NBA preview 2014-2015 season - Western Conference
Despite the devastating news that Los Angeles Lakers, and really all basketball, fans suffered last week regarding the season-ending back injury to PG Steve Nash, I’ve managed to pull myself together and hammer out our Western Conference picks with fellow SWB contributor Ryan Rodriguez.
Last season was a great year for fans of Western Conference teams. We boasted perhaps seven of the leagues top ten teams (Spurs, Thunder, Clippers, Warriors, Rockets, Grizz, and Trail Blazers) and the race to the number eight playoff seed came down to the wire. This season offers more of the same excitement as a highly talented rookie class enters the league and playoff contenders have added potential finishing pieces to their rosters.
Here are our picks for this year’s Western Conference Playoff teams:
1 Seed
Josh- Los Angeles Clippers- This is it folks. I’m calling it now. The Los Angeles Clippers will hold the number one spot in the Western Conference this year, and they are going to do it with stylish lobs and dunks.
There’s no doubt about it in my mind. They beat out the talented Golden State Warriors in the first round last year despite dealing with the Donald Sterling fiasco and lost out to the Oklahoma City Thunder in what was actually a very close Semi-finals.
The Clippers waved goodbye to Ryan Hollins and added Spencer Hawes, a more than capable big man who can space the floor with his shooting. They also STOLE Jordan Farmar from the Lakers as a replacement for Darren Collison and I think Farmar’s superior court vision and above average three-point shot will prove he will be an excellent back-up to Chris Paul.
Toss in one of the league’s top five coaches in Doc Rivers and you have all the ingredients for a championship contender.
Ryan – Los Angeles Clippers – Can’t believe I’m putting them here, but year 2 under Doc will only help. They have a competent back up big in Spencer Hawes finally, and if J.J. Redick and Chris Paul stay healthy all year, I think we are looking at the best offense in the league.
Couple this with Kevin Durant missing at least a month and the Spurs suffering a slight dip after two straight Finals trip and I see this as the year for the Clips to take the league by storm.
2 Seed
Josh- San Antonio Spurs- While they will lose some games because Pop will infuriate the NBA administration and sit Duncan, Parker and Ginobili throughout the season, the Spurs are still going to be atop the Western Conference because they are the best-coached team in the NBA and they have one of the most cohesive and unified squads I’ve ever seen play.
The big three have gracefully accepted a somewhat diminished role as they get older and that has opened up more opportunities for young players like Tiago Splitter and Kawhi Leonard to excel (See last year’s NBA Finals).
They will rain three’s down like it’s the monsoon season in Southeast Asia and they have two promising rookies in Slo-Mo’ Kyle Anderson and Bryce Cotton.
Ryan – San Antonio Spurs – I said the Spurs would suffer a dip, but it’s not going to be big. They are the NBA machine, with players that understand their system to the fullest which allows them to rest their starters and make it seem like they aren’t even missing a beat.
This team will be building for the playoffs, so I’m most interested in seeing how Kawhi Leonard continues to improve this year (does he make a leap) and if rookie Kyle Anderson, one of the most unique college players last year and heir apparent to Boris Diaw’s point forward spot, is integrated into the team. Oh yeah, and what crazy, sweet lefty passes Manu can throw.
3 Seed
Josh- Golden State Warriors- I’m going to take a slight gamble on this one and appease the fans of my new home in the Bay Area. I cannot doubt the Splash Bros. any longer. I simply can’t. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are the two most electrifying shooters in any starting backcourt and they are going to continue to run through opposing guards.
Throw in a healthy Andrew Bogut and newly returned Festus Ezeli (who absolutely dominated in his time on the floor against the Clippers this preseason), a new backup PG in Shaun Livingston, and returning veteran Leandro Barbosa, and the Warriors are going to have one of the fastest and most efficient offenses in the league.
Expect them to shatter the NBA record for most made 3’s in a season this year.
Ryan – Oklahoma City Thunder – I know KD is out for month, but I’m sorry, I still don’t think the rest of the West has what it takes to make the gap big enough during that time. And I think that Russell Westbrook is about to prove all the haters wrong, and do a damn good job carrying this team as a leader nobody thinks he can be.
