What do you think it'll look like? 1. Clippers - don't think they have what it takes to go deep, but could win the most games in the regular season with the added shooters and Doc. 2. Thunder - Westbrook injury will hurt, and they need to find another scorer, but Durant is still entering his prime, him and lebron are in a class of their own with respect to their teams wins and losses. 3. Spurs - Duncan being a year older will be more than offset by tony p still in his prime, Leonard improving and ginobili to have a bounce back year. 4. Rockets - I think the top 3 teams and the rox can be interchangeable, but will just assume there will be an adjustment period with Dwight. All four teams records will be very close 5. Memphis - don't know why they're so good, but don't see them regressing from last year 6. Dallas - I'm sure most of you disagree, but I think this team will be slept on. Dirk missed a considerable amount of time last year and they didn't miss the playoffs by much. Upgraded at point guard, dalembert will compliment dirk with his defense and Rick Carlisle will coach him and monta the right way. 7. Warriors - I think the team gelled the right way last year, but I see it as them overachieving. Bogut being healthy will be a huge plus, but I feel like Iggy won't fit their offense, and losing Landry and Jack will be more critical than they anticipated. 8. Denver - had trouble with this last pick. I don't think it'll be minny, love will have to prove he's elite and not just going by his stats, Rubio is great but still has to grow, something always go wrong for Portland, pelicans made a lot of flashy moves but Davis is their only real star, and I feel like Lakers will win more than what people expect but just by looking at their team on paper, no way. Denver by default, and cuz they made it last year.
<PRE>Thunder 60 Rockets 58 Clippers 57 Spurs 56 Grizzlies 56 Warriors 50 Mavericks 43 Blazers 42 Nuggets 42 Timberwolves 41 Pelicans 37 Kings 31 Lakers 28 Jazz 26 Suns 25</PRE>
I have been higher on the thunder then the average fan for 4 years running. But if Westbrook is not back very soon I see them at the 5th or 6th seed.
Thunder are dropping off, I don't see the Spurs dropping at all actually, Clips are up, Rockets are up, Warriors are up, Grizz are slightly better or equal. Those are obviously the top 6. Spurs Clips Rockets (interchangeable with Thunder) Thunder (^) Warriors Grizzlies Wolves Mavs or Blazers
SAS, HOU, LAC, MEM, GSW, OKC... no idea about the order. Should be pretty close. Pop will rest guys. Who knows about Westbrook's knee. OKC still might do some trade. As might the Rockets. At some point, anyway. You never know with Curry's ankle... etc. I've talked myself into the Mavs as the 7th seed. Still not sure about #8.
OKC being without WB really hurts them. I think that'll cost them a top 4 seed. SA (59-23) HOU (57-25. Hold tiebreak) LAC (57-25) MEM (55-27) OKC (52-30) GSW (49-33) POR (43-41) NO (42-40)
Who knows? You certainly do not. Might as well be putting money on the roulette table. Hey fans take your best shot at something that cannot be predicted! Injuries, trades, roster fits, ................. Christ give me a break. At least wait till 20 games in the season. Do not join the unfounded predictions of MSM.
OKC - Durant is still Durant, but lack of Westbrook will lead to slower than expected start. Reggie Jackson is not Russel Westbrook, but will be enough to keep OKC with the best record in the NBA(Ibaka needs to improve aswell, and Jeremy Lamb needs to show something on the NBA Level) Clippers - Will be a better regular season team than playoff team, CP3 and Doc will work great together though. Blake and DeAndre need to improve for this team to make more noise in the playoffs though Rockets - Chemistry, the 4 spot, and Omer Asik need to be figured out, but determined Dwight will help guide team into top 3. Harden's d will improve dramatically as the pressure is taken off of him, CP25 becomes a full force fringe all star, Jeremy will be better than most think, and supporting cast will be one of best in the league Golden State - Igudala is a big improvement to a weakness, but losing Jack and Landry hurts bench with injury proned stars in Bogut and Curry. If Curry stays healthy, he will challenge for scoring title, and cement himself as one of the greatest pure shooters of all time. Has western conference wildcard written all over them Spurs - Fifth may seem low, but with Duncan and Ginobili aging, I see Pop resting them more, sacrificing a higher seat for another playoff push. Kawai Lenard will push for an all star spot, and the Spurs will push OKC to 7 games in the playoffs. Also another wildcard team Memphis - The lack of scoring on the perimeter will hurt them if not addressed. Will still be near top of league in defense, and Mike Conley will improve even more. Offense will hold team back. Dallas - Dirk doesn't like missing playoffs, and Calderon and Monta will help Mavs be high scoring team, with enough to get back into the playoffs. Denver/Minnesota - The battle for the last 2 playoff spots will be wide open. Denver seems poised for regression, and will suffer until Galinari comes back. Minnesota can make it if they avoid the injury bug.
