My view on the Southwest Division: San Antonio Spurs: Does this team ever fail a season? I don’t think so, which is why I predict another great regular season from the Southwest Div. Champs. Although they did hurt themselves in not resigning Nazr Mohammed, they did sign FA Jackie Butler and Francisco Elson to make up for the loss. And of course, the trio of Duncan, Ginobli and Parker, is always among the best. You can never count out a team with talent like that, so they will again be a top threat in the west this upcoming season. Division Rank: 2 Houston Rockets: A team which was plagued by injuries, is always going to be hard to predict. But if this team can stay healthy throughout the year, then the west just got a lot better. Older, and more experienced, Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady are going to be getting some help next season. Shane Battier will bring that hustling, defensive-minded player they need. Add all that in with the other signings they’ve made this off-season, and you’ve got a pretty solid team. So expect to see the Rockets playing more than 82 games next season if all goes well. Division Rank: 4 New Orleans Hornets: This off-season was one to remember for the Hornets, as they did some shopping for the playoffs. Veterans Bobby Jackson, Peja Stojakovic, and Tyson Chandler, will definitely make this team better, and they got a lot more than what they lost. They also resigned Rasual Butler and got Cedric Simmons & Hilton Armstrong via the draft, and of course there‘s CP3 who makes every one better. Imo, they will be battling for a 7th or 6th seed, however a lot of those players are injury-prone which can change everything. Other than that, the only thing that might trouble them is what always concerns new teams, chemistry. Division Rank: 3 Memphis Grizzlies: Although they might have taken a step back to develop youth, Rudy Gay can be their 2nd leading scorer behind Pau Gasol, and possibly a contender for R.O.Y. Trading away Shane Battier will hurt them next season, you don’t see what Shane does on the stats, but he does make an impact each game. Stromile Swift comes in as a solid center but I don’t see him making the team any better, I’m more excited to see what Hakim Warrick can do in his 2nd year. Don’t expect this team to get their first playoff win next season, it’ll come with time, but not yet. Division Rank: 5 Dallas Mavericks: In my opinion, the Mavericks should have won the NBA finals, the talent was there they just didn’t get it done. If they’ve done anything this off-season, it hasn‘t made them any worse. I do believe Austin Croshere will make them even a little bit better, and Devean George, a terrific role player, adds even more depth. They also made a terrific pick in the draft with Maurice Ager. I got to see a little bit of Pops Mensah-Bonsu in the LVSL and he looks very good, shouldn’t of went undrafted. So I say they have a very good chance of getting another shot at the championship. Division Rank: 1 -It was really hard to predict the ranks for this division, they might be completely different, so those are my opinions for the Southwest Division, I’ll post my analysis for the Central Division next once I make them.
