This was my opinion prior to James Harden. Now that he's here, I think we can make a run for the 3-4th seed. We actually have a couple of good pieces now, Asik is IMHO a top 3 center already (led everyone in rebounding, gives awesome D, still developing his O), while with Harden we have a top 3 SG on the court as well. COnsidering how weak the West has become I think we have a shot this year. I mean, in the West I see Lakers, OKC, Nuggs (AI+Chandler+Gallo)....and nobody else tbh. That 4rth spot is ours for the taking.
A team with a starting lineup that does not have a single player that has played starter minutes for a full year is not making the playoffs. I'd be surprised if this team won more than 35 games. Prepare for a season like the early francis/mobley days before Yao showed up.
I think we are now the 8th seed, but another move could be imminent. Harden is not Lebron/Durant/Kobe etc who can make you a contender by himself, but he is a damb good player people want to play with. If Grif could make LAC an attractive destination for CP3, Harden can do the same for Houston. We might soon see players putting Houston as a preferred destination forcing GMs hand in trading them here.
You think Mavs are better than the Rox just because Dirk's back? That team's crazy old, and why the hell is the T-pups suddenly gonna be a playoff team next year when they had a worse record than us last year? IIRC they didn't add anyone on their team because their pick went to us for C-bud lol.
Gut feeling? Fighting for the 8th seed with the likes of the Timberwolves, Jazz, Warriors, and Suns. I think we'll miss out, however. This is all thrown out the window if we make a move for another all-star.
I think there's still good chance we miss the playoffs. There's going to be like six to eight teams neck to neck competing for 7th and 8th playoff spot. Teams that are w/out a doubt better then us IMO: Lakers, OKC, Spurs, Clippers, Memphis, Nuggets Team's that are better then us when healthy IMO: Mavericks - (Nowitzki injured), Timberwolves - (Rubio and Love injured) Everybody else is at the same level IMO: (listed their most prominent players) Jazz - (Millsap, Hayward and Jefferson) Warriors - (Bogut, Curry, and Lee) Blazers - (Aldridge, Batum, and Lillard) Rockets - (Harden, Asik, and Lin) Kings - (Cousins, Evans, and Robinson) - Sleeper team Suns - (Dragic, Scola, and Beasley) Hornets - (Davis, Gordon and Andersen) So with this said, I'd say we can finish any where from 7th - 12th(ish).... depend's on what kind of chemistry this team develops, and how well James Harden adapts to his new leading role.
