Al Harrington and Jamal Crawford trade analysis

It has been reported that the Warriors and Knicks have reached a deal in principle that will send the disgruntled Warriors forward Al Harrington to New York in exchange for guard Jamal Crawford.

This deal could not be any better for Al Harrington. He goes from the up-tempo pickup style offense of Don Nelson to the slightly more structured "Run-N-Gun" offense of Mike D'Antoni. Al Harrington will bring a new level of versatility to the Knicks. It is no secret that the Knicks want to trade Zach Randolph, Stephon Marbury, and Eddy Curry. There is serious interest in Zach Randolph by the Clippers and little to no interest in Marbury and Curry. In the mean time, having Harrington and Randolph up front in a speedy offense is D'Antoni's dream come true. Harrington's deadly three point shot will spread the floor and stretch defenses. Harrington does shoot an abysmal 39.2% from the field, but that number could go a bit higher if he starts to play with more passion than he did with the Warriors. Playing in New York will likely be a motivating factor.

Harrington has had 0 blocks this season which shows his lack of defensive effort, but did have a bit above a steal a game in this young season. Watching Harrington's play and body language this season made it clear that he did not want to be a part of the Warriors anymore, and this trade could not have come any sooner. The Knicks will be an excellent fit for him, and sets the Knicks up for the Lebron sweepstakes in 2010 (more on Lebron in a bit). Harrington has a year on his contract after this season so it could be used as another incentive to attract Lebron by having a jumpshooter at the 4 who will lessen congestion in the lane, and if it doesn't work out, Donnie Walsh can always tell Lebron that Harrington's $9.2 million comes off the books in the summer of 2011 and they can look for another wingman.

The problem for the Knicks in this trade will be how D'Antoni shares minutes in the front court. They have already benched Curry, and have no intentions of playing him. They have Zach Randolph, and young prospects, David Lee and Wilson Chandler. With 4 big men fighting for minutes one of them has to go. To be more competitive in the Lebron sweepstakes they need to get rid of Randolph. The Knicks are not looking at this season to make an impact in the league, they are looking to 2010, and getting rid of Zach Randolph's $14.6 million will go a long way in getting Lebron. Trading Randolph might not be as hard as it sounds. It has been reported while this post was being written that Donnie Walsh is ready to give up Randolph to the Clippers, and is just waiting on confirmation from the Clippers. This news should not be a surprise considering the Clippers have been looking to find a replacement for Elton Brand. Randolph's stock is very high at the moment due to his average of 20.5ppg and 12.5 rebs. If all goes as planned and they strike a deal with the Clippers who are willing to give $14.6 million in expiring salaries in exchange for Zach Randolph, the Knicks will be in the position they want to be in. Things are finally looking up in New York.

For the Warriors, Jamal Crawford is immediate help. When Monta Ellis comes back and can be put alongside Jamal Crawford, the Warriors could have a lineup with Biedrins at the 5, Stephen Jackson at the 4, Maggette at the 3, and Crawford and Ellis in the back court with Morrow, Azubuike, and the surprising DeMarcus Nelson backing them up. In the front, they would have a solid young core of Turiaf, Brandon Wright, and Anthony Randolph coming off the bench. Not exactly a dream team, but neither was the 2006 team that upset the #1 Mavericks. Point being, Don Nelson can get it done with a crew that you least expect. Crawford is a player who can hit big shots and create for himself. Both of those talents are very valuable attributes in the perimeter offense of Don Nelson. Crawford brings 19.4ppg and 4.4 assists to the Warriors, and will have no trouble making the transition from D'Antoni's offense to Nelson's offense due to their similarities.

All in all, this was a great trade for both teams. The Warriors have a team that will be able to compete in the West for that 7th and 8th spot in the playoffs, and the Knicks have a chance to make the playoffs while making dramatic moves to cut salary in order to go after Lebron. No one is talking championship for either of these teams, but in the NBA and professional sports in general, we all know that a team is only a few moves away from being contenders, and that is what we could be seeing right now.

