NBA Western Conference Preview
Playoff Seedings and Lottery Teams From the West For 2007/08
The West has long been the powerhouse conference in the NBA. With the East improving, will they dominate again this season?
Playoff Teams and Seedings
1) Phoenix Suns: The Suns made some subtle moves and it will be interesting to see if they come off. Adding Grant Hill provides more leadership to go along with Nash but the loss of Kurt Thomas will hurt down low. With Shawn Marion possibly seeking to get out it may be a turbulent ride of running and gunning.
2) Dallas Mavericks: After the meltdown in the playoffs, it would be easy to write the Mavs off. Do so at your own peril. This team was so mismatched against a red hot Warriors unit that things just fell apart. Dirk and co. will have learned from the experience and be out for revenge.
3) Houston Rockets: Point guard issues aside, this team is very strong. Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, new boy Luis Scola, Bonzi Wells - the list of talent is long. Can they hold it together and avoid injuries? If so, this will be one of the best teams in the league.
4) Utah Jazz: Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams are forming a modern-day Malone and Stockton duo. Boozer is almost unstoppable down low and Williams showed stellar play in the playoffs. With Mehmet Okur draining threes and AK47 providing wicked defense they are a very hard team to match up with. Should win the Northwest.
5) San Antonio Spurs: The defending champs are part of the extremely tough Texas triangle with Dallas and Houston. Aside from seedings, tt won’t affect them and they will casually go about their season racking up wins and peaking at the right time. The team is so reliable and features so many interchangeable parts that even if they are seeded 5th, they will still be capable of advancing to the Finals.
6) Denver Nuggets: The end of last season saw Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony, two of the leagues top scorers, seemingly co-exist. If this continues, you can throw in Marcus Camby, Nene and JR Smith and you have a superb starting five. If they continue to gel and avoid injury (Camby in particular) they will rock some boats and make a deep run in the playoffs.
7) Los Angeles Lakers: Any team with Kobe Bryant will compete. Whether Kobe sticks around long enough to take the Lakers to the playoffs is questionable. He has been the main focus of trade talks in the NBA for several weeks now and it is very likely he will be traded in the near future. How the Lakers fare depends very much on this situation.
8) Golden State Warriors: It was hard to not get caught up in the buzz during the Warriors playoff run. They hit the playoffs red hot and forced Dallas into playing their style of ball. Baron Davis will run the team again and look to continue the style of play that worked so well. The loss of Jason Richardson will hurt but this team is still capable of big upsets.
Lottery Time (no particular order)
Seattle Supersonics: Kevin Durant is almost a lock for Rookie of the Year but aside from that, things look grim in Seattle.
Portland Trailblazers: Number one pick Greg Oden is out for the season. It means no playoffs but at least the young guns can get some experience under their belt preparing for next season.
Memphis Grizzlies: Missing star Pau Gasol for most of last year contributed to their lowly finish. With a full strength lineup including some promising young players, the Grizzlies will certainly improve but will fall short of the playoffs.
Los Angeles Clippers: Any semblance of a shot at the playoffs lives and dies with Elton Brand and whether he returns from his Achilles injury. Things are not so pleasant for LA’s ‘other’ team
Sacramento Kings: Mike Bibby is out for 6 weeks. Ron Artest is involved in trade rumors (and always a danger of going off the rails). Brad Miller is sporting cornrows. If it weren’t for young star Kevin Martin this team would be comical.
New Orleans Hornets: This is a decent team who will just miss the playoffs. Chris Paul is a superstar in the making and the likes of David West, Peja Stojakovic and Tyson Chandler form a nice group of support players.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Trading Kevin Garnett was basically unavoidable and was always going to send the Wolves into rebuilding mode. Snagging Al Jefferson in the deal offers hope. Trading leading man Ricky Davis to Miami for Antoine Walker was a headscratcher.
NBA Eastern Conference Preview
