NBA: Re-seeding the Eastern Conference after Free Agency
By Alan Mena
The 2018 NBA offseason has been one of the most controversial to date. How will the Eastern Conference fare next season?
Firstly, it is important to note that LeBron’s decision to take his talents to the Western Conference and join the Los Angeles Lakers instantly took the Cavaliers out of contention in the East.
Two teams who benefitted the most from LeBron’s move was the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers.
The Celtics and 76ers are the first and second best teams in the Eastern Conference, respectively.
Now that the Cleveland Cavaliers will no longer be the Eastern Conference champs, the seeding will look much different come next postseason.
Lottery Pick Teams
15. Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks had recently traded Dennis Schröder and Mike Muscala for Carmelo Anthony and a 2020 draft pick.
Atlanta intends to waive Carmelo Anthony soon to free up cap space for the summer of 2019 with hopes of bringing in some talent to compete in the weaker Eastern Conference.
Other notable offseason acquisitions include their lottery pick Trae Young, Jeremy Lin, Justin Anderson, and Alex Len.
Alex Len as of last night has signed a two-year, $8.5 million deal with the Hawks, who is only 25 years old and has yet to show off his lottery-pick potential as the starting center.