NBA: Western Conference Preview

In the near future, on the night of October 25, the season begins in the world’s main basketball league. We decided to evaluate the teams’ situation in the Western Conference after summer changes such as the high-profile transfer of Bradley Beal to Phoenix and the trade of Chris Paul to Golden State.

Here are the rankings of all NBA West teams, broken down into six different levels: underdogs, play-in contenders, teams that fail to advance past the first round of the playoffs, postseason contenders, NBA Finals contenders, and a contender for the NBA championship.

Foreigners:

San Antonio Spurs

San Antonio was terrible last season, the worst in 26 years. The team had the worst record in the league (22-60), tied with the Houston Rockets. But such a failure was not in vain, the Spurs won the draft lottery and acquired the most promising player in the history of the franchise since Tim Duncan and David Robinson. The Texans hope that Victor Vembanyama will live up to high expectations, but they also need to understand that he will spend his first season in the NBA with weak teammates. Robinson was an MVP-caliber player when Tim Duncan came to the NBA, but now the situation is completely different.

Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Victor Vembanyama

Vembanyama is the team’s best player right now. It takes time for a Frenchie to develop, and that’s normal. Considering their youth and lack of star power, San Antonio has another great shot at taking the top pick in the 2024 draft.

Preliminary candidates:

New Orleans Pelicans, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz

It would be a huge surprise if the Houston Rockets made the playoffs. Houston went 22-60 last season and spent significant money on summer signings point guard Fred VanVleet and prized swingman Dillon Brooks. The Rockets have some interesting young players on their roster: former No. 2 pick Jalen Green, Jabari Smith and Amen Thompson. This could help the team get into the play-in rounds, and the Rockets definitely need to improve on last year’s result.

Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Houston rockets

The Utah Jazz are in a similar situation as the Houston Rockets. A year after trading leaders Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, the Jazz may start thinking about the playoffs. Last year the team was already in the play-off zone but still couldn’t get there, finishing with a score of 37-45. Lauri Markkanen was an All-Star last season and the team traded for John Collins. Collin Sexton remains a reliable scorer and this team has potential on paper. The team doesn’t have real star power, but it has the talent to stay competitive in every game.

According to many, Portland should automatically become an outsider after trading Damian Lillard. Oregon went 33-49 last season and traded Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic but ended up getting valuable assets. Scoot Henderson will challenge Wembanyama for the Rookie of the Year award, and Deandre Ayton is a better center than Nurkic. Enfernee Simons and Shadon Sharp are exciting young players who continue to improve, and on defense, Portland could pair Brogdon, Robert Williams III and Matisse Thybulle.

On December 12, 2022, the New Orleans Pelicans led the Western Conference with an 18-8 record. The team continued to remain in the top 2 in the conference until the last day of the year. However, Zion Williamson suffered an injury that caused him to miss the rest of the season, and the entire team went into decline. With a healthy and most importantly motivated Zion, this team will definitely qualify for the preliminary round.

Oklahoma made the playoffs last year but has yet to make the playoffs since 2020. This was a process of rebuilding and developing capabilities. As this is the fourth year of a de facto rebuild, it’s time for the Thunder to have a breakout season. The team currently has a franchise tag in Shay Gilgeous-Alexander and two potential future stars in Josh Giddy and Chet Holmgren. Holmgren’s performance in his first season will determine the Thunderbolts’ final rankings. If the Thunder perform well in the first half of the season, we should expect interesting trades from the club during the winter window.

Teams in the first round of the play-offs:

Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves

Many predicted the Minnesota Timberwolves would have a successful season last year after signing Rudy Gobert, but the team had a poor regular season and was eliminated by Denver in the first round. The Timberwolves didn’t add many new players this summer as the team’s cap space expanded. It will be interesting to see how the second-year duo of Karl-Anthony Towns and Gobert will co-exist. Considering that the team has practically not strengthened, we expect approximately the same result as in the previous season.

