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So who is rising and falling in the playoff race in the West?

framer

Well-Known Member
Falling-

Lakers- The days of reloading via Free Agency or lopsided trade are apparently over. WAYYY over. There wasn't a single guy here who would have considered Mozgov at half the price he fleeced the Lakers for. That team will be down for a while., even with their good drafts.

Blazers- We dodged a huge bullet here. Acquiring Even Turner instead of a legit big sends them kind of sideways. They were a nightmare matchup against out point guards last year. Exum and Hill will help tremendously in putting that right.

Kings- Heh.

Denver- Baking the cake, evidently.

San Antonio- Striking out in FA, apparently. Fingers crossed that holds up.

Dallas- Getting older and worse. Losing free agents and not replacing them.

Houston- Ditto.

Memphis- Not sure Chandler Parsons moves the needle much for them. Getting older and are now hamstrung with crazy contracts to Parsons and Conley. Seem to be embracing the treadmill.

New Orleans- Solomon Hill is not keeping me up at night. Unibrow needs more help than that.
 
Falling-

Lakers- The days of reloading via Free Agency or lopsided trade are apparently over. WAYYY over. There wasn't a single guy here who would have considered Mozgov at half the price he fleeced the Lakers for. That team will be down for a while., even with their good drafts.

Blazers- We dodged a huge bullet here. Acquiring Even Turner instead of a legit big sends them kind of sideways. They were a nightmare matchup against out point guards last year. Exum and Hill will help tremendously in putting that right.

Kings- Heh.

Denver- Baking the cake, evidently.

San Antonio- Striking out in FA, apparently. Fingers crossed that holds up.

Dallas- Getting older and worse. Losing free agents and not replacing them.

Houston- Ditto.

Memphis- Not sure Chandler Parsons moves the needle much for them. Getting older and are now hamstrung with crazy contracts to Parsons and Conley. Seem to be embracing the treadmill.

New Orleans- Solomon Hill is not keeping me up at night. Unibrow needs more help than that.

Does this mean we win the west?
 
Rising:
Portland, Minnesota, Utah should all improve. I think Portland's younger core is gonna get better as they play more games together.
Minny is obvious, they have a ton of talent and a fantastic coach.
Utah if we can stay healthier than we did last year.

Falling
OKC is really up in the air depending on Durant, althought I'm almost positive he stays in OKC for a year, and if he does OKC is not a falling team.
Houston: The team is a trainwreck of chemistry and D'antoni isn't gonna fix their offense, I see them being an 8th seed at the very best.
Memphis: Team has had some injuries and is getting older, I really like them but I wouldn't be shocked if they missed the post season.
Dallas: They just get older and worse each year.
 
Assuming that Durant goes back to OKC

I see the West like this-

Tier 1 Contenders
1 Warriors
2 OKC
3 Spurs

Tier 2 - Pseudo contenders
4 Clippers

Tier 3 Likely playoff teams

5 Portland
6 Grizzles
7 Utah

Tier 4- not terrible but ...
Minnesota
Houston
New Orleans
Dallas
Denver

Tier 5 - Just bad teams

Sacramento
Phoenix
Lakers


I think people are underestimating how good Conley, Gasol and Parsons are when healthy. Though I worry about their coaching change.

I am assuming that Portland fills out the rest of their roster intelligently.

The Clippers still have 4 very good players. They probably need to trade someone to create some depth.
 
Porty may be worse off with turner if they lose crabbe and harkless.
 
Falling-

Lakers- The days of reloading via Free Agency or lopsided trade are apparently over. WAYYY over. There wasn't a single guy here who would have considered Mozgov at half the price he fleeced the Lakers for. That team will be down for a while., even with their good drafts.

Blazers- We dodged a huge bullet here. Acquiring Even Turner instead of a legit big sends them kind of sideways. They were a nightmare matchup against out point guards last year. Exum and Hill will help tremendously in putting that right.

Kings- Heh.

Denver- Baking the cake, evidently.

San Antonio- Striking out in FA, apparently. Fingers crossed that holds up.

Dallas- Getting older and worse. Losing free agents and not replacing them.

Houston- Ditto.

Memphis- Not sure Chandler Parsons moves the needle much for them. Getting older and are now hamstrung with crazy contracts to Parsons and Conley. Seem to be embracing the treadmill.

New Orleans- Solomon Hill is not keeping me up at night. Unibrow needs more help than that.

good assessment

rising - Jazz
Grizz & Pelicans both slight improvements, mainly due to better health
Minny - really not sure how much obvious talent & now good coach but outside Rubio & KAT low BB IQ

Static - Warriors, Thunder, Portland, Kings,Nugs, Suns, Lakers

Slipping -Spurs, Rockets & Clippers slightly, Mavs big time
 
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