Western Conference Playoff Prediction

This NBA offseason has been full of surprises, to say the least. Numerous superstars have changed teams, and many good teams have become contenders. An already strong Western Conference has gotten much stronger. I can tell you this, the fight for the top seed in the West is going to be brutal.

1. San Antonio Spurs

Courtesy: Sports Illustrated

The Spurs are coming of a grueling NBA Finals, where they blew a game 6 victory to the Miami Heat, ultimately leading to a loss in game 7, and the chance to dethrone the Heat. This was obviously devastating to the team, but I don’t see this team going anywhere. I believe the Spurs will come out of the Western Conference as the No. 1 seed. First and foremost, Tim Duncan had an unbelievable season last year. He was dominant in every round of the playoffs and throughout the regular season. I don’t expect Tim to regress next season as long as Gregg Popovich keeps his minutes down like he always does throughout the regular season. Second, Tony Parker is going to again be an MVP candidate type player next season. He is arguably the best point guard in the NBA. He has so many different moves and ways to score that is absent among fellow star point guards. Sure, he is not as great as a Chris Paul from behind the arc, but he can drive to the lane and make some insane shots. Not to mention, his insane ability to take control of a game. The only reason I can think of as to why the Spurs would not be dangerous as last season is of course father time. We all saw how awful Manu Ginobli looked in the finals. He was not anywhere near himself and I don’t believe he ever will be back to his old self. However, the Spurs made a great signing with the addition of swingman, Marco Bellinelli. Bellinelli will hopefully be able to fill the void Manu Ginobli has left open. If so, the Spurs should be a lock for the top seed.

2. Los Angeles Clippers
Typing in the “Clippers” as the number two seed in the western conference does not seem right, but we must face it, it is more than likely going to happen. An already tough Clippers team has gotten better this offseason by re-signing superstar Chris Paul to a max deal. This signing kicked off what would be an amazing offseason. It began with the trade of backup PG Eric Bledsoe and veteran SF Caron Butler in a three way deal that would send SG JJ Redick and SF Jared Dudley to the Clippers. Jared Dudley isn’t exactly a household name, but this guy can play at a high level. He showed this on a Suns team that has been absolutely horrific for the last couple of seasons. I am sure everyone has heard of JJ Redick at this point. He is one of the NBA’s best three point shooters who has been stuck on middle of the pack teams for a few years now. In addition to this trade, Los Angeles has signed Antawn Jamison, Byron Mullens and Darren Collison to solidify their already extremely deep bench. They also re-signed Matt Barnes who came off one of his best seasons of his career. With these moves, the Clippers were able to solve the one major problem this team had, spacing the floor. As we all witnessed, last season Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan would get stuck under the basket with no one to kick it out to, to spread the floor. Now with Dudley and Redick in the starting lineup, the two bigs will have plenty of room to operate with down on the block. Then when the starters come off the floor, there are some starter-caliber players coming off the bench to bury the opposing team into an even deeper deficit. Trust me, this Clippers team is going to be nasty (coming from a Lakers fan by the way).

3. Golden State Warriors
Most would probably expect the Thunder to be in the third seed, but it’s not, it’s Golden State. The Warriors lost key bench players, Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry, but they were able to acquire superstar Andre Iguodala via a sign and trade. This leaves Golden State with a starting lineup of: Curry, Thompson, Iggy, Lee, Bogut. Additionally, the Warriors have sixth man, Harrison Barnes, and recently signed, Seth Curry, Marreese Speights, and Toney Douglas of the bench. This is a young but very talented team. As long as they remain healthy for the entire year, this team is going to be better than OKC and they should be able to snag the third seed. Get ready for the Splash Brothers Part 2.

