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#1) Golden State Warriors- After finishing 58-24 in the regular season, the Warriors were almost defeated by the Houston Rockets in the playoffs. With the Warriors replacing JaVale McGee with Demarcus Cousins, they should be a lock in for the number 1 spot in the West assuming they stay healthy. There is no guarantee that “Boogie” will be the same player after his injury, but I believe that will not be a deciding factor. If they could succeed with Zaza or Bogut at the 5, they should be just fine with or without Boogie.
#2) Houston Rockets- The Rockets may have made a few mistakes getting rid Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute who are two of their best defensive players. They also failed to land Lebron James while adding an aging Carmelo Anthony. Who knows how Mike D’Antoni and Melo will mesh together given their poor history. I am not a fan of the Melo signing, but we will have to see what type of role he takes on. I think they have enough to take the second spot in the stacked Western Conference this season, but they will have their hands full in the playoffs when facing The Warriors and The Lakers.
#3) Los Angeles Lakers- As a Laker fan, it is hard to not be biased when making these predictions. After finishing 35-47 last season, the Lakers can only improve after adding arguably the best player to ever play the game who still has a decent amount of game left in him. The Lakers will probably take some time to learn how to play together, but any team with Lebron on the roster is automatically a championship threat. It will be interesting to see how their young core and recent additions contribute to “LaGoat” on his quest to win his 4th championship.
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#4) Utah Jazz- I really like the new look Utah Jazz style of hard defense and team basketball. Although they tied The Oklahoma City Thunder last season with 48 wins, I still give them the edge over them in the upcoming season. With a year of experience under their belt, they can only get stronger from here on out. They also drafted Grayson Allen who could also contribute to their solid starting five led by Donovan Mitchell. There is nothing pretty about the Utah style of basketball, but I believe they will be a team that most do not want to face in the first round of the playoffs.
#5) Oklahoma City Thunder- After getting rid of the burden of Carmelo Anthony, I think that the Oklahoma City Thunder got stronger. They did a good job adding Dennis Schroder who is one of the most underrated point guards in the league. However, I am still not fully
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on board with their style of basketball. The reason for this is because they tend to play a lot of isolation ball and watch Russell Westbrook chuck up some nearly impossible shots in the last minute of games. Paul George seems to like it in OKC and must enjoy playing next to Westbrook.We will see if they are able to prove me wrong and finish better than a fifth seed in the West.
#6) San Antonio Spurs- With one of the best coaches in the history of the NBA (Gregg Popovich) it is hard to ever rule out the Spurs. Although they only finished in 7th place last season, I believe they will have a better season this year. After acquiring DeMar DeRozan from the Toronto Raptors, they got a lot in return for a player that they believed would leave their team once his contract expires. They are not one of the favorites to come out of the West this season, but the combination of DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge should be enough to make the first round of the playoffs.
#7) Denver Nuggets- When healthy, I think that the Denver Nuggets have one of the deepest rosters in the league. After finishing just one game behind the
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Timberwolves last season, the Nuggets will have a chip on their shoulder to prove their worth. Although they lost Wilson Chandler, they signed Isaiah Thomas and drafted Michael Porter Jr. I think that these additions will be enough to make the playoffs in the West assuming they are able to stay healthy.
#8) New Orleans Pelicans- The New Orleans Pelicans had a very solid season last year finishing in the 6th spot in the Western conference. They lost “Boogie” Cousins, but gained Julius Randle and Elfrid Payton. Adding Randle means that Nikola Mirotic will be coming off the bench to add to their depth. I think that their team got stronger this season, but I do not think they will finish above an 8th seed due to the amount of talented teams in the West.
Written by Evan Pine, NBA Perspectives Writer
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