Gap to narrow as East weaklings bulk up

The gap between the NBAs Eastern and Western conferences will narrow this season. It might not close completely, but the great East-West divide will be a footnote to the 2008-09 season.

It closed a little last year, despite what the numbers say. Yeah, the West was a whopping 66 games over .500 with a 258-192 record in interconference games last season for a .573 winning percentage. Thats a considerable edge over 450 games.

But the Knicks alone accounted for 24 of the Wests 66-game advantage, going a disgraceful 3-27. Miami, which gave up on the season before the holidays, added another 16 games to the Wests cushion, posting a 7-23 record. Milwaukee, New Jersey and Chicago combined to give the West another 40-game advantage. Those five alone were 80 games under .500 against the West, averaging a 7-23 record in interconference games, a pathetic .233 winning percentage.

All of those teams are going to be better next season. In fact, you can make the case that all but two non-playoff East teams will be better to some degree next season.

Of the Easts 15 teams, nine have made significant change. Four of the six that didnt were the top four seeds Boston, Detroit, Orlando and Cleveland. And those four could play with the cream of the West. Combined, the Celtics, Pistons, Magic and Cavs were 36 games over .500 against the West last season.

The Celtics lost James Posey, which hurts, but Bostons young players like Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, Glen Davis and Leon Powe have plenty of room for growth, and the Celtics got more athletic via the draft with J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker.

The Pistons, similarly, figure to get much more this season than last out of young players like Rodney Stuckey, Arron Afflalo and Amir Johnson, and their frontcourt got deeper with the free-agent signing of Kwame Brown. Browns signing has been viewed critically for a simple reason: Hes not come close to playing the way the No. 1 pick in the draft is expected to play. But for a 15-minute situational big man capable of filling in as a starter if needed, Brown gives the Pistons rare insurance.

Cleveland remains a flawed team, but one uniquely built for playoff success, as it proved by pushing Boston to seven grueling games in the second round. And with more time to absorb the radical changes Danny Ferry implemented with his major trade-deadline deal that brought on four rotation pieces, its fair to assume the Cavs will be a better regular-season team this year than last.

Orlando has some of the same issues it had last year a mediocre backcourt and marginal depth. But the Magic have lots of firepower up front and should benefit from the return of defensive-oriented power forward Tony Battie.

So those four go off as credible threats to challenge for an NBA Finals berth. But two other teams took off-season steps to suggest they belong, as well Philadelphia and Toronto.

Philly made the most dramatic move of the off-season, plucking Elton Brand in free agency, by all appearances the perfect fit. Stick Brand on the block and suddenly Samuel Dalemberts deficiencies arent so glaring; Reggie Evans role gets scaled back to something more in keeping with his strengths; Thaddeus Young moves to his more natural small forward and he might challenge Stuckey as the one player from the 2007 draft who should have gone much, much higher; Andre Igoudala becomes a matchup nightmare for shooting guards; and Willie Green becomes a bench scoring luxury.

The 76ers suffered a tough blow this week when second-year big man Jason Smith tore his ACL, but that opens the door for talented No. 1 pick Marreese Speights to get playing time during the season and Smith, given the miracles of modern healing, should be back in time to help down the stretch and into the postseason.

Torontos addition of Jermaine ONeal for T.J. Ford could have equal impact north of the border. All reports this summer indicate ONeals balky knee is holding up just fine. The hopelessness thats hovered over Indiana the last few years weighed heavily on ONeal. Getting him back in a healthy environment with a contender gives ONeal a chance to restore his reputation and, lets not forget, he was one of the top handful of big men in the game just a few seasons ago and is still only 30.

Among the non-playoff teams, only New York and New Jersey would have a tough time selling their fans that the postseason is a realistic goal for the season ahead.

Theres no reason Chicago went from 49 wins to 33 without significant injury or personnel loss. Theres still a lot of talent on that roster, including three recent lottery picks Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas with tantalizing potential. Getting Luol Dengs contract resolved will help and, whatever way it turns out, so will figuring out what to do with Ben Gordon.

Dwyane Wades pre-Olympic exploits have dispelled all fears that his 2007 knee surgery had permanently robbed him of his trademark explosiveness. Add Michael Beasley and Shawn Marion to the mix and Miami should be right back in the playoff hunt.

Charlotte gets Sean May and Adam Morrison back after missing all of last season, but the Bobcats biggest addition is Larry Brown no doubt eager to coach himself back to a place where he inspired awe in his peers. Its a situation made for Brown a small media market and a team of largely overlooked players.

T.J. Ford is the right point guard for Jim OBriens offense in Indiana, which also added Jarrett Jack at that position, but the best news for the Pacers is that theyre another year and a few more bad apples removed from the stain of recent seasons.

Milwaukee plugs in Richard Jefferson at its one glaring gap in the lineup at small forward on a team that figures to respond, at least in the short term, to the tough love Scott Skiles will bring. The Bucks are going to win significantly more than 26 games next season.

New York will be better just because the Knicks cant be worse. Donnie Walsh and Mike DAntoni bring sanity to an atmosphere that gave circuses a bad name. If DAntoni can figure out how to make Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry work better than Isiah Thomas did, they have a chance to approach respectability.

Across the Hudson, its tough to argue that a Nets team without Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson will be better, but the staleness that had settled in with this team has been shaken away. Devin Harris gives New Jersey a potentially dynamic young point guard and the Nets had a nice draft. Theyll miss Jefferson, but getting rid of his contract gives New Jersey the payroll flexibility to retool quickly.

That leaves Washington and Atlanta, playoff teams that didnt add much to the mix over the summer. But the Wizards won 43 games without Gilbert Arenas and Atlanta even conceding the loss of Josh Childress could take another step forward as young players like Al Horford, Marvin Williams and Acie Law mature.

So the top of the East has expanded from four to six and the bottom has shrunk by an even greater degree. The East was already as strong at the very top as the West Bostons dismantling of the Lakers after tough series at every step while escaping the East proved that much. The gap through the middle and at the bottom is where the West had its advantages. Those have narrowed, or perhaps closed completely, and so will the win differential in the season ahead.


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