NBA Insider
Stephen Kimball
As the NBA offseason has begun to cool down its time to reflect and look into the future of where all the moves will leave the NBA. Starting by looking at the new powerhouse teams in the NBA, let’s just start in the state of California where they have three powerhouses in the state. The Lakers are a team looking to utilize Lebron’s last few years in the league and collect a championship or two, adding Anthony Davis as his running mate and signing Demarcus Cousins to add more firepower. These moves make the Lakers a top title contender but are they even the best in their own conference. You still have the Warriors, they may have lost Kevin Durant but were able to get D’Angelo Russell in return. Russell could pair well with Steph, but it is unclear if once Klay Thompson comes back healthy if Russell will be the starting shooting guard or not. Without Klay, the Warriors are sure to struggle defensively as neither Russell or Curry are top tier defends and are both at times undersized and hidden defensively. This will surely give the Warriors problems when trying to make it back to the finals; their run may have come to an end this season. A team whose run may just be starting is the Clippers after making the most significant moves of the offseason by adding Paul George and Kawhi Leonard while retaining Montrezl Harrell, Patrick Beverly, and Lou Williams they’ve given themselves a team full of scoring and top-flight defenders. This is potentially the most well-rounded team in the entire NBA, matchup wise they have the perfect team an athletic and gritty team that most organizations will have problems figuring out. In my opinion, this is what makes the Clippers the title favorites.
Leaving California its time to look at how the rest of the Western Conference will shake out. The Houston Rockets made a big splash by trading for Russell Westbrook, pairing him with James Harden does help the Rockets stay in contention having two of the last three MVP’s will do that for you. The Trail Blazers made a few mid moves trading for Hassan Whiteside but besides that didn’t take a large step in the direction of making it to the finals like these other teams have this will leave them as a middle of the pack team fighting for the playoffs. A team that could break through all the competition is the Denver Nuggets they finished as the second seed last year kept all their pieces and will get a healthy Michael Porter Jr. who people seem to have forgotten about and add Bol Bol the 7’2” center son of Manute Bol. They were able to steal him as he fell to the second round because of an injury; if Porter Jr. and Bol can come in healthy, it will make the Nuggets on par if not ahead of the other teams in the Western Conference. The Utah Jazz did enough to keep themselves in the conversation by adding Mike Conoly; this gives the Jazz a stable, smart point guard that will play defense. The Jazz could see themselves making it to the Western Conference finals or bounced in the first round.
With all those teams in mind this is currently how I see the playoff seeding laying out:
1. Rockets
2. Nuggets
3. Lakers
4. Clippers
5. Warriors
6. Blazers
7. Jazz
8. Spurs/Kings
The eighth spot is up in the air as the Kings as a young, exciting team but wasn’t able to make the second half push last season to make the playoffs. On the other hand, the Spurs have nothing but experience but don’t have the talent a lot of the other teams have and are aging rapidly. If Demar Derozan comes in and breaks out in the Spurs system, they will make the playoffs, if not I don’t see a way the Kings don’t squeak in.
As far as the seeding is concerned the Rockets finish first as they have the two players that have been trying the hardest in the regular season, they are sure to be a 60 win team and the first seed, will it translate to the postseason I don’t know. The Nuggets are one of the few teams with the same core, so they will most likely get out to a hot start because of strong chemistry and ride that to the second seed. Lebron and the Lakers need to push hard this season after the collapse they suffered last year so they will try and make the third seed. The Clippers will take a little bit to mesh but will only finish fourth based on how much Leonard ends up playing, if they handle him like the Raptors did and let him rest for a chunk of the season. The Warriors will finish in the fifth seed because now its just Steph and Draymond left yes they added Russell, but that’s not enough to keep them at the top. Like I said the Blazers didn’t make any substantial moves this will leave them in the playoffs but as the sixth seed. The Jazz make the playoffs but aren’t a top seed they just don’t have the firepower to outdo the other top seeds, so they get the seventh spot.
This is how I see the Western Conference shaking out, as far as title favorites for me it goes:
1. Clippers
2. Lakers
3. Nuggets
4. Rockets
5. Warriors
6. Blazers
7. Jazz
8. Spurs
I mentioned I had the Clippers as my favorite before; it will be a tight season for teams in the West, barring injury I see either the Clippers or Lakers coming out. It’ll just be interesting to see who they play coming out of the East.
