Late October is here! Hooper's can feel that itch, the need for basketball after a long baseball summer and start to the football season. Basketball is like french fries, you'd have to be out of your mind if you didn't like them at least a little bit. In my opinion, the NBA is the best basketball to watch. It's where the best athletes in the world break down the complexity of a sport in a symphonic yet explosive way. What a year for Bay Area basketball last season, the Warriors were amazing all season and through their title run. Whatever other teams/media (Clippers/Cavs/Stephen A Smith, mainly) are saying about the Warriors having a easy path to a title can now put their money where their mouth is. Here's your official Honer Sports Preview/Predictions for the 2015-2016 Western Conference! As usual, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm 100% wrong about everything but that's the unpredictable beauty of NBA basketball. Eastern Conference preview coming later this week, cheers with those beers, in the land of opportunity!
1. Golden State Warriors: Too much depth, too much talent, too much Curry. Warriors could have some bumps along the way but the they are a lock to finish in the Top 3 of the conference this year. Kerr is living the Cali-coach dream, dynasty possibly in the making and look for Steph Curry to continue expanding his "jaw-dropping moments" resume.
2. San Antonio Spurs: After getting a shot of youth/superstar in Lamarcus Alderidge, the Spurs now have a viable replacement to pair with Kawhi Leonard when Tim Duncan's secret stuff wears off (if ever). Spurs should coast with Greg-Pop behind the wheel, Tony Parker's health/increasing age is a real question mark but nothing the Spurs can't handle like they have done so in the past.
3: Houston Rockets: James Harden will continue to be the thorn in every opposing defenses's side. The edition of Ty Lawson will take some of the ball handling pressures off of Harden and allow him to score more off the wings and in transition. Look out for Sam Dekker and Montrezl Harrell, some athletic, big rookies drafted to give them more depth come playoffs. D-Howard remains a 20pt/10reb center that's a great defender so look for the Rockets to be greedy and cocky stealing wins all year.
4. Oklahoma City Thunder: The Thunder are the hardest team to place in the conference. On the one hand, Kevin Durant could go on a war-path this season after sitting out the majority of last year. Russell Westbrook is still a freight train of basketball strength and skill, and also has the potential to be an even better Scottie Pippen to Durant's Jordan. However, Serge Ibaka is injury-prone, highly-paid Center Enes Kanter can't play a lick of defense and rookie coach Billy Donovan (Florida) has to rapidly put all the pieces together in just one season or Durant could bolt in free agency. No pressure, Billy-D. Thunder should have no problem cracking the playoffs if things are done somewhat right and everyone stays healthy.
5. Los Angeles Clippers: The Clippers had a great offseason despite all of their whining. The Josh Smith/Paul Pierce editions provide some veteran depth, while Lance Stephenson could be the late-game scoring spark the Clippers badly need. Even though they kept DeAndre Jordan from leaving to the Mavs, something about the Clippers seems off. Not sure what it is but I'm predicting a 1st round playoff exit at the hands of a gritty OKC Thunder team. The battles with the Warriors this season is must-watch TV and has quickly become one of the best rivalries in the NBA.
6. Memphis Grizzlies: The Grizzlies will be "around" as per usual. They have a solid coach and a nice core of veterans still intact thanks to management keeping Marc Gasol from going anywhere in free agency. Their roster lacks consistent offensive pop, but playing in Memphis is always a bitch and expect the Grizzlies to rattle off a couple of nice winning streaks and be a dark-horse come playoffs.
7. New Orleans Pelicans: Anthony Davis could snag his first MVP award this year, he has gotten that good and is only a jaw-dropping 22 years-old. The rest of the Pelicans roster is serviceable but nothing too flashy, the Pelican's hope they snagged a coaching gem off the Warriors bench in Alvin Gentry. The Pelicans will fly as far as 22 young Davis can take them but that won't be far till he surrounded by a better team.
8. Dallas Mavericks: Not sure how they will do it and I'm kinda pissed I'm picking them but the Maverick's will find a way to squeak into the playoffs. Rick Carlisle is a crafty coach and will carve out the needed wins using an aging Dirk Nowitzki. The two big off-season acquisitions both have question marks. The aging/injury prone PG Deron Williams maybe doomed to mediocrity and Wesley Mathews was a big roll of the dice coming off an Achilles injury/surgery. The Mavs could put it all together though and make a decent run to the playoffs but they will be the sacrificial lamb to the Warriors in the first round.
2. San Antonio Spurs: After getting a shot of youth/superstar in Lamarcus Alderidge, the Spurs now have a viable replacement to pair with Kawhi Leonard when Tim Duncan's secret stuff wears off (if ever). Spurs should coast with Greg-Pop behind the wheel, Tony Parker's health/increasing age is a real question mark but nothing the Spurs can't handle like they have done so in the past.
3: Houston Rockets: James Harden will continue to be the thorn in every opposing defenses's side. The edition of Ty Lawson will take some of the ball handling pressures off of Harden and allow him to score more off the wings and in transition. Look out for Sam Dekker and Montrezl Harrell, some athletic, big rookies drafted to give them more depth come playoffs. D-Howard remains a 20pt/10reb center that's a great defender so look for the Rockets to be greedy and cocky stealing wins all year.
