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Are These Teams Improving or Getting Worse in the WC?

Archie Moses

Archie Moses

Well-Known Member
Jazz just got better in my opinion with the addition of Jefferson. What about other teams? Lots of people said the Jazz weren't a play off team this year. Who will make the playoffs next year and who will make the biggest difference on their new teams?

The Spurs. Why?
fibajor1_splitter_300.jpg


The addition of Tiaggo Splitter
https://bleacherreport.com/articles...iet-but-significant-noise-with-tiago-splitter

IMO, Splitter was the best big man in Europe. Spurs aren't going to pull another "Scola" by letting him go.

The Dallas Mavericks. Why?
https://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nba/news/story?id=5377055
Chandler and Alexis Ajinca from the Bobcats in exchange for Eduardo Najera, Matt Carroll and its vaunted Erick Dampier trade chip as well as undisclosed cash considerations.
Click to expand...
AlexisAjinca.jpg


The Suns. Why?
Yeah, they lost Amare, but I think Hedo and Childress will fit their offense really well. Hedo will look much better after a down year while being unhappy in Toronto.

The Kings. Why?

Cousins, Whiteside, Dalembert. Need I say more?

The Trailblazers: The addition of Luke Babbbit, who I think will have a pretty good rookie year and solid career, with the possibility of adding Wes Matthews, look for them to make some noise once again.

The Clippers: Why?

Great draft and pick up by getting Willie Warren, Blake Griffen should be the leading candidate for ROY.

Golden State Warriors: Why?

Will David Lee be the offset needed to replace Morrow, Maggette, and Randolph? Probably not.

The Thunder. Why?

One of the best FO in the NBA. Will BJ Mullens continue to improve his game?

mullens_300_091121.jpg


What are your thoughts?
 
I think the west is going to be awesome to watch this year. It is impossible to predict.

I think the Spurs will continue their decline. I could see them missing the playoffs, or ending 7-8th seed.
I think the make-lots-of-moves-because-we-have-money Mavericks will make some noise but will definitely not end with the 2 seed again.

As for the Cali teams, I could see the Clippers making the playoffs. The Kings might be close. Golden State, not so much.

I hate to join the bandwagon, but I could easily see the Thunder end with a top-4 seed.
 
Lakers: Same
Dallas: About the same still don't have good floor spacing. Chandler and Haywood cancel each other out.
Suns: Worse
Denver: Same
Utah: Better
Blazers: Same (Miller and Roy can't coexist)
Spurs: Same maybe a little better but Splitter isn't proven
Thunder: Same I think people are overrating them. Scouting reports will be out on this team. Surprised everyone this year
Houston: Better with Yao but who knows if he can stay healthy
Memphis: Same
Hornets: Same
Clippers: Better with Griffin playing
Golden state: Better but not much
Kings: Better but still lottery
Wolves: Same

Prediction
1st: Lakers
2nd: Mavericks
3rd: Jazz
4th: Nuggets
5th: Spurs
6th: Thunder
7th: Blazers
8th: Rockets
 
My thoughts:
-Splitter helps San Antonio but Duncan, Parker and Ginobili, (even McDyess) all will be another year older, plus their bench needs major work.
-Also don't forget about Houston. They'll likely match any offer for Scola and Lowry, and even if they get 60 games out of Yao I think they're a legitimate playoff team.
-Barring injury OKC will be better because players like Westbrook, Maynor, Harden, Ibaka, Mullins and Aldrich are so young they will continue to make significant improvements.
-Also I'm not on board with the idea that the Jazz will definitely be a better team with Jefferson instead of Boozer. Will we be better than the ones that only had Boozer for 40-50 games? Definitely. Will we be better than the 3 teams that had Boozer for 74, 81 and 76 games? I have my doubts, but I think we'll still be in competition for a top-5 seed.
-Should be interesting, at this point I think there's 9 teams that will challenge for homecourt in the West (LAL, Dal, Pho, Den, Uta, Por, San, OKC, Hou).
 
Ostertag>Duncan said:
Why? Losing Matthews, Korver, and Boozer, and replacing them with Jefferson has improved us from last year? Maybe shaking things up might help, but on paper, I don't believe so.
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Replacing Boozer, Korver, and Matthews with Jefferson, Hayward, and a MLE Wing could. I wouldn't be surprised if Hayward can contribute almost as much as Matthews. Cancels each other out. Booz and Jefferson may cancel each other out. TPE Wing and Korver, not too hard to find a player there. I would say that at worst, we are equal to last year. Which is a huge thing to have accomplished with AK coming off the books next year.
 
A few stray thoughts on some of these teams.

