And if anyone wants to question that I believe the TV partners might be forcing the NBA's hand, I submit this...

Good grief.  The games seem to be getting LESS competitive.

Once Kawhi Leonard went down in Game 1 of Golden State-San Antonio, the Warriors outscored the Spurs by 27 to win by 2, then won Game 2 quite comfortably...

Here's how we got here:

Cleveland:

• Was tested by Indiana in their sweep, winning by only 1, 6, 5, and 4 points.  16 points total.
• Toronto was never a test:  11, 22, 21, and 7.  61 total.
• And Boston has been a complete joke:  117-104, a game far more a rout than the 13 point final margin, and 130-86 (44!) tonight!  That is a record margin for an Eastern Conference Final.  (The Western Conference record is 56 (Lakers 126-Warriors 70, 1973 WCF -- according to landofbasketball.com.)  The 44 is tied for the eighth-largest margin in any playoff game.

Since the tough series with Indiana, Cleveland's last six wins, including two on the home court of the #1 seed Celtics, were by a total of 118 points, almost TWENTY A GAME.  And only one single-digit margin, and that was three possessions at 7!

Golden State:

• Portland gave them one test:  12, 29, 6, and 25 for 72 total.
• Utah gave them none:  12, 11, 11, and 26. 60 total.
• 2 and 36 for the San Antonio Series.  (The 36 also makes the Top 50 list for largest playoff margins.

And that 2, recall, was a 27 point swing.

For the entire playoffs:  170 margin for 12 games, over 14 a game.  Since the first round:  96, for an average of SIXTEEN.

There have been TWO single-digit margins since round 1 -- and one of those was a 27-point swing.

I am positing, right now, that ESPN and TNT are done dealing with non-competitive basketball.

In 2016, effective for this season and going until 2024-2025, and are estimated at $2.66 billion per year.

Especially with ESPN hemorrhaging money (Mike and Mike in the Morning is the latest casualty, as the two Mikes will be split into two different morning shows -- Golic gets the radio and ESPN2 show in the "divorce", Greenberg gets a new ESPN morning show), you can't tell me that there isn't some desire to force the NBA's hand for a third (or more!) super-team!

Yes, I know Boston had Brooklyn's pick and had the best chance at the #1 as a result.

But it sounds awfully damned convenient, at this rate, for the Eastern Conference's #2 team to basically get this shot in the arm now...

And then who in the West?  Start pumping up that punk-ass jerk Ball and the Lakers and rebuild a new era for that franchise?  Team Griffin up with Westbrook in Oklahoma City and get them help?