Mark Cuban endorses conference realignment
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban probably wouldn't be too dismayed if his team got to see more of the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks, and less of, say, the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors.
Addressing the ever-widening talent gulf separating Western Conference teams from their counterparts in the East, Cuban put forth a proposition Wednesday for a potential conference realignment plan, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas.
In Cuban's plan, the Southwest and Central divisions would effectively trade places, with the Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans jumping to the East, and the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks moving out West.
"It's not like it'd be the first time we've ever realigned," Cuban said. "It's happened many times before, so there's precedent and I just think it shakes things up and makes things interesting."
This is far from the first time conference realignment has been proposed, and with the West looking almost certain to finish with its 14th cumulative winning percentage against the East in the last 15 seasons, it won't be the last. SB Nation's Tom Ziller presented his own proposal Wednesday morning, touting a conference-less, five-division league delineated by region.
Cuban has his own reasons for proposing reform. Even with a 2010-2011 championship under their belts, his Mavericks have been frequent casualties of the NBA's power imbalance. The Mavs won 49 games last season, which would have been good for the 3-seed in the East, but instead won them the 8-seed and a first-round matchup with the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs.
"It's not like you're reducing competition," said Cuban. "You keep Cleveland, Washington and other good teams in the East. It kind of shakes things up in terms of not just interest but also in terms of how people rebuild.
"It just changes things up and it changes the thought process of a lot of teams. It makes both conferences very competitive, at least for the short-term and I think, based on the history of the teams, for the long-term as well."
Going into Wednesday night's games, the West was 49-22 against the East in 2014-15.