The NBA’s Eastern Conference is deeper than it has been in decades, setting up what should be a wild sprint to the playoffs over the final seven weeks of the 2021-22 NBA regular season.
With five teams within 2.5 games of first place in the conference, and just six games separating sixth through 11th place, teams will be swapping spots in the standings on a nightly basis. And, no matter how it shakes out, some good teams — including the preseason title favorites Brooklyn Nets, who currently find themselves in eighth place — will be playing in the play-in tournament.
On top of teams jockeying in the standings, the biggest trade of the season — the James Harden–Ben Simmons swap between the Nets and Philadelphia 76ers — continues to reverberate across the league, and will require both teams to adjust to the arrival of big-name stars over the next several weeks.
The upshot of all of…