There are a lot of dates in the NBA that force us to remember where we are, what we are doing and who we are with.

LeBron James chose the Miami Heat on July 8, 2010. When Kevin Durant joined the Golden State Warriors on July 7, 2016. When Kobe Bryant dropped 60 points in his last career game on April 13, 2016. Luka Doncic joined the Los Angeles Lakers on February 2 this year.

However, it is rare to witness such an event twice on the same day - not to mention hours apart. That's why Monday, May 12, 2025 won't be forgotten in the NBA circle.

The 11th-largest lottery in the top overall choice between the Dallas Mavericks - and the right to pick the Duke phenomenon next month, and the rights to Cooper Flagg next month, and the rights to defending champion Boston Celtics lose Jayson Tatum in the rest of the playoffs this year, not only the rest of the playoffs, but probably the full day season, it's really an upsetting fanatic, it's really an upsetting fanatic, it's an upsetting fanatic, it's an upsetting fanatic, it's an upsetting fanatic. As an Eastern scout said, around.

This is also the result. For a coalition that already has a largely leaning towards the rule of the Western Conference, the union of another generation of talent landings in the West will only increase this gap. The lonely East Superpower lost the top 5 players in over 10+ games, which turned it into a chasm.

As the dust still falls on the damage of the Mavericks’ Magic Lottery and Tatum’s altered franchise, we rush toward the league with an ever-expanding conference imbalance, a now-wide east, as well as the logjam of the West, which adds to the prospect of another generation.

Alliance insiders initial shock at Tatum's injury

Few injuries are as injured as one of the people who just suffered. The 27-year-old has the wealthiest contract in the NBA and is about to enter his career and will likely be his fourth straight All-NBA first-team career. He is heading for a great career of all time and already has a Hall of Fame resume.

He is the best player in the defending champion, and the team was also a favorite to win the East when they entered the New York Knicks on Monday.

"This is a completely unpredictable situation," said an Eastern executive. "This is not the kind of person."

Yes, the Celtics stared at the financial cliff. But team president Brad Stevens and the Boston front desk may find a way to mitigate their luxury tax bill without losing its core significantly. While the future of the NBA is always dangerous, Boston is at the top of the East or East for the rest of the decade.

"Your thoughts start to run through situations you never thought of," the executive said of the underlying mentality of Boston. "They have a lot of thought to do."

The hope of Boston repeating the season is almost gone. The Knicks can close the Celtics on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET).

And essentially use Tatum to log out the entire 2025-26 Season, it's hard to see the Celtics not having any layoffs this summer, with a focus on cheaper and another final in 2026-27.

"This is already their last chance to have as many opportunities as possible with the team (before the financial austerity)," said a Western scout. "They have to be creative."

A weak

Milwaukee and Miami have already walked out of the photos. The Heat found a way to get into the playoffs again after winning 37 games, but the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the playoffs in the first round after trading Jimmy Butler III this season, suggesting that Miami has a lot of work to do to return to the elite in the East.

Meanwhile, the Bucks found themselves at a crossroads after their devastating injury, and Damian Lillard tore Achilles apart in the first round of the Bucks’ five-game loss to the Indiana Pacers. This is three consecutive first-round exits, leaving Giannis Antetokounmpo's future uncertainty in Milwaukee.

The Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals could fall into a vacancy. Indiana built a zealous offense behind the controls’ Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam, and the young roster was large (except for the obvious Center Myles Myles Turner, an offseason free agent).

The New York Knicks stand on the cliff of the team’s first final in 25 years, after the cohesion to sign a contract for the foreseeable future begins. Despite the injury and the Pacers collapsed for a season, Cleveland will believe it can rebound behind the back of its young Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.

Other middle Eastern teams may feel the opportunity to take positive moves to advance one level, otherwise the strategy may depend on whether the Boston dynasty actually takes off.