Izzy

Suns-Rockets suspensions

The league handed down suspensions and fines to Matt Barnes (2 games), Rafer Alston (2 games), Nash (1 game), and just fines to Shaq and T-mac.

This is an unfair penalty. If you look at the replay, Shaq pushes 3 people over, and somehow Nash grabs Alston's jersey and gets 1 game. The league stated that Nash "escalated" the situation. I don't think that Nash grabbing a jersey escalated the situation anymore than a 325lb Center in Shaq, pushing over the entire crowd didn't escalate the situation. Clearly, suspending Shaq or Nash would hurt the team, but if Suns fans had to choose, they would definitely choose Nash.



The Rockets weren't hurt that bad by the suspensions. All was fair for the Rockets. T-mac did not get too involved in the situation, and losing Alston is barely a loss. They have a great guard in Aaron Brooks who will be able to take the reigns for the two games Alston is out.

The final note, the Suns have been the subject of many unfair suspensions (See 2007 playoffs). The problem with the league's policy is that the league won't listen to any appeal. Their decision is final. If Kobe is getting suspended for an elbow that comes up when he is fighting for position, and Amare is getting suspended for taking 3 steps up the court, and Nash gets one game for grabbing a jersey, the league needs to reevaluate their suspension policies. At this point, it seems arbitrary. It was also partially the refs fault for not stopping the hard screens being set on Nash earlier, and getting the game under control. It was good hard basketball. It wasnt another Palace Brawl, it was just athletes showing passion for their team and winning. Fans don't mind that. The league suspended a superstar in Nash. The league lives off the marketing of these superstars. Contradition?

Izzy

It's a little too early to...

Call Greg Oden a bust: Hold on everyone. What is all this Sam Bowie and Bill Walton talk? The Blazers are cursed? Stop it. Yes, the guy had to have arthroscopic knee surgery before he played a single NBA game, and he rolled his ankle. Calm down. I'm not saying he isn't injury prone because he clearly is, but to start these comparisons and shoot him down before he has even really got up? That isn't fair. Let him come back healthy, and then we can talk about what he can do. An injury is one of the most frustrating things for a player to go through. When expectations are high, there is almost no doubt that the player won't meet those expectations. If he comes back and drops 20 and 10 a night, people will just ignore the Bowie and Walton comparisons and pretend like they never happened. Those people who lobbied for Kevin Durant back before the 2007 draft will become silent. There is no better remedy for criticism and negativity around a sports team than success. I'm not saying that Oden doesn't bust, and I'm also not saying that he will be the franchise center Kevin Pritchard thought he would be when he drafted him. All I'm saying is we need to reserve judgment, and get a better perspective on his play. If he continues to get injured for the next year or so, then we can talk.

Call Derrick Rose the Rookie of the Year: He has played fantastic. Incredibly underrated jump shot. The prototype NBA point guard. He has the complete package. With about a week and a half into the season he has put up 17.8 ppg, 4.2 assts, 3.6 rebs, a steal a game, and shooting 45% from the field. Incredible numbers for a point guard. There is no doubt that he is the future of the Bulls, but he only has 5 games under his belt. With those ROY-worthy numbers he still has 3 TOs a game and we haven't seen the full potential of other contenders like Beasley, Jason Thompson, Mario Chalmers, and OJ Mayo. Rose has gotten the most press because he is on a big market team on a historic franchise, but we can't forget about the other big name rookies coming into the draft. Mayo is competing with Rose in virtually every category except for assits. Mayo averages 16.8ppg, 1.6 steals a game, and 4 rebs. Mayo just dropped 28 against Sacramento last night, and had 6 3pointers. Didn't hear about it? Makes sense, it was Sacramento and Memphis. Beasley is averaging 17 ppg, 6.5 rebs, and 1 block a game. You can't count the other 2 top 3 picks out of the ROY race. Thompson was a shock in the draft out of Rider. Thompson is an amazing defender and has averaged 13.6 ppg and 6.8 rebs a game. He also does a lot of stuff that won't show up in the box score. Mario Chalmers has also been another shock, and could be a dark horse candidate for ROY. Miami thought they had no point guard, but Chalmers' solid play has earned him the starting job. Chalmers is averaging 8ppg, 6 assts, and 3.8 steals. He had 9 steals last night against Sacramento! The point is, don't assume anything at this point.
Rose had an incredible opportunity to play against the Redeem Team this summer, and tested his NBA talent. He was NBA ready long ago. He is clearly an amazing player, and will be one of the best point guards in the league in a couple of seasons, but we have to give credit to guys like Beasley, Mayo, and Thompson who have also had much bigger seasons than they were projected to have. Don't forget the other rookies who are having big impacts for their team. We'll talk again in two months.