Luka Doncic led Dallas to the conference finals in 2022, but the team has regressed with the arrival of Kyrie Irving. The team completely botched the season and failed to even make it into the play-in field. The team is strengthened by Grant Williams, a great rotation player, and that’s it. Unless they change something in the Kairi and Luka duo, they shouldn’t expect much improvement in results.

Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving

The Memphis Grizzlies were the second team in the West last season but were blown out by the Lakers in the first round. The club lost Dillon Brooks, who transferred to the Rockets, and main star Ja Morant will miss the first 25 games due to disqualification. On the positive side, the team was able to add Marcus Smart, one of the league’s best defenders, who was able to normalize Morant’s behavior and become a leader in the locker room. If the club fails to start the season without Ja, the Nashville team will qualify directly for the playoffs.

Play-off level teams:

Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings

After having an extremely unsuccessful start to the championship last season, the Los Angeles Lakers successfully closed the winter season and the team completely changed and started to display great basketball. The Lakers had a successful post-winter period and managed to qualify for the play-offs and close the series with Memphis and Golden State, who had home field advantage. Only the future champion managed to stop the California club.

Jarred Vanderbuilt is a perfect fit for Anthony Davis. Austin Reaves is an incredible addition to a team that will continue to improve, and the addition of Gabe Vincent could lead to one of the best signings of the summer. Japan’s Rui Hachimura has found his role on the team, and there is also Christian Wood, who has recently performed well in basketball in Houston. The health of LeBron James and Davis is crucial to the Lakers’ success. The team has strong roster depth, which is an invaluable asset to pick up postseason wins.

Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Lakers

As for the Sacramento Kings, the team came close to meeting the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round last year, but things didn’t go their way. Although the progress the team has made in recent years has been astonishing, they have transformed from a team that was constantly on the outside to one of the strongest teams in the conference. For the first time in 20 years, the Kings have a strong roster that can emulate the success of Chris Webber and Mike Bibby (the team that played in the NBA Finals at the time).

Keegan Murray is in his second season and he will be better than his rookie season, NBA teams need to be careful with this guy because he is improving before our eyes. Harrison Barnes and Kevin Herter are excellent starters. If Malik Monk can turn into sixth man Jamal Crawford who can score 20 points per game, this team will be a contender for the conference finals.

NBA Finals contenders:

Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors

All three of these teams can reach the NBA Finals. The Western Conference is loaded with talent, but there are at least four to six teams with two superstar-caliber players.

Last season’s champion Golden State Warriors were faced with the choice of leaving Green or Poole on the team; they chose the former. Jordan Poole was traded for veteran defenseman Chris Paul, who will have his last chance to win his first championship. The Warriors’ starting lineup is stale, and that’s a real problem, especially in the playoffs. As long as star Stephen Curry is healthy, the team will survive, but it is doubtful they can reach their seventh finals this century.

The Los Angeles Clippers’ main problem was injuries; Last year, two important stars of the team were injured in the play-offs. The overlooked Russell Westbrook brought the team together, and he didn’t do it that badly. Westbrook signed a new minimum contract with the Clippers; This is a big plus for a team for this much money. If a team enters the playoffs fully healthy, they can expect good results like reaching the conference finals and even more.

Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. cutting machines

Phoenix Suns managed to add Bradley Beal to their roster and create a new star trio with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. The club also strengthened itself by trading Jusuf Nurkic for DeAndre Ayton, but also added good role players to its roster, making the depth of the roster super strong. If the club’s main leaders are healthy in the playoffs, then we should expect this team to make a long run in the playoffs, perhaps even clinching an NBA title.

NBA Championship Contender:

Denver Nuggets

Denver comes into this season with a squad that won the Western Conference and captured its first NBA championship. The team only lost Bruce Brown, a quality role player; The team didn’t want to pay him $22 million.

The team has the best player in the NBA in Nikola Jokic, there are great additions like Jamal Murray and Michael Porter who have proven they are not that prone to injury, and NBA-bound Aaron Gordon is expected to improve. He will make the All-Star game for the first time in his career next season. The team has all the important qualities that made them champions and with which they can repeat last season’s success.

Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Denver Nuggets

Fadeaway World.

Translation and adaptation: Dmitry Oleynik