Western Conference Predictions

[KW]

1) DAL - the best player in the CSL plus a great supporting cast, though it lacks a second star, it might not matter
2) MIN - the Ingram trade saved this team. paired with Simons and plenty of versatility and shooting they will be very good
3) MEM - replaced the weakest link (Doum's inefficiency) with the very versatile Bowen
4) DEN - Monk and KAT are paired again. playoff lock, but not sold on the supporting cast beyond Bolden and Kostas
5) HOU - despite a huge shakeup, defense, passing, and two-way versatility are huge strengths. can it overcome the lack of a #1?
6) SAC - Kofi has already developed so much, this could legitimately be a team nobody wants to face already

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7) GSW - largely the same team as last year
8) SAS - a very good roster (which is now much better as ZDK and Antetokounmpo get their big boy endurance). just needs someone to run it
9) POR - a young team with a good future, but i'm not quite there on their present
10) LAL - a breakout year for Mobley would go a long way, getting the Lakers to a place that a team anchored by an offense/defense dynamo like Bowman/Rui belongs

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11) OKC - make or break years for IQ and Kuminga in my opinion. Barrett and Bagley aren't carrying this team on their own.
12) PHX - they have pieces- Alen, Garland, Cade, Martin, Paschall, so I don't think they're tanking, but more is needed if they're going to make a play-in push
13) UTA - losing Mitchell for Q is a big loss offensively. I just don't think there's enough around JJJ
14) NOP - very similar case as Utah. With Wemby coming in quite raw, there's very little on this team apart from Frank and Lauri
15) LAC - the tank is no real secret, with this year's team being built around several devastatingly inefficient offensive players

[wms02a]

Memphis has to be #1... best front court in the league with a top 3 PG... BOwen is a perfect fit to be the glue guy

[drumr]

Memphis has to be #1... best front court in the league with a top 3 PG... BOwen is a perfect fit to be the glue guy

This. I love that roster

[OneNole]

Memphis is number 1 on this list and it's not close. You can make an argument in whose 2nd maybe. But definitely not on who has the best roster/lineup/odds on winning West.

[Stockton12]

memphis ...we are not going to be anywhere near

[rh0xxy]

I can see why Kyrus opted for the safe pick in Zion. Memphis is #1 on paper but remains to be seen if it equals to regular season success. There might be some variables like too many big time scorers sharing the ball, and etc.

Here's mine anyway

1. Memphis
2. Dallas
3. Denver
4. Minnesota
5. Sacramento
6. Oklahoma
7. Houston
8. Golden State
9. Portland
10. San Antonio
11. Utah
12. New Orleans
13. LA Lakers
14. Phoenix
15. LA Clippers

[Marcos_Beck]

Memphis to win the West all day, that's my bet. That roster is scary.
Dallas is also very good, I think those two are a bit ahead of everyone.

Then Minny, Denver, Golden State, Oklahoma, Kings in no order

Houston needs fine tuning but has talent, same for Spurs. Both are probably looking at that 3rd tier group with a trade or two (Rockets) or good coaching (Spurs).

Doug will probably take a step back this year with those trades but Ike was a nice find, I don't like it for Phil this year, New Orleans must define it's path. Lakers too.

Then Phoenix and Clippers are in rebuild mode and could take a while.

[thecoolestjedi]

Damn, people think we are gonna be that bad? I don’t know, I think the team could surprise people especially if I can fix Cade’s shooting early

[TheTwoWallaces]

Damn, people think we are gonna be that bad? I don’t know, I think the team could surprise people especially if I can fix Cade’s shooting early

Few players make a big difference their rookie season. Cunningham probably won't be an impactful starter until his 2nd or 3rd season. Rookies often are poor shooters and lack the endurance to play more than like 24 mpg. Or at least that's how it goes with my rookies. That's why King is starting in the G-League.

[bt]

Memphis does look great and Ball with Zion was a nice move too. Nuggets look dangerous and I think we all forget sometimes how good Simmons was/is so it's a clear top 3 I think and top 4 if Minnesota can find the right mix.

[Silogical]

I think its a clear top 4, and if they win 220+ games. The other teams in the west are going to be surprised how few games they win. DAL for me is not 100% i dont like the help zion has, but zion is still the best player in the league.

[Stockton12]

intresting selections

[thecoolestjedi]

Damn, people think we are gonna be that bad? I don’t know, I think the team could surprise people especially if I can fix Cade’s shooting early

So that was a lie lol

[rh0xxy]

Gb has Portland going from a Play-in caliber to one of the contenders, this goes to show how great he is. A proven winner indeed. Kudos!

[Flaming Homer]

Damn, people think we are gonna be that bad? I don’t know, I think the team could surprise people especially if I can fix Cade’s shooting early

So that was a lie lol

Don't worry, it just takes some time to figure out the right mix and add more young talent.

[KW]

well absolutely nothing's decided at the top...

Dallas 50-26
Memphis and Portland tied at .5 games behind
Minnesota 1 game behind
Houston 1.5 games behind
Denver 3 games behind

that's the current top 6. Sacramento legitimately could win out and could make it close. A lot of games left between all these teams as well

[bt]

Yeah you top 6 are no fun. Hanging out together and not letting us in

[KW]

Yeah you top 6 are no fun. Hanging out together and not letting us in

Maybe you should've thought of that when you started 21-21

jk this team's 2nd half of the season has been super impressive and I don't envy whoever winds up matched up with you after the play-ins

[bt]

Yeah you top 6 are no fun. Hanging out together and not letting us in

Maybe you should've thought of that when you started 21-21

jk this team's 2nd half of the season has been super impressive and I don't envy whoever winds up matched up with you after the play-ins

Haha true, 9-13 prior to that didn't help but it's tight up top.

[blackice]

Damn, people think we are gonna be that bad? I don’t know, I think the team could surprise people especially if I can fix Cade’s shooting early

So that was a lie lol

Honestly your franchise is in great shape long term, if you can get Cade to live up to his potential and flip Smailagic for a rebuilding package (or keep him, he's only 22), you have 3 picks in this class to add some supporting pieces and then if you bottom out next year you could potentially have a top 3-5 pick to add to a growing core of young players. You could use this season as research to see how your team performs under various systems and then cater your trade/draft targets to what works best. You can also go FA hunting and see what that you can get on the open market, but you're in a position to avoid the treadmill of being good enough to make the playoffs but not good enough to truly contend.