Talk about a Lakers championship: Anyone who knows me, knows that my heart is Purple and Gold. Even the most prideful fan of the Lakers knows that we have to keep composed. The Lakers are 4-0. Not that impressive yet. Some of the Lakers have told confidants that the Lakers are trying to shoot for 70 wins according to ESPN. You have to love to see your team shoot high, but we have to be real here. The West is incredibly strong this year, and the East has closed that gap significantly. The league is filled with talent, and the level of play is higher than it has been in the past few seasons. Shooting for 70 is a great goal, but not going to happen, especially in the West. Furthermore, to talk championship right now? No chance. Laker fans more than anyone know how dangerous it is to talk championship before anything has even happened (As 2004 told us). The Lakers might be considered to be favorites, but if you ask any of the players, they are focused on home court advantage right now. The words 'championship' and 'Lakers' in the same sentence is a taboo subject in LA. For the rest of the basketball world, they may talk about a Lakers championship, but it will not be an easy road by any means.

Say the Spurs not contenders: Sure they started the season 0-3. They had to struggle last night to beat the Wolves in 2OT, and Tony Parker had to drop 55 and 10 assists to make it happen. We have seen this from the Spurs before. They take the regular season off for a bit, but turn it on when they need to. They are an aging team, and like to conserve energy. I'm not saying that is what they are doing right now, because they are undoubtedly playing with a sense of urgency. At this point, the Spurs are trying to stay around .500 until Ginobli comes back, and that is fine. They will still make the playoffs, and they will still make noise in the playoffs just like every other year. We don't count out a veteran team with that much championship experience 4 games into it, and without one of their Big 3.

Izzy

Sports Illustrated put up a full copy of the Pedowitz Report. It is the investigation released by the private investigation the NBA hired to look into the Donaghy scandal. It exonerates former friend of Donaghy, Scott Foster, among other things. It is 133 pages, but worth a browse.

Waive Marbury!

Now that Obama is president we can get back to talking about basketball.

The Knicks have once again stated that they have no intention to waive or trade Stephon Marbury. I would like to know why. Here is a guy who is tied with Allen Iverson with the second highest salary in the NBA at $21,937,500. Here is a guy who is sitting on the sideline in street clothes with coach Mike D'Antoni having no intentions of changing that any time soon. Here is a guy who averaged 13.9ppg and 4.7 assts when he suited up last year.

Why is Marbury still on the roster? Why won't Dolan admit Isaiah Thomas' mistake and concede that the best way to go with all of this is to part ways. Every NBA fan, and even sports fan, knows that Stephon Marbury is the worst contract in sports. There is a reason for that. HE IS NOT PLAYING. Even when he was, he wasn't producing anywhere near his salary. The Knicks made a similar mistake with Alan Houston, but didn't learn. The funny thing about this whole thing is that the Knicks are the one franchise who laughs at the luxury tax. They are a franchise that will exceed the salary cap every year. They are due to pay $80 million in salary tax this year, and won't even think twice about it. Why do they care about holding onto Marbury? If they waive him, they have to incur his whole salary, but as I mentioned before, they don't care. It has become a child's game now. The Knicks are saying, "If you don't play for us, you don't play for anyone." Marbury is sitting on the sideline laughing and collecting his enormous paycheck.

