NBA Preview – Western Conference

There is no doubting the west is extremely deep, and it is especially evident when compared to the top-heavy eastern conference.  There are about 10 teams I could see making the playoffs this season, and a couple of them are teams we haven’t seen playing in the playoffs in years, if not decades.  I cannot remember a season in which I looked across the rosters of so many teams and was shocked with the amount of talent on every one of them, as all but the bottom three in my rankings are capable of making the playoffs this season.

1) Los Angeles Lakers – They won it all last year.  And then got better.  I’m not buying all the concerns about Artest and the claims he will hurt the Lakers this season.  Artest is a veteran who desperately wants a shot at a title and  is now playing with arguably his best friend in the NBA (Lamar Odom), giving him the most stability of his entire career.  Artest is a huge upgrade over Ariza on the court as well, because the offensive firepower he adds on nights Kobe doesn’t have it will be crucial to the Lakers success.  Did I mention that the Lakers got nothing from Farmar, Shannon Brown, or Bynum last season? Expect Derek Fisher’s role to diminish and the Lakers to get significantly better than last season.

2) San Antonio Spurs – Parker, Ginobli, and Richard Jefferson are all healthy and ready to compliment Tim Duncan, making this pick a no-brainer.  As much as I hate saying this, I also think the Spurs may have dropped the boring label with the departure of Bruce Bowen and the addition of Richard Jefferson.  Jefferson has flown under the radar almost his entire career in New Jersey, but this guy can do it all, and reminds me a lot of Shawn Marion (back when he was good).  He is probably as good defensively as Bowen was towards the tail-end of his career, but is infinitely better offensively.  The Spurs are scary this year, and could be the only team that might challenge the folks in la-la-land.

3) Portland Trailblazers – This team is freakishly young and freakishly talented.  Brandon Roy and Lamarcus Aldridge are two of the best-kept secrets in the NBA, providing a poor man’s Kobe Bryant-Pau Gasol tandem up in the northwest.  I have never been on the Greg Oden bandwagon (to say the least), but he has put together a few stretches this preseason that just might be leading me to believe that he is here for real.  I’m not expecting much from him, but if he can play stellar defense and give the Blazers 12.0 ppg and 8 rebounds, the sky is the limit for this team.  Andre Miller was a good addition to help players like Oden establish themselves offensively, however GM Kevin Pritchard really missed the boat on potential additions of Gerald Wallace, Richard Jefferson, and Hedo Turkgolu (not Pritchard’s fault) over the end of last season and the off-season.  If this team can build the chemistry they have been severely lacking this pre-season, they could be the surprise team of 2009-2010.

4) Dallas Mavericks – Could this be the year that Dirk and the boys put everything together and become a real threat out west?  A squad of Jason Kidd, Dirk, Josh Howard, Shawn Marion, and Jason Terry will score a lot of points, but defense will again be the real question.  I think this season will be Jason Kidd’s last hurrah, as well as Shawn Marion’s comeback party and that will make the Mavs competitive, however in a deep western conference it will all be for naught.

5) Utah Jazz – Deron Williams is the most underrated player in the NBA.  This guy is the real deal, and yet is overlooked in every “top players in the NBA” conversation.  Everyone talks about CP3 as the second best player in the league, yet D-Will was only three points a game behind him with the same assist numbers last season.  Carlos Boozer is getting told he’s past his prime, but I’m not buying that at all, so I’m expecting him to put up some big numbers this season.  Eric Maynor coming off the bench has the potential to be an absolute stud, while the supporting cast of Okur, Brewer, Millsap, and AK47 give the Jazz the depth they need to make a season-long run.  The ceiling isn’t nearly as high for this team as others in the conference, but they remind me so much of the Spurs in their consistency and lack of general public appeal that I’m picking them to be right in the middle of the pack down the stretch.

6) New Orleans Hornets – Chris Paul is a relatively decent basketball player.  To say the least.  Okay, so he’s the most exciting point guard I have seen in my lifetime, and is the only guy outside of Kobe in the west capable of carrying his team to the playoffs.  David West is another guy who everyone looks over, despite the fact that he averaged 21/9 last season, his third consecutive season averaging over 18/8.  The addition of Emeka Okafor was huge, as they traded a guy who was contributing nothing (Tyson Chandler) for a guy who still has the ability to prove he was worthy of the top draft pick when paired with the best point guard in the league.  Peja Stojakovic is still capable of lighting it up from outside, along with Morris Peterson and James Posey coming off the bench adding some depth and toughness.  After looking over their roster, I was tempted to move them up a couple of spots, but I’ll keep them here for now.  Write this down: this will be the most improved playoff team from last season, and they might even make a playoff run.

