Lets Talk Basketball

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New playoff setup needed to offset imbalance

July 25, 2003

By Mike Kahn
SportsLine.com Executive Editor

So you were wondering if the Eastern Conference would finally gain some ground on the dominant Western Conference, eh?

Gary Payton is back in the West with the Lakers after a brief stint in the East. (AP)

Yeah right, and Ben Curtis is now the favorite to win the PGA instead of Tiger Woods.

Granted, the summer is far from over, but in case you haven't noticed, the free-agent movement and trades so far have made the two conferences even more lopsided, and that's not a good thing.

Each time commissioner David Stern and his deputy Russ Granik have been asked to comment on the possibility of seeding the playoffs so the best teams wouldn't knock each other out, they say it's just a cycle. They use the Chicago Bulls winning six out of eight titles as the example, but the reality is there was some parity in the rest of the league even then.

All they can realistically hope for is the East representative can pull off an upset in the Finals, but the disparity in the conferences is far more than about who wins the title. The West had a 250-170 record against the East last season -- a .595 percentage, with only the lowly Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers failing to have a winning record against the East. Excluding those two teams, the West was 230-130, a staggering .639.

Only the New Jersey Nets, Detroit Pistons and New Orleans Hornets had winning records against the West, and they were 15-13. Even the Memphis Grizzlies, with a 28-54 record overall, were 16-14 against the East.

Can it get worse?

It appears so.

The Los Angeles Lakers signed Gary Payton as a free agent from the Milwaukee Bucks, who had acquired him from Seattle for Ray Allen in February. So that puts the starting guards from the 2000 Olympic team both in the West now.

In the four-team deal that included the Minnesota Timberwolves from the West and the Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks, the 'Wolves got Latrell Sprewell -- the best player in the deal -- from the Knicks. The 'Wolves had to give up overpaid/underplayed big man Marc Jackson and the contract of Terrell Brandon, whose career is over following knee surgery. And this comes after the 'Wolves had acquired Sam Cassell and Ervin Johnson from Milwaukee for fading Joe Smith and erratic Anthony Peeler.

This makes Minnesota much better.

Again, add-West.

The Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings the champion San Antonio Spurs completed a three-way deal Thursday. The Pacers signed-and-traded All-Star center Brad Miller to the Kings for Scot Pollard and Hedo Turkoglu. The Pacers then dealt Turkoglu and Ron Mercer to San Antonio for Danny Ferry, who they are going to release from his non-guaranteed contract. That means the Pacers got Pollard and salary cap relief, while the Kings got Miller and the Spurs got Turkoglu and Mercer.

More talent heading West.

The most significant deals in the East have been the Nets re-signing Jason Kidd and adding Alonzo Mourning, in remission for now from a kidney disease; the Pacers re-signing Jermaine O'Neal; the Orlando Magic signing Juwan Howard, who is good but also redundant to young forward Drew Gooden; and the Washington Wizards committing a king's ransom -- nearly $64 million -- for flighty-but-talented, young Golden State Warriors guard Gilbert Arenas.

Granted, the teams in the East configure their teams to win in that conference, but they also play 28 games against the West, and the record now in the Finals since the Bulls last won it in 1998 is 20-6 in favor of the West -- winners of all five titles.

It's time to plant some seeds -- 16 of them at the start of the playoffs. It will create a made-for-TV event that everyone will love and create a balance that really could -- heaven forbid -- have the four best teams playing in the semifinals.

So a wise man once said, it vouldn't hurt.

Shots from the perimeter


Jason Kidd met the media for the first time Thursday after signing a $103 million contract (considered $125 million because of the risky $22 million guarantee to Alonzo Mourning despite his kidney ailment, because it helped assure Kidd would return). Even more important, he addressed the non-stop buzz that he had serious problems with coach Bryon Scott, who is entering the final year of his contract. "If there's any question about Coach's and my relationship, it's great and we want to push forward," Kidd said at the press conference. "That whole thing about me coming in demanding stuff, that's not my personality or it's not on my agenda. My agenda is to win ballgames." He even endorsed an extension for Scott on Thursday, but there are questions over the long haul, particularly with the exit of active assistant Eddie Jordan leaving to become head coach of the Washington Wizards. Scott, meanwhile, has consistently been mentioned as the top candidate to replace Phil Jackson when he retires as Lakers coach.

With Kobe Bryant out of the U.S. Olympic qualifying tournament, the rumor mill has Toronto's Vince Carter as the replacement. Evidently, both knees are now fine for the 2000 Olympian, who played in just 43 games last season.

The coaching competition is heating up. While the locals are hoping the Milwaukee Bucks go after deposed Detroit coach Rick Carlisle, he said he's not interested and working on a TV deal for a year before revisiting the coaching profession. Should the Indiana Pacers fail to advance out of the first round again, he'll be a top candidate should they oust Isiah Thomas. The list of candidates for the Bucks is a long one, including Atlanta Hawks interim coach Terry Stotts and assistants Don Newman, Marc Iavaroni, Terry Porter, Sidney Moncrief, Paul Pressey, Mike Woodson, and Dwane Casey. They are all interesting candidates to replace George Karl, who walked out the door with $7 million.

The new building that will open next season in Houston was named the Toyota Center on Thursday when the naming rights were officially presented and purchased by the automaker. Evidently, it was not for enough money that they will match the $24 million offer sheet forward James Posey signed with the Memphis Grizzlies this week. They are expected to sign sweet-shooting Eric Piatkwoski to a three-year deal for between $8 million and $9 million total. But the consistent buzz out of Houston is more about new coach Jeff Van Gundy reining in the fast and loose attitudes of Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley, which is the real reason Rudy Tomjanovich is no longer the head coach.

The acquisition of Hedo Turkoglu and Ron Mercer by the San Antonio Spurs, plus the two-year deal they signed with Robert Horry ($10.5 million, but the second year isn't guaranteed) means the Spurs have used up all of their nearly $18 million worth of salary cap space. They are still considering re-signing Stephen Jackson.

The Utah Jazz are still $21 million under the $43.84 million salary cap, and should the Los Angeles Clippers match the $42 million offer sheet the Jazz signed with Corey Maggette, they might struggle just to reach the NBA minimum cap of $32.88 million. Remember, they paid Karl Malone, who left as a free agent to play for the Lakers, and retired John Stockton nearly $28 million combined last season.

http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/6499322