I looked at the standing and it looks like all 8 playoff teams might finish with 50 wins. Has that ever happened before? Next year there might be 12 teams with a chance to make the playoffs: The current 8 + rockets + griz + NO + clip (They get griffin + they have money to sign someone, but they are the clippers). And I don't really see any of the top 8 teams really falling off except maybe the spurs. The NBA needs to redo their seeding system cause teams in the west are really at a disadvantage.
It sucks being in the west but think of it this way: now pretty much every game matters during the regular season. Think dropping a game to a team like th wizards next year means nothing? Well it might mean the difference between getting into the playoffs and gon'fishin. It makes for a more exciting and amped up season. You think next season is gonna be bad for the rockets?think about how this place is gonna be
Clippers won't do ****, they are the clippers New Orleans isn't good enough to make the playoffs THe Suns will not have Amare next season Memphis will lose Rudy Gay and still don't have a PG
Th West is the West, its been like this for at least a decade. The East is still the Leastern Conference, at last for now.
It' impossible for 12 teams to be above 12.. If more teams improve, they will convert loses into wins, therefore takign wins away from other teams. Now if they only take awaywins from east teams, that would suck. Anyway, this is nothing new. Last year was also very right. Its funny how The west is much deeper, however the east has more elite teams. (Cavs, Orlando, Boston) to The Wests' one (LAkers). I don't know if Boston is elite these days though.
Lakers, Jazz and hopefully Rockets will be elite next season. Jazz because they are getting a TOP draft pick to join their team. Rockets because I see us having a decent draft pick, plus the ability to acquire any FA who would like to play for the Rockets. I really think we're going to be top 3 next season, even if we stand pat with draft picks and MLE.
Unless the Knicks give them a top 3 pick (they're 9th right now), I don't expect much change from the Jazz. Boozer is almost certainly on the way out, and the lottery pick will just be used to replace him.
Jazz will most likely lose Boozer to free agency. That would be a huge loss for them. OK city might be an elite team and you cant write off the the Mavs (yuck) either.
07-08 The Denver Nuggets were the 8th seed with 50 wins. The Golden State Warriors missed the play-offs with 48 wins that season.
It would still take the Clippers another year to make an impact because John Wall has to go through his season ending injury as a rookie.
On the other hand, a few relative decent teams will be getting lotto picks both this year (Houston, Memphis, New Orleans) and next (whoever falls outside of top 8) -- and a chance (slim, but still a chance) of getting a top 3 pick. Meanwhile, Eastern teams with comparable records (Chicago, Toronto, Charlotte, etc.) won't be getting that help. There are only 4 teams in the East whose records would put them in the playoffs in the west. But things are always fluid. Free agency can change things (though, interestingly enough, most of the big FAs are from the East... so if anyone of them goes West, it'll make life even more competitive). So can the ddraft, trades, injury and age.
The West has been like this for the better part of a decade now. Some teams will fall, some teams will rise but by-and-large it'll be the same level of competition as it has been every year which means you have to win AT LEAST 50 games to have a chance (even to make the 8th seed some years such as this one).
