the competition and quality gap between two conferences seems to be more dramatic upcoming years

[ky_23]

as the wolves eliminate defending champions and mvp to advance to wcf, we now have serious amount of teams to be cleared as contenders in the upcoming years in west. whereas in the east Boston with bucks and philly being fully healthy(which is uncommon considering last few years) we have 3 front runners. while indiana and nyk come forward as the new candidates, we still haven't seen how indiana performs against real competition (which we will against Boston) and how nyk can do with their whole roster healthy.

while in the west, we already have wcf teams mavs and wolves, reigning champs nuggets, 1st seed and currently a top 5 player sga. if we assume the best offseason moves from teams, the lakers are last year's wc finalists and can get a all star caliber player while lebron and ad are still top 15 20 player, gsw can still build around steph who still plays like a top 5 player for the next couple of years, grizzlies which are already a top team when healthy and have a mvp caliber player ja. spurs in next couple of years if they gather pieces quickly for wemby. i keep the suns and Clippers out so because it would be forced since healthy clippers is a myth and the suns' horrific roster structure.

it is clear as day some young teams are gonna come out on top and while some already on top teams will be able to compete for years with their current stars' age and condition (like luka and jokic they still have years to in their primes). unlike in east, the bucks roster is going old every day by dame turning 34, kris 33, brook 36. Embiid is over 30. considering his size, game and injury record he is not gonna have the same number of years as jokic has. Boston is the only that seems like their status is guaranteed in the next years. and i dont see any young teams like grizzlies or even spurs that we know are gonna be great in couple years. i know this has always been a case in nba history and the draft system will get things together eventually but this is concerning at some level.

[Handlez]

Reminds me of how bad the east was when the Nets were making multiple finals trips or LeBron facing next to nothing year after year.

Wth is up with eastern conference basketball.

Is the West just that much better of a living arrangement?

[BloodNinja]

Honestly it's time for top 16 in the playoffs none of thi East v West junk. Teams like the Pacers or Hawks of 2021 have no business in the Conference finals.

[SpreeS]

Reminds me of how bad the east was when the Nets were making multiple finals trips or LeBron facing next to nothing year after year.

First part isn't so bad. Yes, you have two unbalanced conferences and bad Finals. One conf final is real NBA final, but there are plenty good series in both conferences until the last serie (Finals).

One other hand when we have one elite team and other are at best mid tier teams are the worst possible outcome. This team coast whole RS season to get 1st place in RS or even dont care about that, b/c they know that no one can beat them in thier conference when comes PO time. Later they put in 1st gear to beat all teams in first 3 rounds... and finnaly at full force playing with other conferece exhausted the best team in the Finals

this is how Lebron and Magic made thier legasies!!!

[winforlose]

1. The East was devastated with injuries this year. The Cavs and Knicks spent a chunk of the season missing 2-3 starters. The Magic spent the first half missing half their team. The Pacers lost Hali for a while and he was playing banged up for a while. The 76ers lost Embiid and the Heat lost Butler for decent size stretches. I could go on, but it really wasn’t a typical East.

2. The West will get two expansion teams and the Wolves will move East. That puts more bad teams in the west and another contender in the east.

3. A healthy Knicks will be interesting. Boston isn’t going anywhere. The Cavs could improve depending on offseason moves, and the Magic are looking better every year. A lot of interesting things could happen in the next 5 years to balance things better.

[LockoutSeason]

The East has been better in the post-Lebron era than it ever was when he was there.