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Is the East heading for best over the West in the NBA?

Even with the arrival of Greg Oden and Kevin Durant to Western teams, the stronger conference lost quite some punch during the off-season.

by Greg Varkonyi on 11 August 2007

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Kevion Durant: Consolation prize (Gettyimages.com)

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The NBA’s Eastern Conference has been looked upon as the league’s junior varsity championship. Just look at how dreadful the inter-conference records of Eastern teams have been in the past five years.

A year ago and three seasons ago you could at least make the point that the NBA’s champion comes from the East, as Miami and Detroit captured surprise titles. This summer however you had the East’s biggest name, LeBron James being swept by the hands of a solid San Antonio Spurs team led by Tim Duncan. To say that this finals match-up wasn’t even close would be a huge understatement. It was almost like the Cleveland Cavaliers were never even on the court.

Then to make matters even worse the draft lottery assured two Western Conference teams the only two surefire superstar rookies in the draft. The Portland Trailblazers landed Greg Oden, whilst the Seattle Supersonics grabbed the not too shabby consolation prize that is Kevin Durant. Consider this as well: The West had four more picks in the top ten of the draft than the East.

'To say that this finals match-up wasn’t even close would be a huge understatement. It was almost like the Cleveland Cavaliers were never even on the court'

Why am I even mentioning the subject of the East getting better then? Whilst all of the above would give cause for concern, so many favorable moves have been made by eastern teams that there is true reason for optimism.

Just consider this list: The top names going from East-to-West are Grant Hill, Eddie Jones and Al Jefferson. The first two would have been major moves about 10 years ago, while Jefferson still is just a raw talent. Meanwhile you have top All-Stars Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Zach Randolph, Rashard Lewis all heading East. These guys (especially Garnett) have been part of the argument why the West is so much better, and now they are no longer there.

It is possible that the Western teams that have pulled off these trades are going to be better off in the long run, as they have gotten rid of aging expensive stars, and have gotten heaps of raw talent in exchange. What we are talking about now, is that suddenly teams like the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics have suddenly become more likely to reach a finals than their western trade partners. In essence the East seems to have gotten better. It is short term, but in 1998-1999 the West’s rise to dominance seemed to be short termed as well, and look where it got us.

Comments (5)

by Ramesh on August 12, 2007

So, KG, Ray Lewis, Zach and Rashard were part of the equation of the West being strong the last several years. But other than 2004 when KG lead his Wolves into the West Finals and 2005 when Seattle reached the West semi-finals, the teams that these players were with (Minnesota, Seattle and Portland) were hardly at the top of the West. The Knicks and Celtics suddenly have an easier path to the Finals, and that means that East is suddenly stronger? Puhleez..it just underscores the pathetic quality of that conference. Typical wishful thinking amongst the arm-chair experts who just wish for a stronger East.

by Greg Varkonyi on August 12, 2007

Ramesh: The west being better argument was mainly brought up by the fact that teams like the Twolves and Sonics were left out of the playoffs, whereas their leaders would have surely made it in a pathetic eastern conference. Take them away from the west and move them east and it is simple mathematics that the east has gotten better. See the west had the team with the worst record last year and the year before, but nobody cares, the east's bottom two playoff teams were weak and that's all people care about when arguing this subject. With these trades the east's playoffs have been strengthened...

by David Kerr on August 14, 2007

Too early to say, what helps the East is that the strong teams in the West knock each other out. So whoever goes through in the East has a strong chance. The season is nearly upon us, we will see if things have changed this year, I hope it is more even.