The final part of my pre preseason look at the Western Conference will include the lottery bound teams. Here are the links to Part I and Part II, and yes I still think Shawn Marion is idiot for ever wanting to leave Steve Nash and Mike D’Antoni. By the way Kerr won’t pull the trigger, but if I’m Mitch Kupchak I offer Radmonovic and Odom asap.
LOTTERY BOUND (but they might not be as bad as you think)
Clippers: Everybody is writing the Clippers off and who could blame them. They managed to play their way OUT of the playoffs last year (although Stern should send them paychecks thanking them for the Golden State revival). They were incredibly inconsistent, you never knew which Clipper team was going to show up (remember the game the blew at home late against the Kings). And to top it all off the ahve lost their rock of consistency Elton Brand for the season. So why am I not going to completely right these guys off? It’s going to be rough but now a guy like Maggette is going to finally be able to show that he can carry a team, something he has always wanted. Kaman should be improved and Al Thornton will get baptized by fire. Brevin Knight and Ruben Patterson would have pushed them to the playoffs, now it might keep them somewhat in contention. They need a shooter other than Tim Thomas and Cuttino though.
Grizzlies: If this team runs watch out. I think last year was an anomaly; they weren’t that bad they just didn’t have Pau half the time. If Ivaroni puts them in a run and gun offense they are dangerous as hell. They have freak athletes (Rudy Gay, Tarence Kinsey, Stromile Swift, Hakim Warrick), great shooters (Mike Miller, Juan Carlos Navarro, Casey Jacobsen) and a low-post scoring option. I think they are most likely to surprise people in the fact that they are not going to be terrible. I sure hope Memphis returns to at least be entertaining because it was rough watching them last year.
Kings: The Kings have done this to themselves. Bad things happen when you fire a coach who took you to the playoffs ask the Chargers. I mean it is never good when you can look back at the last three years and have had three different coaches. The main problem with Sacramento is they don’t have a guy who is going to take over a game. Unless Artest or Bibby steps up they are just a bunch of guys playing basketball. Artest, Bibby and Martin are all good but they are surrounded by mediocre role players. Whether they be old, overpaid and in the twilight of their careers (Brad Miller, Shareef, Kenny Thomas) or young and unproven (John Salmons, Orien Greene, Quincy Douby, Francisco Garcia) they have entirely too many questions around them. They are like a bad version of the Lakers with worse role players and no Kobe to pull them through. Unlike the Blazers and the Sonics who are on the right path, the Kings are just floating around.
Portland:Oden’s injury took us from ‘The Future is Now’ to the ‘The Future is…the Future.’ Luckily Blazer fans will now have a realistic approach towards the upcoming season. Make no mistake about it Portland is going to be good, they are full of young talent. Next year we add Oden, Rudy Fernandez and a lottery pick to the fold. But that is next year. This year we have to enjoy the playmaking of Brandon Roy, the emergence of LaMarcus Aldridge and seeing what everyone else can do. Will Martell Webster and James Jones be able to provide perimeter threats? Will Travis Outlaw finally step up to the plate with some consistency? Will one of our point guards shine brighter than the others or are we stuck with a Speedy Claxton/Tyronn Lue/Anthony Johnson like poo-poo platter. This year will give us the answers.
Minnesota: Minnesota has way too many players and not enough time or balls to give them any shine. How does a team have Ricky Davis, Gerald Green, Rashad McCants and Corey Brewer? And their backup PG looks to be Sebastian Telfair. *shudder* I would try to be optimistic but it just is not looking too good in Minny, especially minus the Big Ticket and with a coach like Randy Wittman.
Seattle: They have the great Kevin Durant, but how long until people throw him under the bus? They have Jeff Green, and they have first round picks in the bag. They will be good it just won’t be this year.