Spring Cleaning

Both the Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers brought out the brooms last night, completing four game sweeps in their respective Conference Semifinals. The Magic and Lakers joined the Phoenix Suns as series sweepers, leaving only the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers to do second round battle for the rest of the week. I've overheard some grumbling (both in the media and on a personal level) about the perceived lack of competition in this season's second round, but I actually think these blowouts will make the NBA picture more interesting going forward, particularly out west.

First, as we all know July 1, 2010 will begin the most significant free agent signing period in NBA history; what we don't know is how all of these lopsided series will sway the free agents.  As I've hypothesized on this space before, Joe Johnson can't be pleased with getting swept by Orlando and booed by the Atlanta fans.  Though Dirk Nowitzki loves Dallas, he must be frustrated after losing to a San Antonio team that was just routed by his buddy Steve Nash and Phoenix.  Chris Bosh's Raptors couldn't even make the playoffs, but the teams that got in ahead of Toronto (like Charlotte) were similarly routed.  Only one team can win the NBA Finals, but this year an especially small number of teams will be honestly able to say they were even close.  This should only add fuel to the fire of an already-sure-to-be-dramatic free agent cycle.

Next, does anyone doubt that this year's Western Conference Finals will feature the top two teams out West?  As compared to recent years, where early round "upsets" have prevented the fans from seeing the best teams go head-to-head, the results of this year's first two rounds should have everyone extremely excited about a Lakers-Suns series.  Both Phoenix and L.A. looked very impressive in blowing out San Antonio and Utah, respectively, and both will be well rested heading into the Conference Finals (which starts Monday).  The same goes for seeing Orlando in the East Finals - no one has looked better than the undefeated Magic.

Third, based on the early playoff results, it looks like Oklahoma City and Portland are ready to make a big leap next year, which I'm very excited about.  While the Spurs and Jazz were clearly overmatched by the Suns and Lakers, the Trail Blazers and Thunder made the West finalists work hard in the opening round.  While Phoenix and Los Angeles are clearly the West's two top teams right now, I'd have to say that Oklahoma City and Portland (even without Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla) look like numbers three and four.  In 2010-11, I'd rather see Kevin Durant's Thunder and Brandon Roy's Blazers toward the top of the Western Conference standings than the aging Spurs and Jazz, and I think most NBA fans would agree.

Finally, the less I have to hear about the Denver Nuggets as a championship contender, the better.  I don't know why, but I don't like Denver.  Chauncey Billups is definitely overrated (I refer you to Bill Simmons's commentary on the matter; see Number 3 here).  Carmelo Anthony is a great scorer, but lacks the competitive drive that make Kobe and LeBron so dangerous.  J.R. Smith has to be the most selfish offensive player in the NBA.  Nene has a name better suited for a soccer player.  There's a long list of reasons to dislike the Nuggets; hopefully their dismantling by a Spurs team that was swept by Phoenix will stop people from gushing over them for at least a few months.

While the Western Conference sweeps mean we have to wait a week before getting to watch another playoff game that doesn't feature Kendrick Perkins sumo wrestling Shaquille O'Neal (which admittedly sucks), I think the anticipation that will build between now and Monday night will make it worth it.  This will be the most excited I've been about the Western Conference Finals match-up in years.  This time, it looks like the NBA got it right.  Oh, and go Suns.

Get ready for another week of Perkins and Shaq manhandling each other.