Opinion
While were still in the midst of the NBA Finals, the competition in the Western Conference is ramping up for next season.
The Western Conference has been the superior conference for many season now, and next year will be no different.
The NBA playoffs in the bubble saw the best eight Western Conference teams participate in the post-season. While we know the quality and strengths of the teams in the top half, don’t look past the non-playoff teams, who all have promising futures to look forward to.
Firstly, after being decimated by injury, the Golden State Warriors are primed to run it back with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. They have many assets at their disposal to trade and stock up their team for next season. Barring no further injury, they will be a force once again.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have optimism after landing the No. 1 pick for the 2020 draft. The Wolves are going to have a ton of pressure to develop and make moves to improve the trajectory of the team.
After parting ways with Andrew Wiggins, Shabazz Napier, Robert Covington and Gorgui Dieng, they received D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Juan Hernangomez in return. A change of scenery may have been helpful as the three incoming players for Minnesota showed promising signs of play in the final stretch of games.
Led by Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns along with Josh Okogie and Jarret Culver, the Timberwolves have a solid and fresh core to work with. The missing piece for the Wolves is a quality power forward who can pair with Towns in the front court. Whether they acquire that through the draft or bring in competent players through free agency remain to be seen.
We now move onto the highly anticipated New Orleans Pelicans. This team just oozes talent. Obviously the Pelicans have Zion Williamson, but to add to that you have Jrue Holiday, JJ Redick, Lonzo Ball, Jaxson Hayes, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Josh Hart.
You would also assume restricted free agent Brandon Ingram will return to the Pelicans. He is their X factor as the most improved player in the league
While the team had a disappointing restart in the NBA bubble, you’d figure another off-season together will only make this team more dangerous.
Sacramento fans have been waiting for the Kings to return to the playoffs since 2006. This coming off-season may make or break their future. If they don’t make the right moves, they could be set back even further.
The Kings have multiple talented players, but so far it hasn’t seemed like the fit or even the coaching is right. Having the likes of De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Richaun Holmes, Marvin Bagley, Nemanja Bjelica and Harrison Barnes is decent, but in the Western Conference they need more. On their day they will be a tough team to beat, but realistically they don’t really look like making major waves in the West.
The San Antonio Spurs are always going to maximise their capabilities under Gregg Popovich. They still have a veteran core of LaMarcus Aldridge, Rudy Gay and Patty Mills along with the rising stocks of Dejounte Murray and Derrick White. Demar Derozan has a player option, and whether he returns will be determined.
The Spurs ended a streak of consecutive playoff runs this recent season, but with Popovich at the helm, you can never fully count them out. It will be interesting to see if the front office brings in any new pieces to improve the team.
The Phoenix Suns took the NBA by storm after going undefeated in the NBA bubble. They have a similar make-up to the New Orleans Pelicans, where this team oozes talent. Led by Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton, they have a strong supporting cast that consists of Ricky Rubio, Kelly Oubre, Frank Kaminsky, Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson.
They’ll be looking to build off of what happened inside the bubble and hopefully develop even further to push for a playoff spot, which they have not reached since 2010.
Memphis have the makings of a scary team led by rookie of the year Ja Morant. They don’t have any major players off contract for next season and will be looking to avenge their elimination from the playoffs.
The Grizzlies are one of the youngest teams in the league, and for them to be this good is frightening. Their oldest player is Gorgui Dieng, who is currently 30, and many players such as Jaren Jackson Jr, Brandon Clarke and Dillon Brooks could make a further leap in their play.
They still have quality players in Jonas Valunciunas, Justise Winslow, Kyle Anderson and Tyus Jones to backup the young core. It’s been an amazing transition from the days of Mike Conley, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol to where they are now.
When you analyse the West, you would assume that the Lakers, Clippers, Rockets, Nuggets, Mavericks and Jazz are strong contenders to retain their playoff spot. Throwing Golden State into the mix, it leaves the Portland Trail Blazers and the Oklahoma City Thunder as the question marks.
If the current season has taught us anything, however, it’s not to count teams out.
Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and a returning Jusuf Nurkic willed the team to the playoffs. If Carmelo Anthony also keeps up the level he played at, his return to Portland should welcomed with open arms.
Likewise, the Thunder weren’t considered much at the start of the 2019-20 season, but they managed to have a team that mixed developing prospects with quality veterans to shock the league.
Overall, the Western Conference is going to be a bloodbath next season. While it’s usually the stronger conference, each team seem to have a foundation to build on.
It will be intriguing to see the developments of every team and the battles that take place as they fight for supremacy to become champions in 2021.
Build your own ultimate team! Pick your key players and take a shot at big cash prizes every day with Draftstars. For great odds on NBA games every day head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Nikola Jokic has scored 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead defending NBA champions Denver past LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers…
There will undoubtedly be upset results here and there in the NBA playoffs but there’s an overwhelming sense of fait accompli that Boston will…
LeBron James is going back to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years. Steph Curry is headed to the games for the…
The only realistic threat to Boston’s chances of strolling through the Eastern Conference is a team that could still end up in the play-in…
Australian guards Dante Exum and Josh Giddey have both come up big for their NBA clubs in crucial wins in the lead-in to the…
Minnesota Timberwolves fans have endured plenty of pain in their 35 years of being a laughing stock in the NBA. In all that time,…
