Has the balance of power officially shifted to the EAST now?

[Nick Manning]

Knicks
Heat
Magic
Bulls
Celtics

Hawks (50-win team, but not elite)


The West has:

Spurs (nice story this year, but the core isn't getting any younger and there's not a title-contending future longterm)
Lakers (this is their last legit chance with this team, getting D12 might change things.
Mavericks (getting old fast as well)
Thunder

[ImDaNuts]

It's about damn time

[DMX7]

Finally it has.

[ElNono]

No

[scottspurs]

West definitely got easier, but I wouldn't say there even at the bottom yet.

[JayTheClown]

No

[#41 Shoot Em Up]

I think so

[NRHector]

Hell no

[HarlemHeat37]

The East has clearly been better for the last few months..the shift began last year, where the West probably still had the edge, but not by much..now, it's not really debatable, the East is better, and it will be better for a while, since there are no up and coming teams in the West..

[ElNono]

tbh, the West has 10 teams at .500+, and even if Denver decides to tank that will make it 9 teams...

The East has 6 teams at .500+ (7 if you want to add Philly who is 2 game below).

[ElNono]

If you want to limit it to proverbial 'superteams', then you might have a point. But top-to-bottom, I think the West it's still better.

[jjktkk]

Denver gutted the Knicks, so they are just another team fighting for a playoff spot. Its closer than it use to be, but I would still give the West the edge.

[Nick Manning]

tbh this is all the more incentive for the top EC teams to fight for the top 2 spots. Anything less than a 1 or 2 seed and you could be in for a long 1st round series. Boston won't be able to rest their starters imo

[manufan10]

tbh, the West has 10 teams at .500+, and even if Denver decides to tank that will make it 9 teams...

The East has 6 teams at .500+ (7 if you want to add Philly who is 2 game below).


not until all the playoff teams in the east have a winning record can this debate begin

This.

If you're judging solely on superpower teams, then yeah the East is better. But from top to bottom, the West still holds the edge.

[Nick Manning]

tbh the Pacers are worldbeaters when they're playing good teams :lol

[HarlemHeat37]

Also, the Lakers, Spurs and Mavs are on the decline, while the Heat and Bulls haven't even began to peak, yet..the Knicks have also set themselves up to potentially acquire Paul or Williams, which will put another team in the elite, for the future..

[Cry Havoc]

The East definitely looks younger and better for the future. But the West is still the power conference right now, a lot more good teams there. At the top though, there's still only 2-3 teams in each conference.

[Cry Havoc]

Also, don't forget that this isn't necessarily a downgrade for the Nuggets. They got WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY more from New York than they should have. Nugget fans should be thrilled. Chandler, Felton, Gallinari, and Corey Brewer are all very solid players. The Nuggets are now one of the deepest teams in the league, although they don't have a go-to scorer.

[Nick Manning]

Also, don't forget that this isn't necessarily a downgrade for the Nuggets. They got WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY more from New York than they should have.

Of course it's a downgrade. This is a superstar driven league.

[ElNono]

Blake Griffin is on the West and he'll be dominating and dunking over cars and planes for years to come, tbh

[Dex]

The East certainly has all the superstars.

Howard...check
Lebron...check
Wade....check
Melo...check
Amare...check

Really, all the West has left is Kobe, Dirk, Durant....maybe the Super PG Bros (Paul and Williams)....and an aging Duncan/Spurs big three?

Still, I think across the boards, the overall teams in the West are more balanced and better than those in the East, since they've been used to dealing with the big bad West the past few years. But even that will probably shift eventually.

[Cry Havoc]

Of course it's a downgrade. This is a superstar driven league.

What I mean is that Denver isn't completely stranded. They still have a good team and a ton of talent.

[TD 21]

The Thunder don't qualify as up and coming? How is it not arguable? Head to head, the West has destroyed the East, plus three of the top six teams reside in the West and the West is deeper. The Spurs and Mavs are on the decline? Why, because of the ages of their core players? So that's more important than the results?

