Does the balance of power switch back to the East?? No.
But there is now a new Sheriff in town.
The addition of Shaq to the Heat does add more pressure to teams like the Pacers and Nets. Not only do you need to dethrone the Pistons....but now you gotta get past Shaq to do it. And just because Shaq is in the East doesn't make the East better....just one team. Remember, during Jordan's last 3-peat...the East really wasn't that great either. However, now Miami [who last year was a #4 seed] is easily a top 3 team in the East. And they'll have the Big Mismatch.
And that leads to the fact that teams can actually structure themselves in a different way. Do you know why that Ben Wallace is the All Star Starter in the East and that Jermaine O'Neal plays most of his time a the 5-spot??? Because they don't have to worry about having to lean of Shaquille for 40 minutes. Now guys like Andrew DeClerq, Brendan Haywood, Jeff Foster, Joel Pryzbilla, Chris Mihm and the rest get a raise in their game action because they'll be called on the mangle with the beast. And this will loom LARGE in the playoffs. You gotta at least body up Shaq. And guys who weren't used to getting primetime minutes will all of the sudden get them. I mean, if you are Pacer-fan....would you like the fact that someone will lose minutes from your rotation because Jeff Foster's gotta be out there guarding Shaq a lot?
This also puts life into the new Southeast Division. That division looked bad. The Wizards have talent and added Antawn Jamison. But DC still has some big holes and question marks. The Magic dealt T-Mac away for the 2001 Rockets. You have the expansion Bobcats and, pretty much the expansion, Hawks. Miami should run away with that division....and may lead to a #1 seed. Or maybe not. Remember, Shaq will have guys like Udonis Haslem and Rasual Butler sharing the frontcourt with him. Not exactly Grant and Scott. Heck, not even George and Medvedenko.
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