After a bounce-back week, the NBA's Eastern Conference, now up to four teams above .500, is having a relative breakthrough in what has been the largest conference imbalance in league history.

Heading into Thursday's games, the Western Conference owned a 41-20 record against the East, the most lopsided mark since conferences were created in 1950-51. And it has been one of the biggest talking points among players, coaches and executives in the early going.

We break down what league sources are saying around a growing East-West divide, as well as why struggling contenders won't be rushing to make trades, intel on two surprising Rookie of the Year standouts and why a young star's contract raised eyebrows in Orlando.

Jump to a section:
Execs on fixing the East-West divide
Early season trades? Our latest intel
A Laker, a Sixer crash the ROY party
The Magic deal that had GMs buzzing
Jokic is setting a new MVP standard