With LeBron now a Laker, the East is ridiculously least

The first few days of the NBA’s free agency period have already been far more entertaining than the whole of the NBA Finals last month.

Sure, part of the reason is that the drama of free agency rarely disappoints, but most of it is because the NBA Finals were boring.

And now, thanks to the seismic shift in the league that took place Sunday night when LeBron James took his talents to the Western Conference, there’s no hope that the 2019 Finals will be any better.

And for the first time in nine years, James won’t be playing for a title.

James, as many expected, agreed to a deal with the Lakers. Four years, $153.3 million.

It’s worth every penny. Even at 33, James is the best allaround player in basketball right now. His presence alone makes the Lakers more relevant than they’ve been since their last great player, Kobe Bryant, retired.

The Lakers still need another piece or two to contend in the stacked Western Conference —and could get it, as San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard is still determined to end up in Southern California — but there’s no doubt that L.A. is much-improved.

As James heads West, the Eastern Conference becomes even less interesting than it was.

Yes, the Celtics are good. Toronto provided some highlights. Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the top five players in the NBA. Watching the 76ers as they continue to trust the process is mildly entertaining.

But overall, the East is a snooze.

It simply doesn’t stack up to the strength in the West.

A league this off-balance is a problem.

All seven active league MVPs — James, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose and Dirk Nowitzki — play in the Western Conference.

Out of 16 active players who have been All-NBA first-team selections, 13 play for teams in the Western Conference.

Lopsided? Uh, yeah

Lopsided doesn’t even begin to describe the disparity between the two conferences.

“The West is going to come down to the wire again,” one player on an Eastern Conference team said in a text message. “Some of us in the East are going to get in without having to work as hard. It’s the truth.”

It’s not that there are a bunch of bad players running around on Eastern Conference teams. Of course there is talent in the East. It’s the NBA — every player in the league is one of the best in the world.

But the top players have all migrated to the West and have stayed there. Last year, when Jimmy Butler, Carmelo Anthony and Paul George all left the Eastern Conference for the Western Conference, the league got even more off-kilter.

There were a few Eastern story lines to watch, but the main one remained in Cleveland.

Since the Celtics built their super team starring now-retired players Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, the only real intrigue in the East has come from watching how far James can take whatever team he played for at the time.

He was the best player in the conference. And now he’s joined all the other top players on the other side of the country.

James has already done a lot for the NBA. With this move, maybe he can do one more thing and change the conference playoff setup.

Other leagues work without splitting up the country. The NFL and MLB aren’t confined to East-West matchups in the Super Bowl and World Series.

Nor should the NBA be anymore in the Finals.

Adam Silver seems to be one of the most adaptable commissioners in all of sports. He wants what is best for the NBA and the game. The current setup isn’t it. If the traditional East/West conference breakdown is to stay, the playoff format should at least be addressed.

No one wants to see the No. 8 seed in the East play when the No. 12 seed in the West is better. It’s time to think about seeding No. 1 through No. 16.

Ongoing story

If this had been a problem for a year or two, there could be the expectation that things would balance out again. But this has been the problem for years.

The solution for the last eight years was that James was in the Eastern Conference and good enough not only to lead a team to the NBA Finals but win when he got there.

If things stand as they are now — free agency has only just begun — the Celtics will be playing the Rockets or the Warriors in the NBA Finals.

It shouldn’t be so easy to predict this. But when James decided to don the purple and gold, everything became extra predictable.

The NBA knows how lopsided the league is. It scrapped the East/West format for the All-Star Game this year.

It’s time to do the same in the playoffs.