Minnesota Timberwolves
This is now the second year that the Wolves have made it to the Western Conference finals but lost embarrassingly. The Wolves didn’t do much during the offseason, looking to run it back with a strong core they found last year while developing their prospective players. However, star shooting guard Anthony Edwards will take the next step in his game this year, and one can only hope that leap propels them to the next level.
The main problem with this team is that they don’t have many playmakers. Yes, they have people who can score, but no one who can generate offense. They need a point guard. That used to be Mike Conley, but he is too old to provide productive minutes to this team, and the prospective replacement, Rob Dillingham isn’t everything that people anticipated. He is much more of a score-first, shifty offensive driver, which isn’t exactly what the Wolves need, and he is undersized in a league that is ridding itself of his archetype more and more. He hasn’t developed the parts of his game the Wolves require. If there’s a problem with this team, it lies with the point guard position and Dillingham. This team will be good, and they will make the finals. Whether they progress in the postseason is reliant on matchups. The Wolves are historically good against teams like the Lakers, Warriors and Nuggets, but are ill-equipped for a suffocating defense like the Thunder.
Denver Nuggets
The problem that the Denver Nuggets had last year was that they had no depth. They have the best player in the league, Nikola Jokić, with a good starting cast surrounding him, but as soon as we get to the bench, things go south. The Nuggets made a few key moves during the offseason that will help them in the long term — first, they got out of the horrible Michael Porter Jr. contract in return for a similar player in Cameron Johnson. Next, they traded for Jonas Valančiūnas and Bruce Brown, who were both on minimum contracts. Their bench got deeper for cheaper.
Valančiūnas is a decent center who will make sure this team doesn’t fall apart when Jokić steps off the court. Joker played hero ball last year with his minutes, but that’s not sustainable. Although Brown has not had a great showing of late, he was much better last time he was on the Nuggets. Jokić has always elevated the players around him, and the Nuggets are hoping that happens with Brown again. This team will be improved from last year, and last year they took Oklahoma City to seven games.
Houston Rockets
The Rockets have had one of the greatest rebuilds in contemporary NBA history, and it is paying off. Last year, this team made it to the playoffs and held the second seed in a stacked West. This success was led by their strong defense, offensive rebounding and depth. However, their primary problem last year was closing games.
They were able to compete offensively with the best, but this primarily came by giving Jalen Green and Alperen Şengün the ball and hoping things worked out. Green performed abysmally in the playoffs and proved that he could not be a primary option on this team. The Rockets saw this problem and over the offseason found their solution in trading Green and a few other assets for Kevin Durant.
If you were looking for a player to close out games, thrive in one-on-one scoring and contribute to an already goliathian team, Durant was the best option. While they will be missing their primary floor general, Fred VanVleet, out with an ACL injury, this team is going to be competitive. Şengün will take another offensive leap — same with Jabari Smith Jr., and Amen Thompson’s defense is next-level. This team has incredible depth. An injury means much less to the Rockets than other contenders.
Oklahoma City Thunder
The OKC Thunder is the best team in the league. This is not a close debate; this has not been a close debate, and this will not be a close debate. It has the reigning MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (a.k.a. SGA) — a top-five player in the league and an amazing floor general and leader — with an incredibly deep and skilled team following him. Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, their number two and three options, are young with promising futures. Alex Caruso and Luguentz Dort are some of the greatest three-and-D perimeter players in the league and constantly give teams hell while SGA can sit back and rest. This team’s defense rivals some of the greatest in the entire history of the game. Full stop. It has had an incredible rebuild that will be studied for the rest of basketball history, and they provide a fun enemy to root against.
San Antonio Spurs
Holy rebuild. This team will be a force to be reckoned with. Victor Wembanyama is the truth, and the project of going out and signing De’Aaron Fox was the right move.
When you have Wembanyama, you are a win-now team, and although Fox wasn’t the perfect fit, he’s close enough. Stephon Castle is also great and very young, and Jeremy Sochan is good when you put him in places where he’s comfortable. With Wemby, you need to make sure you have at least a decent backup center; going out and getting Luke Kornet was perfect for that. If you thought OKC was scary now, just wait for the Spurs.