This trade changes nothing. They're still the sixth best team in the conference. Still explosive offensively and sieve like defensively. They've gutted their depth. They'll inevitably sign Barron, but even then, they have virtually no size and will play probably a six and a half man rotation.

[Nick Manning]

What I mean is that Denver isn't completely stranded. They still have a good team and a ton of talent.

They have a shitload of #3 options with no superstar. They have talent, sure, but their ceiling was just lowered

[HarlemHeat37]

The Thunder don't qualify as up and coming? How is it not arguable? Head to head, the West has destroyed the East, plus three of the top six teams reside in the West and the West is deeper. The Spurs and Mavs are on the decline? Why, because of the ages of their core players? So that's more important than the results?

This trade changes nothing. They're still the sixth best team in the conference. Still explosive offensively and sieve like defensively. They've gutted their depth. They'll inevitably sign Barron, but even then, they have virtually no size and will play probably a six and a half man rotation.

Both conferences have 3 potentially elite teams..the next tier consists of 3 East teams and 1 West team IMO(Orlando, Atlanta, New York with Anthony, OKC)..those are teams that aren't contenders, but they could challenge the other teams and take certain series' to 7 or so..

After that, does it really matter?..teams like New Orleans, Portland and Memphis are completely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things..they will have just as much success against the top teams as Philly and Indiana will IMO..

The Lakers, Mavs and Spurs are clearly on the way down, their cores are old, they have 1 more year after this one IMO..

The Thunder are an up and coming team, but clearly worse than the Heat, Bulls and Knicks, from a potential standpoint..

[Cry Havoc]

The Thunder are an up and coming team, but clearly worse than the Heat, Bulls and Knicks, from a potential standpoint..

I don't know that I agree with that. The Thunder have so much potential long-term, especially if they make a move or land a good FA.

[Halberto]

This is a tough question. While the east has undoubtedly become stronger as the west has grown weaker, the level of competition is still stronger in the west.

Assuming the elite of the West are the Lakers, Spurs and Mavs, the other competitive teams are Utah, OKC, NOLA, and Portland + Denver (two teams clearly on the decline).

For the East the Elite teams are Boston, Chicago, Orlando, and Miami. The other teams in the East don't seem nearly as competitive as the West's (New York, Atlanta maybe... but no way Philadelphia, Indiana or Charlotte).

The East may have more title contenders, but they also have a larger gap of competition. That makes things even out if you ask me. When looking to the future though, the East will probably be stronger.

[DPG21920]

Damn, imagine if the Thunder would have kept Tyson Chandler instead of nixing the trade.

[HarlemHeat37]

The 6ers' SRS has been just as good or better than any of the non-elite teams in the West + OKC..they are much better than their record..

[ElNono]

It's hard to look two or three seasons down the road. You know the Lakeshow might be declining now, but you already know they'll draw some talent (Howard?) eventually. Mavs haven't been shy about trying to add up talent when they needed and so I wouldn't count them out, although they'll probably take a hit for a small while once the Dirk era is over.
There's also some scattered talent that will eventually relocate, like John Wall, or Griffin.
On top of that, there might be a new draft surprise or two.

[TD 21]

Both conferences have 3 potentially elite teams..the next tier consists of 3 East teams and 1 West team IMO(Orlando, Atlanta, New York with Anthony, OKC)..those are teams that aren't contenders, but they could challenge the other teams and take certain series' to 7 or so..

After that, does it really matter?..teams like New Orleans, Portland and Memphis are completely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things..they will have just as much success against the top teams as Philly and Indiana will IMO..

The Lakers, Mavs and Spurs are clearly on the way down, their cores are old, they have 1 more year after this one IMO..

The Thunder are an up and coming team, but clearly worse than the Heat, Bulls and Knicks, from a potential standpoint..

Agreed.

Yes, it does matter. If you're going to call one conference better than the other, then they better have more than six and a half quality teams. Teams like the Hornets, Trail Blazers and Grizzlies would be definite playoff teams in the East. In fact, the Hornets and Grizzlies would arguably be better than the Hawks and Knicks and if the Trail Blazers were ever healthy, they'd definitely be better than them. The Suns would also be a definite playoff team in the East. The Rockets would probably make it in the East, too. Even the Warriors and Clippers would have a shot in the East. That's what makes the West better, the depth of the middle class and upper lower class.

You could say the Lakers are on the way down. The Spurs and Mavs, I don't see how that could be reasoned. Forget about how much longer their reign will last, we're talking about right now, as in this season.

I don't know if I'd say the Thunder are worse than the Knicks from a potential standpoint.

[Darkwaters]

Knicks
Heat
Magic
Bulls
Celtics

Hawks (50-win team, but not elite)


The West has:

Spurs (nice story this year, but the core isn't getting any younger and there's not a title-contending future longterm)
Lakers (this is their last legit chance with this team, getting D12 might change things.
Mavericks (getting old fast as well)
Thunder

The Knicks don't worry anybody too seriously right now. They're barely above .500 in a weak conference that can only muster up 5 other teams with winning records. Not too threatening. We'll see what the Carmelo thing does, but I don't expect it to be as rosy as everyone predicts.

Also, nice of you to mention the age of all the teams out west and fail to mention the Celtics. They're getting old too...but they're GOOD. Same with the Spurs and Mavs. So why do we only mention the western teams' age?

[Nick Manning]

The Knicks don't worry anybody too seriously right now. They're barely above .500 in a weak conference that can only muster up 5 other teams with winning records. Not too threatening. We'll see what the Carmelo thing does, but I don't expect it to be as rosy as everyone predicts.

Also, nice of you to mention the age of all the teams out west and fail to mention the Celtics. They're getting old too...but they're GOOD. Same with the Spurs and Mavs. So why do we only mention the western teams' age?

I'm sorry if I offended you.

[Cry Havoc]

Agreed.

Yes, it does matter. If you're going to call one conference better than the other, then they better have more than six and a half quality teams. Teams like the Hornets, Trail Blazers and Grizzlies would be definite playoff teams in the East. In fact, the Hornets and Grizzlies would arguably be better than the Hawks and Knicks and if the Trail Blazers were ever healthy, they'd definitely be better than them. The Suns would also be a definite playoff team in the East. The Rockets would probably make it in the East, too. Even the Warriors and Clippers would have a shot in the East. That's what makes the West better, the depth of the middle class and upper lower class.

You could say the Lakers are on the way down. The Spurs and Mavs, I don't see how that could be reasoned. Forget about how much longer their reign will last, we're talking about right now, as in this season.

I don't know if I'd say the Thunder are worse than the Knicks from a potential standpoint.

Right now, the West is still unquestionably better. I don't think you can legitimately make an argument for the East right now. But in a few years, that should change.

[HarlemHeat37]

Right now, the West is still unquestionably better. I don't think you can legitimately make an argument for the East right now. But in a few years, that should change.

There's absolutely no argument that the West is "unquestionably better"..if the West is better, it's a very small margin..the East is clearly better at the top(from 1 to 6), the only argument for the West is the bottom, which shouldn't matter, since teams like Phoenix and Memphis are irrelevant..

[Nick Manning]

The Magic, Celts, Bulls, and Heat would probably beat the Spurs in the finals if they came out of the WC, tbh

[nhan]

The Magic, Celts, Bulls, and Heat would probably beat the Spurs in the finals if they came out of the WC, tbh

LMAO. Celtics, probably yes. Heat, probably not. Everyone else, no.

[Cry Havoc]

There's absolutely no argument that the West is "unquestionably better"..if the West is better, it's a very small margin..the East is clearly better at the top(from 1 to 6), the only argument for the West is the bottom, which shouldn't matter, since teams like Phoenix and Memphis are irrelevant..

I just mean as far as number of good teams goes. At the very top, the East looks like it's on par if not better than the West, but the drop is pretty drastic after the first 6 teams or so out East. You're still going to see a -.500 team make the playoffs this year.

[ElNono]

I just mean as far as number of good teams goes. At the very top, the East looks like it's on par if not better than the West, but the drop is pretty drastic after the first 6 teams or so out East. You're still going to see a -.500 team make the playoffs this year.

Don't forget also that East teams play more against other East teams, meaning a bunch of those nifty records at the top are obtained playing against clearly lesser competition.

[Cry Havoc]

Don't forget also that East teams play more against other East teams, meaning a bunch of those nifty records at the top are obtained playing against clearly lesser competition.

Yeah, actually now that I look at it, 5 through 8 in the East is awful right now, unless the Knicks actually become a force with Melo/Amare. The Hawks are a joke at that record.

But still, the East has an incredible amount of young talent.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Top to bottom, it's the West. This year in regards to the championship, it's up for debate. But the East definitely have an advantage for the future.

[tlongII]

The Knicks are no better than they were before the trade. No defense.

[rayjayjohnson]

lol @ thinking melo is going to make new york a contender.

he had a much better supporting cast in denver since they traded for chauncey. hell, even denver had better supporting bigs.

new york are now a perpetual 6 seed.

[Rummpd]

LOL when the West still wins about 60% and the Knicks who already could score with anyone now cannot absolutely defend anyone.

[LnGrrrR]

Bumping this in light of D-Will trade...

[Bito Corleone]

I'd say it's much closer at the top, with the balance tilting towards the East. From top to bottom is a different story though. In the West only 3 teams (LAC, SAC, MIN) have worse records than the 8th seed (IND) in the East.

.500 in East = 6th

.500 in West = 10th

[Red Hawk #21]

Hell no

:toast

[Koolaid_Man]

Knicks
Heat
Magic
Bulls
Celtics

Hawks (50-win team, but not elite)


The West has:

Spurs (nice story this year, but the core isn't getting any younger and there's not a title-contending future longterm)
Lakers (this is their last legit chance with this team, getting D12 might change things.
Mavericks (getting old fast as well)
Thunder

Did the Black Mamba announce his retirement today?

[Jt.ONE]

east with a power boost since deron-> nets

[alchemist]

there's no doubt that with Melo/Williams moving East it makes the West a lot weaker, which is good for the Spurs/Lakers. These older teams will no longer have to play Game 7's every night like the past decade.

[JamStone]

Really depends on how you determine which conference is "stronger." If you talk about depth of quality teams, the West continues to have a stronghold. But if you're talking about the number of truly "elite" teams, the East started making it a debate last year. And if you take into consideration what the future looks like for each conference, I do think you can make a case that it has "begun" to shift to the East. Amare, Carmelo, and Deron Williams were top 10 players in the Western Conference. Putting them in the East does change things. How long it takes for the East to realize the shift of power is another thing. The West still beats the East in overall wins because they have more quality teams, better depth in the conference. But the top end teams are certainly starting to favor the East.

[Darrin]

Knicks
Heat
Magic
Bulls
Celtics

Hawks (50-win team, but not elite)


The West has:

Spurs (nice story this year, but the core isn't getting any younger and there's not a title-contending future longterm)
Lakers (this is their last legit chance with this team, getting D12 might change things.
Mavericks (getting old fast as well)
Thunder

Look at the Eastern Conference:

Significant players moving from West to East:
Boston - Ray Allen* (Seattle- 2007) and Kevin Garnett* (Minnesota - 2007)
Chicago - Carlos Boozer* (Utah - 2010)
New York - Mike D'Antoni (Phoenix - 2007), Amar'e Stoudemire* (Phoenix -2010), Carmelo Anthony* (Denver - 2011), and Chauncey Billups* (Denver -2011)
Atlanta - Joe Johnson (Phoenix - 2006)
Philadelphia - Elton Brand* (LA Clippers - 2007)
Indiana - Darren Collison (New Orleans - 2010)
Charlotte - Stephen Jackson (Golden State - 2009)
Milwaukee - Corey Maggette (Golden State - 2010)
New Jersey - Deron Williams* (Utah - 2011)

