2013-14 NBA Western Conference Preview

The Western Conference has a lot of teams to keep an eye on and any one of them has an opportunity to make it to the NBA Finals.  Just like the East, there are big name players that will impact new teams like the Houston Rockets who added Dwight Howard and the Golden State Warriors bringing in Andre Iguodala.  Russell Westbrook will miss some time for the Oklahoma City Thunder while recovering from knee surgery, so it will be interesting to see if he'll be 100% when he returns.  The Los Angeles Clippers didn't make any roster changes but did trade for a head coach as Doc Rivers will try to lead this talented bunch to the finals.  Speaking of Los Angeles, the Lakers will likely miss the playoffs as Kobe Bryant will be out an extended amount of time after tearing his Achilles.  As for the San Antonio Spurs, well, they are still the Spurs.

Western Conference Contenders

San Antonio Spurs - The Spurs are the NBA version of the New England Patriots.  They are the one team that you can never count out even if their superstars are another year older.  The core of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and head coach Gregg Popovich will always be a title contender for as long as they are together.  However, last year we saw the emergence of two key younger players in Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green.  Both played huge roles in the Spurs making the NBA Finals and pushing the Miami Heat to a game 7.  I talked about Leonard in my 2013-14 NBA Awards Predictions as a possible winner of the Most Improved award.  A lot of this rests on the shoulders of Manu Ginobili because if Coach Pop cuts his minutes down because of a poor 2012-13 season, Leonard will be the beneficiary.  Danny Green made a splash in the playoffs, especially in the finals, with his three-point shooting.  If he can continue that pace into this season we can expect to see the Spurs playing for another title.

Houston Rockets - The most intriguing team in the Western Conference has to be the Houston Rockets.  Last year they added James Harden in a blockbuster trade with Oklahoma City and this year they grabbed Dwight Howard in free agency.  Harden has quickly turned himself into the best shooting guard in the league after one year of starting.  The question now is, which Dwight Howard will they get?  The early Orland Magic Howard that dominanted the game and had fun doing it? Or, the late Magic and Los Angeles Lakers Howard that complained about his coach and situation on the court?  I think it will be the former.  Howard seems to be excited to join a player like Harden and will get back to being a dominant force in the paint.  One thing to watch is how much head coach Kevin McHale will use the twin towers of Howard and 7-footer Omer Asik.  Asik was a pleasant surprise averaging 10.1 points and 11.7 boards a year ago but was a little hesitant to invite Howard to Houston as he thought his minutes might get reduced.  I think McHale is a great coach to have in this situation because he formed his own version of twin towers when he played in Boston with fellow hall of famer Robert Parish.  One secret to this team's success is swingman Chandler Parsons.  Parsons is one of the most underrated players in the NBA.  He averaged 15.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and adds another shooter to floor hitting two triples a game last year.  If Howard and Harden can co-exist as superstars in H-town they have the right role players to get this team to the Finals.

Oklahoma City Thunder - When Russell Westbrook went down in the playoffs a year ago I was amazed how much this team struggled, especially Kevin Durant.  The Thunder were 3-6 without Westbrook, and we saw Durant's points and field goal attempts go up while all of his shooting percentages went way down.  The cause of this was he started to force things and take a lot of bad shots.  Once Westbrook gets back into the action we'll have to see if his explosiveness will still be there.  He is one of the best athletes in the league and relies on that athleticism to outplay his opponents.  For this team to be great they need Westbrook, unless they get more out of Serge Ibaka or if Jeremy Lamb steps into a scoring role.  Durant showed us in the playoffs he can't do it himself and this team lacks scoring depth.  If Westbrook is slowed down by his knee injury, OKC might have a difficult time in a competitive Western Conference.

