It is going to be extremly tough and unfair for the midwest division teams next year. Look at stat now, all 8 teams in the midwest division do better than every team in the Atlantic division! Why cannot NBA install the rule that only the champions of the 6 new divisions automatically get in playoff, and rank the rest of 24 teams for the 10 slots left? Even under this rule, it is unfair to Western teams because they play more games against good teams! Right now, and in the foreseeable future, I think West deserves 11-12 spots, and East deserves 4-5 spots.
That's life. Would you also complain when we would be in the atlantic division? I guess not. It will not always be this way. I would also prefer it to see the 16 best teams in the playoffs but I'am not the commissioner.
It's a double-edged sword. Though it is harder for western teams to get in the playoffs, it's also harder for eastern teams to get into the lottery. Teams like Milwaukee that aren't nearly good enough to actually compete for any kind of championship are also denied high lotto picks because they squeek into the playoffs despite their mediocrity. So, their mediocrity continues. Meanwhile, a much more talented team like the Rockets gets to continue adding significant talent because they pick higher in the draft than a half-dozen EC playoff teams they're better than.
It's all about having 3 championship series: the East Conference Finals, the West Conference Finals, and the NBA Finals. When you have the word "finals" attached to a series, viewership goes up because a title is involved. It lends more meaning and more value to the games.