Marbury won't accept a buyout of his contract. That is obvious. Would you? If you were the 2nd highest paid person in your profession, would you take significantly less so you could go work for another company for significantly less money? You can't blame Marbury. The only people you can blame are the Knick's front office officials. As fans, we just want to see players play. He is clearly good enough to be on a roster. With that said, at this point, as fans, we just need this whole thing to be cleared up. Fast.

Izzy

Tim Duncan made his vote public. If you are curious, here is who he voted for.

The Allen Iverson/Chauncey Billups trade

Update: The Nuggets and Pistons have agreed to the trade. Allen Iverson will be traded to Detroit in return for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess, and Cheikh Samb.

(Disclaimer: This post was written about 14 hours prior to the deal actually going through.)

The Nuggets have reportedly offered Allen Iverson to the Pistons in exchange for Chauncey Billups according to ESPN.

Both these clubs toyed with a trade this summer except Denver wanted to get rid of Carmelo Anthony. This time, the deal can't be better for both teams. For Denver, they are getting Chauncey Billups, an area they clearly need help at. Billups is a strong guard who can hang with the best of the Western Conference. He can defend the upper echelon of point guards like Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Baron Davis, and Steve Nash. A lot of people say that he is in the decline in his career, but he can't be anymore in a decline than Iverson is. He will bring defense, another thing the Nuggets lack, and a leader who can control the ball. He would also at minimum, maintain their playoff hopes, and at best increase those hopes. It also seems like a perfect fit for Carmelo. The offense will be able to run through Melo instead of having to share the ball with Iverson. Nuggets fans might be worried about scoring, because Billups has averaged about 6 points less than AI in this very young season. That discrepancy is nothing to worry about since Billups will probably be able to make up for that with defense and keeping the opposing point guard down. Billups does average about an assist more than AI, .5 steals more, 3 more rebs, and 1.3 less turnovers than AI. The averages may move up or down in either direction, but you can almost know that they will give you solid contributions every night. Billups also wouldn't mind going back to his home town of Denver.

If you are Detroit, you get a player like Iverson. Known for being one of the league's most durable players. An MVP, multiple scoring titles, countless All-Star appearances, great marketing capacity, and the coveted expiring contract. AI is due to make $21.9 million this year. The salary cap is set at $58.6 million this year and the Pistons have $67.8 on their payroll this year. That translates into about $18 million in luxury tax. Allowing that $21.9 to come off their books plus Rasheed's $13.6 from free agency this summer, that will mean they will have $35 million coming off their payroll this summer. They would have about $26 million to spend under the salary cap for free agency (assuming they don't re-sign AI and Rasheed, of course). That is big time money. A big time way to get into the free agency market. The Pistons should be salivating at this deal. They would make tons of money off of ticket and merchandise sales because of the star power Iverson brings. They are a proven franchise that can win, which AI will love because of how competitive he is. The Pistons will still be able to compete in the Eastern Conference at the same level, maybe even higher because of everything he brings to the table. AI will also have an incentive to compete because as he enters the twilight of his career, he wants to play at a high level in this contract year so he can secure that last big contract before retirement. It works all the way around for both teams, so far.

