How does this blockbuster trade change the balance of power in the league?

Let's start in the East here with Brooklyn.

Well, you just heard Doris talk about championships expectations.

The Nets now have to be the favorite in the East, but that's at least for now because it's very interesting.

I remember a couple years back, right after Toronto acquired Kyrie Kyrie.

Sorry, Kyrie Kawhi Leonard started an arms race in the Eastern Conference.

Right, right At the trade deadline day, we saw a flurry.

We saw Milwaukee.

We saw Philadelphia.

We saw Toronto again, jumping in with trade deadline deals because the stakes have gone up and Brooklyn has raised the stakes in the Eastern Conference.

So look for a domino effect among the Eastern contenders.

Aiken, see Philadelphia again, being involved.

Milwaukee again, being involved, Boston being involved in trying to now beef up their team to try to compete with the Nets in the Eastern Conference.

And then, if you expand out further to the whole league, you look at the Lakers.

You look at the Clippers.

The Lakers, especially Kevin, certainly in the first few weeks of the season, look like favorites to repeat not just favorites, but up in their own tier above everyone else in the MBA.

Well, it's possible.

Have to see this team on the court, and Kyrie will have to come back.

But it's possible there is now another seat at that table you mentioned.

Kyrie will have to come back, and Doris talked about this.

The unknown.

What do you expect from this newly constructed Brooklyn team?

Because we do have the knowns that is Kevin Durant and James Harden reuniting.

Yeah, and look, I don't wanna harsh anyone's buzz in Brooklyn.

If you're Brooklyn Nets fan today, you feel nothing but happy and excited.

But just a little whisper in your ear should be the question.

Who on this team is going to play defense?

They just traded away their best defensive player, Jared Allen.

And look, we have seen some of the stars on this team play excellent team defense, and that's what this is going to take.

There's not the defensive experts or specialists on the roster anymore, but we have seen Kevin Durant.

We have seen Kyrie Irving buy into bigger team defense defensive systems and they've actually operated very well, but it will take that by in.

It will take the guys doing that, and we will have to see if that happens.

Now.

Offensively, of course, these guys are gonna blow plenty of teams just off the court with their offensive capabilities.

For my money, Kevin Durant is right up next to LeBron as the best player in the N B A.

Now with James Harden next to him, you have a guy who has finished top five and M v P voting six of the last seven years.

That is insane.

And then you do have Kyrie Irving, who is just such a great addition to that mix best ball handler in the MBA.

And the truth is, by acquiring James, it takes a little bit of the pressure off of knowing if Kyrie is gonna be there for them or not.

I thought what Doris said was so wise it just doesn't matter quite as much anymore.

If James Harden is there.

If Kyrie disappears on you one day, well, you've still got two Mega all stars.

We've got the blockbuster going down.

But many more questions to follow here.

Rachel, Thank you so much.

Thank.

We heard Stephen a say a couple of minutes ago that things have shifted in the Eastern Conference.

So, according to Caesar's William Hill, here's the latest odds.

The next entered with the second shortest odds to win the east behind, of course, the Milwaukee Bucks and Yannis.

But now, with James Harden on board yet, the Nets are your runaway favorite to advance to their first n b A Finals since 2003.

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