For the better part of the post-Michael Jordan era in the NBA, the Eastern Conference has been a subject of ridicule in NBA circles. It wasn’t unwarranted chastising as the East routinely fielded substantially weaker teams than its Western counterpart. They would have a good team or two, but no depth. Teams under .500 were regular playoff participants in the East while 45 win teams in the West were sent packing. There is still some massive clubs in the Western Conference these days. You’d be hard pressed to find three better teams in the NBA in the same year as this year’s editions of the Warriors, Spurs, and Thunder. However, the disparity between the second tier of teams in the NBA is gone. With some shrewd management and player development, the East has finally caught back up to the West.
In many people’s eyes, the Eastern Conference’s revival began when LeBron James took his talents to South Beach. The construction of a super club on the East coast was supposed to be the beginning of a trend in the league’s biggest markets. Instead, the move crippled the Cavaliers and as teams failed in their attempts to copy the Heat, the conference actually got worse as a whole. Just because one team got exponentially better did not have trickle down effects to the overall quality of the product. It wasn’t until the Dream Team pipe dream subsided that the East began to find its feet again.
THE USUAL SUSPECTS
The King returned to Cleveland last year, and once again brought reinforcements with him. It cost Cleveland premium prospects in the Kevin Love trade, and premium cash to keep the trio of James, Kyrie Irving, and Love intact. David Blatt got them to the Finals last year almost, but as his firing this years showed, that may have been more out of spite than leadership. With a coach they respect in Tyronn Lue, this Cavs team may not even have reached their ceiling yet. However, while Cleveland is working the Big Three model, other clubs did not fall into the same trap as they did before when trying to compete with James, Irving, Love and Co.
Lest we forget James’ old mates in Miami. After a brief rebound period following LeBron’s departure, Miami has quickly rebuilt itself into a force again. You shouldn’t expect anything less from a Pat Riley influenced outfit. Chris Bosh has recovered from his health scare and has become Miami’s top threat. Dwyane Wade has taken some of the scoring burden off himself and has been able to keep himself healthy because of it. They have their two crown jewels, but the Heat front office also found a diamond in the rough with Hassan Whiteside. Discarded to the depths of being a D-League journeyman, Whiteside now leads the league in blocks and is fifth in boards. He will be highly sought after this summer. This past draft netted them another unexpected prize in Justise Winslow. The Duke product inexplicably experienced a Paul Pierce-esque slide to ten on the board where Miami was more than happy to snag him. They’ve gone from the front page to under the radar in a matter of a year.
The Atlanta Hawks were the exact opposite. They constructed their roster to fit the needs of the new NBA and did so rather quietly. They drafted splendidly at the game’s two most important positions, center (Al Horford) and point guard (Jeff Teague). They also spent wisely in free agency with those two’s supporting cast, primarily Kyle Korver and Paul Millsap. They didn’t overspend on DeMarre Carroll this offseason, instead spending that money on the entirety of their second unit. The Hawks were shockingly the number one seed last year, but nobody is surprised to see them in striking distance of that position again in 2015-16. Atlanta has also left themselves plenty of wiggle room to further mold that roster come the summer to keep from being a flash in the pan.
The team that the aforementioned Carroll ended up on is the Toronto Raptors. Since the fall from grace of the Brooklyn Nets and rebuilds in New York and Boston, Toronto has become an Eastern Conference power and the class of the Atlantic Division. They just recently had an 11 game winning streak come to and end and sit just 1.5 games back of Cleveland for the #1 seed. A slimmed down Kyle Lowry and an explosive DeMar DeRozan have been the best backcourt duo this side of Golden State’s Splash Brothers. They have a rabid fan base and a front office led by former Executive of the Year Masai Ujiri. Now that they have a few playoff series under their belt as a unit, expect T-Dot to shake up the status quo this season even more.
Chicago and Indiana have been consistent threats over the past few years in the Eastern Conference, but injuries (Paul George in Indy, Derrick Rose in Chicago) have kept both teams from fulfilling their ultimate potential. Still, when at 100% neither team can be viewed as easy pickings in a seven game series. (LATE EDIT: If Jimmy Butler’s knee injury suffered Friday night is serious, the Bulls are in serious trouble.)
RESURRECTED POWERS
Raise your hand if you saw the Celtics as a playoff team last year. You can all put your hands down you filthy liars. Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens’ overnight restoration of the Celtics has been remarkable. They play entertaining, yet tactically sound, basketball and have done so without a true “star.” Isaiah Thomas, a salary dump by the Suns, has been astounding in Boston. His work will be rewarded with a spot on the Eastern Conference All-Star team, his first ever selection. They have only one player over 30, David Lee, so Beantown is going to be in the winning business for the foreseeable future.
Another perennial Eastern Conference power of yore making a return to prominence is the Detroit Pistons. They too have a first time All-Star this year, but he’s a bit different than Boston’s All-Star debutante. Andre Drummond isn’t leading the second coming of the Bad Boys (Detroit gives up 100+ points per game) but his rebounding prowess and defensive presence is causing fans to make comparisons to two Detroit basketball icons: Dennis Rodman and Ben Wallace. Drummond is a rebounding Terminator. Pair him up with Joe Dumars Lite, AKA Reggie Jackson, and the Pistons are a force to be reckoned with. Unlike the title teams of the 2000’s though, this current regime hasn’t overburdened themselves with dead money. When Drummond is up for a raise, or a trade opportunity presents itself, they’ll be able to do so.
THE FRINGE
For the first time since the strike shortened 2011-12 season, it looks as if there won’t be a single under .500 team in the Eastern Conference playoffs. That sounds like a crummy milestone to celebrate, but it illustrates the progress that the teams in the East have made over the past five years. This year also marks the first year in some time that there are actual playoff caliber teams that won’t make the playoffs.
Washington has been a playoff team for the past few seasons and seemed a lock to do so again this year. John Wall has kept his upward career trajectory, but the rest of the team has regressed.
New York has one of the league’s premier scorers in Carmelo Anthony. They also have three-time reigning Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month in Kristaps Porzingis. But they have a coach out of his depth in Derek Fisher. They have a roster in desperate need of a knockdown shooter, but without tangible assets or draft picks to go acquire one.
The Hornets and Magic are two extremely young teams that are closer than people think to being yearly fixtures in the postseason.
In closing, the Western Conference may very well produce the NBA Champion again this year. Betting against a Golden State Warriors team pursuing stratospheric records is not a smart decision. But the Warriors road to the title won’t be any more difficult than any potential avenue an Eastern Conference team would have to traverse. The East is no longer the Least, and that will make the NBA’s stretch run must see TV.