Yesterday, Kevin Durant broke the hearts of all Oklahomans when he announced on The Players Tribune that he was signing with the Golden State Warriors. With this signing, the Warriors are large favorites to win the 2017 NBA title with the Cleveland Cavaliers as their opponent.
Durant's signing has shifted the power of the Western Conference away from Chesapeake Energy Arena to Golden State and San Antonio. While, in the past six years in the Eastern Conference, it is a proven science that the team with LeBron James will be representing them in the Finals. The NBA, unlike the NFL, MLB, and other major sports, has become the most predictable professional sport in the U.S. Also, this shift of power almost guarantees the same Finals matchup for years to come, while teams including the Clippers, Pacers, Raptors, Spurs, and others stand little to no chance to compete for the crown.
As a result, I believe the NBA should consider starting over and conducting a Fantasy draft. Yes, this may be a very insane idea; it's one that I don't even fully agree with myself. Many cities are consistently in the dumps of the NBA due to market restraints and free agent decisions (except Sacramento, LAL, and Philly, you're just poorly run organizations).
(Before the draft, each team will get to select two players which they will keep. This allows each team to keep their current stars, while others will have to forfeit the rights to All-Star caliber players.)
1. The NBA would be intriguing throughout the regular season.
We all know there are only a handful of games in the regular season which the stars truly exert all their energy. For example, Cleveland v. Philadelphia is over in the first quarter and LeBron is resting nice and tidy on the bench. A fantasy draft would give each organization a chance to make it to the playoffs, which would make the regular season much more interesting. Also, the NBA loves money and ratings for games between two small market teams would increase due to equally distributed star power, which makes Adam Silver $$$$$$$$.
2. It would make the NBA more "like the old days."
In the 1980s, almost each NBA team had a star player. The Bulls had Jordan, the Pistons had Isaiah, the Jazz (THE JAZZ!) had Stockton and Malone, the Celts had Larry Legend, and the Lakers had Magic and Kareem. This disparity of star power made the NBA less predictable every year, while also giving most teams a fair shot at the title. Today, Twitter is full of adults constantly complaining about the new NBA. This fantasy draft would make the league much more like-able for the older generation, while giving every city more excitement due to a star.
3. Smaller markets could compete.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, unless you're Cleveland (with LeBron), no small markets are realistically able to consistently compete for a NBA title. Don't get me wrong, there are a few exceptionally-run organizations in small markets (Oklahoma City, Portland, Indiana, Memphis), but mostly every small market team cannot compete with the likes of Miami, Los Angeles, Golden State, and San Antonio in retaining their current stars and signing other stars in free agency. A restart would give each organization more leverage in free agency decisions, as well as a chance to keep their drafted players.
4. A restart could give organizations a chance to "restart."
While it may not solve every problem in each organization, teams will have the chance to adjust their coaching, GMs, trainers, scouts, etc. to fit the direction each team would like to pursue. This year, Golden State made the "small ball" lineup very popular in the league. Teams were throwing money at stretch players who could spread the floor, while also being able to guard the pick and roll and distribute the basketball. A fantasy draft would allow each team to draft according to the type of basketball they'd like to play, while allowing them to also hire according to that direction.
Again, this idea is very far-fetched and completely unrealistic, but who wouldn't like to shake the powers of the NBA world? A fantasy draft would keep each NBA fan refreshing Twitter, while ESPN (or Woj) would be on their TV for days. The NBA is still one of the best (if not the best) professional leagues in the world, but there's always room for improvement.
#maketheNBAgreatagain
