2012-2013 NBA Western Conference Projections

Will anyone in The Western Conference be able to contend with The Oklahoma City Thunder or The Los Angeles Lakers for the upcoming season in The National Basketball Association?

The Oklahoma City Thunder got a taste of the spotlight last season, but they came up three games short in The NBA Finals as they lost to The Miami Heat. The Thunder are led by three-time All-Star forward Kevin Durant. The Thunder are primed and ready for another deep run in the playoffs. With Durant, guard Russell Westbrook, and the reigning Sixth Man of The Year guard James Harden, The Thunder have a young core that doesn’t know the meaning of the word fatigue.

The Thunder could be the only team in The Western Conference that can contend with The Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs. Aside from great perimeter players, Oklahoma City has size in the middle. Nick Collison, Serge Ibaka, Perry Jones, Kendrick Perkins, and Hasheem Thabeet are all at least 6’10” which will be key in neutralizing Laker big men Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol. At the very least we should see The Thunder advance to The Western Conference Finals.

 

Denver Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri has done a good job recently of rolling with the punches. During the 2010-2011 season, The Nuggets departed with All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony. Ujiri wrote the book on how to deal with a disgruntled superstar. Instead of letting Anthony leave Denver as a free-agent, Ujiri traded him to The New York Knicks and in return The Nuggets received five players including small forward Danilo Gallinari. Ujiri was apart of another big deal last summer as The Nuggets took part in a four-team trade that saw them acquire All-Star forward Andre Iguodola from The Philadelphia 76ers.

The Nuggets have a deep team which is led by point guard Ty Lawson who has seen his points and assists total increase in each of his three seasons in The NBA.  The Nuggets roster includes versatile forwards Corey Brewer and Wilson Chandler along with the ageless point guard Andre Miller. For Nuggets head coach George Karl, this might be one of his best squads that he has ever had as exciting times are coming to The Rocky Mountains.

Last year marked the first time in four seasons that The Portland Trailblazers didn’t make the postseason. Nate McMillan was fired as head coach midway through the season and Kaleb Canales was the interim head coach. The Trailblazers have a new general manager in Neil Olshey who prior to coming to Portland was the assistant general manager of The Los Angeles Clippers. Olshey appointed Terry Stotts as the new head coach of The Blazers.

The Trailblazers have a squad that can cause headaches for teams in The Western Conference. All-Star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge has the ability to average 20 points and 10 rebounds per contest while shooting guard Wesley Matthews is no longer a player that people aren’t talking about. At 6’8″, small forward Nicolas Batum’s length bothers opponents who are trying to drive past him, but the biggest intrigue for this Portland team is around rookie point guard Damian Lillard. Lillard was the two-time Big Sky Conference player of the year while he was at Weber State. Last summer at The NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League, Lillard averaged over 26 points per game as he garnered co-MVP honors.

This will be a very fun team to watch for the upcoming season.
  
Minnesota Timberwolves 39-43

Seven seasons have gone by without The Minnesota Timberwolves compiling a winning record. During the shortened NBA campaign last season, Minnesota showed signs of improvement under first year head coach Rick Adelman. The T’wolves were in the thick of the playoff race until point guard Ricky Rubio tore his ACL. At this point, Minnesota was 21-20, but they went on a slide to finish the season with a record of 26-40.

Minnesota is anchored by two-time All-Star power forward Kevin Love. Love is an emerging star in The NBA as he averaged 26 points per game with 13.3 rebounds last season. When Rubio was healthy, he and Love were a terrific fit on the court for The Timberwolves. Now Love will be on the sideline to start the season after suffering a broken hand. Adelman will hope that forward Derrick Williams can make strides in his sophomore campaign in The NBA. Williams was the second overall pick of The 2011 NBA Draft, but he only averaged 8 points per contest last year. 

The Timberwolves were able to talk former All-Star shooting guard Brandon Roy out of retirement to give The NBA another try on his damaged knees. The former Trailblazer appeared to call it a career after the 2010-2011 season, but the love of the game called him back. The T’wolves acquired swingman Chase Budinger from The Houston Rockets in the offseason while they signed former Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko to provide more depth.

The Timberwolves should be much improved in Adelman’s second season in Minneapolis, but will it be enough to get The Timberwolves back to the playoffs for the first time since 2004?

