2013-2014 Northwest Division Projections

After four straight seasons of qualifying for the NBA Playoffs, the Oklahoma City Thunder should once again be in playoff contention, but the start of the season will not be a smooth ride. In the opening round of last season’s NBA Playoffs, Thunder guard Russell Westbrook suffered a knee injury that still has him out action. Prior to the injury Westbrook was the Thunder’s second leading scorer behind small forward Kevin Durant. The Thunder got a taste of life without Westbrook last season in the Western Conference Playoffs as they fell in the second round to the Memphis Grizzlies.

During his six-year NBA career, Durant has been one of the best scorers in the league and that should once again be the case this season as he will look to offset Westbrook’s presence in the lineup. Durant is looking to be the best possible teammate that he can be in Oklahoma City as he is looking to make the players around him better. That notion will be put to the test early without Westbrook and Durant will have to rely on the Thunder’s role players more than ever.

Durant will show off his scoring skills in Westbrook’s absence as the Thunder will tread a little water early, but once Westbrook returns to the lineup, Oklahoma City will once again be one of the top teams in the Western Conference.

Last season marked the Denver Nuggets 10th consecutive trip to the playoffs, but in spite of winning a franchise best 57 games in the regular season they exited the playoffs in the first round for the ninth time in the past decade. The Nuggets enter this season with wholesale changes from top to bottom. In spite of being named the NBA’s Executive of The Year last season, general manager Masai Ujiri did not have his contract renewed by Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke as he left to join the front office of the Toronto Raptors. Last season head coach George Karl was named the NBA’s Coach of The Year, but Kroenke decided to part ways with him as well.

Kroenke hired Tim Connelly as the Nuggets new general manager and Brian Shaw as the team’s new head coach. Shaw enjoyed a 15-year NBA player before being an assistant coach in the NBA for seven seasons. Now Shaw is ready to take over the reigns in Denver and prove his worth.

Shaw inherits a Nuggets team that was the NBA’s highest scoring team last season, but he won’t have the same arsenal this year.

After one season with the Nuggets, small forward Andre Iguodala left as a free agent to sign with the Golden State Warriors. Small forward Danilo Gallinari was the Nuggets second leading scorer last season until an injury to his ACL sidelined him and it still has him out of action.

The Nuggets have an explosive squad as they are lead by point guard Ty Lawson. Lawson’s points and assists totals have increased every year during his four-year NBA career as for his career he is averaging 13.2 points and 5.3 assists per game. Lawson will look to distribute the basketball to his talented and athletic frontcourt consisting of forwards Wilson Chandler and Kenneth Faried along with center JaVale McGee. Very quickly Faried is becoming a hot commodity in the NBA as he is one of the best rebounders in the league which was highlighted by him leading the team in the category last season at 9.2 per game.

The Nuggets will also have depth in their backcourt as Connelly signed guards Randy Foye and Nate Robinson. Robinson has averaged 11.5 points per game during his 8-year NBA career primarily as a bench player, but it will be important for him to fit in with the flow of what Shaw wants to run in Denver as Robinson has a history of dancing to his own beat.

As an assistant coach in the NBA, Shaw developed a reputation as a coach the players respected and they wanted to play for. If Shaw can transfer that to his head coaching job in Denver the future will be bright for the Nuggets.

Y-Portland Trailblazers 44-38

Portland Trailblazers head coach Terry Stotts is looking to improve off of a 33-49 season last year. The Blazers have one of the best scoring power forwards in the NBA in LaMarcus Aldridge. Aldridge averaged 21.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game last season, but he has hinted to the Blazers about being traded out of Portland. It is up to Stotts and Trailblazers general manager Neil Olshey to keep their big man in Aldridge happy.

The Blazers have the reigning NBA Rookie of The Year in point guard Damian Lillard who averaged 19.0 points and 6.5 assists last season. The Blazers shocked some people at this past summer’s NBA Draft by selecting another point guard in the first round as they chose former Lehigh University point guard C.J. McCollum. McCollum is expected to team with Lillard to provide Portland with a ton of speed in the backcourt, but a foot injury has sidelined the rookie.

Shooting guard Wesley Matthews has been “Steady Eddie” during his three seasons in Portland as he is a good scorer and passer that will look to blend in with Aldridge and Lillard.
Stotts is also looking for improvement from center Meyers Leonard. Last season as a rookie Leonard averaged 5.5 rebounds and 3.7 rebounds per game, but the Blazers drafted him as a project that they are grooming in the event that Aldridge does wish to depart town. Power forward Thomas Robinson is only entering his second season in the NBA, but the Trailblazers are the third team that he will be playing for. Robinson was selected fifth overall at the 2012 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings, but he has yet to find his footing and truly latch on with a team as the Blazers are hoping that this will be the case now.

The Trailblazers will be an improved this season, but will it be enough to get to the playoffs?

Minnesota Timberwolves 42-40

During his 22-year head coaching career in the NBA, Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Rick Adelman has never had three consecutive losing seasons. After two consecutive losing seasons with the Timberwolves, Adelman is attempting to lead this team to the playoffs for the first time since 2005. For the Timberwolves to qualify for the NBA Playoffs it all begins with the health of their power forward Kevin Love. In his five-year NBA career Love has never appeared in all 82 regular season games and he was limited to just 18 games last year as the result of a fractured hand. Now as a captain, Love will be expected to remain healthy and lead this team as he has averaged 17.3 points and 12.2 rebounds for as a professional.

Power forward Derrick Williams was the second overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft, but he has been a classic “tweener” as he is too big to play small forward and too small to be a dominant power forward. With Love’s absence last season Williams made the most of his opportunity by averaging 12 points per game. The player that stepped up last season for Adelman last season was center Nikola Pekovic who made a name for himself as he averaged 16.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. A
delaman is hopeful that he will have the services off all three players on the front line of the Timberwolves which could enable the team to run some zone defense.

Point guard Ricky Rubio has the skills to be one of the better point guards in the NBA, but like Love he must remain healthy. Shooting guard Kevin Martin is a proven 20-point per game scorer int he NBA and he had success playing for Adelman with the Kings, but he will look to add depth to this team in Minnesota.

If everyone stays healthy this season all roads could lead to the postseason for Adelman and the Timberwolves.

Utah Jazz 31-51

The transition from former head coach Jerry Slaon to current head coach Tyrone Corbin has been a good one as the Jazz have had two consecutive winning seasons, but Corbin must pull a rabbit out of his hat this season to make it a third consecutive winning year. Corbin and the Jazz lost four of their top five scorers from last season which amounted to 56.1 points per game in production. Center Al Jefferson is now with the Charlotte Bobcats. Forward Paul Millsap signed with the Atlanta Hawks. Point guard Randy Foye is a member of the Denver Nuggets while point guard Mo Williams left to join the Portland Trailblazers.

This season will be an opportunity for power forward Derrick Favors to establish himself as a force. Favors is a four-year NBA veteran that has been a bit player after being selected third overall by the New Jersey Nets in the 2010 NBA Draft. Now with Jefferson and Millsap gone it will be his time to shine.

A draft night trade allowed the Jazz to acquire the rights to point guard Trey Burke from the Timberwolves. Burke is expected to be Utah’s point guard of the future, but his debut will be put on hold as a broken right index finger is expected to keep him out of action for the first few weeks of the season.

The folks in Salt Lake City are unaccustomed to seeing losing basketball, but that will be the case this season.

X-Clinched Division
Y-Clinched Playoff Berth

Source: Basketball-reference.com