Apparently the Western Conference isn’t where it’s at anymore in the NBA.

In the past 72 hours, we’ve seen Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams jump ship from the one-time powerhouse conference in the West to the up-and-coming Eastern Conference.

The Nuggets and Jazz must have looked at their disgruntled stars and thought, “If you can’t pay or make them happy, then maybe a team in the East can.”

To make matters worse, it appears that New Orleans Hornets’ point guard Chris Paul will be the next to go when CP3 becomes a free agent in the summer of 2012. He’ll likely team up with Anthony and Amare Stoudemire to complete the New York Knicks renaissance.

And as Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki get that much closer to becoming old men, it’s time for youth to be served in the West.

With stars like Anthony and Williams packing their bags and top dogs becoming old dogs, this is the perfect time for young studs like Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin and Kevin Love to step in and show the NBA that the West still is a force to be reckoned with for years to come.