A few concerns: you have to be careful with Wemby’s safety. That’s why Kornet is such a good pick-up. Second, because of Wemby’s blood clots last year, the Spurs were blessed with the second overall round pick, Dylan Harper, who has a similar game to Fox. With players like Wemby, Harper, Fox, Castle and Sochan, you start to run into a bit of a spacing problem. For this team to take another leap, you have to ask some of these guards to develop more and more of a three-point game.
Los Angeles Lakers
I see the vision. A three-pronged offensive beast in Luka Dončić, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves, a weapon will be tested by a lacking bench. No other player really shines in my eyes, and DeAndre Ayton will struggle. However, this team will be a contender despite this horrible bench. Luka is facing the greatest get-back season known to man, and Reaves is itching to get a bag. I really have no idea what LeBron will look like this year, but my goat is my goat, and I want him to succeed. I’m hoping for the best with this team, but can’t help skepticism regarding the longevity and gambit of this roster.
Golden State Warriors
Although the lineup of Steph Curry, Al Horford, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler is very old, this team will be good. Curry in any form is an offensive weapon, and if there’s a year to make a final push, this is it. This season rests primarily on what the Warriors decide to do with Jonathan Kuminga. It was iffy on whether he would be returning this year, but on a contract that will be very easy to trade later down in the season, this young guard is in a make-orbreak situation. If he can buy into the Warriors’ offensive system and defensive rigor while improving his shot even in the slightest, this team could be good. If not, he will be out of the Bay. Don’t underestimate the oldheads. Draymond grows ever more powerful with each greying hair.
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are in an interesting position. On paper, the future looks somewhat bright. Their success lies primarily with first-round pick Cooper Flagg, but they have a good, young presence in other players like Dereck Lively. This is in addition to Anthony Davis, who is still a top 20 player in the league, even if he is incredibly injury-prone. However, all of this has to be looked at in the context of the colossally horrible trade Nico Harrison made last year, ridding the Mavericks of their superstar Dončić in favor of Davis. While the basketball gods played with their food in giving this team Flagg mere months after, I do not think that they will allow this team to actually compete. Look for an imminent collapse of epic proportions.
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns should not be good. Owner Mat Ishbia has run them into a hole that will take years to dig out of, and it is safe to say the worst big three to ever exist in Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal finally being blown up gives a fitting end to a few uncomfortable years of ball no one except Ishbia thought would work out.
Portland Trail Blazers
Will the Trail Blazers compete? Probably not. They have a very good defensive structure, but don’t seem to have built a team with enough firepower to contend with the West. They have gotten better than they were in years past, and that’s laudable, but I don’t see them making it very far — if at all — in the playoffs.
Sacramento Kings
The Kings are an absolute mess. The signing of Russell Westbrook over the summer concluded a sad truth for Kings fans: Sacramento is where stars go to die. These players are too ball-dominant to be on the same team, and although they might pass the eye test, I don’t see this team being good.
New Orleans Pelicans
Zion Williamson has hit his ceiling. His front office has a strange mentality that plagues a lot of NBA teams, where they want to win now but do not have the resources to do so. They traded future draft picks for a higher pick this year, and looking back, it’s hard to see the point. It’s debatable whether or not they’ll even make the playoffs in such a strong West, and that’s a hard life to live if you’re a fan of the Pelicans.
Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers are in a weird spot. They were really good last year. So good that they took the Denver Nuggets to seven games. They had a solid signing in Bradley Beal and seem to be in a similar position to the Golden State Warriors. While you may think they have the ability to be good with their experience and individual players like Ivica Zubac, they won’t be great. I’m skeptical of players like Beal and James Harden not cracking under pressure.
Utah Jazz
The Jazz are constantly rebuilding, and it makes no sense. They tanked incredibly hard last year just to get the fifth overall pick in Ace Bailey, who I don’t think will turn out to be a superstar player. They have good players in Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler, but that’s about all they can show for it. I just don’t know how long they can tank before everything goes up in flames.
Memphis Grizzlies
While Ja Morant is the best player on this team, the Memphis Grizzlies will not be good. He is a good player when he is healthy, but he has no leadership ability or durability. I don’t have a problem with this, though; we need teams having fun playing losing basketball. The question is whether or not the team behind him deserves losing basketball.