The last piece is the matching salaries. AI is due to make $21.9 million and Billups is due to make $11 million. The NBA rules dictate that salaries in a trade must come within 125% of each other. So in this case, the Pistons would need to add another player to the deal. I thought about throwing Kwame Brown into the deal because of his $4million and a draft pick to make it work, but the Nuggets would not bite on that. Detroit may even be reluctant to offer that because apparently the Pistons organization is very fond of the way Kwame has been playing (who knew?). Even if they were willing to part, the Nuggets would most likely be very reluctant to accept Kwame's deal, and also be skeptical about his ability to play against Western Conference centers (they saw what happened with the Lakers). The other choice for the Pistons would be to add Tayshaun Prince into the deal. CLEARLY, this would never happen. The Pistons have every intention to build around Prince for the future, so that would be completely out of the question although that would add up almost exactly to AI's salary. Another option for the Pistons would be to add Antonio McDyess into that, but he makes a bit above $6million and is signed until the summer of 2010, a prospect that probably would not excite the Nuggets for the same reason putting Kwame into the mix. Joe Dumars probably would not do that out of fear of having to start Kwame Brown (they aren't THAT fond of him). So the Pistons are stuck in a tough spot. Who else can they throw into the mix that will make the salaries work? They need to figure out how they can put together a deal that the Nuggets will accept. This is in the best interest for both teams assuming Detroit puts together the right complement alongside of Billups. In a perfect world, a straight AI for Billups swap would leave both teams better off for the future. It can be assured that Joe Dumars and Mark Warkentien will be on the phone a lot in the coming days. Fans of both teams should keep their fingers crossed.

Izzy

Me on ESPN U

If you have a chance. I filmed 3 segments for ESPN U on 3 different shows. The first segment aired last night on a show called "Inside the Polls" and will be rerunning throughout the next couple days, and the second one is airing right now on a show called "Coach's Spotlight", and the third one is airing on "SportsCenter U". I am the Asian guy for Wake Forest on the left. We were debating about topics for the Wake Forest and Duke football programs including our game this Saturday. If you don't get a chance to catch it. I'll be posting the videos on the site. Check it out of you can.

Catch me on ESPN U's "Inside the Polls" (10/27) at 11:00 and 12:30 (will replay 7 times in 3 days)

Also check me out 10/28 on "Coach's Spotlight" at 1pm and 10pm on ESPN U. (Will replay 2 times)

And, on SportsCenter U on ESPN on Thursday at 7:30pm and 11 and 11:30pm.

Izzy

Western Conference Power Rankings

Season opens tonight. To get this out in time, the teams out of the playoffs are a bit shorter.

#1 Lakers: I may have an LA bias, but they seem to be the consensus #1 pick even among non-Laker fans. With a healthy Andrew Bynum, they have the potential to be virtually unstoppable. They have the most formidable frontcourt in the NBA. Any time an NBA team can toy with the idea of bringing Lamar Odom off the bench, there is no shortage of talent on that team, and if that is the team's biggest problem, it seems like they will be fine. They made it to the Finals without Bynum, and now the only question will be whether they can get back and get over the hump with Bynum. They have the league's MVP and best player in the world. They have a veteran point guard with the young point guard ready to inherit the reigns in Jordan Farmar. Every guard or SF on the Lakers can hit an open jump shot which is going to stretch the floor with Gasol and Bynum commanding so much attention down low. Also, with the addition of Bynum, it will allow Gasol to play his natural position at the 4 and play face up instead of have to bang down low. It was his clear flaw that was exposed in the Finals. If everything goes as planned, the Lakers should be hoisting the trophy in June.

#2. Hornets: With Chris Paul having another year of experience and making a deep run into the playoffs, you have to give them credit in the West. They have the pieces that any contender needs to have. They have a big defensive presence down low in Chandler, they have an all-star power forward in David West, a gunner in Peja to spread the floor, and of course, the superstar leader in Chris Paul. The Hornets did themselves a huge favor in picking up James Posey. He made his stock rise dramatically in the Finals last season when he proved that he brings hustle and big shots at a championship level. He will be making a big impact for the Hornets this season. The one problem I see for the Hornets is the thin bench. The biggest example of this is Mike James making $6.2 million sitting behing CP3, but not producing anywhere near that. With the exception of 3 and maybe the 4 spot, they don't have an impact player at the position. Julian Wright, the Kansas Jayhawks star, is a solid player with tons of talent, but it is yet to be seen whether he will be able to make an impact off the bench at the 4 spot backing up David West. Nonetheless, the Hornets have been able to make this roster work, and with Posey backing up the 3 spot there was an upgrade there, but they better hope that they don't have to pull other guys off the bench during the season. This team will be good for a long time.


