The Short And Long Term Future Of The NBA Is Becoming Clear

We are getting a clearer picture of what the NBA Finals are going to look like, and what the NBA could look like for years to come. The Conference Finals have produced two clear favorites with the early results and, in one case, this is a little scary.

To begin with, we have what many people believe to be the de facto NBA championship in the Western Conference Finals. The Houston Rockets and the dynastic Golden State Warriors have had the run of the NBA all season, winning almost at will. They’ve been on an obvious collision course and are universally regarded as the top two teams. The question has been, do the Rockets have enough firepower to blast away one of the greatest teams in NBA history? The odds up until now, have suggested it was a close call and the Rockets had the better regular season.

However, Golden State coasted into Houston in game one of the series and slapped The Rockets across the face on their home court, instantly usurping their hard-won home court advantage for the series. It looks quite a bit like an excellent team has run into a truly awesome team that has decided to turn it on when the games matter most. With the return of former MVP, Steph Curry, this Warriors team looks unstoppable and they have already become massive favorites in both the series, and to win the title. Perhaps this is an overreaction to a single game.

In The Eastern Conference, the stakes are presumed to be lower, as many consider it a foregone conclusion that the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers are dueling for the right to lose in the finals. But the story is more interesting. On the one hand, we have The Celtics, already one of the two greatest franchises in NBA history, emerging as a threat to win the title. Sure they are long shots this year. But they are ahead 2 games to 0 and now big favorites to get there. They are doing this without arguably their two best players in superstar, Kyrie Irving, and all-star, Gordon Hayward, both of whom have missed the playoffs. Wonderkind coach, Brad Stevens, is looking like the next Gregg Popovich as his Celts plays an exciting brand of high effort, team ball as he out-strategizes opposing coaches time after time. Most of these players are young and can only improve. And one of the great assets of this team is depth. Now, imagine a young, deep, hungry team with an elite coach gaining a year of experience and adding two young stars. That’s The Celtics next year, and for years to come.

The Celtics are beating up on The Cavs, headed by probably the greatest player ever, in LeBron James. There’s always a chance with James because he can always elect to score 40+ points and post a triple-double. The problem is that he did exactly this in game two and the coaching and supporting cast were so overmatched, it didn’t really matter. If this continues, it seems certain that LeBron will move elsewhere after the season. He has done his duty and brought a championship to his home team. He probably won’t wish to finish out his career on a second-rate roster.

Where LeBron lands will be one of the most exciting questions in sports. He could choose to head up a squad of elite, yet very young talent in Philadelphia. Or, he could forge a super team in Houston and give The Rockets the talent they need to launch past Golden State.

If you favor another sharp twist in this multilayered drama, the Rockets are +420 to turn it around and take the series from Golden State at Betonline.