dallas a automatic in? if anything dallas is on the bubble.. jason kidd’s performance in the Olympics further showed me that he is now too afraid to try and score.

Lets break down each teams chances, shouldn’t we :

LA – future depends so much on Bynum that no one thinks about possible ego collisions between Bynum, Gasol and Bryant going forward. Gasol is soft inside and is going to be tired and more soft when he is back from China. This will put Bryant into burn up mode, like this year with all those injuries that they had.
By the season’s break I see LA sliding. Then those egos start churning again.
Bubble.

San Antonio – is getting very old. Manu is going to be taxed, and if he does not take break at the start of the season ( which he should ), San Antonio do not have any other bench scoring.
If Parker can maintain production they will get into bubble, otherwise they are lottery.

New Orleans. NO was a surprise last season, however I don’t think this year they will get anywhere as easy. SA last year proved that NO is short on scoring threats and lots of teams will learn from that. Posey has to learn how to create otherwise NO will really miss Pargo.
Bubble.

Utah. There is a reason why Jerry Sloan never won a championship ( Stern? :P ): He has his favorites and sticks to them so much that he can’t bring other guys into the mix as well. Sloan couldn’t maintain team mentality throughout playoffs, although that is his mantra. Eventually that gets old, so to the team he starts to appear out of touch with reality, which most of the time leads to tensions in locker-room and ultimately, poor records. Bubble-ishious.
If Kirilenko and Sloan won’t fight mid-season so they have to trade him, then maybe 7-8 spot.

Houston. I can’t judge that well about this, because I’m in love with Artest game so much, but all signs point that this is a lock-in. This is Tracy’s chance to go after it all, and he has matured. Yao is going to come back after Games like on steroids, hungry for wins. Rafer showed last year that he knows how to run point.
Playoffs Locked In, Division title.

Dallas. They needed a dead-eye shooter at SG, instead they got the opposite at PG and they got rid of their mid-range threat. Every team that plays them from now on will just play 5 on 4 defense. It is really hard to score against such defenses if you have a perimeter oriented team like Dallas.
Lottery.

Phoenix. Mr. Terry Porter is one of the best coaches in this league. He can make it work even without Shaq’s effort. But, If Shaq shows up mildly interested in the actual game for more than just press conference, Phoenix has a chance to make playoffs. Otherwise they are 2 defenders short. They will miss Marion more than ever when they are in mid-season.
Bubble, but only because Porter is a great coach.

Denver. Letting Camby go was a good move, because it opens up Denver offense. Some might argue that it opens up their defense even more, but I’m not sure if that is possible. In fact most blocks that Camby was getting were sort of baited freebies, not real defensive stops. It was so easy to score on Denver defense last couple of years that people were getting too anxious to score and forgot at times that there were defenders at all.
Lottery.

Portland. Do you think Greg will dunk more on Yao or on Dwight? He has all the potential to be most dominant center in the league, but first year is almost always the shakiest, he needs the playing time to develop. Good thing they have all the other pieces ready.
Playoff bound.

Clippers – have all the pieces to get into playoffs. They have Baron and they got his clone, Eric. I just have to briefly mention that Eric Gordon is a beast. Imagine any team with 2 BDs. How can they lose? Oh and they also happen to have Al Thornton, and they have a best backup PG in the league in Jason Williams.
Playoffs- Locked In, Championship in sight.

Memphis – J-Crit, OJ, Rudy, Hakim and M-Zol. Best lineup in the league? Not quite. But very close. Once OJ starts to string those 40+ point games together. Rudy is ready for Pippen role, and J-Crit been working on outside shot. I don’t think anyone can argue that Hakim is already a formidable rebounding force, and he has Arthur to back him up.
Playoffs Locked In.

Minnesota Realistically Al Jefferson learned how to play some defense by now. We will see some classic ball coming back to Minnesota with Al and Kevin inside-outside game with Gomez on the flank and Randy and Mike shooting threes in high percentage.
Bubble.

Oklahoma .. Lottery

Sacramento Sacramento is strong after Artest left as it opens up a number of opportunities for young players to shine. Because of Artest played so many minutes and had ball in his hands, Sac can really open up their game now and start running. But, they also dramatically improved their half-court game, by acquiring Jason Thompson. He will also help to lighten load on defensive end with his help defense.
In fact it may allow them to start Douby and let Beno come off the bench, where he is more comfortable without losing much playing time.
Playoffs Locked In.

and finally

Warriors Can we go really really small and trade seattle for their mascot? Or we could do 3 team swap of names: we become Supersonic Warriors, then there is Seattle Blizzard and then Golden State Oklahoma City.

Monta, Corey, Jack, TR, Beans – best offensive lineup in the league period. Every guy has 20+ ppg potential and 3 out 5 are very efficient at scoring. If you factor in the bench scoring, we will average 120 ppg next season. I don’t see how anyone is going to cope with that. And then we have Hendrix!
Playoffs Locked In, Championship In Sight.

thank you for reading
and good luck.