Significant Rookies:
Blake Griffin - LA Clippers (2009)
John Wall - Washington Wizards (2010)
Evan Turner - Philadelphia 76ers (2010)
Landry Fields - New York Knicks (2010)
Greg Monroe - Detroit Pistons (2010)
DeMarcus Cousins - Sacramento Kings (2010)
Derrick Favors - Utah Jazz (2010)
Jordan Crawford - Atlanta Hawks (2010)
DeMar DeRozen - Toronto Raptors (2009)
Jonas Jerebko - Detroit Pistons (2009)
Tyreke Evans - Sacramento Kings (2009)
Stephen Curry - Golden State Warriors (2009)
Brandon Jennings - Milwaukee Bucks (2009)
Taj Gibson - Chicago Bulls (2009)
Derrick Rose* - Chicago Bulls (2008)
Russell Westbrook - Oklahoma City Thunder (2008)
Kevin Love - Minnesota Timberwolves (2008)
DJ Augustin - Charlotte Bobcats (2008)
Brook Lopez - New Jersey Nets (2008)
Roy Hibbert - Indiana Pacers (2008)
JJ Hickson - Cleveland Cavaliers (2008)
JaVale McGee - Washington Wizards (2008)
Serge Ibaka - Oklahoma City Thunder (2008)
Kevin Durant* - Oklahoma City Thunder (2007)
Jeff Green - Oklahoma City Thunder (2007)
Al Horford - Atlanta Hawks (2007)
Joakim Noah - Chicago Bulls (2007)
Thaddeus Young - Philadelphia 76ers (2007)
Glen Davis - Boston Celtics (2007)
Marc Gasol - Memphis Grizzlies (2007)
Ramon Sessions - Cleveland Cavaliers (2007)
Rodney Stuckey - Detroit Pistons (2007)
Andrea Bargnani - Toronto Raptors (2006)
LaMarcus Aldridge - Portland Trailblazers (2006)
Rudy Gay - Memphis Grizzlies (2006)
Rajon Rondo - Boston Celtics (2006)
Paul Millsap - Utah Jazz (2006)
Daniel Gibson - Cleveland Cavaliers

Cross reference, you'll find a contender in the East. These teams are young and stacked. Check out where the best players on the Rookie list. With exception to Oklahoma City and Memphis, what team has turned it around by drafting?

Then think about where Utah, Denver, San Antonio, Dallas, LA Lakers, Phoenix--teams that have contended in the past five years--where they are in terms of talent and age.

[Rummpd]

This goes in cycles. Until the East starts beating the West > 50% of time head to head stop the presses.

[Lakers2009champs]

This is good for the lakers:lobt::rollin. Much easier Western conferance.

[Flo-Rida]

LeBron James on recent trades: "Everybody's bringing their talents to the East."

[Lakers2009champs]

If Cp3 is smart, he will stay on the WEST Coast.

[jjktkk]

If Cp3 is smart, he will stay on the WEST Coast.

Why? The West uper tier teams are getting old, and I'm sure the Knicks would love to make a super team with cp3, melo, and Stoudamire.

[monosylab1k]

Is Manu in the Eastern Conference? No? Then obviously the West is still the dominant conference.

[Lakers2009champs]

Why? The West uper tier teams are getting old, and I'm sure the Knicks would love to make a super team with cp3, melo, and Stoudamire.

West is getting weaker and Knicks can't afford him.

I think the hornets marketing strategy to keep cp3 just got easier. Stay in the west and have a solid shot at going far in the playoffs or go to the east and get swallowed up among the rest of the stars fighting for a piece of the action.

[Obstructed_View]

The Knicks have a chance to solidify that +.500 record, and the Nets are probably still going to miss the playoffs, so not really. That said, Kobe's decision to go get himself an all-star MVP trophy is looking smarter and smarter by the day.

[WildcardManu]

Celtics are getting old, and I doubt they can draft like the West to keep themselves competitive. It took a huge cross-conference favor to make them elite. Knicks still need to make some moves to get a better bench now and before that, they need to get above .500. It's still just Chicago, Orlando, and Miami when Boston declines.

[greyforest]

No.

[ezau]

Just as long as Matt Bonner is in the West, there's no way that the East will catch up.

[vato loco]

Did the Black Mamba announce his retirement today?

Tell it like it is homie, the power ain't shifting until Bean decides he's tired of winning rings.

[024]

hell yeah it did now that the east got b diddy. the west's days are numbered.