Dallas: Don't underestimate the effect of time. Dirk Nowitzki is now 32. Kidd is now 37 and will turn 38 during the season. Jason Terry will be 33 by the time the season starts and his game is largely premised on speed. Shawn Marion just turned 32. Some or all of these guys will have significant statistical dropoff during the season. As much as we talk about the Spurs being ancient, Dallas' key players are actually just as old.

Blazers: One would think they'd be better this season simply because the injury bug has to be better than it was last year.

Denver: They actually have a lot of question marks in their frontcourt because Kenyon Martin and Chris Andersen both had knee surgery in June. If they take a long time to come back I wouldn't be shocked if Denver dug itself a big hole early in the season and had problems getting higher than the 6th seed as a result.
 
Sirkickyass said:
A few stray thoughts on some of these teams.

Dallas: Don't underestimate the effect of time. Dirk Nowitzki is now 32. Kidd is now 37 and will turn 38 during the season. Jason Terry will be 33 by the time the season starts and his game is largely premised on speed. Shawn Marion just turned 32. Some or all of these guys will have significant statistical dropoff during the season. As much as we talk about the Spurs being ancient, Dallas' key players are actually just as old.

Blazers: One would think they'd be better this season simply because the injury bug has to be better than it was last year.

Denver: They actually have a lot of question marks in their frontcourt because Kenyon Martin and Chris Andersen both had knee surgery in June. If they take a long time to come back I wouldn't be shocked if Denver dug itself a big hole early in the season and had problems getting higher than the 6th seed as a result.
Click to expand...

If I had rep to give, I'd give you positive rep for this post. Well, better luck next time.
 
You forgot Thunder added Cole Aldrich in the draft. They are young and will continue to improve. I would worry about them more than some other teams.Spurs do seem to be getting quite old(Jazz sweep enough of a indication?), even though George Hill is a nice young player for them. I think the Kings maybe in a year or 2 will get back to being a playoff contender, I thought adding Cousins to go along with Evans will be huge. Can Portland stay healthy, if they can they are a serious contender. Dallas will still be good but probably not great.Houston's been pretty quiet lately, they are waiting for yao to come back but there is no guarantee he can stay healthy. Denver has a lot of unsolved issues off the court..

all in all i think the jazz are in pretty good shape compared to some of these other teams
 
Sirkickyass said:
A few stray thoughts on some of these teams.

Dallas: Don't underestimate the effect of time. Dirk Nowitzki is now 32. Kidd is now 37 and will turn 38 during the season. Jason Terry will be 33 by the time the season starts and his game is largely premised on speed. Shawn Marion just turned 32. Some or all of these guys will have significant statistical dropoff during the season. As much as we talk about the Spurs being ancient, Dallas' key players are actually just as old.

Blazers: One would think they'd be better this season simply because the injury bug has to be better than it was last year.

Denver: They actually have a lot of question marks in their frontcourt because Kenyon Martin and Chris Andersen both had knee surgery in June. If they take a long time to come back I wouldn't be shocked if Denver dug itself a big hole early in the season and had problems getting higher than the 6th seed as a result.
Click to expand...

Kidd's game is based off being savvy and staying out of the way on the three point line when he doesn't have the ball. I don't think his numbers are going to change this upcoming year.

Contrast that with Billups, who got old real fast for the Nuggets last year. That and the front court issues lead me to believe they'll win fewer games next year.
 
prodigy said:
You forgot Thunder added Cole Aldrich in the draft. They are young and will continue to improve. I would worry about them more than some other teams.Spurs do seem to be getting quite old(Jazz sweep enough of a indication?), even though George Hill is a nice young player for them. I think the Kings maybe in a year or 2 will get back to being a playoff contender, I thought adding Cousins to go along with Evans will be huge. Can Portland stay healthy, if they can they are a serious contender. Dallas will still be good but probably not great.Houston's been pretty quiet lately, they are waiting for yao to come back but there is no guarantee he can stay healthy. Denver has a lot of unsolved issues off the court..

all in all i think the jazz are in pretty good shape compared to some of these other teams
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i like okc and all and have since last year but cole wont be playing for them this yeatr so why bring it up...Does utah just love the white player to much..Wanna wager that cole doesnt even average 10 min a game
 
Even if Aldrich gives them 10-15 minutes a game, that's still a solid contribution for OKC, who's minutes at center should be tight with Collison, Ibake entering his 2nd year, Krstic and Mullens. Remember they started Nenad Kristic last year. Aldrich is abetter rebounder and defender and like Nenad can hit the mid-range jumper. I don't think Aldrich is worth a top-15 pick, but I do think he'll be better than Kristic.
 
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