I agree that the first 4 seeds will be pretty much interchangeable then 5 and 6 will be in another class while 7 and 8 will be interchangeable as well. My rankings are the following: 1. Spurs: They are the defending West champs and they stayed relatively stable this off season (i.e not losing or gaining anyone too significant) so they won't have that "adjustment" other teams will. The Marco Bellineli signing could be big though - 57 wins 2. Rockets: We all know the preseason means nothing, but you'd have to be blind not to see this team is for real. Once (not if) the H&H pick and roll becomes a staple, watch out! Lin looks improved as well. Let's see how fast things mesh - 55 wins 3. OKC: I kind of want to out them lower but Kevin Durant won't let that happen. Westbrook, I don't see coming back at full strength until January but Durant can carry them those 2 months. He will get MVP, I think. Who will be the number 3 option? - 54 wins 4. Clippers: I really like their team on paper outside of Griffin and Jordan. Those two need to grow more offensively outside of dunking, but CP3 surrounded by deadly shooters with an amazing coach will be dangerous - 53 wins 5. Warriors: I like this team too. Probably be the most exciting team to watch with the Rockets. The only thing with them is Curry's ankles and Bogut's health. If Curry goes down for extended time, it won't be pretty. - 49 wins 6. Grizzles: Their defense is really good but score enough to win in the offensive heavy West? Love Z-Bo but in the NBA today, you need an elite to very good perimeter player or else they will just focus on Z-Bo and Gasol. - 48 wins 7. Wolves: Health permitting, I think this team is Adelman's '09-'11 teams supercharged. The will certainly be fun to watch and Martin signing is going to be huge for them. All they needed was to be healthy and a solid shooting guard in that core. - 44 wins 8. Mavs: They are going to score a lot of points and give up a lot of points. They are going to be a poor man's '12-'13 Rockets teams plus an aging Dirk. - 43 wins 9. Portland: If Lillard becomes matures and LMA and Batum are healthy then they will be the 8th seed. They built a pretty solid bench. - 42 wins 10. Denver: They had so much turnover this offseason that it think they are going to slip the most. They are going to be an entertaining team though with Javale, Nate Robinson and Anthony Randolph. Their season depends on when Galo comes back - 42 wins 11. Jazz: Jazz suck hahaha - 40 wins 12. Laker: Keep dreaming LA. Lebron isn't coming - 34 wins 13. Pelicans - 34 wins 14. Sacramento - 33 wins 15. Suns - tanking. - 24 wins
The Western Conference is too unpredictable at this point, which is why the playoffs will be so exciting. But I will give my best predictions 1. Clippers (Will be a good regular season team) 2. Spurs (We all know this one) 3. Thunder (Westbrook's injury is the only reason they are 3rd) 4. Rockets (It will take time for the team to gel and learn the half court set) 5. Warriors (Good talent but injuries will be an issue) 6. Grizzlies (Amazing defense but their lack of consistent offense will prevent them from winning games, but in the playoffs they will do amazing, and once again will face the Clippers for a dog match LOLs) 7. Nuggets (Too much turnaround LOL) 8. Timberwolves (This spot is actually up for grabs)
1. Clippers. At stretches last season this team was just dominant. Dudley and Reddick additions help. Griffin is getting serious about winning. DJ is in great shape. 2. Rockets. Two stars, depth, and importantly, size. This team is big, talented and deep. 3. OKC. KD, Ibaka and Reggie Jackson will continue to improve, Lamb will contribute. But loss of Martin and injury to Westbrook will hurt. 4. SAS. I see mental hangover from the heartbreaking loss in the Finals. 5. Golden State. The three young guys will continue to improve (Curry, Barnes, Klay). Addition of Iggy is huge. Speighes and Tony Dougleas give you 80-85% of what Jack and Landry provided. 6. Memphis. Prince is on the decline curve, everyone else is about the same as last year. The team did not improve, while many others in the West did. Mike Miller will not be a factor. 