4. Oklahoma City Thunder: The Thunder are the hardest team to place in the conference. On the one hand, Kevin Durant could go on a war-path this season after sitting out the majority of last year. Russell Westbrook is still a freight train of basketball strength and skill, and also has the potential to be an even better Scottie Pippen to Durant's Jordan. However, Serge Ibaka is injury-prone, highly-paid Center Enes Kanter can't play a lick of defense and rookie coach Billy Donovan (Florida) has to rapidly put all the pieces together in just one season or Durant could bolt in free agency. No pressure, Billy-D. Thunder should have no problem cracking the playoffs if things are done somewhat right and everyone stays healthy.
5. Los Angeles Clippers: The Clippers had a great offseason despite all of their whining. The Josh Smith/Paul Pierce editions provide some veteran depth, while Lance Stephenson could be the late-game scoring spark the Clippers badly need. Even though they kept DeAndre Jordan from leaving to the Mavs, something about the Clippers seems off. Not sure what it is but I'm predicting a 1st round playoff exit at the hands of a gritty OKC Thunder team. The battles with the Warriors this season is must-watch TV and has quickly become one of the best rivalries in the NBA.
6. Memphis Grizzlies: The Grizzlies will be "around" as per usual. They have a solid coach and a nice core of veterans still intact thanks to management keeping Marc Gasol from going anywhere in free agency. Their roster lacks consistent offensive pop, but playing in Memphis is always a bitch and expect the Grizzlies to rattle off a couple of nice winning streaks and be a dark-horse come playoffs.
7. New Orleans Pelicans: Anthony Davis could snag his first MVP award this year, he has gotten that good and is only a jaw-dropping 22 years-old. The rest of the Pelicans roster is serviceable but nothing too flashy, the Pelican's hope they snagged a coaching gem off the Warriors bench in Alvin Gentry. The Pelicans will fly as far as 22 young Davis can take them but that won't be far till he surrounded by a better team.
8. Dallas Mavericks: Not sure how they will do it and I'm kinda pissed I'm picking them but the Maverick's will find a way to squeak into the playoffs. Rick Carlisle is a crafty coach and will carve out the needed wins using an aging Dirk Nowitzki. The two big off-season acquisitions both have question marks. The aging/injury prone PG Deron Williams maybe doomed to mediocrity and Wesley Mathews was a big roll of the dice coming off an Achilles injury/surgery. The Mavs could put it all together though and make a decent run to the playoffs but they will be the sacrificial lamb to the Warriors in the first round.
9. Utah Jazz: So close but the Jazz will miss the playoff's this season but not without establishing that they will be a team to look out for come 2016-2017. The Stifle Tower (awesome nickname) in C Rudy Gobert will lead the conference and/or league in blocked shots but losing the talented youngster Dante Exum to an ACL tear shows that the Jazz are a season, a nice draft pick and a free agent acquisition away from making the playoffs. Look for Quinn Snyder's (ex-Duke coach) Jazz to make some noise this year however.
10. Los Angeles Lakers: I hate to be the guy that goes against a legend in Kobe Bryant, but the Lakers are just too much of an enigma for me to rank them very high in the West. The youth/growing pieces (Russell, Randle, Clarkson) are there, plus they had some nice moves this off-season acquiring Roy Hibbert and Lou Williams but this team might be a victim of having too many different pieces and not enough minutes to go around. Kobe could shock us all (it's very possible too) and lead the Lakers rag-tag squad to the playoffs but I just don't see it. If Kobe comes back in 2016 on a more flexible contract, look out but for now, Lakers fans will have to be patient and see what exactly they have and how to best use it
11. Sacramento King's: You could devote an entire blog post to this team's complications (which might happen come November), Uncle Pat's Kings are that complex and baffling. The roster looks great on paper (Rajon Rondo, Rudy Gay, Demarcus Cousins, Willie Cauley-Stein, Seth Curry, etc.) and coach George Karl is looking to catch Don Nelson for the all-time wins crown. However, the personalities are like a reality TV-show. Karl has had tiffs with players at his every coaching stop, DeMarcus Cousins and Rondo are notorious hot-heads and New VP of Basketball Ops Vlade Divak is already pissing off other GM's left and right. Like I said, we will most likely have to come back to this, but no playoffs due to a circus franchise environment.
12. Denver Nuggets: Getting rid of coach Brian Shaw for Mike Malone was a great start but the Nuggets won't make much head way this year in a crowded western conference. The one wild card could be top pick Emmanuel Muiday. Muiday has my preseason pick for rookie of the year (more on that in Part 3) and if the Nuggets can get consistency from "Manimal" Kenneth Faried, the Nuggets could be like the Jazz and surprise a lot of teams this year. Don't count on it though, the injury bug loves to bite the Nuggets.
