SI: Marty Burns: Western Conference rankings

[Revrag]

How do teams stack up after two months of offseason activity? SI.com's Marty Burns establishes a pecking order in the Western Conference -- for now.
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[LoungeLizard]

As far as the Kings are concerned I would have to agree with the #12 spot. I see us falling anywhere between 11-13 in the West this year. Of his 8 playoff teams, I think Dallas is a bit high at 6. It would not surprise me at all if Dallas missed the playoffs.

 

[SacKings7]

As far as the Kings are concerned I would have to agree with the #12 spot. I see us falling anywhere between 11-13 in the West this year. Of his 8 playoff teams, I think Dallas is a bit high at 6. It would not surprise me at all if Dallas missed the playoffs.

You're probably right, but he just seems to be going off of last year's records, plus any significant added/dropped players. Dallas hasn't changed much since last season so there's no reason for him to put them any lower than where they are

 

[ElRey]

You're probably right, but he just seems to be going off of last year's records, plus any significant added/dropped players. Dallas hasn't changed much since last season so there's no reason for him to put them any lower than where they are

I'm not convinced that the Clippers are better than us...yes they picked up Baron Davis and Camby but they also lost Elton Brand and Corey Maggette. I see our team is as being very inconsistent (as are most younger teams), beating some top teams sometimes and then losing to less talented teams at the same time.

 

[LoungeLizard]

I'm not convinced that the Clippers are better than us...yes they picked up Baron Davis and Camby but they also lost Elton Brand and Corey Maggette. I see our team is as being very inconsistent (as are most younger teams), beating some top teams sometimes and then losing to less talented teams at the same time.

You're right...the Clippers are the Clippers, but on paper they are SIGNIFICANTLY better than us, whether or not that translates to on court success and wins is another question. Don't count out Baron Davis. When healthy his teams always go to the playoffs (last year being the only exception, but the insaneness of the Western Conf contributed to that).

 

[Kings Faithful]

I also think the Warriors could fall apart. Their entire team is made up of scoring machines with literally no one who can pass the ball to them. Baron Davis was also a scoring machine but the guy put up 8 apg during the season, Ellis only averaged 4 apg in nearly the same minutes as Baron. I know Ellis will be more depended on as the new pointguard but that doesn't automatically translate into 4 more apg a game and even if he did average near 8 apg its going to hurt his ppg. You never know thoe, they could develop some new style of offense where you don't need to pass the ball. You just inbound, run, and shoot. haha

 

[SacKings7]

I also think the Warriors could fall apart. Their entire team is made up of scoring machines with literally no one who can pass the ball to them. Baron Davis was also a scoring machine but the guy put up 8 apg during the season, Ellis only averaged 4 apg in nearly the same minutes as Baron. I know Ellis will be more depended on as the new pointguard but that doesn't automatically translate into 4 more apg a game and even if he did average near 8 apg its going to hurt his ppg. You never know thoe, they could develop some new style of offense where you don't need to pass the ball. You just inbound, run, and shoot. haha

That sounds an awful lot like Don Nelson, their current coach

 

[bajaden]

I think the first five spots are pretty much a lock, in no particular order, except the Lakers being number one. The final three spots are pretty much a crap shoot, with at least six teams battling it out for those spots. I would put the Suns ahead of the Mav's at this point. I don't agree that the Dallas team is the same as last year, unless your refering to the one that finished the season in complete disaray. I'm not convinced that they will recover from the Kidd trade and they're another year older. Dallas is sort of where we were a couple of years ago. Maybe just good enough to make the playoffs, but not good enough to make any noise once there. Ditto the Warriors, but for different reasons.

Denver, who knows? They lost Camby, but on paper, they still look good enough to make the playoffs. Portland, if Oden is even 75 % of what everyone thinks he is going to be, should make the playoffs. When I look at Portland, I think, wow, if I could just insert one really good veteran player on to that team as a steadying influence, say like a Dirk Nowitski or a Dwayne Wade. Yeah yeah, I know, not going to happen. But then, I believe the Portland will also have cap space in 2010, so who knows?

If you step outside the box and do your best to forget where your loyalty's lie, the Kings are the mystery team. A mix of old and young, and in some cases unproven talent. A team that could be better than expected, or worse than expected. Sort of fun when you think about it.

 

[captain bill]

I also think the Warriors could fall apart. Their entire team is made up of scoring machines with literally no one who can pass the ball to them. Baron Davis was also a scoring machine but the guy put up 8 apg during the season, Ellis only averaged 4 apg in nearly the same minutes as Baron. I know Ellis will be more depended on as the new pointguard but that doesn't automatically translate into 4 more apg a game and even if he did average near 8 apg its going to hurt his ppg. You never know thoe, they could develop some new style of offense where you don't need to pass the ball. You just inbound, run, and shoot. haha

The Warriors are going to be interesting this year, mostly because they lack a clear first option- something that Davis was great at being, and I shudder to think what will happen to that team if Stephen Jackson decides to take that roll upon himself. Magette might help, but I really feel like that team is composed of a bunch of complimentary pieces without any main course to complete the meal. The west is just too stacked for them to have a legit playoff chance. They would have been better served to keep their cap space and move to rebuild- they can't compete now, and in the next few seasons they can't compete with the up-and-coming class of teams (Portland, New Orleans, Utah, and the Kings) but who knows, maybe a good high draft pick and they'll be back in business...or another 7 foot scrub.



I'm really interested in what happens to Phoenix this year, Amare and Nash are both still good but I just don't know if they have the support to get it done (but I'm certainly not counting them out).If everything clicks, they could be a dark horse for getting to the WCF (everyone staying healthy and bringing their A game, why not? sneak in with a low seed and finally get that playoff success just when everyone counts them out and underestimates them) but if not, an injury here or an underperforming down and out old vet there, they could finish near the bottom of the WC, anywhere from 10-12; I don't see it out of the realm of possibilities that the Warriors, Clippers and Kings could all finish higher if their season derails early.