<
        >
          EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
          Get ESPN+

          East Forecast: Ranking worst to first

          With a full season together under their belts, these three amigos in Miami look like East favorites. Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
          • John Hollinger
          Dec 21, 2011, 03:00 AM ET

          Life isn't fair, and neither is the distribution of talent in the Eastern Conference, where four teams hoard the A-list stars and leave the rest fighting for scraps. While I wrote the other day that the West standings likely will be very compressed this season, the East is just the opposite.