Los Angeles Clippers - Rarely do you see a team trade for a coach but that's exactly what the Clippers did to get Doc Rivers.  They felt they had the right talent, but Vinny Del Negro was not the right man.  It's tough to argue that when you have the best point guard in the NBA with Chris Paul and a great young, athletic front court in Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan but fail to make a deep run in the playoffs.  We know what to expect from Paul.  He's always among the league leaders in assists and steals, as well as a clutch performer.  Griffin has seen his points and rebounds drop consistently over his first three years with the Clips but that isn't a bad thing because they've been winning.  He should be a 20 point, 10 rebound guy year in and year out as he continues to improve his offensive game.  Jordan is a great finisher around the rim, just ask Brandon Knight, but should be a better rebounder.  The "other guys" are led by Jamal Crawford, who is one of the best sixth men in the league and a great scorer.  J.J. Redick and Jared Dudley come in and add excellent outside shooting to the starting lineup.  The Clippers are a popular pick by many experts to make the NBA Finals but they need to find a way to win in the playoffs as they haven't made it past the conference semis yet.

Golden State Warriors - Stephen Curry is no question the best three-point shooter in the NBA.  For hard evidence check out these graphs on a Deadspin Regressing article.  Basically it says nobody else comes close to Steph from beyond the arc.  Last year he set the record for made three-pointers in a single season with 272 and don't be surprised if he doesn't try to better that this year.  His back court mate Klay Thompson isn't too bad either from downtown.  Thompson likes to launch it as well and if improves on a his 40% from deep a year ago this could be the most deadly back court tandem ever.  Swingman Andre Iguodala, who came over after one year with the Denver Nuggets, will provide a great perimeter defender and a guy that can do it all.  Iguodala is a player that thrives as a third or fourth option on a team.  He's a decent scorer that can distribute and rebound.  Down low, David Lee is capable of 20-10 but doesn't play much defense and Andrew Bogut has a hard time staying healthy.  Their problem is depth.  After losing bench leader Jarret Jack to the Cavs in free agency, they are left with Harrison Barnes to provide scoring for the second unit.  There were able to make the playoffs and beat the Nuggets in the first round a year ago.  In order to make it further they need to play better defense and get some production from their bench.

Memphis Grizzlies - Memphis made the Western Conference Finals last year after disposing of the Clippers in six and the Thunder in five.  They are known as one of the best defensive teams in the league and have the reigning defensive player of the year in Marc Gasol.  Their biggest difference was getting rid of head coach Lionel Hollins and replacing him with first year man David Joerger.  Joerger was an assistant with the team so you hope he still installs the same type of defense that Hollins had as that's what won them most of their games.  Along with Gasol, Zach Randolph has been producing less the past three seasons.  Look for point guard Mike Conley to finally take over as leading scorer, building off a solid postseason performance.  Tony Allen remains one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and, along with Gasol, will make sure the Grizzlies bring the intensity on that end of the court night in and night out.  I would say Memphis has the longest shot to go all the way, but they almost did it a year ago and have the entire team back.

Western Conference Playoff Teams

1. San Antonio Spurs
2. Houston Rockets
3. Oklahoma City Thunder
4. Los Angeles Clippers
5. Golden State Warriors
6. Memphis Grizzlies
7. Minnesota Timberwolves
8. Dallas Mavericks

2013-14 NBA Eastern Conference Preview

The NBA is back so let's take a quick look around the Eastern Conference.  There's a lot of new faces in new places that will definitely mix things up from a year ago.  Derrick Rose is back after taking a year off to recover from ACL surgery, the Brooklyn Nets brought in two future hall of famers in Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, while the Detroit Pistons have added Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings.  However, the East is basically a four team race.  The one thing we know is that everybody will again be chasing the Miami Heat.

