NBA West predictions & reasons

Earlier, I predicted that the Blazers will be one of the 8 teams from the West to make the play-offs. I think they will be #8.

#1 Hornets
#2 Rockets
#3 Spurs
#4 Suns
#5 Jazz
#6 Lakers
#7 Clippers
#8 Blazers

Here’s my pre pre-season rundown of why I went with these predictions:

The Clippers just added another good piece today, effectively replacing a disappointing Shaun Livingston with Jason Williams. Jason will make a great back-up to Baron Davis because he will keep the Clips at a high level of play when Baron’s back goes out every now and then. They also added Steve Novak from the Rockets. Not a huge find but another solid rebounder to give them even more depth up front. They’ll end up with a better record than the Blazers because they have some really solid veterans and enough depth to ride out injuries.

The Lakers lost Ronny Turiaf but that’s not a big enough loss to drop them out of the play-offs. They are well-coached too so they might even make it through the first round against a tougher opponent.

The Jazz are well-coached too and their young guys are getting better. As always, they are boring but strong and will push the 1st round to 7 games before they are finished.

The Suns are too talented to lose more than 25 games (barring injury to Amare Stoudemire). Amare is going to be MVP in the West (while he’ll beat out Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul, Dwight Howard will be the overall NBA MVP). Steve Nash, Shaq, and Grant Hill are getting older but are savvy enough to make a huge difference when they’re on the floor. Stoudemire, Barbosa, Diaw, Barnes, & Strawberry make up a great young, talented core to build on for the future. I think Terry Porter is in for a long and illustrious career in Phoenix.

The Spurs are still very formidable and will not be rattled during the regular season. They are well-coached too so play-off wins won’t be easy against them.

The Rockets are going to have a stellar year. They’ll be getting Yao Ming back healthy and T-Mac will again quietly out-score and out-rebound every Guard he comes up against. He makes it look so effortless… almost like he’s falling asleep while dropping 6 3’s, grabbing 5 boards, and getting 7 Assists. The addition of Ron Artest will stop any opponent’s Small Forward. Luis Scola is an improving blue-collar Power Forward who will have an even better year with Yao at his side. Their role players like Luther Head and Carl Landry will keep them in the game while their starters rest, meaning they can last deeper into the play-offs. Aaron Brooks will challenge Rafer Alston for the starting Point Guard position. I think coach Adelman is one of the few who can keep Artest under control and keep such a deep crew happy with playing time.

The Hornets were great last year and the addition of James Posey will push them to the Western Division Finals. I don’t think they are coached as well as the Spurs, Jazz, Lakers, or Rockets so if they hit any of those teams in the play-offs they may be in for trouble. Chris Paul is amazing though, he’ll dominate all other Point Guards this year. CP3, Tyson Chandler, and David West are a solid core to make everyone else around them much better. With great role players like Posey, Mo Peterson, and Peja Stojakovic they will net 60+ wins this year. They still lack complete depth though, especially at the Shooting Guard spot, so they may not get to the Championship this year.

Overall, the Blazers will have a tough time against all these teams this year. Look out next year though, once they have some experience under their belt they’ll start making some headway. Summer 2011 will be the time we can celebrate our first NBA Championship in more than 30 years.