#3 Rockets: The only reason they weren't at the # 2 spot on this list is because there are two question marks for this team. 1) Will Artest be able to find a role on this team and be consistent with it throughout the team? 2) Will this team stay healthy? If the answer to those two questions is a strong 'yes' then this team is a Western Conference contender. Yao has been the focal point of this team with Tracy McGrady as a wing man. They have been an unbelievablly good defensive team in the past years, and last season, they only allowed their opponents 92 points a game. With Artest, that average should be going down to 90 or sub-90 points allowed. That is a scary prospect for opposing teams. They have one of the best lock down defenders in Shane Battier and adding Artest is going to cause a lot of offensive clogs in opposing teams. Tracy McGrady is a scorer, but he continues to take bad shots. Look for him to feel less burdened this season and let the game come to him. He should have a solid season if he can stay healthy. As for Yao, he is coming off a stress fracture injury, but showed no signs of that in the Olympics this summer. He should be ready to go, but his soft presences around the rim needs to improve. People also criticize the Rockets by saying that Rafer Alston is not a real point guard in the NBA. Stop. Shed your notion of the "Skip to My Lou" Alston and think of the solid all around guard that is incredibly streaky scoring 13.1 points (3rd highest on the team last season), the good defender who leads the Rockets in steals with 1.32 a game, and he can also get some assists here and there. It is true that Alston needs to up that assist average if he is going to make a valuable impact on the team this year. Also, don't forget that Artest had the best season of his career under Rick Adelman. A very encouraging fact for Rockets fans. This will undoubtedly be the year T-Mac and the Rockets get past the first round.


#4 Jazz: This team has a lot of weapons. They were a handfull for the Lakers last season in the Western Conference semi's. As an NBA fan, you can't help but admire Deron Williams' game. He is the prototype NBA point guard who can do it all. At 6'3 207lbs, he can play good defense, get to the basket, pass, and do everything in between. He averaged 18.8 ppg behind Boozer's 21.1 ppg, and Williams dropped 10.5 dimes a game. He is clearly one of the top 3 point guards in the league, and could soon move up to 1 or 2 when Steve Nash starts his decline. I strongly believe that Williams can keep this Jazz team, and any other team for that matter, competitive in the Conference when he is running the ball up the court. Boozer is clearly a force for the Jazz. He is the leading scorer and also grabs 10.4 boards a game. Solid numbers for an olympic player, but he was inconsistent in the playoffs last year. If Boozer steps up and plays to his regular season numbers, it will allow the Jazz to be a force in the West this year. Expect Ronnie Brewer to make a huge impact this season. He is often overlooked, but playing besides Williams he was still able to score 12 ppg, 4 assts, and lead the Jazz in steals at 1.7 in only 27.5 minutes of play. If he continues this production, I can't see how Jerry Sloan sits him for more than 10-15 minutes a game. Of course, you always have Mehmet Okur the Center who stretches the floor with his shooting range. As interesting as that may sound, I think it hurts the Jazz they don't have a post player who takes away attention from Boozer. If Okur brought his game to the basket all the time, defenses wouldn't just default to Boozer's side. It might be an area the Jazz need to address. Andrei Kirilenko is also a frustrating player. He was once considered an all-star callibur player and he even leads the team in blocks at 1.51 and picked 1.19 steals. Clearly, the lock down defender they throw on the opposing team's best player. His work on the defensive end might be translating into lack of energy on offense. A question the Jazz need to ask is if they are willing to make that tradeoff. They may not have any other choice. It has worked for the Spurs. We can expect to see the Jazz get back to the Western Conference semi's but, not able to get past it. Sorry Jazz fans.


