The unequal division of power between the NBA’s Eastern and Western conferences is nothing new. In fact, it seems like we’ve spent an eternity with the West as powerhouse conference while the East—the annoying little brother—gets its equal share of playoff spots, despite continually crappier performance.
Through the first month of this season, the trend continues: Western Conference teams are 71-31 against their Eastern rivals, and by season’s end, there will inevitable be teams out west that miss the playoffs despite finishing with better records than member of the East’s top eight.
Some have called for putting an end to conferences altogether, others for conference realignment that would see a few teams swap sides. Either of those solutions is possible in the future, but are we really ready to lose our crappy, beloved Eastern Conference? Isn’t it better to daydream about a brighter tomorrow where the balance of power shifts from West to East?
Of course it is!
In that spirit, here are five of those very daydreams in roughly the order they could transpire:
1. Marc Gasol heads East in free agency this summer
The younger Gasol is likely to be one of the next summer’s most coveted free agents. Grizzlies’ GM Chris Wallace has already made clear that re-signing Gasol is their No. 1 priority next summer, suggesting other teams interested in Gasol should “find another player.” Well, they’re probably not going to listen to you, Chris.
Gasol is right in the middle of his prime, averaging a career-high 19.4 points and 1.1 steals to go with 8.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.5 blocks, all while hitting 50 percent of his field-goal attempts and 84 percent of his gimmes. The 2012-13 Defensive Player of the Year, not only anchors the Grizz on the defensive end—pointing, shouting, swatting and dishing out menacing looks—he’s also the conduit through which a lot of their offence runs.
Memphis is off to a blazing start this season, with a record of 15-3, including an 8-0 record at home, and Gasol has deservedly garnered himself some early MVP buzz. He is a cornerstone of the Memphis franchise, but he could be a cornerstone for several other teams, too, and if he keeps playing like he is now, he’ll have his pick of destinations.
In the lineup of teams prepping to pitch to Gasol in free agency, one of the more intriguing entrants is New York, now under the leadership of Team President/Zen Master Phil Jackson, who is in the initial stage of installing the Triangle offence with Carmelo and Co. Jackson won a pair of championships in Los Angeles with Marc’s brother, Pau, running the Triangle. He also won a little with the Triangle before those last two. Marc and Pau aren’t identical players, but they’re both seven-footers with well-rounded games, capable of making a shot or pass at any moment, which is exactly what the Triangle calls for.
Everything is roses for the Grizz right now, but even if they stay healthy and earn the No. 1 seed this season, they could end up playing the Thunder in the first round. While OKC wouldn’t necessarily deliver a deathblow to the Grizz, they’re not exactly a reward for a hard-won regular season either, and right now in the West, most of the alternatives are just as tough. A number of Memphis’s core guys, such as Tony Allen and Z-Bo (hell, Vince Carter, too) are on the wrong side of 30, and their window as a group could be closing in the next season or two.
Would another first- or second-round bounce and some greener-looking grass be enough to persuade Gasol to leave the only NBA team he’s ever known?
Likelihood: Pretty unlikely what with the Grizzlies’ success lately, but far from impossible—just ask Pau.
2. Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli, and Gregg Popovich finally retire
San Antonio’s future first-ballot Hall of Famers are bound to hang ‘em up in the next couple years, a decision that will cause a profound ripple effect throughout the entire Western Conference. They have been the model of consistency and professionalism for almost two decades and, although the franchise is probably busy crafting a succession plan, you don’t lose three cornerstones like that and stay at the same level.
As for the rest of the West, entire franchises have been bettered just by prolonged exposure to these guys. The regular-season schedule has teams play 52 of their 82 games against their own conference. That’s approximately 400 more games played against the West for these Spurs over the past almost-two decades.
You can’t tell me that’s failed to make the West stronger. I just won’t have it. Not with the amount of influence and innovation the Spurs have generated since their move from the ABA.
Likelihood: This one’s inevitable. Right?! I guess if there ever were a group that could DNP-Old their way past Father Time for a while longer, it’ll continue to be this one. Still, doesn’t it feel like this season or next could be their swan song? And doesn’t the West just look less formidable without these guys at the top.
3. Washington woos Durant into a 2016 homecoming
4. Steph Curry follows suit, heading to Charlotte in 2017
Homecomings are in style right now, and the speculation is already building around these two superstars’ respective free agencies.
We can talk about how the Wall-Beal combo could take another leap in the “Best Backcourt” debate and lead the Wizards deep into the playoffs but let’s be real, all of the Wizards’ title-contention eggs are in one basket and that basket is labeled, “Come home, Kevin. We’ll give you these eggs.”
Durant grew up in Seat Pleasant, Maryland—20 minutes drive from D.C.—and obviously has strong ties to the area.
The Wizards have already hired one of Durant’s high school coaches as a player development assistant and I’m sure they’d happily hire Durant’s mom as a mental trainer or something if it made the difference in his decision—especially given the fact that there are a few other teams openly gunning for the Slim Reaper.
Steph Curry also happens to hail from a town with a different NBA team than the one he currently suits up for. That would be Charlotte, where Curry’s father (former-Raptor, Dell) played 10 seasons for the original Hornets franchise (Dell is now a team broadcaster for the Hornets). The whole family still lives in the Charlotte area. Steph played his high school and college ball there and has talked about liking the idea of playing in Charlotte again.
Curry’s currently on the best bargain contract in the NBA. He signed a four-year, $44-million extension in 2012 when ankle injuries threatened to derail his career. Since then, he’s become one of the best players in the league. He’ll be up for a big raise and it’ll be fun to see how Charlotte positions itself, in terms of salary structure and supporting cast in the lead-up to Curry’s free agency.
Likelihood: I’m going to go out on a limb and say if neither of these guys has won a championship with their current team by the time they hit free agency, both homecomings happen.
5. All the tanking finally pays off
This is the most surefire way for the power balance to shift.
As most of the teams out West continue to win regular-season games at a ferocious clip, the East can benefit from the higher draft picks that accompany losing. The Circle of Life tells us that this will eventually result in the future stars that get drafted to Eastern Conference teams entering their primes right as all the older stars out West are exiting the league. The whole process will then repeat with the conferences in reversed roles.
Likelihood: Of course, this one relies on Eastern Conference teams holding on to their draft picks and using them wisely—two outcomes you can never take for granted—but this is, in theory, the way the system is designed to work. Until the league office comes up with a better alternative, all we can do is continue to hold out hope that when all these daydreams come to life a few seasons from now, we don’t need someone to pinch us.