Last season was a successful one for The Jazz under first year head coach Tyrone Corbin. The Jazz made the playoffs which was a shock to many and that gives Corbin a foundation to build off of going into his second season. The Jazz are a team full of players  of castaways. Point guard Mo Williams was originally drafted by Utah in 2003 and after stints with three NBA teams, he is back in Salt Lake City. Center Al Jefferson was once a first-round selection of The Boston Celtics in 2004. After being traded twice in his career, he appears to have found a home in Salt Lake City where he has avera
ged 20 points per game. The Jazz will fly under the radar this season as it will be an uphill battle in The Western Conference, but they have the ability to hurt the feelings of teams this season.

The city of Los Angeles is full of big stars and some of the biggest stars in Hollywood call The Staples Center in Downtown L.A. home. I am not talking of the Jack Nicholson’s of the world that are sitting court side for all Laker home games. I am referring to the five All-Stars that The Lakers have in the starting lineup. The Lakers were run out of the gym last season in The Western Conference Semifinals against The Oklahoma City Thunder in five games. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak saw that it was time for a roster overhaul. The Lakers were able to work out a sign and trade to acquire point guard Steve Nash from The Phoenix Suns. Nash is a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player that will have plenty of options as far as dishing the basketball this season. Aside from Nash, The Lakers acquired center Dwight Howard from The Orlando Magic in a four-team trade that sent center Andrew Bynum to The Philadelphia 76ers.

The Lakers still have shooting guard Kobe Bryant who has 13 consecutive seasons with averaging at least 20 points per contest. Power forward Pau Gasol appeared to be on the trading block, but he is still in Hollywood to team with Howard up front to give The Lakers the ability to compete for a championship. Forward Metta World Peace who is a two-time Defensive Player of The Year rounds out a starting five that is more than formidable.

With The Lakers organization it isn’t about being good, it is all about winning championships. The Lakers have won 16 NBA Championships and they are looking to add another banner to The Staples Center which means that the pressure will be on Lakers head coach Mike Brown. Brown is in his second season with The Lakers and with a roster full of All-Star players, the fan base wants a championship. It will be interesting to see how these four players co-exist on the court when the season starts. The Lakers had four All-Stars in their starting lineup for the 2003-04 NBA season consisting of Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Karl Malone, and Gary Payton. The Lakers made The NBA Finals that season before bowing out to The Detroit Pistons. Nash has always been a liability on defense and with fast guards in The Western Conference such as Chris Paul of The Los Angeles Clippers and Russell Westbrook of The Oklahoma City Thunder, Nash’s 38-year old legs will be tested. The main question for The Lakers is whether or not Howard’s back can hold up. Howard had surgery to repair a herniated disc in his back. The 82-game schedule is a long haul on a big man and Brown might want to preserve him for the playoffs.

The Los Angeles Clippers attempted to steal the spotlight from Los Angeles from their Staples Center co-tenants The Lakers last season. “Lob City” consisting of forward Blake Griffin, center DeAndre Jordan, and guards Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups captivated fans from Compton to Inglewood. The Clippers advanced to The Western Conference Semifinals last season for the first time since 2006. Now for The Clippers take the next step in The Western Conference they must do what teams such as The Lakers do which is consistently expecting to advance in the playoffs.

At 6’10”, Griffin is a freak of nature with his athleticism as he tries to embarrass people with posterizing dunks, but for The Clippers to take that next step, Griffin has to work on his perimeter game. Griffin shot 54% from the field last season, but the majority of that was on dunks. At 23-years of age, Griffin has had multiple knee operations and he will soon find out that soaring through the air for 82 games can take its toll on the knees. Griffin and Paul give The Clippers a terrific forward/point guard combo. Since Paul came to The NBA from Wake Forest University in 2005, he has been one of the best point guards in the league which is evident by his 9.8 career assists.

When Paul is ready to a rest, Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro can rely on 15-year veteran point guard Chauncey Billups to provide leadership on the floor. Billups is working his way back from a ruptured Achilles tendon that ended his last season last February, but he is expected to contribute for The Clippers. Clippers general manager Garry Sacks also added forwards Grant Hill and Matt Barnes along with guard Jamal Crawford who was The NBA’s Sixth Man of The Year Award winner in 2010. The Clippers seemed poised to take that next stop in The Western Conference.

The Golden State Warriors have not enjoyed a winning season since the 2007-08 campaign. Since that time The Warriors are on their third head coach. Former NBA point guard Mark Jackson is in his second season in The Bay Area as Warriors head coach and he is looking to improve a team that won 23 games last year. The Warriors have the potential to improve, but it will come down to players staying healthy. 