Eastern Conference Contenders

Miami Heat - Obviously we have to start with the Heat.  Coming off of two straight NBA Championships and LeBron James' two consecutive NBA MVP's, the road to the title goes through Miami.  A big question is are they still hungry enough to get their third straight ring?  At the end of last season Dwyane Wade was struggling with injuries and another year on his rusty knees might slow him down even more.  Chris Bosh has been the third wheel of the "Big Three" but if he's able to take some of the load off Wade this team could be just as strong as ever.  The Heat lost playoff hero Mike Miller but added former #2 overall pick Michael Beasley and former #1 overall pick Greg Oden.  Both are still young (24 and 25 respectively) but who knows how much they have left to offer.  Beasley averaged a career worst 10.1 points a season ago on a bad Phoenix team and in my opinion has too many personal issues to deal with before he can become a solid contributor again.  Oden on the other hand was hit with the curse of the Portland big man.  Just like Sam Bowie and Bill Walton, Oden suffered a serious leg injury that made him miss the last three seasons.  Oden's potential all depends on his health.  If he's healthy he will be a great asset to this team, especially if he can move Bosh to his more natural position of power forward.

Indiana Pacers - The Pacers were one game away from shocking the world and reaching the NBA Finals a year ago.  Indiana took the Heat to a game seven as Paul George had a national coming out party as he went head-to-head with LBJ and held his own for most of the series.  That performance helped George win the most improved award and put the Indiana Pacers as team that could take down Miami.  Along with George, Roy Hibbert also showed the world what he can do in the playoffs.  Hibbert seemed to plateau for three years hovering around 12 points and eight rebounds, but in the playoffs he ratcheted up his intensity and aggressiveness.  The 7'2 center averaged 17 and 10 in the postseason including leading the Pacers in scoring and rebounding against the Heat with 22 points and 10 boards.  If Hibbert brings that same aggression for an entire season he could challenge Dwight Howard for best center in the league.  One addition the Pacers made was a big one when they brought in Luis Scola.  This is a guy that shares the same tough mentality the Pacers do and can give them quality minutes off the bench to spell Hibbert and David West.

Chicago Bulls - The last time Derrick Rose played a regular season he led the Bulls to the best record in the NBA for the second year in a row.  He took off last year to fully recover from his ACL tear in the 2012 playoffs and Chicago finished fifth in the East.  A lot of NBA fans, especially ones in Chicago, questioned why Rose took so long to return to action.  Especially after seeing Adrian Peterson suffer the same injury and become the NFL MVP.  But, it might have been the best thing Rose could have done.  We have to remember he's still on 25 and if he could have played last year he would have had a higher risk of re-injuring himself.  Now that he's had more than a year to fully recover, the Bulls are primed to take back that top spot in the NBA.  Aside from Rose, the difference maker will be third-year man Jimmy Butler.  In the latter half of last year he became a legit scorer and defender for the Bulls.  We know what they'll get out of Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng, but if Butler continues to improve that will give Chicago one of the best starting lineups in the league.  The spark plug for the Bull is Noah, however, he is struggling with a groin injury right now after being less than 100% for last year's playoffs with plantar fasciitis.  With this team back at full strength they could be the ones to dethrone the defending champs.

Brooklyn Nets - In the 2012 offseason Brooklyn made a move to acquire Joe Johnson.  This offseason they made an even bigger one getting Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Terry from the Boston Celtics.  I never thought I'd ever see Pierce play for another team after giving 15 years to Boston but they sent him away.  Another key player added was Andrei Kirilenko.  He's never going to wow you on the court but he can fill a stat sheet and play great defense.  Add these four guys to a team with Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and the previously mentioned Johnson and you have a roster with 36 all-star and 16 all-NBA selections combined.  That's a pretty decent resume.  The problem the Nets will run into is the same problem that has plagued teams loaded with talent.  There's only one ball and one if not two of these stars will need to take one a smaller role than they are used to.  Some guys can't handle that and become a detriment to their team.  It might take a month or two for this team to get a feel for how each other plays but if they start clicking Brooklyn will be a team to watch out for come playoff time.

Eastern Conference Playoff Teams

1. Miami Heat
2. Indiana Pacers
3. Chicago Bulls
4. Brooklyn Nets
5. New York Knicks
6. Detroit Pistons
7. Atlanta Hawks
8. Washington Wizards