Nothin' But Nets
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Brooklyn Nets: How does LeBron James move change Eastern Conference landscape?

By Phil Watson

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 25: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers works against DeMarre Carroll #9 of the Brooklyn Nets in the third quarter during their game at Barclays Center on March 25, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 25: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers works against DeMarre Carroll #9 of the Brooklyn Nets in the third quarter during their game at Barclays Center on March 25, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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With LeBron James reportedly moving to the Los Angeles Lakers, what does that mean for the Brooklyn Nets and the rest of the Eastern Conference?

With reports LeBron James is headed West, what does that mean for the Brooklyn Nets and the balance of power in the East?

James played for the Eastern Conference’s representative in the NBA Finals in each of the last eight years — from 2011-14 with the Miami Heat and the last four seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Sunday evening, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN dropped a #WojBomb of epic proportions when he reported that James has agreed to a four-year, $154 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The last time an Eastern team without James played for an NBA title, the Nets were still in New Jersey and Phil Jackson was still coaching the Lakers, leading them past the Boston Celtics for the championship.

That’s a staggering thing to think about.

Put another way, that Celtics team in the 2010 Finals included Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, three years before then-general manager Billy King detonated the short-term future of the Brooklyn Nets by trading or swapping every first-round pick for the next five years to get them.

For the first time in James’ career, he’ll be in the Western Conference, the perceived “varsity” to the Eastern Conference’s “JV” circuit. What does that do to the balance of power in the East?

The Toronto Raptors finished with the best record in the East last season at 59-23 before imploding against James and the Cavaliers in a four-game sweep in the conference semifinals.

The Celtics won 55 games, but lost Game 7 at home to Cleveland in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Philadelphia 76ers processed their first 50-plus win season since their NBA Finals club of 2000-01, going 52-30, before before running into the Celtics in a five-game conference semifinals loss.

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The Raptors go into next season with a new coach in Nick Nurse.

But Toronto is also a capped-out mess in terms of the salary cap, already in the luxury tax, with only soon-to-expire traded player exceptions for DeMarre Carroll ($11.8 million) and Cory Joseph ($7.63 million) and a mini mid-level exception of roughly $5.3 million with which to make moves, per Early Bird Rights.

Boston is approaching the luxury tax line, but their situation can improve a bit once Marcus Smart ($13.6 million cap hold) and Greg Monroe ($6 million cap hold) are signed somewhere. They also have healthy Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward returning (presumably) and have to be the early favorites.

But don’t sleep on the Sixers, even if they didn’t get their guy in James. According to reports, Philadelphia believes it has a chance to get disgruntled Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs. (Would Leonard become “gruntled” once traded? Asking for a friend.)

Even clearing LeBron off the books doesn’t give the Cavaliers any cap space as they now are roughly $13.3 million below the luxury tax line, per Early Bird Rights.

Kevin Love never proved he could lead a team to the playoffs as the No. 1 option with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the rest of the roster is a collection of aging, eight-figure-earning role players.

On the other hand, Cleveland’s victory total fell by a whopping 42 games the last time James left and that’s not likely this time around (if only because Cleveland was a 50-win team last year and 8-74 doesn’t seem doable for a veteran-laden group).

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    • The Indiana Pacers are adding Doug McDermott and retained Thaddeus Young, the Miami Heat lack cap flexibility, the Milwaukee Bucks are … mostly confusing right now, bringing back Ersan Ilyasova … and the Washington Wizards need a big man after swapping Marcin Gortat to the Los Angeles Clippers.

    As for the teams that missed the playoffs last season? The Detroit Pistons swung for the fences with the Blake Griffin trade, missed, dumped Stan Van Gundy and adding Glenn Robinson III on a bargain deal pushed them near the tax line. Yikes.

    The Charlotte Hornets have reunited general manager Mitch Kupchak with the albatross contract of Timofey Mozgov, salary dumped Dwight Howard and seem to be — at best — spinning their wheels.

    As for the teams that were in the less-than-30-win club a year ago, the New York Knicks got a potentially nice piece in Kevin Knox in the draft, but Kristaps Porzingis‘ injury status sort of puts a lot of things on hold.

    The Chicago Bulls have a few nice pieces, but are still a ways away from contention, as are the Atlanta Hawks. The Orlando Magic … well, yeah.

    And as for the Nets? Losing Mozgov’s contract is a huge boon for 2019-20, even at the cost of some cap space buying out and stretching Howard. Ed Davis is a terrific bargain addition to help Jarrett Allen up front and keeping Joe Harris was, well, YUGE!

    General manager Sean Marks and coach Kenny Atkinson have both said expectations in Brooklyn will be more about wins and losses than about creating a culture or making progress, and that will be contingent upon the growth of young players such as Allen, D’Angelo Russell, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Caris LeVert and Spencer Dinwiddie.

    A healthy Jeremy Lin is a big addition and it’s worth pointing out that Lin and Davis were a fairly devastating pick-and-roll combination with the Lakers a few years back.

    Can Brooklyn sneak into the playoff picture? A lot of things will have to fall into place for that to happen, but the first two seasons of the Marks-Atkinson leadership team create optimism that the franchise is on the right track again.

    Next: Breaking down Nets Summer League roster

    But the only thing we know for certain at this point is that is LeBron James will not be leading a ninth straight Eastern Conference champion.