Photo via @HoopsArena
The NBA's Eastern Conference is undergoing a sea change in the wake of LeBron James's decision to leave Miami for Cleveland. A series of high-profile player moves have turned conference on its head—there's no real favorite as of yet in the race to make it to the Finals and lose to the Spurs. Welcome to the Inscrutable East, our offseason rundown of the teams that matter.Let's get this over with: Obviously, LeBron James reappearing in Cleveland automatically makes the Cavaliers a top-two seed in next spring's playoffs. Even without trading for Kevin Love or signing Ray Allen, a roster including LeBron, Kyrie Irving, Anderson Varejao, Andrew Wiggins, and Tristan Thompson—and coached by the creative David Blatt—should, barring injury, contend for the Eastern Conference crown. The media-driven narrative of LeBron's "redemption" or of his and Dan Gilbert's reconciliation? Hooey. Leave those childish notions on your bedroom dresser next to the ground-up lines of Sweet Tarts you were about to snort. We do not need media, or, fan-driven wish fulfillment storylines where we're going. No, friend, we're pointing the prow towards the future and letting the tabula rasa that is the 2014 Cleveland Cavaliers fill its own pages with LeBron as the stylus.Could the 76ers actually be pretty good next season? No. Read more.Oh, but I see, you are still here. You are dissatisfied with the notion of waiting for the regular season to unfold. You expect some sort of shape or outline to fill in the roiling chaos that LeBron has left in his wake. An option to soothe your workaday malaise in the long offseason before you. [audible sigh] OK, then let us consider the implications in more formal terms. So be it, let's talk Summer League and beyond…
Advertisement