Who in the west will make the playoffs next year?

[pauls931]

My slam dunk guesses.

LA (a gimme)
Denver (despite being dumb, enough talent)
Portland (on the rise)
Spurs (if healthy)
Dallas (this is close)
Houston (good teamwork)

fighting to get in.

Phoenix (either they will suck ass or be damn good)
Utah (healthy?)
Golden State (a full season of Ellis?)
New Orleans (exposed this year)
Oklahoma

pure

Sacramento
Clippers
Wolves (I think they're in the west, don't hear much about them)
Memphis

[BlackSwordsMan]

phx 2010 WCF champs

[Armando]

There is bound to be a team that made the West playoffs that will be out next season. My best guess will be Dallas. Don't kid yourself the Thunder,Warriors and Memphis may not be good enough yet to grab a playoff spot but they will still be improved. And who knows might even play spoiler.

[Findog]

Repost in October.

[pauls931]

I think Utah and Dallas are the teams that may have trouble getting in. But I think Dallas is put together well enough that they'll get in as a low seed again. Utah has me wondering about them. And with Phoenix I have no idea what team is going to show up to play next year. They have as much talent as any team, but the chemistry experiments totally ed them up. New Orleans makes me wonder too.

[Armando]

I think Utah and Dallas are the teams that may have trouble getting in. But I think Dallas is put together well enough that they'll get in as a low seed again. Utah has me wondering about them. And with Phoenix I have no idea what team is going to show up to play next year. They have as much talent as any team, but the chemistry experiments totally ed them up. New Orleans makes me wonder too.

I agree with the Suns. Who knows what Kerr will do? The Hornets I am not sold on them. They were exposed as a 1 man team by Denver.

[KSeal]

Lakers
Nuggets
Blazers
Rockets
Spurs
Jazz
I don't know the other two. Maybe Dallas or Phoenix or NO or the Warriors and I'm about to take a homer pick, maybe the Clippers, it could happen, they've got talent.

[Lars]

Hornets are probably gonna be worse. They are gonna lose a major piece.

[KSeal]

Hornets are probably gonna be worse. They are gonna lose a major piece.

David West to the Cavs? I wonder how much better that would actually make them.

[monosylab1k]

1. Lakers
2. Denver
3. Portland
4. Houston
5. San Antonio
6. New Orleans
7. Oklahoma City
8. Dallas

Bubble teams that might take the 8 spot are Phoenix, Clippers, & Grizzlies.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

since everyone and their mother wants Shaq traded from the Suns they're a slam dunk lottery team. They were 2-5 without Shaq last year, and the only reason they weren't 1-6 without him is because Dwight Howard got injured in the 2nd quarter after scoring 16 first quarter points.

[pauls931]

since everyone and their mother wants Shaq traded from the Suns they're a slam dunk lottery team. They were 2-5 without Shaq last year, and the only reason they weren't 1-6 without him is because Dwight Howard got injured in the 2nd quarter after scoring 16 first quarter points.

Shaq was brought in to give them an instant answer for Duncan. It did not work because they traded their best perimeter defender away in Marion. Shaq can't stop guards driving at him with a full head of steam, neither can Dwight howard.

He's old and despite playing good is not the future of the team. If they are rebuilding, they should see if they can get something good for him. It only makes sense to keep shaq if they plan on making a serious run without rebuilding.

BTW, how the heck did you get into college? You pile of !

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

Shaq was brought in to give them an instant answer for Duncan. It did not work because they traded their best perimeter defender away in Marion. Shaq can't stop guards driving at him with a full head of steam, neither can Dwight howard.

He's old and despite playing good is not the future of the team. If they are rebuilding, they should see if they can get something good for him. It only makes sense to keep shaq if they plan on making a serious run without rebuilding.

BTW, how the heck did you get into college? You pile of !

I never said Shaq was the future.....currently the Suns have no future. I'm saying that if Sarver and Kerr's priority is to focus on 2010 (even though that's just prolonging the rebuilding process), they're best bet would be to keep Shaq.

Btw - My SAT score probably tosses your SAT score's salad so STFU.

[baseline bum]

The Clippers will have an outside shot of making the playoffs if Davis is healthy next season and with Griffin taking minutes from worthless Zach Randolph.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

The Clippers will have an outside shot of making the playoffs if Davis is healthy next season and with Griffin taking minutes from worthless Zach Randolph.

As long as Mike Dunleavy is coach the Clippers won't do jack .

[baseline bum]

As long as Mike Dunleavy is coach the Clippers won't do jack .

I wouldn't consider qualifying for the playoffs as a 7 or 8 seed much more than jack . Utah's not exactly a can't miss powerhouse to keep that spot.

[pauls931]

I wouldn't consider qualifying for the playoffs as a 7 or 8 seed much more than jack .

I think cheap management is the clipper's problem. They suck so they always get high draft picks to draw the crowds. They also get extra LA games. Then when their draft pick bolts, they just get another high one to draw the crowd. In a sense I think they abuse the lottery system.

[redzero]

The Hornets had to deal with injuries for most of the second half of the season. I think they can make the playoffs.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

I wouldn't consider qualifying for the playoffs as a 7 or 8 seed much more than jack .

Neither would i considering that was a fluke act of god.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

The Clippers actually have a solid group of young players. Mike Taylor has mad athleticism, DeAndre Jordan would be a top 5 pick this year if he stayed in college, Eric Gordon and Al Thorton are both already good and will only get better.

I'd say trade Camby since you can get decent value for him, tell Z-Bo to stay at home and eat (he probably won't fight them too much on that one) and if by some miracle a team trades for him them great, and idk what they should do with Kaman and Davis.

Jordan, Taylor, Gordon, Thorton, and Griffin isn't great but it's a decent young core to build from.

[tomtom]

For sure locks

LA
San Antone
Portland
Houston
Denver

Possibles
Utah
Oklahoma, I know it might be early but they are slowly rising with a lot of talent
Phoenix, though they are definitely on the decline
and lastly Dallas, who might have a few more years before they'll blowup

[Lars]

To be honest it is too early to tell. There will likely be tons of player movement over the summer from the Rockets, Mavs, Hornets, Suns, Clippers, etc.

[Ghazi]

Too early to tell.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

2006: Lost in Western Conference finals
2007: Lost in 2nd round
2008: Lost in 1st round
2009: Draft lottery

Chances are the 2010 season won't be pretty for a team with that recent history.

[monosylab1k]

As long as Mike Dunleavy is coach the Clippers won't do jack .

I agree, but the Clippers have so much talent on that team, I don't see how they repeat their awful performance from last year. Especially with Griffin now in the mix.

If Dunleavy would just let Baron Davis be as wild-ass as he wants to be, that team would improve to playoff-caliber. Let Baron do what he does best, don't make him run set offenses or do anything that requires basketball IQ, and the rest will fall in place for a 7 or 8 seed.