — will likely be considered true title contenders.
Still, I tend to agree with Horford.
It’s going to be a fun year.
And again, we find here the usual disrespect for the Raptors, that were not even mentioned despite finishing the season with the 3rd seed. Poor article, Mr Baroff.
Not poor, just incomplete. No one is expert enough to know how it will turn out between IND, TOR, WASH, B’klyn, MIA and maybe CHA and ATL for 3-8 (assuming Rose and Gasol are healthy and top 2 in East). As usual it will probably depend on health and surprises. With 9 teams (all but MIA & IND should be better if healthy) competing for 8 spots and Knicks & Bucks likely better too, East can be much, much better. Its only the teams competing for the bottom (Phi, Boston) that might allow the West to get more wins this season.
Well only San Antonio, LAC and maybe OKC will be true title contenders in the West as HOU got weaker.
The truth is that injuries are the biggest factor that determines competition – Also that PHI and BOS are deliberately OK with losing (last season you could include MIL and ORL in that list). Both reasons were the main factor for the discrepancy this past season.
But the East got the best 1st round picks and players (don’t forget Brook Lopez and Deron Williams) are returning from injury.
The Brooklyn Nets kind of like it that Analysts are ignoring them.
Regarding Pierce helping the Wizards, the problem is that he can’t play defense, especially at SF, which was one of the reasons the Russians let him go, without even making a competing offer. Pierce was also expected to be bad for Nets Chemistry, as a finally healthy DWill needs to be leading the team at the close of games, not Pierce. (Yes, refusing to have surgery on his ankles during the past 2 years was the worst decision of DWill’s NBA career and its true that he is a poor leader when he’s not healthy).
Yes, its also true that Nets let Pierce go because they want to have the option of getting under the Luxury Tax next season, in order to avoid the dreaded Repeater Tax.
But if the health of DWill, Lopez (will need to focus more on toughness inside, as he’s capable) and Kirilenko (wasn’t healthy for 1/2 of season and wasn’t in shape either) is good, Nets will be fighting for 3rd in East, and with other surprises (eg. Mason Plumlee alongside Lopez) and Jack back to 2013 form, Nets could be as good as anyone.