Then, when KD comes back and Steven Adams over takes Kendrick Perkins as the starting center, and possibly Reggie Jackson becoming the starting 2 guard, the Thunder will hit a stride behind one scary first unit. If they finish November more than 3 games over .500, Western Conference look out.
4 Seed
Josh-Oklahoma City Thunder- No KD to start the season is going to throw this Thunder team into turmoil. When you lose last year’s MVP and the catalyst for your offense for over a month, you are going to lose a couple of games.
Now, I’m sure that Russell Westbrook will do his due diligence and up his shot count up to 40 chucks a game, but in my eyes, the Thunder have been a declining team over the last two seasons. The James Harden trade absolutely ended a potential championship squad and they’ve been trying to make-up for that by throwing Jeremy Lamb into the mix. The only thing Lamb and Harden have in common is their absolute inability to play defense.
Rookie big man Mitch McGary is also out with a broken foot so things aren’t going to get off to a great start. Nonetheless, once KD is back and Steven Adams steps up into the starting Center position, the Thunder will still win enough games to take 4th seed in the West.
Ryan – Golden State Warriors – Maybe I’m being an offensive snob, or maybe I’m discounting intangibles and belief in your coach, but I think the switch from Mark Jackson to Steve Kerr is going to finally allow the Dubs to jump up the level they thought they would last year.
I expect much more flavor in the offense to combine with a very good defense, as Stephen Curry will get more creative looks that will propel him into heat checks every 4 games or so.
The lineup versatility that Shaun Livingston adds will only further diversity this team on both ends, and if they can get anything out of their backup bigs, they could challenge for the 3 seed. Now if only they had traded Klay for Kevin Love.
5 Seed
Josh- Houston Rockets- My complete and utter loathing for Dwight Howard usually renders me unable to say anything positive about the Rockets, but I’ll do my very best. There is potential on this team to make a deep playoff run.
They’ll definitely win enough games to take 5th seed in the West, but I still have serious doubt about their ability to make it far in the postseason. I love that they re-signed Trevor Ariza. When they first signed him away from the Lakers in 2011, they had him as their go-to scorer. That didn’t turn out well as he shot below 40% on a huge number of shots. Now, thrust back into a secondary role, Ariza can do what he does best, play defense and hit open-3s.
Not the best shot-creator, Ariza was so valuable to the 2010 Lakers Championship team because he shut down the opposing team’s best player and contributed more than enough on offense. If he can fill the void Chandler Parsons left, the Rockets are going to be in great shape. They still have the best scoring guard in James Harden and if D12 is completely healthy, I see the Rockets winning between 50-55 games.
Ryan – Dallas Mavericks – Rick Carlisle is a miracle worker, Dirk is a offensive savant, and the Mavericks always seem to find a way to make their off-season acquisitions outperform expectations. This year, that role falls to Tyson Chandler, who was disinterested on the Knicks last year and looked to be fading as a rim protector, Fat Raymond Felton, and Al Faroq Aminu.
Chandler Parsons adds some more flexibility to their roster and I see Carlisle and Dirk helping him take a jump in offensive production, much in the same way they did with Monta Ellis last year. Also, Jameer Nelson is in tow to make sure that Felton cannot be to much of a detriment if he continues the horrible play he showed last year.
This all should be enough to buoy an average defense, as I see them creating close to the league best offense they had after the All Star Break last year.
6 Seed
Josh- Phoenix Suns- Guess who completely and unequivocally believes that the Suns are going to make the playoffs this year and take the sixth seed? This guy! That’s right guys, for better or for worse, I truly believe that the Suns have what it takes to make it into the postseason this year.
Strong, aggressive and efficient starting guards? Check. White guy who can get mad boards and play hard defense while giving you 10 points a game? Check. Best in-game dunker in the league as well as a deep perimeter threat? Double check.
