Mark Cuban showcases how weak NBA’s East has become

The NBA is almost to the juncture of having two separate leagues. There is the Western Conference, and there is LeBron James. Everything else is a complete waste of time.

In this vein, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban doesn’t pull any punches. His team is mired in the West, which has at least two teams (Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs) that would be favored in the East and another three (Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves) that might get to the conference finals without much issue. Cuban talked about the absurd disparity in talent and hope, telling a story many have been discussing for years about the NBA. Per ESPN:

“We’re rebuilding. Right?” Cuban said during the ESPN broadcast of the Mavs’ 88-77 win Sunday over the Phoenix Suns in the Las Vegas Summer League. “There’s no question about it. If we were in the East, we would not be rebuilding. We’d be handling things completely different. I think I’m going to kidnap [commissioner] Adam Silver and not let him out until he moves us to the Eastern Conference.

“Given where we are, given where the Warriors are and what’s happening in the Western Conference, it kind of sealed what we have to do.”

Who truly cares about the Boston Celtics? Yes, Gordon Hayward will help, but losing Avery Bradley will hurt. Boston is a better than it was a year ago, good enough to now lose in six games to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Washington Wizards are interesting with John Wall and Bradley Beal, but matching a max deal for Otto Porter Jr. will haunt them for years. The Milwaukee Bucks have a solid nucleus of young players with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jabari Parker, but there is a long way to go before the Bucks contend with the Cavaliers.

This is a real problem for the NBA. On one hand, the West will give us an amazing postseason from the start of the proceedings, something we haven’t seen in years. On the other, the East is going to be a completely unwatchable slog from start to finish, with 14 of the 15 teams being a snooze. Outside of the diehard given of that given team, nobody wants to watch anything in the East that doesn’t include LeBron.

For Dallas, Cuban is making the right move. The Mavericks need to tear down the roster and start fresh, hoping to be good in a few years when the Warriors begin to slip from the top of the mountain. Until then, turn out the lights for most other teams in the NBA.