Rankings

1. SA
2. Phoenix [they got better, with the QR trade IMO]
3. Houston [we beat out Dallas after Swift signing]
4. Dallas
5. Denver
6. Seattle
7. Lakers
8. Minnesota [Memphis & Sacramento will compete here]

 

1. SA
2. Houston [we will replace SA soon]
3. Dallas [still have a lot of talents even Dirk is soft]
4. Phoenix [they are melting down. The faked best coach can not do good D]
5. Denver [if out of injury]
6. GS [they are coming]
7. Kings [down hill]
8. Wolves [for KG]

 

You got it right. Golden State is on the come and Seattle is out. 6,7,8 are interchangable at this point. Seattle, Memphis, Utah, and Lakers will round out 9-12.

 

I like this one, too. My only changes:

7. Wolves
8. Clippers!

Just missed the cut: Kings, Jazz, Grizzlies

 

Unfortunately, we will be the 4th seeded team in the west, since the 3 division winners will take the first 3 spots. Unless, of course, we beat out SA.

 

I'd rank only the Spurs ahead of the Rockets right now. I'm not saying Houston will have the 2nd best record in the West necessarily, but only San Antonio scares me in a playoff series if both teams are healthy.

With the exception of the lopsided Game 7 loss, the Rockets and Mavs were closely matched last season, and Houston has improved greatly with the acquisition of Stromile Swift. Meanwhile the Mavs are on the verge of cutting Michael Finley who killed the Rockets in those Game 3, 4 and 5(remember the out-of-bounds strip?) losses.

Phoenix never scared me last year, and they won't this year either. Especially if they lose Joe Johnson. The Rockets know how to defend Amare. And the Suns have no answer for Yao or T-Mac.

Denver could have a really good record this year(they went an insane 23-2 last season at one stretch), but they're a team with no dominant go-to guy, so I don't see them being a threat in the playoffs once again.

Seattle got worse with the losses of Antonio Daniels, Jerome James, and Nate McMillan. And they may lose Radman too. Plus let's not forget the Rockets were already a much better team than the Sonics last season. The only reason they finished a game behind Seattle was because of their 6-11 start.

Golden State, LA(Fakers and Clippers), and Utah should be better next season, but not enough to scare the Rockets.

Portland, Minnesota, and Memphis won't improve much if they don't add any impact players through free agency or trades.

Sacramento will be worse.

New Orleans....well, they're the Hornets.

 

The west has never been this deep!

In a league of thier own

1. Spurs (They have Duncan and Manu and Pop, enough said)

Can still contend for it all

2. Suns (Amare will win the MVP next year)
3. Houston ( We will finish 2nd in our division but will win close to 60)

Playoff Bound with out a doubt

4. Denver ( To much talent here and a good coach)
5. Dallas ( They need to make a move to stay with the pack)

Will Slide into the top 8

6. Lakers ( Kobe and Phil are both working hard as I write this)
7 Clippers ( Tons of solid players with Livingston, Mobley, Maggete, Brand)
8. Jazz ( AK47, Deron Williams and Sloan get them in again)

On the bubble but have a shot to see the post season

10. Wolves ( KG will have to fight for himself in the deep west)
11.Sonics (No Ad No Nate, means no playoffs)
12.Kings ( They are falling quickly out of the west)
13. Memphis ( Loss of Swift and no major moves pushes out this team)

Lottery Bound

14. Portland ( Some talent here but is to young to stay with the pack)
15. Hornets ( Lets see what Paol can do)

 

I can not rank us as high as #2 until our back court is sorted out. With the current back court there are to many ???? We will certainly have a superior front court but our guard play is important also.

 

1. Spurs(Guys have players in some countries that we don't even know exist who are probably shooting lights out as we speak)

2. Rockets(Swift is athletic, can finish and block shots, Tmac and Yao another year together should be beautiful, our seasoned vets are the key thought)

3. Suns(MVP and Man Child along with the other monster Marion should finish strong again)

4. Mavs(I hate them but they do have a squad guys, a squad full of shooters and shooters)

5. Warriors(They came out hard in the end last year with the Baron in Terran and they have a full court game that can give the Kings a run for their money, a future number two or three team)

6. Nuggets(Carmelo and company will have to represent like they did last year. Kenyon's great and Earl Boykins is one of my favorites, I wish we could trade for him)

7. Lakers(Yeah I know, Phil's back, blah blah. Kobe and Kwame, lol, not so intimidating but they'll slide in to the playoffs.)

8. T-Wolves(Look, Garnett is not going to be sitting out two years in a row, I don't care what you say, the kid has too much heart and talent.)

 

Ranking not playoff site.
1. Spurs
2. Mavs
3. Suns(if Joe Johnson stays)
Sonics(if all other FA stay)
Nuggets(if they find a pure SG)
otherwise, Rockets
4. Nuggets
5. Sonics
6. Suns
7. Warriors
8. Wolves

 

These projections are a wee bit premature. Let's wait at least a couple of days after the CBA is finalized. After the initial flurry of activity, things should be fairly clear.
I still hope the Rockets have a couple of key moves left. If they improve the backcourt enough, I'll rank them up with the Spurs in the West and behind no one in the East. If we don't improve the backcourt...oh well.

 

Judging right now:

1. Spurs
2. Suns
3. Houston
4. Dallas
5. Nuggets
6. Kings
7. Lakers
8. Wolves or Warriors

 

All of these rankings are all about the same in the sense that the Rockets and Mavericks will have a re-match in the Western Conference Play-Offs. I really wish they would do away with the division winners automatically getting a Top 3 seed. At least the best record gets home court at least.

 

1. San Antonio Spurs
2. Houston Rockets
3. Phoenix Suns
4. Dallas Mavericks
5. Denver Nuggets
6. Sacramento Kings
7. Golden State Warriors
8. Seattle Supersonics

 

First half-
SA
Phoenix (JoJo stays)
Dallas
Denver
Houston
Kings
Clippers
Lakers


Post Allstar break and season finish-
SA
Houston
Dallas
Denver
Phoenix
Kings
Jazz
Lakers

Sac has the stability and a good offense. Jazz have an efficient system that traditionally gets better in the second half. Kobe will play nice with Phil.

 

None of the playoff-bound teams scare me anymore, WE JUST LANDED SWIFT! SA is going to play one-on-one defense with us for the Western Conference Championship. I'll take Houston's bench over theirs with JH, JB, and Mt. Mutombo! This season will be sweet! =)

 

1. Houston
2. Who cares.

There, I said it. With T-mac on the perimeter and Swift and Yao in the paint, this has all the makings of a dominant defense. And Yao and T-mac have only scratched the surface of what they can do together offensively. I mean, they didn't even use the high screen and roll as a goto move until the playoffs. Swift will get a ton of easy shots in the paint off of attention thrown at our two stars. If this team can gain some chemistry, then we could be VERY good on both sides of the ball.

 

Wow. We have some excitable folks on here tonight. 2nd? 3rd? That is nothing more than late night crazy talk.

I can't imagine us being higher than we were last year.

1. Spurs
2. Suns
3. Mavs
4. Sonics
5. ROX
6. Kings
7. Lakers
8. Nuggets

As much as we like Swift... he hasn't done anything in his career up to this point that is to get excited about. He isn't half the player JHoward is. I would be suprised if he pushed us over the edge. We still need some other parts.

And we can't dismiss how good the Spurs, Suns and Mavs are.

 

I actually think a healthy Juwan is just as important to the Rockets as Swift. The difference between next year and this year is having two solid PFs instead of zero in the playoffs.