Clippers seem to be big favorites to take West. I think the Nuggets could surprise with healthy Murray & Porter, addition of KCP & Bruce Brown. Warriors probably get off to great start. Suns bring back same, but loss of McGee will hurt more than they think, and CP3 a year older. Mavs got things to fall right last year. I don't like them as much as others, even though additions of Wood & McGee are Nice. Loss of Brunson will hurt IMO. Wolves look to be better with Gobert. Could surprise to a top 3 finish. Did lose some firepower with Beasley leaving. Beverley loss will hurt defense. Griz, it's all on the trick knee of Ja Morant. If he's focused on improving his outside shooting, and taking the high flying act only on occasion, he might stay healthy. Then they will be right back. But that's a big if. Pels. It's all about Zion. He still looks too big. If he can play more like ZBo, lower to the ground , he might stay healthy. Like Morant, can a tiger change his stripes. If he does, the Pels could be awesome. Lakers C'mon man! LeBron ain't getting younger. Tick,tick, tick. Mr. Glass , enough said. Media darlings will get much love. Not buying that roster. Kings look better with addition of potential best player in draft Murray(damn!). Sabonis and Fox, Barnes underrated. Could slide into top 7. But probably a year away. Thunder getting there . Jazz, WTF Ainge. Rockets, still misfiring. and the Spurs (whatever). Which brings us to our favorite (minus HCP & Laker Wes) team, the Portland Trailblazers. Dame continues to get shade from some. I believe he's a top 5 player healthy. There's no better closer. I like the additions of Grant and Payton II. But this year is all about the progression of Ant & Nas. They teased us with what can be. If they continue to ascend , the skies the limit for this team, IMO. Sharpe is a wild card. Just don't know. I think it will take another offseason of tweaking, but the Blazers finish at least in the top 6 if healthy. The 2 biggest differences this year, a healthy Dame (special), and better defense under Coach Billups. Go Blazers!!
In the sense of the Wolves, chemistry matters, and in the sense of the Pelicans, health matters. Until Zion can play a full season, relying on him for your estimation of how the Pelicans are going to do is foolish.
How about a ranking of which teams are most likely to have their season derailed by injuries to their star players? That’s what usually determines who wins the title.
I remember when the Blazers were going to have Oden back and were going to be scary good games played in first 3 seasons: Zion 85 Oden 82 Zion won't last 30 games if he hasn't lost 50 pounds from where I saw him last... ********************************************** I don't think it's clear sailing for the Pels either. CJ is a ball-hog. He always has been but he's not good enough to consistently beat defenses with his mad-is0-over-dribbling. He's going to have to really ratchet down his tendency to call his own number when the ball is in his hands. Zion is a much better player than CJ; Ingram is a much better player than CJ; Valunciunas and Herbert Jones are more efficient than CJ and deserve their opportunities. If CJ ranks higher than 3rd on the Pels in FGA's the ball will be sticking in his hands too much and I doubt Zion and Ingram will be as patient with CJ's tendencies as Stotts was
We don't even know what rosters will look like in the west yet....one of those teams may have Durant, etc.....and if you're going to be a top 4 contender in the west you're going to have to beat the good teams....with improved defense and a deeper bench I think we'll surprise the low ballers who predict us low now......if we're healthy and Dame is 100% I think we can push up to the 3 seed as it stands....the media will have us in the playin game at best.....local writers like Richman have us 10th ...he thinks we were more talented last year than this year...I don't. If I'm predicting early, I'm going to predict success.....3rd seed....Warriors, Clippers, Blazers.....(Clippers dependent on George and Kawhi being healthy) Point of attack defense is a game changer and we have that with the starters and the bench now.
Phoenix Denver LA Clippers Golden State Memphis Portland Dallas LA Lakers New Orleans Minnesota Sacramento San Antonio OKC, Utah, Houston Load Management Teams — Clippers, Warriors, Lakers
7th without Any changes. With improvements at or before the trade deadline, 4th ( assuming we are upgrading to contend).
I only have the Wolves one behind Portland, mostly because I still dont have any idea why/how Gobert and KAT are a good combo and outside of their big three things get really thin. Depth matters. The Pelicans I dont think highly of. Had a good run when CJ got there, and obviously Zion changes everything. If he can stay healthy for the first time in his career, sure, move them up.
Unpopular opinion, but people who have the Lakers missing the playoffs will be disappointed this year. Health is always the question; I wouldn’t write them off. If Russ can’t make the playoffs with Bron and AD then something is up. Like some Space Jam stuff…Really. If AD is healthy he’s almost a lock for the playoffs himself just because of his win share contribution. It was awesome having the lakers miss the playoffs too last season. Would love to see it again, but I’m not holding my breath. Too much talent with their stars. Unless Bron is done caring, I’m not writing them off. Could be a first round matchup this year… The west playoffs will be brutal. No easy opponents for any of the home teams. Could be the year we see record breaking upsets, if not…It’s coming. League is deep right now. Players like Paul George taking a backseat to Ja Morant. Nobody talking about Kahwi because of his injuries. I still think this draft class will be legit; so the Magic should be a dangerous team in the coming years. There’s just really nobody on the schedule you look at and say “thank goodness we are playing them tonight”.
Zion healthy , yes. I don't see Ingram as better than CJ, different yes. They are on par with each other IMO. CJ was the best player on that team at the end of the season.
CJ at his best is not normal CJ, and CJ at his best never sustains. Compare his Pels regular season numbers to his Pels playoff numbers. In fact, compare his regular season numbers last year for Portland to his numbers for New Orleans. He sucked in the playoffs so his response to sucking was typical CJ....he shot more and passed less Ingram is a better player and a much more valuable player. Nobody in their right mind would trade Ingram for CJ
As of now... 1 GSW 2 LAC 3 PHX 4 DEN 5 MEM 6 POR 7 MIN 8 DAL 9 NOP 10 LAL 11 UTA 12 SAC 13 OKC 14 HOU 15 SAS Blazers finish 6th
Could say this literally any time of the year except after the trade deadline Feb-June. Middle of July to October is probably second with least amount of NBA roster changes.
