Oct 4, 2013
The NBA’s Western conference looks to be extremely competitive once again in 2013-14. Training camps are opening and it’s time to look at how the new season will pan out. Here’s an early set of predictions for the Western conference in 13-14:
1. Oklahoma City Thunder – Russell Westbrook’s delayed return is a significant concern especially considering the fact that Kevin Durant did not look capable of carrying this team during the playoffs last year after Westbrook went down. Serge Ibaka needs to step up and Durant needs to dominate. The Thunder top the West almost by default because of questions about the other team’s top players.
2. San Antonio Spurs – Gregg Popovich is a genius and he returns a veteran roster that knows how to win basketball games while pacing itself through the long regular season. Kawhi Leonard will have an even bigger role in 2013-14 and that can only be a good thing for the Spurs.
3. Houston Rockets – Dwight Howard won’t push the Rockets past San Antonio in the division, but it’s hard to look past a line-up that also includes James Harden, Jeremy Lin and Chandler Parsons. This team is a legitimate top three seed, though Kevin McHale will be challenged in trying to mesh it together.
4. Los Angeles Clippers – Doc Rivers has named Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan as his new ‘big three’. That may be an exaggeration, but the Clippers should be pretty good in 2013-14 especially after they were able to add some useful veteran depth in the offseason.
5. Memphis Grizzlies – Mike Conley, Tony Allen, Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and Tayshaun Prince returns as a starting line-up for a Grizzlies team that will play tough, strong basketball. The one concern for repeating last year’s impressive display is the coaching transition from Lionel Hollins to David Joerger.
6. Golden State Warriors – Youth is the only reason that the Warriors are not predicted to finish higher, but make no mistake that Golden State is a dangerous opponent in a deep West. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson have great inside support from Harrison Barnes, new addition Andre Iguodala, David Lee and hopefully a consistent Andrew Bogut.
7. Portland Trail Blazers – A few people are sleeping on the Trail Blazers and that could be a mistake in 2013-14. LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum patrol the front court, while Damian Lillard is coming fresh off a rookie of the year campaign. Mo Williams and C.J. McCollum both boost the back-court.
8. Denver Nuggets – Kenneth Faried, Danilo Gallinari and Ty Lawson ensure that Denver still has a pretty good team. It will be interesting to see how the coaching transition goes as Brian Shaw takes on the job. Still, there is a feeling that Iguodala will be missed and maybe that the balance of this line-up isn’t quite right at the moment. Still a playoff team though.
9. Los Angeles Lakers – Kobe Bryant will return and lead an under-rated team that does include Steve Nash and Pau Gasol by the way to a near playoff berth. The Lakers will miss the postseason though in a Western conference that is just too tough for them.
10. Minnesota Timberwolves – There is plenty to like about a team that got ravaged by injuries last year. However, Chase Budinger is already out indefinitely and the Timberwolves overall balance is still a concern even if they should be more competitive this year.
11. Dallas Mavericks – The roster is good enough offensively to outscore a lot of teams, but can Dirk Nowitzki, Shawn Marion and Vince Carter all ready hold it together. How does the back-court of Jose Calderon, Devin Harris and Monta Ellis actually fit together?
12. New Orleans Pelicans – Anthony Davis will be a lot better in 2013-14, but picking up Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday doesn’t suddenly make the Pelicans a serious playoff contender. They won’t get rolled over as they did for much of 2012-13, but Davis’ introduction to the biggest stage will have to wait a little longer at least.
13. Utah Jazz – They always seem to find a way to re-tool and be competitive, but the Jazz lost a couple of big players in Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson this past offseason. Derrick Favors, Enes Canter and Gordon Hayward form a pretty good front court that should develop and be pretty strong in the next couple of years.
14. Sacremento Kings – It isn’t getting better for the Kings on or off the court right now. DeMarcus Cousins is still waiting to figure out how to be a strong NBA player. Hopefully the addition of Greivis Vasquez can help Cousins’ game. Meanwhile, Ben McLemore should get a great chance to prove his NBA credentials this year.
15. Phoenix Suns – The Suns have a couple of good pieces notably the pick up of Eric Bledsoe and intriguing center Alex Len. It looks like they will be battling to get the first overall pick though.
