It's obvious, and anyone watching the snooze-tastic Finals coulda told you: The NBA is suffering. No, I'm not talking about the insufferable trio of Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy; they tried their damnedest to inject life into each painful game. I'm talking about the league itself.
The NBA is bloated and I think I know how to fix it. What I'm about to propose may come across as drastic, but I'm a guy who likes his basketball lean and mean. I can't stand watching games where teams are interchangeable. LeBron James can't carry a team to the Finals on his own, but in a league with 30 teams, that's really the only way it will happen.
Unless we contract the NBA. It needs to happen. And the funny thing is, by removing teams and moving others, the league comes out stronger, just like it deserves to be.
I'm envisioning a 20-team league. Ten teams per conference. Here's how they would break down:
Eastern Conference
Boston Celtics
New York Knicks
Chicago Bulls
Detroit Pistons
Philadelphia 76ers
Atlanta Hawks
Orlando Magic
Washington Wizards
Cleveland Cavaliers
St. Louis Spirit (expansion)
Western Conference
Los Angeles Lakers
Oakland Warriors
Portland Trail Blazers
San Antonio Spurs
Houston Rockets
Phoenix Suns
Utah Jazz
Denver Nuggets
New Orleans Hornets
Seattle Supersonics (expansion)
This re-alignment would dissolve 12 teams (New Jersey, Miami, Toronto, Indiana, Charlotte, Milwaukee, LA Clippers, Sacramento, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Minnesota, Memphis). The players on those dissolved teams would be pooled for the expansion draft. The leftover players (about 115 players) would be free agents. This contraction would also rid David Stern of Mark Cuban, which is an added bonus for the league.
With two expansion team rosters to fill, there would be just enough talented players to make Seattle and St. Louis immediately competitive, elevating the quality of play throughout the league.
Top 24 Players Entering Expansion Draft
1. Dwyane Wade G
2. Chris Bosh F
3. Dirk Nowitzki F
4. Kevin Durant G
5. Devin Harris G
6. Josh Howard F
7. Jason Kidd G
8. Al Jefferson FC
9. Jeff Green F
10. Jermaine O'Neal FC
11. OJ Mayo G
12. Vince Carter G
13. Rudy Gay F
14. Gerald Wallace F
15. Raymond Felton G
16. Jason Terry G
17. Jose Calderon G
18. Shawn Marion F
19. Andrea Bargnani
20. Danny Granger G
21. Michael Redd G
22. Richard Jefferson F
23. Kevin Martin G
24. Baron Davis G
Maybe what makes more sense is that after the first 16 picks or so, all the other non-playoff teams from the year before would participate in the draft.
The reason that this thought comes up is that the playoffs felt like a slog this year, especially the Finals. Kobe gonna win another Championship? Who cares? The guy is despicable off the court. Plus, it seemed that Hedo Turkoglu was purposefully tanking on defense. And the whole thing with Rafer Alston making veiled threats over Jameer Nelson's playing time. Everything after the Celtics/Bulls series left a bad taste.
The NBA used to be exciting. Contraction would create super-teams. What's wrong with that?