The Warriors acquired center Andrew Bogut from The Milwaukee Bucks last season. Bogut was the first overall pick in The 2005 NBA Draft, but he has only played a full regular season once in The NBA as he has been hampered by injuries.  At 7’0″, Bogut is a tremendous passer as a big man as is evident by his 2.3 career assists. Bogut is expected to team with power forward David Lee to give The Warriors an interior presence. Prior to last season, The Warriors signed Lee to a six-year, $80 million deal and he didn’t disappoint as he averaged 20 points per game last season with 9.6 rebounds. Point guard Stephen Curry is coming off of an ankle injury that limited him to only 26 games last season. Along with Lee, Curry is another potential 20-point scorer for Golden State. 

The Warriors have depth on the wings as well. The Warriors still have veteran forward Richard Jefferson who should flourish in transition. Guard/forward Klay Thompson averaged 12.5 points as a rookie last season and he has breakout player written all over him. It will be interesting to see how Jackson uses rookies Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green. Barnes was a standout at The University of North Carolina and when he starts to score, he can’t stop. Green was Mr.Everything for Michigan State a
nd he doesn’t need the basketball to be effective which will be important for this team.

Good times appear to be on the horizon again in The Bay Area.

Sacramento Kings 36-46 

2006 appears to be a lifetime ago for the fans of The Sacramento Kings because that was the last time that The Kings had a winning record and made the postseason. After the season, The Kings decided not to renew the contract of head coach Rick Adelman who had taken The Kings to the playoffs in each of his eight seasons in Northern California. Since that time The Kings have gone back to being a laughing stock in The NBA.

Now Sacramento is trying to get back to respectability. The Kings appear to have a young nucleus in place in the form of point guard Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins.

It will be important for Kings head coach Keith Smart to get some victories early in the season in the hopes that this young team can gain some confidence for the long haul, but this is still a building effort in Sacramento.

A few years ago The Phoenix Suns were the most exciting team in The NBA. The combo of Joe Johnson, Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, and head coach Mike D’Antoni lit up scoreboards brighter than the desert sun. Little by little The Suns have gotten away from that as each person has left Phoenix. With Nash’s departure to join The Lakers, The Suns are in the rebuilding mode. Suns general manager Lance Blanks is hopeful that the signing of forward Michael Beasley will speed the rebuilding process up. Beasley was the second overall pick of The 2008 NBA Draft by The Miami Heat. After two seasons with The Heat, Beasley was traded to The Timberwolves. Beasley averaged 19.2 points per game in his first season in Minneapolis, but his numbers diminished in his second season with the emergence of forward Kevin Love. With The Suns in need of an anchor on the team, it is Beasley’s time to shine. 

Beasley will have to be a force as center Channing Frye is out indefinitely after being diagnosed with an enlarged heart.

Beasley will team in the frontcourt with Jared Dudley, Goran Dragic, and Luis Scola. All three players have the ability to chip in 15-points per game. One thing that I have noticed about The Suns organization over the years is that is doesn’t take them that long to once again become playoff contenders and that should be the case again.

Those boring San Antonio Spurs are still lurking in The Western Conference for another crack at The NBA Championship. The Spurs reeled off 22 consecutive wins last season and appeared to be well on their way to a fifth NBA Title with 13-time All-Star forward Tim Duncan and head coach Gregg Popovich until they lost four games in a row to The Thunder in The Western Conference Finals. The Spurs have been written off as an aging group of stars, but they are out to prove those skeptics wrong.

The Spurs will defeat teams with fundamental basketball which is why you can never forget about them. The Spurs defeat teams on a nightly basis with back picks, shots off of the backboard and tough defense. Since the 1997-98 season, The Spurs have won at least 50 games in each season with the exception of the 1999 season which was shortened to 50 games due to The NBA Lockout.

San Antonio had the second highest scoring average last season in The NBA at 103.7 points per contest. The Spurs might have the most unselfish team in the league as any player on that team can give Popovich 20 points on any given night.

Duncan isn’t the focal point of the team anymore, but at 35-years of age last season he averaged 15.4 points per game and 9 rebounds. Point guard Tony Parker is recovering from an eye injury that almost wrecked his basketball career, but he still annoying for guards to defend as he doesn’t stop moving for 48 minutes. Guard Manu Ginobili is coming off of the bench for The Spurs, but he still provided 12.9 points per last game season as he gets starter type minutes.

Once you sprinkle in forwards Stephen Jackson, DeJuan Blair, and Boris Diaw, along with guards Gary Neal and Kawhi Leonard, The Spurs will again have one of the deepest teams in The NBA. The beauty of watching this team is that they know how to turn it up a notch when the chips are on the table.