13. Phoenix Suns: The Suns had a down off-season despite signing a veteran anchor in Tyson Chandler. They were on the cusp of a playoff berth and a new direction a few seasons ago but Ryan McDonaugh is a terrible GM and some of his decisions are some real head-scratchers. Instead of drafting Nerleans Noel, Steven Adams, Kelly Olynyk, Gorgui Dieng, Mason Plumblee or Rudy Gobert, McDonaugh picked Alex Len at #5 in 2013. That's a colossal swing and miss from a draft class stacked with serviceable/talented centers. Separating the Morris twins may have repercussions and nobody really knows the Suns identity as a team moving forward. Eric Bledsoe and B-Knight are nice but it's going to be a rough year down in the desert, despite Jeff Hornasek's coaching efforts.
14. Minnesota Timberwolves: Loaded with youth and high-flying athletes, the Wolves will be extremely fun to watch, if anything. However, look for the Wolves to be sellers this season as they continue to develop for the future. Ricky Rubio is euro-trash but could fetch a nice haul via trade, same for Kevin Martin and Nikola Pekovic. With coach/team-prez Flip Saunders fighting cancer, 2015 will be a wait and see year, maybe Kevin Garnett retires then is hired as head coach for 2016. You heard it on Honer Sports first.
15. Portland Trail Blazers: O my, what a tumble. The Blazers roster was butchered after Alderidge skipped town and is pretty much void of any present all-star talent aside from PG Damien Lillard. D-Lillard will fight valiantly and earn a lot of respect but this team is screaming towards a top lottery pick. Portland can stash assets for the future and maybe draft a new all-star come 2016 if they play their cards right but things could be gloomy in Portland for the foreseeable future.
By: El Mijo
10. Los Angeles Lakers: I hate to be the guy that goes against a legend in Kobe Bryant, but the Lakers are just too much of an enigma for me to rank them very high in the West. The youth/growing pieces (Russell, Randle, Clarkson) are there, plus they had some nice moves this off-season acquiring Roy Hibbert and Lou Williams but this team might be a victim of having too many different pieces and not enough minutes to go around. Kobe could shock us all (it's very possible too) and lead the Lakers rag-tag squad to the playoffs but I just don't see it. If Kobe comes back in 2016 on a more flexible contract, look out but for now, Lakers fans will have to be patient and see what exactly they have and how to best use it
11. Sacramento King's: You could devote an entire blog post to this team's complications (which might happen come November), Uncle Pat's Kings are that complex and baffling. The roster looks great on paper (Rajon Rondo, Rudy Gay, Demarcus Cousins, Willie Cauley-Stein, Seth Curry, etc.) and coach George Karl is looking to catch Don Nelson for the all-time wins crown. However, the personalities are like a reality TV-show. Karl has had tiffs with players at his every coaching stop, DeMarcus Cousins and Rondo are notorious hot-heads and New VP of Basketball Ops Vlade Divak is already pissing off other GM's left and right. Like I said, we will most likely have to come back to this, but no playoffs due to a circus franchise environment.
12. Denver Nuggets: Getting rid of coach Brian Shaw for Mike Malone was a great start but the Nuggets won't make much head way this year in a crowded western conference. The one wild card could be top pick Emmanuel Muiday. Muiday has my preseason pick for rookie of the year (more on that in Part 3) and if the Nuggets can get consistency from "Manimal" Kenneth Faried, the Nuggets could be like the Jazz and surprise a lot of teams this year. Don't count on it though, the injury bug loves to bite the Nuggets.
13. Phoenix Suns: The Suns had a down off-season despite signing a veteran anchor in Tyson Chandler. They were on the cusp of a playoff berth and a new direction a few seasons ago but Ryan McDonaugh is a terrible GM and some of his decisions are some real head-scratchers. Instead of drafting Nerleans Noel, Steven Adams, Kelly Olynyk, Gorgui Dieng, Mason Plumblee or Rudy Gobert, McDonaugh picked Alex Len at #5 in 2013. That's a colossal swing and miss from a draft class stacked with serviceable/talented centers. Separating the Morris twins may have repercussions and nobody really knows the Suns identity as a team moving forward. Eric Bledsoe and B-Knight are nice but it's going to be a rough year down in the desert, despite Jeff Hornasek's coaching efforts.
14. Minnesota Timberwolves: Loaded with youth and high-flying athletes, the Wolves will be extremely fun to watch, if anything. However, look for the Wolves to be sellers this season as they continue to develop for the future. Ricky Rubio is euro-trash but could fetch a nice haul via trade, same for Kevin Martin and Nikola Pekovic. With coach/team-prez Flip Saunders fighting cancer, 2015 will be a wait and see year, maybe Kevin Garnett retires then is hired as head coach for 2016. You heard it on Honer Sports first.
15. Portland Trail Blazers: O my, what a tumble. The Blazers roster was butchered after Alderidge skipped town and is pretty much void of any present all-star talent aside from PG Damien Lillard. D-Lillard will fight valiantly and earn a lot of respect but this team is screaming towards a top lottery pick. Portland can stash assets for the future and maybe draft a new all-star come 2016 if they play their cards right but things could be gloomy in Portland for the foreseeable future.
By: El Mijo