"(Tatum's injury) has people starting to have different ideas about following it," said an Oriental scout. "'How close are you to the finals?' "What are the windows of other teams now?" "All of these factors."

Can Orlando Magic choose to reach a deal to add to its Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner core? Perhaps the Philadelphia 76ers, after lottery luck, finished third in the June draft, could get healthy and return to the playoffs, or Cade Cunningham and the rising Detroit Pistons could take a step.

Of all possibilities, the entire summer and next season may be a focus.

"Of course, this will make the East worse," the scout said. "It's not good for the league."

Draft lottery results create new problems with the system

Tatum's injury masked the absolute chaos that surpassed the league in Chicago several hours ago. Cooper Flagg has an expectation on top of every draft committee in the league that competes with Victor Wembanyama in 2023.

But knowing Flag's destination in June could be the Dallas Mavericks win the first choice with a 1.8% chance. And, as the San Antonio Spurs jumped to second and the Sixers jumped to third, the lottery was only the third in NBA history, with three worst records missing the top three.

"It's really a 'care' alliance moment," one executive said.

It last happened in 1993, when the Orlando Magic was a year after the top pick lowered Shaquille O'Neal, and he did it again as Chris Webber. And, despite their trade to the traded Warriors, which set Anfernee Hardaway apart, Orlando won a back-to-back draft, causing the NBA to change the lottery rules next season.

Is it possible this time? Considering that these rules came into effect in 2019, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver seemed unlikely after changing them for the first time a few years ago. But, it is surprisingly fair to have the established goal – the frustrating tank – at the same time hurts the worst teams’ chances of improving.

However, some league insiders are happy that the teams that tried to be the draft throughout the year (i.e. Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards) have not succeeded in securing the best option.

"The benefit of (Lottery Night) is that those teams are not getting help," said a scout. "Everything you want, but nothing you can guarantee."

An executive advised ESPN that if the league wants to eliminate tanks, it should eliminate the draft altogether, but instead let the team create a salary cap space to sign rookies for trade. But even that executive said there is no realistic opportunity to happen for many reasons, including future draft picks being a valuable trade currency.

The league will undoubtedly also point to teams like Indiana and Denver, who put a competitive roster first and didn’t rank seventh, proving that the best option is not the only way to lay the foundation for competitors in a smaller market.

Draft Lottery Planting Conference Divide

While the headlines were on the way to landing in Dallas, and the combination of the Mavericks and Spurs was the latest moment, the Western Conference is gaining elite talent.

Since 2004, when Dwight Howard followed Lebron James with the Eastern Conference team, there has been a series of generations landing steadily in the West from Anthony Davis to the town of Karl-Anthony, Zion Williamson to Victor Wembanyama to what is now Flagg. This doesn't even take into account the others landing on that side of the ledger who didn't see it in the same light, such as Anthony Edwards or Doncic.

"The West is getting richer and richer," said one executive. "How do everyone keep going to the West? For veteran players, you can say the weather is better, go to California, better organization. But they are also lucky.

"It seems like there's one of these talents passed down from generation to generation every time - Victor, Zion, Anthony Davis - they all end up in the West. It's just doom...that's what it is."

Although this summer heralds a particularly busy guy from a trade perspective, there are currently 12 Western Conference teams who believe they can compete in the Western Conference next season: Thunder, Rockets, Lakers, Lakers, Nuggets, Clippers, Clippers, Wood Werewolf, Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings, Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Saas, Mary Marino and Madricks and the Spurs.

Meanwhile, Cleveland, New York and Indiana sit on top, followed by huge uncertainty in Boston and Milwaukee, and then there is huge doubt about the upside for each team after that. Imagine a world, for example, this summer, Antetokounmpo ended on the Western Conference Team?

"Cooper Flagg will travel west over the next 10 years, Giannis may be heading west, Tatum is not in the year, and the Celtics may be," a scout said.

“It’s good for Eastern Conference teams trying to get to the final.”