NBA Free Agency 2018: Winners, losers, and shockers

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CLEVELAND, OH – JUNE 07: Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers addresses the media during practice and media availability as part of the 2018 NBA Finals on June 07, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Loser: The Eastern Conference

The long-running joke in the league is that the East has been the ‘Leastern Conference’ for the past two decades. And for good reason. Seemingly every season, the bottom third of the East’s playoff bracket is extremely mediocre while a handful of solid, postseason-caliber teams get left out in the West.

If balance among the conferences feels lopsided, it’s because it is. The West regularly boasts more individual talent, elite teams, and stable franchises. Of the last 20 champions, the East only produced six. Even Adam Silver thinks things are bad. In February, he put the wheels motion for a possible format revamp.

This summer, every predominant free agent either stayed in the West or headed there.

By my count, these are the only free agents who went from West to East: Nemanja Bjelica, Isaiah Briscoe, Ed Davis, Tyreke Evans, Brook Lopez, Doug McDermott, Zaza Pachulia, and Tony Parker. If you lumped that group into one team, they’d win about four games over a full season.

The disparity between the East and West was already a chasm, but now it’s growing to Grand Canyon levels. That playoff revamp may need to come sooner than later.

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