7) Denver Nuggets – Needless to say I’m not drinking the same cool-aid as many other NBA experts.  I got to see this team a couple weeks ago in Portland, and everything I saw scared me.  Carmelo Anthony is a punk.  George Karl doesn’t seem to care or have any control over this team.  The team is extremely thin outside of about seven players, and none of them would be considered model citizens capable of keeping an even keel through tough times.  The talent on this team will get them into the playoffs, however I am expecting a huge drop from last season’s performance.  If this team disappoints, things could get ugly with the attitudes of Carmelo, Kenyon Martin, and JR Smith.

8) Los Angeles Clippers – I cannot remember the last time this squad would have cracked my playoff list, and the only reason they aren’t higher is because Mike Dunleavy is the worst coach in the league.  Think about how much talent they have.  Baron Davis is just a couple years removed from an All-Star level of play, and when he got back in shape this off-season, he began making a statement as to where he sees this team going this season.  Eric Gordon and Al Thornton are two young players many people haven’t heard about, but Gordon has the potential to become a 25 ppg scorer and Thornton has the athletic ability to become a freak in this league.  All this is combined with the presence of two of the top fifteen centers in the league in Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby makes the Clippers a solid team across the board.  The best part of all of this is the fact that Blake Griffin won’t have to carry this team by himself, but will have time to settle in and grow before he takes over like everyone is expecting him to.

9) Oklahoma City Thunder – Maybe this is more a pick with my heart than my head, but how can any NBA fan not be excited about this team?  Kevin Durant is just a few years away from placing himself among the league’s best players ever, and now he has been surrounded by a lot of young supporting talent to compliment him.  If Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green, and James Harden can all contribute and grow this season this team could challenge for the final playoff spot, however I still feel they are a year (if not more) away from being a real threat in the west.

10) Houston Rockets – There is not a single guy on this roster capable of making an NBA All-Star team, and yet no one would be surprised if they made the playoffs.  Trevor Ariza was a great acquisition, however he is a great role player, whereas in Houston he will be expected to be the focal point of this offense.  I think the combination of Aaron Brooks and Kyle Lowry will provide a lot of firepower from the point guard spot, but this team will need to find a lot more sources of offense in order to be successful.  When Luis Scola is your best returning player, the future cannot look bright, and yet the Rockets always seem to make it work.

11) Phoenix Suns– This shows how deep the West is this season.  The Suns are a six-seed at worst in the East, and here I have them three spots out of the playoffs.  This team will score a lot, but play zero defense, and I cannot see that as a recipe for success.  Steve Nash is still one of the best players in the league, but Amare seems checked out and old, while Jason Richardson and Leandro Barbosa are not players capable of carrying the Suns back to the playoffs alongside Nash.  When Channing Frye is your starting center, a guy who was about the last guy off the bench last season in Portland, things aren’t looking promising.  Alvin Gentry doesn’t last the season in Phoenix, while Steve Kerr starts reconsidering the offense-only approach the team has held for the past decade.

12) Golden State Warriors – When your best player is Stephen Jackson, and when Stephen Jackson starts doing his best Ron Artest impression, YIKES.  Stephen Curry is going to be thrown right into the fire this season, but this is a team built just like Phoenix with even less talent and less defense across the board.  Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins are both young stars in this league, but until they get out of Oakland, or this team is remodeled, their ceilings are significantly lower than they should be.  Don Nelson should have lost this job years ago, and until the atmosphere here changes significantly, or Stephen Jackson is traded for two good-guy all-stars, this team will continue to look up at the playoffs.

13) Minnesota Timberwolves – Al Jefferson is destined to become the next Kevin Garnett.  He’s the only guy on a terrible Minnesota team, and with the disaster that was the draft last season, things aren’t getting any better.  Kevin Love will start the season injured, but alongside Al Jeff, this could develop into one of the top frontlines in the league.  Ramon Sessions could have a breakout year this season, but the talent outside of those three is just not there for them to be good anytime soon.

14) Memphis Grizzlies – There is no question about the amount of talent here.  The problem is whether there is enough room in the state of Tennessee for the egos of Zach Randolph, Allen Iverson, and OJ Mayo.  I just cannot possibly see this working, and the problem is that things aren’t getting any better anytime soon.  They wanted Zach Randolph, and then signed AI even though they are loaded at the point guard position.  The management might be worse than the chemistry in this organization, and they should simply be thankful they aren’t last.

15) Sacramento Kings – The lack of talent here is mind-blowing.  Kevin Martin is good, but shouldn’t be the best player on any team, anywhere.  Tyreke Evans is my pick for Rookie of the Year, because he has the size and athleticism to be a star in this league, not to mention he’s the second best player on a team with no hope of succeeding.  The starting lineup is rounded out by three guys who would be fighting for roster spots on any of my playoff teams above.  My how things have changed since a decade ago and the glory days of C-Webb, Bibby, and Peja.