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Following on from Wednesday’s look at the top eight contenders for the NBA Western Conference, let’s take a look at the rest of the competition.
Ninth: Dallas Mavericks
DeAndre Jordan agreed to join Dallas, and then backed out on that agreement. In that moment the Mavericks hopes plummeted so they went after Deron Williams. Sure, Wes Matthews will be a quality addition and Dirk Nowitzki and Chandler Parsons remain top-quality players but there are so many question marks around the roster.
The main one is how a three-headed centre monster of Zaza Pachulia, JaVale McGee and Samuel Dalembert will compete with the likes of Davis, Duncan, Aldridge, Jordan, Howard, Gasol and Hibbert in the Wild West. If all three play as well as they can, they can provide a decent enough 48 minutes, but on exposed form this is very unlikely.
If Nowitzki’s career was a marathon, we would be seeing the German legend enter the final two kilometres and his legs are all but gone. This club could concede around 110 points a game unless coaching master Rick Carlisle can engineer something amazing, but the offensive talent ensures they won’t entirely bottom out.
Likely starters: Williams, Matthews, Parsons, Nowitzki, Pachulia
Key reserves: McGee, Dalembert, Jose Barea, Devin Harris, Charlie Villanueva
Regular season: 41-41
Tenth: Phoenix Suns
No team has had more talent run through its backcourt in the last two years as the Suns. Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas are gone, and Brandon Knight and Eric Bledsoe now run the show. Put those two alongside any other backcourt in the league, and they measure as an above-average duo.
Elsewhere, it’s a different story as Tyson Chandler and Markieff Morris are the best of the remaining players and there are role players as far as the eye can see.
That mix can work for an elite defensive team, but there are not many of them on this roster. The Suns ranked 26th in points conceded per game and 18th in defensive efficiency, and while Chandler’s addition will help in this area it is just as important that they expose young centre Alex Len. With this exposure comes the growing pains of continual fouling and developing defence.
The playoffs look beyond this team and while they will continue to play up-tempo offence, they will struggle to cover the off-season losses of Marcus Morris and Gerald Green. First round draft pick Devin Booker will be looking for playing time early on, but is in a logjam for minutes as a shooting guard.
Likely starters: Knight, Bledsoe, PJ Tucker, Morris, Chandler
Key reserves: TJ Warren, Len, Ronnie Price, Mirza Teletovic, Archie Goodwin, Booker
Regular season: 39-43
11th: Sacramento Kings
The Kings are one of the bad-news stories of the NBA, and play in front of a passionate fan-base pleading for a return to successful times. This season could see them back on the right track for the first time in a long, long time.
In DeMarcus Cousins they have an elite two-way talent behind only Anthony Davis as far as quality young big men are concerned, and who seems poised to make a jump into super-stardom. Rudy Gay provides a top second option on offence, and it will make for intriguing viewing if Rajon Rondo and Darren Collison can play together in an undersized backcourt.
In Marco Belinelli, Caron Butler and Kosta Koufos the Kings have quality veteran depth while Ben McLemore and first round draft pick Willie Cauley-Stein have impacted the pre-season and may even start from the first game of the season proper.
If Stein and Koufos can hold down the fort at centre, Cousins can slip across to power forward which will improve the Kings’ defensive substance. If all goes right for the Kings they could contend for the playoffs, but if they implode then this could turn really ugly.
Likely starters: Rondo, Collison, Gay, Cousins, Cauley-Stein
Key reserves: McLemore, Belinelli, Butler, Koufos, Quincy Acy
Regular season: 38-44
12th: Los Angeles Lakers
Arguably the league’s most famous franchise has been in a state of flux over the last few seasons, and the on-court results have been putrid. To that end, consecutive early draft picks have been used on Julius Randle and DeAngelo Russell who are likely to bring Lakers fans back through the turnstiles.
There is also a guy called Kobe Bryant, who will be determined to prove that he is not finished at age 37. As this generation’s best competitor it would be brave to bet against him returning as an effective player.
