The Rockets will be adding an All-Star to their roster in Yao. Adding an all-star to an already .500 ball club will be huge. plus, the Grizzlies will not be losing Rudy Gay, they are going to match any offer that he receives, unless it's a max contract because Gay is definately not a max contract player. Next years Western Conference: Lakers (Kobe just signed extension) Nuggets (Carmelo will take any team to the playoffs) Jazz (they have 2-1st round picks) they'll be a real scary team. Hopefully Boozer will move out East though Mavericks (can't see Cuban letting them fall off, although Terry, Dirk, Marion, Kidd are all getting old) Thunder (Durant/Westbrook are gonna be in the playoff hunt for YEEAAARRRSSS to come) Grizzlies (they're gonna match any offer to Rudy Gay, and with Gasol/Mayo/Randolph, they're gonna be there) Hornets (healthy CP3 and the rookies Collison and Thornton look promising) Suns (if Stoudemire leaves they are toast) As for the Rockets....they are going to be contenders as long as Yao can stay healthy for the season, or AT LEAST the end of the season and into the playoffs. Brooks/Martin will become one of the elite backcourt tandems in the league, if not the best (besides Durant/Westbrook). I really think that with our starting lineup, and Ariza, Budinger, Hill, Lowry, Andersen, Hayes off the bench, we will have the deepest team in the league
I agree, Steve Nash isn't getting younger and if Amar'e bolts the suns are screwed. Clips won't get anywhere since griffin never is still a rookie because of his injury, and I don't see new orleans doing very well.
OKC Thunder are for real, folks. I'm excited to see how they perform in the playoffs this year. I'm rooting for OKC and Portland in the West. In the East, it's the Cavs title to lose.
itd be kinda cool if the top 16 in the league made it.1 vs 16,and so on. at least from a rockets perspective we would have had more success with yao and tmac, and some francis/yao led rockets teams inthe playoffs,the lack of playoff and 1st round droughts wouldnt have lasted so long... we would have had the bucks instead of dallas.
What a good point! With the western conf being stacked, it may not mean tons of teams with 50+ wins. For every team that wins, one has to lose. It is possible that most of the wins for western conf teams will be against sub .500 teams, but most likely many of those wins will come against other western conf powers. Take the Rox for example. Say we are a 50+ win team next year; some of our extra wins will be against the Jazz, Lakers, and other good western conf teams. That means they get an extra loss. So the point is it's all relative. Since western conf teams mostly play other western conf teams, they can't all win. Even if every single western conf team is stacked with max FAs, logistically some are going to have to lose. Doesn't make sense? Print out a schedule of NBA games and simulate what you think might happen next year. You'll see that there are only so many wins to go around.
Pairing the top 16 teams would not only be more fair for the playoffs but for the draft as well. For example, the Rockets will draft #13 or #14 this year even though teams with worse records (low seeded Eastern Conference playoff teams) will be drafting after us. The conference and division records could still be used as tie-breakers, but the playoffs would really be strong when the #1 seed plays #16; #2 plays #15; #3 plays #14, etc. By the time the finals roll around, there will be two really strong teams duking it out, and weaker teams would have a better, faster chance to improve in drafts based entirely on won-lost records (and bounce of the ping-pong balls).
The West will be VERY tough for years to come but the suspects are going to change. Portland, OKC, Utah and the Rockets will be legit contenders next season while SA, PHX, New Orleans will have issues keeping pace. Dallas and LA are both still going to be good for years to come as their cores are pretty much set in stone for a while. Memphis could be a wild card because they have the talent but I do think Gay is gone for a bigger city so they will need to replace that 3 spot. To early to tell but this is a big reason we can not just get back Yao and nothing else, we need to upgrade a few spots to complete Morey's puzzle.
Yes, but I think in the case of Rockets, they'll probably pick up more wins by consistently beating the teams they should beat instead of beating elite teams. Without looking, I think we did fairly well against them this year. I'd expect the GS and Twolves to have pitiful seasons next year.
In the prospect of having Yao (and Bosh) and the fact we've beat the grizzlies several times this year even with our underized and then Kevin Martinless team, we'll be fine and NOLA is in building mode.
The Rockets need another star IMO to be elite in the West next year, specially in order to beat the Lakers. So if the offer is still on the table for Stoudemire I would jump on it(as long as they pass the physicals), plus it wouldn't costs us Brooks...unlike the possible Bosh deal... Obviously the main guy we would be trading In a Stoudemire deal would be Scola (+ Battier & filler), which I doubt Scola denies given that we would be trading him to a playoff team along side Battier to play with former MVP Steve Nash... Brooks/Lowry Martin/Taylor Ariza/Budinger Stoudemire/ Hill Yao/ FA or (Lottery pick) --RB
nothing compare to the T-mac and the rockets saga in the GARM this year but yeah we will have great competition next year that why i think someone here want to see another star here...
The seeding as it is right now is a joke. I'm pretty sure Milwaukee, Miami, Charlotte or Toronto (= 5th-8th seed in the East) wouldn't make the playoffs if they had to play in the West. Right now, only CLE, ORL, BOS, ATL and CHA have winning records against WC teams...
If deals are still to be had, I would suspect changes to the parameters. Brooks has showed he belongs, even with that matador D; and sending him with other players for Bosh now? Also, Stoudemire has turned it on lately, playing for that next contract. The Suns do need to think about how much they want to pay a guy who won't look so brilliant down the road without Nash. We do need another star, someone who commands double-teams and/or gets respect from the refs and/or helps us get on TV (hey, you know Morey and Les were upset when we got only one national TV game this year). But looks like they won't let Scola walk for nothing, and he's gonna get a better-than-backup paycheck. And it's not like we're going to ask him sweetly to pretty please let us trade him to the Raptors or Suns. So, do we draft a 5/4 who can block shots, share minutes with Yao, and eventually replace him? Do we make a deal to bolster our near-horrific defense?
It will always be hard. You have teams in and out of the playoffs on a yearly basis that can come knocking again at any moment. I can't think of a single team in the west that is content with mediocrity either. Every single team seems to have a commitment towards improving. The Wolves, Kings, Clippers, Warriors, they all seem to be striving towards upgrading. When you do assume a team like the Hornets will scale back they bring in Okafor and find some exciting prospects. One year the Jazz are 8th, the next they could be 2nd. Its crazy out here. CRAZY.
That's a very scary team, offensively. Anyways, Spurs and Suns, I can see making large drops. Hell, even the Jazz (if they lose Boozer) or Blazers (injuries) could fall out of the picture. Rockets, Hornets, and possibly even the Grizzlies will probably be taking their spots next year.
Just makes it better when we win. We can beat any of the teams in front of us. Bleed Red Rockets Red.
Let's not get bent out of shape. Just a single sub-.500 team will make it in the East, not multiple teams. Even if we were in the East this year, it's not like we'd be a #5 seed or something. We'd be #8 at best. Look at the standings. That being said, the East does suck compared to the West. The real advantage of being in the East is in trying to secure a higher seed. It's not that hard to get a #3 or 4 seed out there. Win 50 and you're golden. Then you get a weak-arse team to beat up on in Round 1. In the West, first-round playoff games match two very good teams and are thrilling to watch. Any playoff game in the West, regardless of round, has high-quality hoops. I can't even get around to watching the Eastern Conference playoffs till the conference finals (except Bulls-Celtics last year, which provided incredible drama in the first round).
