If LeBron comes to the West

[gordontrue]

You chose a weird way to breakdown the RPI rankings

Top 10 = 8 West / 2 East with the west occupying the the top 7 spots
Middle 10 = 4 West / 4 East split evenly
Bottom 10 = 3 West / 7 East with the East occupying the bottom 5 spots

That paints a completely different picture that what you were trying put forth. The difference between the bottom of each conference is that bottom west teams have to play far better teams & play them more often. Outside Of LAL & Utah, I think if you switched out any west team that didn't make the playoffs, with a bottom East team, that team would likely make the playoffs.

Sometimes a round number is more arbitrary than one that seems arbitrary. Yes, I picked those numbers to make a point. Not to deceit or mask something, but to point out something. Bottom line.. The rankings start with 8 west teams in the first 9, then 6 east teams in the next 7, followed by a mix, with the bottom 3 being East.

As for any West team outside Utah and LA making the playoffs, I would strongly disagree. The disparity in SOS of schedule is much less than perception would indicate. Remember, you still play over 1/3 of your games against the other conference. Also remember that the West does have a handful of stinkers.

Lets use a formula to convert Western teams records into what it would be had they played in the East.

Wins in the Western conference * Team SOS * ((1 - East SOS) * 4) = Wins in the Eastern Conference

- Jazz 25 wins at an SOS of .512 converted to the league worst SOS (Wizards at .484) = 26.4 wins
- Lakers 27 wins at an SOS of .514 converted to the league worst SOS (Wizards at .484) = 28.6 wins
- Kings 28 wins at an SOS of .514 converted to the league worst SOS (Wizards at .484) = 29.7 wins
- Pelicans 34 wins at an SOS of .512 converted to the league worst SOS (Wizards at .484) = 35.9 wins
- Nuggets 36 wins at an SOS of .513 converted to the league worst SOS (Wizards at .484) = 38.1 wins

Only the Nuggets come close, tying the #8 seed Haws at 38 wins. Even Minnesota (West's 10th team) would barely tie the Bobcats at 43 wins for the #7 seed if you converted their SOS. (And keep in mind this was using the Wizards league-low SOS, not the general SOS of the East, which is .489)