Well, the Mello-drama is over. The Knicks pulled the trigger on the 11 player deal last night, that lands Carmello Anthony on Broadway. Yet another player from the Western Conference heads to the East. You now have all the glamour cities with Stars in the NBA, and the NBA is at it's most interesting in years. LA has Kobe, Dallas with Dirk, Miami with LeBron and D-Wade, Boston with their Big 4, Chicago with Boozer and Rose, Orlando with Howard and Gilbert, and now the New York Knicks with Mello and Amare. I think this is a GREAT thing for the League and NBA fans alike. The Interest is up. The NBA All-Star game had it's highest ratings since a little guy called Michael Jordan was in the league. The Slam Dunk Contest was the highest rated in it's 26 years of existence. It's no longer just waiting for the Finals to get a competitive Playoff series either. Just to give an example of how competitive the league is, if the Playoffs started tonight, listen to the First Round Match-ups: Chicago vs New York, Boston vs Indiana, Miami vs Atlanta, LA vs New Orleans, Dallas vs Denver, San Antonio vs Utah. There is not a single FIRST ROUND series without an NBA star playing in that series. Usually you have to wait until the conference finals. The NBA is becoming a great TV product with all this star distribution. They say everything in life is cyclical, and the NBA Eastern conference is quickly becoming the front-running conference. The Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, and Denver Nuggets were all teams that posed a threat to LA over the past 5 years. They are now teams of insignificance, with all their Star Players heading to the Eastern Conference. Boozer went to Chicago, Amare to the Knicks, and now Mello to the Knicks as well. I don't know if any of these players realized that LA and Kobe are on their last leg. And, with the Spurs getting older with Duncan and Ginobli, I think the West is going to be wide open for the next 5 years. You now have 5 REALLY good teams in the East in Boston, Miami, Chicago, Orlando, and New York. It'll only be a matter of time before players are saying "The East is too competitive, we got to go to the West." There is now a rumor that Chris Paul could be heading to New York in the off-season. That would be yet another viable team in the West losing their Star to the East. I think the West becomes an easy conference to win, and it'll only be a matter of time before the East Stars are wanting to head West. With the NBA Playoffs just around the corner, the League has my attention, and it hasn't had that for quite a while. Should be interesting to see how things pan out over the next few years.
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