Twins who can play all forward and guard positions? Yessir. Not only are the Suns going to be the best thing that ever happened to NBA League Pass, but they have molded a talented squad with a deep bench. They are going to put up 110 points a game while playing a top- 15 defense. Welcome to the playoffs Phoenix!
Ryan – Memphis Grizzlies- I believe there is very little separating the Grizzlies from the two teams above them, and ranking them at this point is basically the equivalent of throwing darts at a dart board.
They won 50 games last year while Marc Gasol missed 23 games and it did wonders for Mike Conley’s improvement as an offensive player. They have made their wing rotation respectable now with Quincy Pondexter returning from injury and bringing in Vince Carter to add a dash of scoring and secondary ball handling off the bench.
You know the defense will be there and that might be enough to propel them above the the Mavericks, and if their offense can become more balanced between inside and outside, they could be a top 4, and maybe a top 3 seed.
7 Seed
Josh- Dallas Mavericks- I really like this Dallas Mavericks team this year. Despite what people might think, the Mavericks actually made quite a few off-season acquisitions that actually benefits them these past months.
Most notably, they added Chandler Parsons, Rashard Lewis, Tyson Chandler, Raymond Felton, and Jameer Nelson. With the exception of Parsons, every player is a hardened veteran who has reached the end, or close-to the end of their prime. What does this mean?
It means that the Mavericks are going to have a team that will do whatever it takes to win a championship this year. Players aren’t going to care about their minutes, they are going to be unselfish, and they are going to listen to Rick Carlisle, one of the better coaches in this league the last decade.
Dirk still has an unblockable shot, and the Mavs have a deep backcourt capable of keeping up with anyone in the league this year.
Ryan – Houston Rockets- To me, this is the highest variance team in the West. They have 2 legit stars who can put the team on their back and lead them to 55-58 wins, but when your second line reads, Isaiah Canaan, washed up Jason Terry, Francisco Garcia, Joey Dorsey and Jeff Adrien, according to ESPN, the stars can only carry you so far.
Where is their second ball perimeter creator, because as much as I like Patrick Beverley, it’s his defense that gets him props, not his driving and creating. Unless you trust Jason Terry or some internal development of the 2nd round picks (Canaan and Troy Daniels), James Harden is going to be taxed with having to do everything for this offense, which means endless trips to the free throw line and no defense from the bearded one.
Maybe they can recreate what the Trail Blazers did last year and ride their starters for as long as possible, but it you remember, the Blazers could only keep their high status for half a season before the tumbled back down to earth.
With some other teams improving in the West below them and the Rockets losing some depth with Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik gone, I see them falling in just below the top 6.
8 Seed
Josh- New Orleans Pelicans- The Pelicans are my dark horse in the NBA this year. I truly believe they are going to edge into the playoffs. I am a huge Anthony Davis fan and he has only improved each year. He’s a top-5 player overall and his defense is going to be a game-changer. He added a nice 15-footer to his arsenal this offseason and I’m expecting a 25 point, 12-rebound average from him this season.
After adding a disgruntled Omer Asik to their roster in the offseason, the Pelicans will have a tough rim-protecting duo that will hold opposing teams to under 40% at the rim. Add the league’s best three point shooter in Ryan Anderson to the mix and a trio of explosive guards in Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday, and Eric Gordon, and you have a deep, young, and hungry team ready to take the league by storm.
Ryan – Portland Trail Blazers – I’m so boring, but I am predicting the same playoff teams in the West this year. Someone tell me who has a better 1-2 punch than the Blazers in Aldridge and Lillard among the remaining teams and I’ll laugh you off. As much as I want the Suns to play deep into April, and maybe May, I just don’t think they will be able to pull ahead of the Blazers.
The Nuggets will try to go the no All Star route to make the playoffs while the Pelicans will hope Anthony Davis takes the ultra leap and Eric Gordon doesn’t get hurt (yeah right), but all it will be is hope. The two guys the Blazers can trot out to lead them are proving to be very formidable, and the rest of the team falls in line after them, knowing their roles well and executing them.
Chris Kaman and Thomas Robinson as the backup bigs scares me no doubt, but in the end I trust Lillard and Aldridge to take care of business.