After winning a playoff series for the first time during the 2010-2011 season, The Memphis Grizzlies came into last season with higher expectations for themselves as many thought that they could contend for The NBA Title. The Grizzlies fell in the first round of the playoffs last season to The Los Angeles Clippers, but they once again have high hopes for the upcoming season. In his three-plus seasons in Memphis, head coach Lionel Hollins has amassed more victories (158) than any other head coach in franchise history.

The Grizzlies have the luxury of having two supreme post-players in forward Zach Randolph and center Marc Gasol. Both players have the ability to explode for 20 points and 10 rebounds on any given night. Forward Rudy Gay led the team in scoring last season at 19 points per game and he should once again be a focal point in the offense. Once you factor in point guard Mike Conley, The Grizzlies do not have one player that opposing teams are able to focus on. Due to this, The Grizzlies should once again have a say in The Western Conference Playoffs.

The Dallas Mavericks were a victim o
f The NBA Lockout last season more than any other team. The Mavs lost key reserve players such as J.J. Barea, Caron Butler, and DeShawn Stevenson to free agency and they were never able to recapture that winning formula as they were swept in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual Western Conference Champion Oklahoma City Thunder.    After last season Dallas also lost point guard Jason Kidd and shooting guard Jason Terry to free agency while they made a failed attempt to sign Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams. 

The Mavericks still have 11-time All-Star forward Dirk Nowitzki to lead this team. Nowitzki will miss this start of the season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, but he is still expected to be the same leader that has helped this franchise make the playoffs in each of the last twelve seasons.

The Mavericks got younger in the backcourt by adding former Memphis Grizzlies swigman O.J. Mayo and Indiana Pacers point guard Darren Collison. Mayo played his college ball for The USC Trojans while Collins was a UCLA product, but despite these two going to rival schools in The Pac-12, I am sure that they will come together to give The Mavs a tough backcourt tandem. Overall The Mavericks have a nice balance of young players to blend with the veterans. Dallas will rely on the experience of forwards Shawn Marion, Vince Carter and Elton Brand, while they have youth in the form of Jae Crowder and Bernard James. 

It will be a slow start for Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle and his crew, but as the season goes on they will improve. The Mavericks are a playoff tested team that will be ready to continue playing into the spring.

While The New York Knicks were ready to close the door on “Linsanity’, The Houston Rockets were ready for liftoff. Point guard Jeremy Lin became an overnight sensation for The Knicks as he averaged 14.6 points and 6.2 assists in only 35 games played. Lin became a free-agent after the season and The Rockets immediately jumped on the chance to bring Lin to Houston. The Rockets offered Lin a three-year, $25 million contract that The Knicks balked at which made Lin a Houston Rocket. Besides Lin, The Rockets are a very young basketball team for head coach Kevin McHale to lead. The Rockets owned three first-round picks in last summer’s NBA Draft and they used those picks on guard Jeremy Lamb and forwards Terrence Jones and Royce White. Lamb won a national championship with The UCONN Huskies in 2011 while Jones was apart of The Kentucky Wildcats team that won the national championship last spring.  White will be the X-factor. In his one season with The Iowa State Cyclones, White was The Big-12 Newcomer of The Year, but he suffers from anxiety disorder. White has worked out arrangements to travel to some Rockets road games by bus instead of flying with the team which will cut down on his anxiety.

The Rockets will have plenty of youth on their side this season, but in a conference with heavyweights such as The Lakers and Thunder, they will have to learn on the job very quickly.

The New Orleans Hornets are in the midst of building what they believe will be a formidable team under head coach Monty Williams. The Hornets owned two lottery picks in last summer’s NBA Draft which saw them draft center Anthony Davis and guard Austin Rivers. Davis was The Naismith Player of The Year in college basketball as he led The Kentucky Wildcats to a national title as The Hornets made him the first overall pick. Rivers was the tenth overall selection of The NBA Draft. Rivers comes to The NBA with a basketball pedigree as he is the son of former NBA player and current Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers. Hornets general manager Dell Demps decided to match the offer sheet that was given to shooting guard Eric Gordon by The Phoenix Suns. Gordon signed a four-year, $58 million deal to remain in New Orleans. My only problwm with the deal is that Gordon and Rivers are basically the same player, so how will they be able to co-exist on the court together?

The main task for Williams will be able to get Gordon and Rivers to play together. Davis will be a tremendous player in the frontcourt as he does not need the basketball to be effective and he is a tremendous shot blocker and rebounder. Williams led this team to the playoffs in his first season in New Orleans and it won’t be long before he makes The Hornets contenders again.