The thread title is mostly a rhetorical question. I know most of the reasons. But consider this: at the start of the most recent seasons in each of the four major professional sports in the US, how many teams must have realistically dreamed of having a path to a title? In the NFL, that probably applied to half the league (and didn't even include the Falcons). In the NHL and MLB, probably the same. In the NBA, what is it...three teams? Four? Maybe five? And all but one or two of those could only believe that path existed if those one or two other teams suffered one or two major injuries or suspensions.
Reading the Trade Deadline thread is both amusing, because I love trade speculation in any sport, and abundantly depressing, because mostly we're talking about shuffling deck chairs on at least two dozen Titanics. And the new CBA is only going to make this state of affairs worse. As someone who loves real and meaningful season-long competition, the NBA is a real drag at the moment. (And as someone whose favorite team is the Hawks, that's exponentially more so.) Even the Celtics, who have a great coach and a great GM and assets out the wazoo, have no clear and definite path to a title through no real fault of their own. (Well, I think the Horford signing will likely prove to have been a mistake, but maybe that's the Hawks fan in me talking as well.) The Celtics may wind up on the other side of this divide in a few years, and that's what every fan hopes and prays might happen to their team. But it feels to me like the league is in a really weird place at the moment.
Reading the Trade Deadline thread is both amusing, because I love trade speculation in any sport, and abundantly depressing, because mostly we're talking about shuffling deck chairs on at least two dozen Titanics. And the new CBA is only going to make this state of affairs worse. As someone who loves real and meaningful season-long competition, the NBA is a real drag at the moment. (And as someone whose favorite team is the Hawks, that's exponentially more so.) Even the Celtics, who have a great coach and a great GM and assets out the wazoo, have no clear and definite path to a title through no real fault of their own. (Well, I think the Horford signing will likely prove to have been a mistake, but maybe that's the Hawks fan in me talking as well.) The Celtics may wind up on the other side of this divide in a few years, and that's what every fan hopes and prays might happen to their team. But it feels to me like the league is in a really weird place at the moment.