Point guard Jordan Clarkson was a shining light last season and the additions of Brandon Bass, Metta World Peace, Roy Hibbert and Lou Williams add intrigue to an already interesting team. If Hibbert can re-establish himself as the dominant defender he has been in the past at Indiana, and Randle recovers fully from injury then the frontline is imposing. Furthermore, the backcourt can score in bunches but probably can’t defend anyone!
Likely to entertain, the Lakers will score plenty of points but could be among the league’s worst defensive units if Hibbert does not deliver at an elite level
Likely starters: Clarkson, Bryant, World-Peace, Randle, Hibbert
Key reserves: Russell, Williams, Young, Bass, Tariq Black.
Regular season: 30-52
13th: Minnesota Timberwolves
When you talk youth, you talk Minnesota. Years of mediocrity and their decision to trade away the closest thing they have had to a franchise player since Kevin Garnett (Kevin Love) has seen them have the last two number one picks.
They have used those picks to draft Andrew Wiggins and Karl Anthony-Towns. Both are going to get every chance to show their wares, as are fellow young guns Ricky Rubio, Zach LaVine and Gorgui Dieng.
The Timberwolves could easily throw those five players out and give a vision for the future, but the fact that they have Kevin Garnett, Andre Miller, Tayshawn Prince, Kevin Martin and Nikola Pekovic on the bench makes it likely they will mix youth and experience as the season progresses. Throw in former Euroleague MVP and Rubio’s Spanish teammate Nemanja Bjelica and the depth of quality will be there on any given night.
The team will at times be exhilarating on offence, dynamic on the fast break, terrible from the outside, dysfunctional defensively and smashed on the boards. This is a team built for 2018 and beyond, and any progress this season is a bonus.
Likely starters: Rubio, LaVine, Wiggins, Garnett, Towns
Key reserves: Russell, Williams, Young, Bass, Tariq Black.
Regular season: 28-54
14th: Portland Trailblazers
When you lose four members of your starting five and replace them with a bunch of role players, success will be tough. For Portland, they face this reality headed into this season.
Damian Lillard remains and is an offensive juggernaut, but even he will struggle to carry the entire load. Young shooting guard CJ McCollum looks likely to leap into starting calculations to give the Blazers a backcourt they can rely on for the next decade, but it is slim pickings aside from that.
The frontcourt will see youngster Meyers Leonard get first chance at replacing LaMarcus Aldridge at power forward, while he will likely be flanked by newcomers Al-Farouq Aminu and Mason Plumlee. Solid players they are, but they will be expected to be so much more than that.
Most will concede that Portland are not expected to do too much, and this young team might flourish without expectations and have a far better year than most expect. The reality is that you need talent to win in this league, and while the Blazers have potential it will take a while to gel (perhaps a couple of seasons).
Likely starters: Lillard, McCollom, Aminu, Leonard, Plumlee
Key reserves: Gerald Henderson, Moe Harkless, Ed Davis, Noah Vonleh, Allen Crabbe
Predicted record: 25-57
15th: Denver Nuggets
Remember when the Nuggets made the conference finals? Remember when Ty Lawson was a star? Both seemed to have been a recent memory, but one seems a lifetime ago and one is no longer Denver’s problem. Lawson was traded over summer, leaving Denver with one of the weakest rosters in the league and no sign of anything resembling a star.
Danilo Gallinari and Kenneth Faried are the best of this lot, but both come with question marks heading into season 2015-16. The point guard responsibilities fall on rookie Emmanuel Mudiay and while he will be brilliant at times, consistency is sure to be an issue. The centre position is reliant on the oft-injured Josef Nurkic, relative unknown Joffrey Lauvergne and journeyman JJ Hickson, which again represents a high-risk combo despite Lauvergne’s outstanding pre-season form.
Shooting guard represents one position with some experience and the Nuggets will hope the best bits of Wilson Chandler, Randy Foye, Gary Harris and Will Barton will combine into what they need. Above all, the future is the focus for Denver and this season will present coach Michael Malone with more than the odd headache.
Likely starters: Mudiay, Foye, Gallinari, Faried, Lauvergne
Key reserves: Chandler, Harris, Barton, Hickson, Nurkic, Jameer Nelson
Predicted record: 22-60
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