Which western lottery team will make the playoffs next season?

Because they are the Clippers.

 

That pretty much covers it.


I went with the Suns, assuming they hold onto Amare, or at least get good value in return.

Nash re-upping goes to show they aren't yet ready to rebuild in PHO just yet.

 

So - you expect the Rockets to make the 2nd round again because they did last season?

The Suns have the most talent on the list provided.

 

Wow. Optimistic.

I thought even the most staunch optimist would hope for a playoff berth at best.

You good sir, have put it in another gear!

 

Most likely outcome, I think, is the same 8 as last year.

 

Most likely. But there won't be that jam packed 50 plus win teams like we had in the past few seasons. Prolly the 7, 8 seeds will be below 50 wins.

 

WARRIORS!!!!! WE STILL BELIEVE! ok ok golden state is my other favorite team since i live in california. but i really believe the warriors have a chance this year to make the playoffs, heck they had a chance last year if monta ellis didnt get into that stupid injury with the mo-ped.

 

Unfortunately Nelson has gone off the deep end. He might decide to bench the productive players for no reason again.

 

Probably the Suns. Either them or the Thunder. Maybe the Warriors.

 

Clippers, Suns or OKC

Clippers - Everything points to them heading back to the players except for one thing... Their the Clippers. If their chemistry falls in to place and Dunleavy doesn't make ridiculous coaching mistakes that lead to bad chemistry then they have a great shot.

Suns - Steve Nash, Amare Stoudamire, Jason Richardson and Leandro Barbosa. Not gonna be a lot of defence but they pretty much have the same team as last year minus Shaq and after the firing of Porter. New coach Gentry was able to make the team interesting again with their old run and gun method.

OKC - My wildcard. Durant and Westbrook go crazy with Harden, Green and Krstic having a solid year may get them close. Their depth does need some work. Also I am a big Durant fan

 

I could see the Thunder sneaking up to grab the 8 seed, led by KD, Westbrook, and rookie swingman James Harden.

 

I chose the OKC Thunder. I think the young talent will prevail in a weaker western conference..

 

I choose None. No major moves from these teams that can propel them back in the playoffs. Their minor moves ( Basically draft and small trades ) were countered by the teams in the top 8 in the west. It will take injuries ( not mentioning Houston because I believe they are still a playoff team ) in order for teams like the Suns and Clippers to barge in.

 

Warriors are my second favorite team as well. Great fans..and fun as hell to be in 2K9

 

Looking at the list you can pretty well write off the Kings, the Grizzlies and the T-Wolves. They just don't have the talent to make it.

Then you've got the Thunder, Warriors and Clippers - who all have talented rosters, but don't yet have the winning mentality or defensive tenacity to chalk up the required 45 wins.

That leaves the Suns - but only if you assume a current playoff team falls out.

The logical team to replace are the Rockets - but I'd hesitate to so quickly swap the 2 teams for 2 reasons:
(1) the off-season is not yet over. Surely Battier has SOME value? Perhaps when Landry is eligible to be traded SOMETHING might be found in return? The other questions revolved around Phoenix' health - if Nash goes down they're done. If Stoudemire misses time their frontcourt is terrible.

(2) the Rockets playoff performances sans Ming. The Rockets were stirring against the Lakers without Ming or McGrady. The one thing they seemed to miss was someone to create half-court offense when the Lakers applied the locks. McGrady looks like being back in January - and even if he's as bad as he was last season, the complimentary peices are pretty handy - if he can come back as a 15-5-5 guy then he's an awesome peice for a team that pushed the Lakers to the brink and then added a 7' scoring C.

I actually think the defensive tenacity of the Rockets will see them go close to winning as many games as the much flashier Suns. If McGrady returns/ his contract brings back some value, then I'd say that there's no guarantee that ANY of the lottery teams from last season can overtake the Rockets this season.

 

Who's the best player among all the lottery teams? Kevin Durant
Who's the best GM among the lottery teams? Sam Presti

It's not hard to see which team is going to become the next Portland.