We are a full 2 seasons past the last CBA and a 1/4 of the way into the next season. There are a couple trends that have taken place. Are these due to the CBA? 1st Trend: The East keeps staying very weak as a whole. Is this due to just poor management? 2nd Trend: Since Miami built the super team, several other teams have tried and failed. They were crushed under egos and contracts. Eventually Miami started to suffer the same issue. 3rd Trend: The first is last and the last is first. The previous bottom tier teams are at the top. Toronto, Memphis, Clippers, Washington, Atlanta ... all are doing well. This is the one aspect I like about the NFL and MLB, different teams take the lead year in and year out. Is the luxury tax finally hurting the big market owners to the point where they quit trying to buy talent? Miami thought so. Brooklyn thinks so. New York still hasn't learned. Overall, the NBA is much more interesting (and not just because the Rockets are winning) then it has over the last several years. Its nice to see team stacking being punished. Its nice to see egomaniacs like Kobe sink their team for years to come. Its nice to watch soft leaders like LeBron struggle. Unfortunately, I believe the next CBA will undo much of this.
You realize Miami was in the finals last year? Oh but they lost, they must suck!! If they resigned Lebron they would probably be back there again this year. anyways I think it worked- this has been one of the most exciting years of basketball in recent memory- alot has to do with great players though. GS/Houston/Portland have been a joy to watch this year
Mike Miller was waived to save money. Lebron didn't approve of the way the team was heading so he left. Its not a debate whether Miami sucked, but whether the CBA forced the team to implode.