The Eastern Conference is wide open, and inferior as ever.
With LeBron James heading West, fourteen Eastern Conference teams probably threw parties to celebrate. For the first time since 2010, an Eastern Conference team without LeBron will head to the finals. For the first time since 2006, an East team will not have to beat LeBron to advance to the NBA Finals. Outside of Philly, the East really only has two finals contenders this upcoming season, both of which have major question marks.
The Boston Celtics were an all time dud (but not Houston Rockets all-time dud) away from upsetting the Cavs and ending LeBron’s finals streak. Of course, they were missing their two best players in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. Both are back, and now, the Celtics will have to balance minutes for such a loaded and talented team. It’s a great problem to have, but a problem nonetheless. This is also dependent on Irving staying healthy and Hayward returning to form, neither of which is a guarantee.
After an embarrassing sweep at the hands of LeBron, the Toronto Raptors made two bold moves this offseason. They fired Coach of the Year Dwayne Casey and replaced him with up-and-coming assistant Nick Nurse.
Two weeks ago, they traded for a disgruntled and possibly still injured Kawhi Leonard, also acquiring Danny Green. But in the process, they gave up franchise favorite DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a protected first round pick.
No surprise, this team’s ceiling depends on Kawhi Leonard. Is he interested in playing in Toronto? Would he risk fines and damage his already battered reputation even further by sitting out the season? Even if he is locked in, how healthy is he and can he be the player that was an MVP runner-up just two seasons ago? Also, how much do Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka have in the tank? This is a high ceiling low floor team that is betting on a ton of things to go right.
Two notes on Kawhi; first he passed his physical. Second he’s met with the Raptors and appears to be invested in playing given his reason for skipping the USA mini camp was to do precisely that.
So there’s your competition right there. Sure, there are some fringe-contenders in Milwaukee, Indiana, and Washington, but that’s really it. Every other East team is either tanking, or doesn’t have enough talent to be taken seriously.
This also applies going forward, while the West is stacked will well run teams, the East is filled with teams like the Knicks, Orlando, Detroit, and Charlotte that have struggled over the years to find consistency and stay relevant. Things could obviously turn around, but unless things drastically change soon, the East will remain the easier path to play in the NBA finals.
Market Size
One area the Thunder has naturally struggled in over the years is free-agency is they are one of the smallest NBA markets. Hence, OKC isn’t exactly an exciting draw. Philly on the other hand, is in a major city with major appeal. Presti would have a much easier time conniving fans to come to Philly than he has going to OKC.