The NBA. Now, and down the road

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, the Golden State Warriors will face off with the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals.

The same could be said of the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics in the East.

Utah was a good team, but hardly championship worthy. Same with New Orleans. Toronto always chokes when the playoffs start.

So things are pretty much on schedule.

Who will win between Golden State and Houston? Got a coin and feel lucky?

Same with Boston and Cleveland. True, Lebron James has pretty much put on a one-man show, with little help from his teammates. But the Celtics are playing without their two best players, namely Gordon Heyward and Kyrie Irving.

Whoever emerges from the West looks to be a decided favorite to go on and claim the NBA title.

That's today.

But what about in a couple years?

The Philadelphia 76ers are young and still learning, but loaded with talent. Look for them to be a force. GM Danny Ainge in Boston has done a masterful job stock-piling draft choices, used them wisely, and the Celtics are on their way back too. The East is going to be highly contested at the top in years to come. And Father Time will take his toll on Lebron James eventually, likely soon.

In the West, the same could be said for the Pelicans. They're young and coming. The trio of All-Everythings at Golden State are getting older. No one knows how long Houston can keep the powder keg of egos in check, or going after even bigger free-agent bucks elsewhere down the line. Color the Oklahoma City Thunder toast. It doesn't matter if Russell Westbrook scores 50 points every game. Carmelo Anthony and Paul George are geezers, and none of them could play a lick of defense in the first place.

Of course, this all assumes no major injuries -- see Gordon Heyward above. And further assumes that guys now playing for the paltry sum of, say, $30,000,000 on a competing team won't see the wisdom in making $40,000,000 on a sure loser. Just for the sake of mo money. As if they could spend it all in the first place. Throw in endorsements, which likely double the above figures, and the only jock that comes to mind that could go through such a gigantic pile of money was Iron Mike Tyson. How in the hell do you blow $300 MILLION DOLLARS?

Nonetheless, it is what it is for now and decent competition is going to be on tap for the next few weeks.

Boston/Cleveland --- good matchup.

Same with Houston./Golden State.

Wouldn't bet the farm on any of them.

But in a couple years, look for the landscape to change, perhaps quite drastically.

And maybe that's a good thing.....