7. Portland. This team had a very legit starting five, but truly atrocious bench. They improved a lot in that regard. Legit Center in Lopez. TRob will contribute. 8. Denver. Lost a lot in Coach Karl, Iggy, Brewer, Koufas... galo injured. Still, how much do you deteriorate from a 57 win season? Still faves to make the playoffs. J.J. Hickson, Foye, Nate are good additions. Bigs rotation of Gavale, Faried, Mozgov, Arthur is strong. Young French guy is promising. 9. Minnesotta. Talent to make the playoffs if healthy, but quotes from training camp smell of dysfunction. This seems like this year's team that will crumble under heightened expectations. 10. Lakers. This team will have a surprisingly good start. They have signed first grade talent reclamation projects: Wes Johnson, Xavier Henry, Nick Young, Shawne Williams. Some of that group along with Jodie Meeks will mesh very well with Nash and get it together. Then, when expectations grow, dysfunction will settle in: Kobe will come back and start hogging the ball to get his rhythm back, Nash will start breaking down, calls to "trade Kobe", etc... 11. Dallas. I like Dirk and Carlsyle, but this is an atrocious defensively group. 12. Pelicans. They will be in the mix for awhile, but lack of size hurts them. 13. Sacto. There will be progress, but not a lot. 14. Utah. Midseason the Burke-Burks-Hayword-Favours-Canter group will play very well for awhile. 15. Pho. Looking to trade Dragic and Gortat for picks and young talent.
1. Clippers 2. Spurs (Spurs *should* be 1st, but we know Pops will be sending his players on vacations at just the right times to tick off Stern. 3/4/5/6 Rockets/OKC/Memphis/Golden State. These 4 can fall anywhere in here. Rockets are working out chemistry. OKC is weaker with the loss of Martin. Memphis lost Hollins. And GS overperformed last year but picked up some nice players in the off season. 7-9 Denver, Minnesota, Dallas. Real dog fight down here. Denver will still be good, but they lost Iggy, the COY and the GMOY. Dallas picked up a few decent pieces and Dirk will be 100%. Still, Dallas is a mess defensively. Minnesota is the same as last year. Good team on paper, health is a HUGE question mark. In theory Portland could crack into 7-9, but I still don't feel like they've developed enough as a team given how ridiculously strong the West is this year. I'll call them the 2011 Rockets. They'll break .500 and just miss the play offs.
I saw LA and thought "what an idiot, he thinks Lakers gonna be third in west" then I realized you were talking about Clippers . Crazy to think how much the Lakers - Clippers dynamic has changed...
There are too many healthy unknowns right now to be somewhat accurate right now. Here is what we do know now- Pure contenders- #1. -Spurs - 55+ wins #2. -Clippers - 55+ wins Playoff teams that "could be" contenders- #3. -OKC - (healthy Westbrook & a young player must step up) - 50 to 57 wins #4. -Rockets (chemistry must mesh well) - 48 to 58 wins #5. -Warriors- (chemistry with new pieces and health) - 48 to 55 wins -Playoff teams w/flaws to contend- (ranked lower because of lower upside) #6. -Memphis- 50 to 53 wins Teams on the bubble with alot of questions- 7 through 12 in no particular order. -Dallas - (Chemistry of Ellis/Dirk & team defense are the major questions. 8th seed at best with talent on roster) -Minnesota - (Health & Love staying makes this team a potential 8th seed) -Portland (Health of Aldridge & Lillard taking next step forward could move them up to 8th seed at best) -Denver (took a big step back but still will be competitive enough to compete for 8th seed) -New Orleans (depends on emergence of Davis & health of Gordon) -Lakers - (depends on health of Kobe & trades made) Teams that have a bad roster & should not be competitive #13. -Sacramento #14. -Utah #15. -Phoenix .................................................................................................... So right now, I can rank teams 1 through 6, but from that point on, its a huge guessing game depending on a wide range of variables.
