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A wild shake-up in the Eastern Conference saw the most critical move happen relatively early this summer, as LeBron James took his talents to Los Angeles, ending a 15-year reign over the East and freeing the way for many aspiring teams to claim the vacant crown.
“If it’s a free-for-all, I’m all for that,” Miami Heat president Pat Riley said Friday, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. “Because then I think the door’s wide open for almost anybody to do something very good.”
The sentiment hasn't only been echoed by fellow front office executives, who have been long trying to put together rosters to unseat King James from his throne, but also by players, who have felt the toll of facing the Cleveland Cavaliers four times a season, or winding up facing them in the postseason (hello Toronto Raptors).
Article Continues Below“Everybody has high hopes,” said Charlotte Hornets point guard Kemba Walker. “I know everybody’s excited LeBron’s out of the East. Don’t have to play against him four times anymore.”
Yet James isn't the only player to have moved places, but a plethora of old faces in new places, making the NBA offseason as much of a breathtaking experience as the actual in-season trade deadline.
“All publicity is good for the league, but this was a crazy summer with LeBron going to the Lakers, Paul George staying in OKC, a lot of movement, DeMarcus going to Golden State, it was a lot going on,” said Denver Nuggets point guard Isaiah Thomas, who is now in his fourth city through one calendar year. “But every now and then a summer needs to be like that for the NBA to keep going.”
If this goes the way the NBA has wanted, it will result in other teams taking prominence while some others will struggle to hold on — giving the NBA a fairly different array of looks next season.
