Northwest
1. Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder enter the season with a significant injury to Russell Westbrook suffered in the first round of the playoffs last year and without super bench scorer Kevin Martin who was allowed to leave via free agency. While there has been a lot of criticism of Westbrook’s game, he helps lighten the load so that Kevin Durant does not have to carry an entire team. Westbrook’s absence showed in the playoffs when Durant had monster games but faded at the end of games as he had to do too much. Nevertheless, the Thunder still have plenty of good, talented players for the regular season. Durant is the second best player in the NBA behind Lebron James and the supporting cast is still good enough to win 50 games. Serge Ibaka will have an opportunity to break out as the Thunder will need more production from him. Young and talented point guard Reggie Jackson has the chance to play in Westbrook’s absence.
2. Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets are one of the most entertaining teams to watch with their fast paced offense. They are deep and athletic. They are incredibly difficult to deal with in the regular season. However, the games slow down in the playoffs and the Nuggets do not have a superstar to go to in big moments. The Nuggets changed coaches from George Karl to Brian Shaw. Shaw has been a highly respected assistant in recent years and will finally get a chance to be a head coach. He will be fine. Nevertheless, I anticipate the Nuggets facing the same issues in the playoffs that they have had in the past. As such, they will put up a lot of regular season wins but will not have a deep playoff run.
3. Minnesota Timberwolves
The Timberwolves are a team that need to take a step forward and make the playoffs this year so they can convince superstar Kevin Love to stay with them long term. They also re-signed a very good and productive center in Nikola Pekovic to secure an excellent front court. They also added veteran scorer Kevin Martin to fill their hole at shooting guard. With a healthy Ricky Rubio at point guard and a healthy Kevin Love entering the season, the Timberwolves have enough talent to make the playoffs.
4. Portland Trailblazers
Rookie of the year Damian Lillard is a tremendous young point guard. The Blazers have a very good young core comprised of Lillard, Nicolas Batum, and Lamarcus Aldridge. The Blazers have put together up and coming teams before but been a victim to terrible injuries (e.g. Greg Oden, Brandon Roy, etc.). Hopefully, this group can stay healthy. They will definitely challenge for a playoff spot this year.
5. Utah Jazz
The Jazz are a team in transition as they allowed veteran big men Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap to leave via free agency and turned over the reins to two talented big men, Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter. Moreover, they drafted rookie point guard Trey Burke. Promising guard Gordon Hayward has improved every year in the NBA and the Jazz hope that trajectory continues. I agree with the direction to transition to younger players as their team peaked as a lower seed in the West. Nevertheless, there will be growing pains.
Pacific
1. Los Angeles Clippers
“Lob City” was already one of the most athletic and deepest teams. They made some key acquisitions adding JJ Reddick and Jared Dudley to improve their outside shooting. Darren Collison, Antawn Jamison, and Byron Mullens are also good pickups for the bench. The criticisms of the Clippers are lack of toughness and inability to play in the slower paced, half court game during the playoffs. However, it is a typical problem for young teams until they finally figure it out. They brought in Doc Rivers as the head coach to help teach the Clippers how to be champions. He is a brilliant teacher, leader, and coach. He will preach tough defense and execution. He can help elevate the games of superstars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. I expect Paul to be a perfect student for Rivers as Paul pushed for the Clippers to hire the coach. The Clippers’ championship aspirations depend on Grffin’s development. He is already very productive and a human highlight reel. However, he needs to improve on defense and in his half court offense for the Clippers to take the next step. I expect the Rivers era to be very successful and the Clippers to make a deep playoff run.
2. Golden State Warriors
The Warriors have a young and athletic team. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are the best shooting backcourt in the NBA. The acquisition of Andre Iguodala adds another athlete and great perimeter defender to their team. Andrew Bogut and David Lee are also good big men that fit into the system. However, the Warriors are similar to the Nuggets with the caveat that they have a potential star in Curry that can create and hit big shots down the stretch of games. I expect the Warriors to be very dangerous of the playoffs as they can be lights out in their shooting in a playoff series. However, they depend too much on their jump shot and it is tough to sustain it through a deep playoff run.
3. Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers have a history of signing or acquiring other teams’ superstars. It finally happened against them as the Houston Rockets signed away Dwight Howard. However, I did not think the Lakers were more than a lower seed in the West even with Howard. Without Howard, they are depending on an aged Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant coming off serious injury, and an older Pau Gasol. While Kobe is a fighter and I would not bet against him, he is still coming off a major injury. I expect Gasol to play better because there are not many other options to go to but he is not the player he once was when he first joined the Lakers. The Lakers will contend for a playoff spot but they will not be anywhere near the Championship.
4. Phoenix Suns
The Suns made a big acquisition by trading for young point guard Eric Bledsoe from the Clippers. Bledsoe finally has a chance to be a star out of Chris Paul’s shadow. While Goran Dragic and Bledsoe form a promising backcourt, the Suns still need a lot of other pieces.
5. Sacramento Kings
The Kings allowed talented wing player Tyreke Evans to leave via free agency. However, he is inconsistent and I agree with the decision to not invest big dollars in him. They will move forward with Demarcus Cousins as the building block. He is immature but can be a great big man. Shaquille O’Neal bought a minority interest in the team. As such, the hope is that Shaq can take Cousins under his wing and help him mature and develop. Draft pick Ben McClemore is another reason to watch the team. However, the Kings are still in full rebuild mode.
Southwest
1. San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs were painfully close to winning the NBA Finals. They were 1 rebound or 1 free throw within the last minute of Game 6 from winning the Championship. They will probably have the best record again in the West. They have a deep team that knows how to run Gregg Popovich’s system perfectly. They also added Marco Belinelli to help the bench. Nevertheless, their core has aged another year. Kawhi Leonard looked like a potential star in the Finals. They will need him to develop into one so that Tony Parker and he can lead a deep playoff run while Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili serve as role players.
2. Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies play great defense and are tough. Their front line of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph will punish you. They also have great perimeter defenders in Tony Allen, Tayshaun Prince, and Mike Conley. Their problem is a go to scorer. Conley will need to continue to progress and become that player. He made significant strides in his development after the Rudy Gay trade in the middle of last season. I expect big things from Conley and this team.
3. Houston Rockets
The Rockets made the biggest splash in the offseason signing Dwight Howard from the Lakers to add to a solid core of young players including James Harden, Chandler Parsons, and Jeremy Lin. While they will be exciting to watch, I do not think they are title contenders. They will need to learn to play with each other and play team defense. Moreover, their personalities are players that want to have fun with winning a desirable but secondary consideration. As such, I do not think they have a burning desire to win at this point.
4. New Orleans Pelicans
They changed their name from the Hornets to the Pelicans. They also made some big offseason acquisitions by trading for point guard Jrue Holiday and signing Tyeke Evans. Combined with an injury prone Eric Gordon, they potentially form a dominant perimeter trio. Nevertheless, the Pelicans will go as far as big man Anthony Davis carries them. He has looked great in preseason and the Pelicans are primed to take a gigantic step forward.
5. Dallas Mavericks
Since the Mavericks won the title, Mark Cuban has failed to sign a superstar to team with Dirk Nowitzki. As such, they have gone to plan B and acquired Jose Calderon and Monta Ellis. Calderon is a solid point guard and facilitator. Ellis is an excellent scorer. While they are a good offensive backcourt, the Mavericks are far from a top team. They
About Matt Cargile
Matt Cargile is the Editor in Chief of rookerville.com. He also works in finance, but refuses to read any news printed on pink paper. He is a child at heart with adult means. His childhood dream was to either become a magician or the leader of the next great empire and somehow both these things make complete sense. He's contradictory in nature, but is always consistent.
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