@Malta do you think one of the reasons the eastern conference has never really got the top quality teams that the west has is because all of their teams end up treadmilling because everyone else is treadmilling? As in all the teams that might otherwise fight for the top picks end up trading a lot of wins that makes them go farther down in the lottery, which is basically what Philly avoided by being so extremely bad.
I mean the Heat, for example, are a team would benefit from getting a top pick this season but they went on a huge winning streak and now are close to a playoff spot in the east(even though they're still nowhere close to 500). That won't benefit them in the long run. I'm aware that the Western conference 8th seed is lower than the East's btw, but that's not really the point here, the top 7 teams in the west hurt the other teams records more than the Eastern teams do overall.
Same shyt happens to teams like the pistons and bucks. Having a top 5 pick would do wonders, but since the rest of the east is pretty much where they're at they end up getting a middle lottery pick.
And this isn't some recent thing, it feel likes this has been a constant for a long time. The bottom west teams, due to the strength of the West, end up near the bottom of the standings and end up with a great pick. The Suns have the 2nd worst record in the league, but a winning record in the east. I think it's safe to say if they were in the east they'd be in a position closer to what the Bucks are opposed to in line for a top pick. The West got Davis, the West got Wiggins, the West Durant/Westbrook/Harden, etc. I know they're not all top picks and West has a higher success, it seems, of finding superstars later in the lottery than the East, but overall it seems more of the top talent ends up in the West than the East.
Marv fukking up Antetokounmpo's name during the asg

The issue is that the bad West teams gotta play the elite West teams 3-4 times a year. The gap between the elite and the crappy in the West is enormous, all while the West feeds on East teams.The difference between the East and West is luck and the Spurs (which was jumped off with luck). The Spurs have been the best run org in the L for 2 decades. You put them in the East and the entire dynamic of the league changes. The East had caught up with the West in the Mid 00s with the Pistons and Celtics and rising Cavs. Then we had a stretch from 07-12 where the majority of the elite players (the ones in their prime or close to in now) were drafted to the west (or traded there). Think about it...you had KD, Russ, Steph, Harden, and AD all drafted to West teams and Kawhi traded. As @Malta pointed out, the East seems to be having a similar period now with Giannis, Embiid, Simmons, and Porzingis. And some of these West FOs are looking ratherright now. So maybe in a few years shyt will be flipped. All that said, I am still waiting for a West team to go through this gauntlet that everyone makes it out to be. Warriors cruised through the first two rounds with Steph out last year and now the only team that pushed them is gone, as they have their best player now. Bu...bu...but the East.


The difference between the East and West is luck and the Spurs (which was jumped off with luck). The Spurs have been the best run org in the L for 2 decades. You put them in the East and the entire dynamic of the league changes. The East had caught up with the West in the Mid 00s with the Pistons and Celtics and rising Cavs. Then we had a stretch from 07-12 where the majority of the elite players (the ones in their prime or close to in now) were drafted to the west (or traded there). Think about it...you had KD, Russ, Steph, Harden, and AD all drafted to West teams and Kawhi traded. As @Malta pointed out, the East seems to be having a similar period now with Giannis, Embiid, Simmons, and Porzingis. And some of these West FOs are looking ratherright now. So maybe in a few years shyt will be flipped. All that said, I am still waiting for a West team to go through this gauntlet that everyone makes it out to be. Warriors cruised through the first two rounds with Steph out last year and now the only team that pushed them is gone, as they have their best player now. Bu...bu...but the East.
The issue is that the bad West teams gotta play the elite West teams 3-4 times a year. The gap between the elite and the crappy in the West is enormous, all while the West feeds on East teams.
For every Warriors and Spurs you got three West teams with the longest playoff droughts in the NBA (and none of them will end anytime soon)
Except the East doesn't have all the talent.
Ya they got Giannis/Embiid/Simmons/Porzingis but Philly, if they stay healthy, will just become what Lebron has been and what Jordan was before that.
West has Jokic/Booker/Wiggins/Towns/Davis(he's not even close to his prime yet breh)/Kawhi is still 25/etc.
West isn't going anywhere. The top teams will remain the top, the bottom teams will continue to collect talent, and then you'll end up with a few teams from the bottom flipping to the top and vice versa and it just keeps on rolling along.
edit: also are we really saying the west is weak because a record breaking warriors team didn't have trouble against them? Come on now.
If you want to compare, look at the west vs. east matchups and look how lopsided it is in favor the West. The fukking Suns got a winning record(and it's by like 4 games) against the East. That's pitiful.
that is valid. We may just end up having the "balance/parity" that everyone cries about but doesn't really want
.that is valid. We may just end up having the "balance/parity" that everyone cries about but doesn't really want
.
I never said the west was weak, just not the overwhelming guantlet that it has been propped up as for almost 20 years. And it wasn't the full record breaking Warriors, as they were without their back to back and unanimous MVP for the better part of two rounds.
)Rockets shouldn't have gotten in at all. Jazz would have given a much better fight, but they choked late in the season. They played hard and well against the Warriors last year and their ability to slow down the pace along with their strong defense helped neuter the Warriors rapid offense(as best as you could/can).
Parity isn't happening. It never will. As I said a healthy philly team is primed to take over the east as long as colangelo doesn't fukk it all up.
At the moment they got:
Their own pick which will likely be top 10 or the Kings pick if they manage to do worse than philly in the final stretch.
Lakers pick if it falls out of top 3 and if it does it's unprotected next year and likely will be another good pick(unfortunately)
They got Kings unprotected 2019 pick and the Kings are primed to be bad for a long time
This is just potential assets. They already got a generational talent in Embiid, a first overall pick with a unique skillset(Simmons), a defensive anchor that's coming off their bench, Saric that's looking like a better version of Ryan Anderson, and a bunch of guys that are developing into quality role players with all the opportunity they're getting to play/perform(guys like TJ/Covington/Stauskas). And really the only thing they really need to pan out is Embiid. Even if everyone else fails to live up to their potential Embiid will make them the best team in the East by himself in the future.
Oh and they also got Okafor but he ain't worth much.
Bucks ought to have next too, but they gotta fire Kidd and probably need another quality lottery player this year depending on how Parker performs when he gets back.
.I quoted you to mention the Bucks. I think these teams could be having yearly wars for the East in the future...if the muthafukkas can stay healthy.