Column: Stars are aligning in the East

When star players don’t want to play for a team, they have the “control” in the decision of where they want to go.

Carmelo Anthony was traded to the New York Knicks and Deron Williams to the New Jersey Nets.

With two of the top-10 Western Conference players headed to the East, the question on everyone’s mind is: Will the league’s dynamic change with fewer stars in the West?

The melodramatic deal is done

Now Carmelo’s talents are in New York, where he complements Amar’e Stoudemire, as they look to get a better seed in the playoffs.

Carmelo signed a three-year, $65 million extension to lock down his play time at Madison Square Garden.

“The Anthony deal doesn’t exactly change the NBA’s dynamic, but it does affect it to a certain extent,” Los Angeles Times columnist Mark Heisler said.

New York got the better end of the “right now” deal, whereas the Denver Nuggets got the better end of the “future” deal.

The Nuggets answered back to the best trade situation they could by getting four of the Knicks’ starters.

The main chess piece that the Nuggets wanted in this deal was Timofey Mozgov.
People might remember Mozgov from being posterized by Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin in November.

But this 7-foot-1 rookie was traded because he will be a project in the Nuggets’ system and will continue to get better with more years in the league.

Deron Williams Deal

Williams is considered to be one of the top point guards in the league, but he moved to a team that’s in the process of rebuilding.

In order to acquire Williams, the Nets forked over Devin Harris and injury-prone Derrick Favors.

Did the Nets get ticked off when they got nothing out of the Anthony deal to trade for Williams?

I think so, but Williams was a great deal for the Nets because now they have a great point guard to build around for years to come.

Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is moving the team to Brooklyn because it’s a better location and the team can increase its fan base there.

Williams is a player on whom the Nets can build their foundation, but the team still needs players that he can pass the ball to.

Future Layout of the League

I can see the Eastern Conference being more competitive for years to come with trades like these.

Top to bottom, the Western Conference has been stacked these past 10 years, and it has shown in rings.

Currently, the West has 10 teams at or above .500 compared to the East’s six.

But the major problem this offseason won’t be with signing free agents; it will be with the current collective bargaining agreement.

If the owners and players don’t get this issue figured out by the June 30 deadline, then the NBA could have issues even playing for the first few months of the next season.

Major trades did occur this week, which raised the competitiveness in the East.

But these deals will not have as big of an effect if the NBA cannot settle on a new collective bargaining agreement.


E-mail: amsiegal@indiana.edu