4. Oklahoma City Thunder
Finally, OKC checks in at the fourth seed. This will most likely be highly disputed, ranking OKC at the fourth seed, but I think it is a realistic prediction. I wasn’t a big fan of the idea of trading James Harden to Houston for Kevin Martin last offseason. Now this offseason, Kevin Martin walked for nothing. This leaves OKC basically only acquiring Jeremy Lamb in exchange for James Harden. This trade is going to come back to haunt the Thunder for years because I don’t believe the Thunder will be able to make it over the hump to contention again without adding a star type player. They are in desperate need of a quality big man. As great of a defender that Kendrick Perkins is, he is an absolute liability on offense. Serge Ibaka has improved but he is not a goto scorer either. Now with the loss of Kevin Martin, the third option on offense, the Thunder must turn to inexperienced Jeremy Lamb to try and save them. KD and Westbrook will have to carry this team through the season which will be too much to ask. This team is fourth seed at best this season and that is only because Kevin Durant is on the team.

5. Memphis Grizzlies
I like the Grizzlies a lot, but unfortunately they aren’t much better than a fifth seed for me. They lack scoring too much to be a top four team in West. Defensively, this team is elite, however offensively they are far from it. Of course the addition of Mike Miller is going to help a little bit, but not nearly enough to push them past the fifth seed. This coming season I would not be surprised to see Zach Randolph be traded for a better offensive talent. Actually, I would say pretty much everybody except Marc Gasol and Mike Conley will be available on the trade market this season. If the Grizzlies can get a quality scorer for Zach Randolph, they could possibly get the fourth seed.

6. Houston Rockets

Courtesy: Yahoo Sports

Ahh, the Houston Rockets. Where do I begin? Let’s jump right into it with the addition of big man Dwight Howard. D12 was an unrestricted free agent this offseason and he chose to spurn the Los Angeles Lakers and bolt to Houston. As a Laker fan, I’m actually happy he did this, but anyway that’s not the point I’m getting at. Obviously if there’s a Dwight Howard type player on the market, you go all in for him, right? Personally, I don’t think he is worth a max contract. In fact, I would not have gone all in for him. To start, he has no post moves whatsoever. None. He solely relies on his strength and power, and as we saw this past season that does not always work. Dwight was coming off major back surgery before being traded to the Lakers and he has not been the same since. In fact, I don’t believe he will ever be the same. Also, Dwight’s personality does not help the situation. He is not serious about the game and when things do not go his way, he checks out and pouts like a little baby. It would be foolish to think he won’t be an elite defender, but a max contract for an elite defender? I don’t think so. Aside from the Dwight Howard signing, the Rockets were able to sign Ronnie Brewer and Marcus Camby along with several other bench players. I don’t see Camby or Brewer making too much of an impact. The Rockets are no better than a sixth seed team at this point.

7. Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets had an absolutely terrible offseason. They fired coach of the year, George Karl (for God knows what reason) and lost their star SF Andre Iguodala and backup Corey Brewer. This team has gone in the wrong direction leaving them in the same situation they were in a couple years ago. A group of great players with no real superstar. Yes, they strengthened their bench by adding JJ Hickson, Randy Foye and Nate Robinson. This is the only reason I don’t have them slipping out of the playoffs all together. I don’t have high expectations for this Denver team at all. They will struggle this year, especially on the road.

8. Los Angeles Lakers
They may be down, but they are not going away. This may be a bold prediction, but the Lakers are going to squeak into the playoffs again this season. They lost their center Dwight Howard and key role players Earl Clark and Antawn Jamison, but they were able to sign Nick Young, Wesley Johnson, Chris Kaman, and Jordan Farmar. Finally, the Lakers got some young quality players in Young, Johnson and Farmar. I’m a big fan of all three signings, but mainly the Nick Young signing. He has high potential to be an outstanding scorer in this league and he has a lot to prove this season. I know Nick Young will come out ready this season to possibly start at the SF position. He also was signed to the veteran’s minimum because he wanted to be a Laker. That is really the kind of player that you want on your team. An eighth seed may actually be a little low, since the Lakers are actually a semi-deep team. If Kobe, Nash, and Gasol can stay healthy for the majority of the season, this team can be a sleeper team to knock out one of the top teams in the West.