Let’s recap. As of right now (and I reserve the right to change my mind based on injuries, unforeseen jumps in player development, trades, etc.) I believe the following eight teams will make up the playoff field for the Western Conference: Golden State, LA Clippers, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Houston, Memphis, New Orleans and Utah. Now before some fans get mad at me, let me say that I LOVE all teams in the NBA and I have no favorite team or bear any ill will towards any team. Now let’s talk about why each of these teams (assuming they are indeed the ones that are playoff bound) have a chance to come out of the West, and yes even Utah would have a chance. I discussed Golden State, the Clippers, OKC, and San Antonio in Part 1. So, continuing on with Part 2.
Houston: The Rockets are an odd team to try to figure out. They clearly have outstanding talent in the form of James Harden and Dwight Howard. They also have a lot of quality depth after acquiring Ty Lawson to go along with Patrick Beverly, as well as drafting what appears to be a nice piece in Sam Dekker (but of course whether this actually true or not is something we’ll have to wait and see). Donatas Montejunas is also a key contributor, among several other quality players that Daryl Morey has brought to the club. In all honesty, if they had stayed healthy for the playoffs they could have represented the West in the NBA Finals. To be candid, I see them as a being a better team than they were a season ago. There are always some kinks when incorporating new players, but this collection of talent is as good as any in the Western Conference, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they ended up in the Finals. Although this team is weird from a team psyche standpoint, which isn’t too surprising when Howard and Harden are the alpha dogs on this team.
Memphis: Good ol’ grit n’ grind. The Grizzlies will continue to move forward under this identity since they resigned arguably the best center in the NBA in Marc Gasol. They’re going to need this mentality to continue to compete in the toughest division in basketball (They are in the same division as the Spurs, Rockets, Pelicans and Mavericks and none of these teams are an easy out). Zach Randolph and Mike Conley make this squad extremely formidable. They probably will need some more bench help at some point this season. They very shrewdly signed Brendan Wright to a very friendly contract and added to their front-court depth, which was absolutely one the best signings this offseason. The biggest concern for this team from last year remains the same this year. Will they have enough offense in the playoffs? The Warriors came up with a creative solution to essentially eliminate the Grizzlies from truly threatening them again in the semifinals of the Western Conference. They simply left Grizzlies guard Tony Allen alone and prevented him from easily getting open cuts to the basket, while simultaneously using Andrew Bogut to clog up the paint, which Memphis has to dominate in order to win. This team is certainly good enough 1-7 to compete with anyone in the West, but I’m not sure they are good enough offensively to win the West.
New Orleans: The Pelicans were extremely smart to give Anthony Davis a mammoth contract extension before they needed to. Having the minimum third best player in the NBA (depending on the night he could very well be the best) automatically makes this team threatening. But honestly, outside of Davis, the next only thing I especially like about this team is the new coach, Alvin Gentry. He’s an exceptional coach, and he will get the best out of Davis. The players surrounding Davis give me reason to hesitate when it comes to advancing in the pecking order of the Western Conference. It’s not that the players aren’t good enough in a vacuum (there is virtually no such thing as a bad player in the NBA), but they just don’t fit quite right. This is most apparent at the guard spots. I have no idea how Eric Gordon, Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans will work well together when they are all healthy. There simply aren’t enough basketballs for all of them to play to their potential. It’s pretty clear that this roster was created with the idea of being versatile in mind. Having Ryan Anderson and Omer Asik allow the Pelicans to use Davis at the 5 when Anderson is in, and when Asik is on the floor Davis can stick to his preferred position of power forward. Gentry will certainly have his work cut out for him to make this offense flow more efficiently, but this team will more than likely be better than last year’s version. I wouldn’t be surprised if management tried to alter the roster to make everything fit better, because when this team is finally ready to make a deep postseason run, there will probably be some new key players to help Davis and company take it to the next level. Just don’t expect them to make it out of the first round this season.
Utah: I’m sure this pick to make the playoff field of the Western Conference has confused some people. However, the Jazz were one of the best kept secrets in the second half of the season. After they dealt Enes Kanter to the Thunder and inserted Rudy Gobert into the lineup, this team had a meteoric rise to one of the best defenses in the NBA. Of course the bad defense they played the first half of the season isn’t all on Kanter, but it’s pretty clear his departure helped the Jazz defensively. I am worried about how the loss of their top draft pick from the 2014 NBA draft, Dante Exum (torn ACL), will impact them for the season. In the meantime, Gobert’s development will be critical to the team’s future success. Their best player, Gordon Hayward, is undervalued and should have another good season. Head coach Quinn Snyder will get this team to play extremely hard, but I wonder how long his style of coaching will continue to reach these young players. The Jazz have the opposite problem that Pelicans do. The players on the roster fit better than the Pelicans, but they probably need another top player to push this team to its desired goal. It’s too early to tell if Exum is that guy, or if Gobert will develop into that type of impactful player on both ends, so this player will more than likely be acquired in a trade down the road. This team is likely headed for a first round exit, but the future is bright for the Jazz as long as they continue to develop their young players
ABOUT THE AUTHOR – STEVE HARVEY, SENIOR COLUMNIST
Steve, call sign Rookie, is a US Coast Guard veteran and a student at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa. He is pursuing a BA in Digital Media Production and also participates in intercollegiate athletics. Steve has an AA degree in Journalism from San Diego Mesa Community College, and serves as the Technical Skills Editor and a writer for the Net Set blog (http://theNetSetblog.com).