Its going to be golden state, portland, and phoenix fighting it out for the last few playoff spots…
 
With Dallas on the outside looking in…and the clippers and nuggets not even close

…i am amazed by how many people are just ready to write teams like phoenix, dallas, denver and especially san antonio off. are they the dominant powers they once were—of course not. will they have to fight to get in—yes. is it possible one or more could miss—yes, possible.

in the case of san antonio, duncan has another year or two left in the tank. parker is coming into his prime. manu g. is getting older but also ain’t out of gas. as long as that core 3 is in place, this is a playoff team. they could slip a few seeds, but they’re in.

phoenix will be interesting. with a new coach and slightly tweaked system, it could take them a while to get rolling. and the wheels will fall off the nash wagon eventually. but don’t forget amare, an absolute beast who I predict could have an mvp season. shaq was a terrible signing, but i wouldn’t put it past him to miss half the season then come off the bench and contribute to a stretch run for the playoffs. bottom line: i’m not betting against the suns sneaking in this year.

with dallas, a lot will depend on kidd. we love to make fun of dirk around here but he’s still an all-star caliber player who can carry his team on any given night. i wouldn’t be shocked if dallas missed the cut, but if we’re COUNTING on this to happen just to sneak in, that’s rough.

denver also has some issues and like dallas i wouldn’t be blown away if they were a lottery team. but AI ain’t quite done yet and ‘melo will be riding an olympic gold high into the prime of his career. two top 20 superstar players and again this is the team we’re COUNTING on to miss the playoffs?

like i said…brutal.

you can talk all you want about the east getting better (and it has) but talent in the nba’s two conferences isn’t a zero-sum game; both can get better at the same time. yes, guys like brand shifted over, but guys like chris paul and brandan roy are a year older and better. anyone who says the west is anything but a gauntlet filled with slashing knives is delusional, and in for a rude awakening.

definatley have to disagree with you about memphis not being on bubble or in the playoff. i personaly am a huge OJ MAYO fan and him, gay, Warrick, conley , darrel arthur. i think they could make a little noise in the east

He is damn good. I think he is ready for the nba. He wil definatley prove some haters wrong with his skills. His body type is good he is large. he could gain more muscle he is kind of skinny. He shots well. his ball handling is great. his defensive is good when he wants it to be. and most important he has great confidence and he knows he could be a great NBA player.
 he will be way better than just a ben gordon.

He would have complimented monta so well

and i apoligize i meant to right west not east*****

phoenix is getting old. I think in a couple years they wont be a realt big contendor.

the only decent person they have is amare

Only 4 locks to make the playoffs in the west, barring hella injuries or some shit.
Locks:
Lakers
Hornets
Jazz
Rockets

Then there are 7 teams fighting for the last 4
Bubble:
Warriors
Spurs
Suns
Nuggets
Blazers
Mavericks
Clippers
 
I would guess the standings may go like this, but who’s to say, the West is crazy:
1.Houston
2.Lakers
3.Jazz
4.Hornets
5.Suns
6.Spurs
7.Warriors
8.Blazers

I put the Hornets lower because i feel losing Pargo is going to cost them big time, its going to force Paul to log more minutes overall, and you lose his production. However the Hornets can still win the conference. The Suns are ahead of the Spurs because I have a hunch that this is now a team built to play a style like Porters and not D’Antoni’s. Nash will have even more opportunity to be slow and methodical, plus Shaq can actually play and help at that pace. But there is a good chance they dont make it at all. And the Spurs are older again and they seem to only be themselves in the playoffs, getting there may be a challenge. Utah could also sink lower than the 3 spot f’sho. They are a good team but they seem to go through mental relapses or something and can get thrown off their game for large portions of the season. Plus they were horrible on the road. Dubz and Blazers round it out because if you look at the other 3 teams besides them (Clipps, Nuggs, Mavs) they both have the best all around game. Barring injuries to both they should get in and even have the shot at being seeded higher. I really am excited and I must admit I have pretty high expectations for them, but if they mesh like they should, this team will be better than last year. The 53 that everyone is trying to get is not out of the question. They aimed for 50 and came up with 48, if they go for 53 and come up with 50 or 51 they’re in as at least a 6.

dallas has been goin down hill since the warriors destroyed em first round so there no doubt in my mind their gonna slip. the nuggets lost one of their best rebounders and the only guy that actually played defense in camby so i htink their gonna drop. nash and shaq at phoenix can only do so much now plus after all these years running and gunning and then a brand new coach that takes over is gonna take time to get used to so i think their gonna drop some spots. so i think at least the warriors should get the 8th seed this year

will all see. OJ will prove you all wronggggggggggggggggg.

but the warriors will dominate memphis mahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa