Originally Posted by
Attila The Hun
My own prediction..
1-5 San Antonio, OKC, Lakers, Clippers and Memphis- all teams with high pay-rolls who are built to contend now. None have lost any players of real significance, Memphis did pretty well to replace Mayo with Bayless for cheap.
6) Denver I think they're building a team that suits their unique home advantage and George Karl's style- McGee and Faried over the course of a full season will be an interesting combination. They have some depth too (Miller, Chandler, Harrington, Brewer).
7) Utah Adding Mo Williams, Foye and Marvin Williams were underrated moves in my eyes- they needed better perimeter players and 3Pt-shooting badly. Favors, Kanter, Hayward and Burks should develop further, and they still have Jefferson and Millsap- giving them strong frontcourt depth. I really can't envision them missing the playoffs.
8-9) Dallas and Golden State A bit of unknown with both these teams- their rosters have changed a lot in the last 18 months. Dallas managed to get Collison, Mayo, Brand and Kaman for cheap (without hurting their budget next year), so with Nowitzki, Marion, West and Wright still around, they probably won't fall far. The Warriors actually have scary depth now- their 'second 5' now goes Jack-Rush-Jefferson-Landry-Tyler, plus they drafted Harrison Barnes and may (finally) have a decent center. I think they can win 45 games..
10-14) Minnesota, Portland, New Orleans, Phoenix and Sacramento Out of this group, I think Minnesota is most likely to challenge for a playoff spot- it will depend on how their new pieces (Kirilenko, Roy, Budinger, Shved) fit. If Rubio plays a significant amount of games, if Derrick Williams improves a little and they stay healthy, I think they're a .500 team.
Portland and Phoenix are tough to get a read on. Portland's roster feels a little uneven- their starting five is decent (don't know what they'll do at center), but their bench is very young an unproven. If Aldridge stays healthy, Lillard produces, Batum repays their faith and Mathews and Hickson are consistent, then they might push .500- but if Aldridge goes down, they're in trouble. Phoenix has actually amassed a roster with some interesting pieces and some depth- don't know how they'll fare defensively though. If Dragic shines and Scola and Gortat mesh well, they'll probably be in the 35-40 win range- they'll certainly be competitive.
New Orleans and Sacramento will be interesting this season- I'm not sure anyone knows quite what to expect, there's a lot of young talent on each team. Our Hornets can boast the best player (Gordon) and the best prospect (Davis), but the Kings probably have more depth at this point. Outside of Gordon (injuries aside) and Anderson, we can't be 100% sure of what Vasquez, Aminu, Rivers, Lopez and (to a lesser extent- due to age) Davis will produce for this season. Our bench still looks a little thin, and very young too. Sac-town managed to add Robinson in the draft, and picked up Aaron Brooks which might be interesting. They'll need to figure out how to juggle Brooks, Thomas, Thornton, Evans and their plethora of small forwards.. they do have an intriguing frontline (Cousins, Robinson, Thompson) on paper. I think they'll be under pressure to improve. I think both teams will be in the 30-35 win range.
15) Houston The only team in the West that is CLEARLY going to decline this season- who knows how many wins they'll cobble together? They might be doing the right thing in the long run- 3 first rounders this year, presumably a top-5 pick next year, and cap-room to sign at least one star- of course a star will need to actually want to play in Houston, but if the plan works, they might rebuild quickly.