#5 Spurs: As you can see, the gap might be closed for the Spurs. They fall lower and lower every year on the power rankings. You can never count them out though because of Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. The thing that hurts them this season is Manu Ginobli's injury. If those three are healthy, they can make a big impact on the season. Without the Big 3's production, they will struggle. The roster is very injury prone as well as aging. Bruce Bowen is assigned to guard the team's best player every night and is undoubtedly taking a toll on his body. Outside of the Big 3, they get consistent production out of Michael Finley and Brent Barry. There aren't many other quality impact players on this team, and it could be time for the Spurs to rebuild around Tony Parker. It was a good run, but the time may be over. It is the reality of pro sports.

#6 Suns: No matter what people say, they still have the core of Steve Nash and Amare. I put them lower than the Spurs due only to the fact that Shaq hurts this team. Amare and Nash want to push the ball and run the floor, but with new coach Terry Porter, things are going to slow down a bit. Shaq is clearly not his former dominant self and is dragging this team down. Unless Shaq comes out this season and turns things around, the Suns are going to be stuck at the bottom echelon of the Western Conference. Boris Diaw, Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell and Grant Hill make up the other part of this Suns team. Hill's aging body is not going to help this team, but he provides experience and leadership that will count for something as this team heads into the playoffs. The Suns toyed with the idea of trading Barbosa and even Diaw, but for now, they are Suns. A trade for these two players would likely bring in some good talent, and I'm sure the Suns will entertain that thought again towards the trade deadline. The Suns roster is surprisingly deep with these players on the team, but this is essentially the same roster as last season. This roster brought us one of the most exciting playoff games in NBA history in Game 1 against the Spurs, but outside of that, there wasn't much noise from this team. Look for this season to be much of the same and the Suns will hit the drawing board again in order to win that elusive NBA championship.

#7 Mavericks: I don't care how much Mark Cuban talks about championship. The reality is that this team doesn't have a chance. Much like the Suns, trading the young Devin Harris for the old Jason Kidd proved to be disastrous. They won't be able to get past the mental playoff block after they suffered the BIGGEST UPSET in sports history. Yes, an 8 seed over 1 seed in a 7 game series is by definition, the biggest upset in sports history, and will likely remain like that for a while. Cuban blamed it on Avery Johnson, and has now brought in Rick Carlisle. If this coaching change doesn't fix it, there might be some work to do for this roster. Dirk Nowitski will continue to be a superstar with his deadly jumpshot and aggressive style of basketball. Josh Howard and Jason Terry will be consistent scorers and also bring their solid all around games every night, but outside of that, the Mavericks are hurting. A core of Dirk, Kidd, Howard, and Terry will not get them far in the west. The reason is that Kidd doesn't score enough for them to have an impact. Kidd is a distributor. He needs two big time scorers (20-25+) to make a meaningful impact on the team. Dirk averages a bit over 23 ppg and Howard averages just under 20 a game. Not enough to make up for Kidd's lack of scoring. Don't expect this Mavs team to go far. The West is too deep for a roster with so many holes to make any meaningful runs in the season and playoffs. They will likely drop in the first round unless they can pull a Golden State Warriors and upset like they were 2 seasons ago.

#8 Blazers: They were in the playoff race until the last week of the season last year. They even lost Brandon Roy for a portion of the season, and were still a player in the 8th spot race. They got Greg Oden back making his debut tonight against the Lakers and he probably won't see a lot of minutes at the beginning of the season, but it will steadily increase as the season progresses. Brandon Roy also got a lot of attention last season as he lead the Blazers to their 17 game winning streak. With Roy healthy, this Blazers team could make a deep mark in the West this year. LaMarcus Aldridge has been working on his game a lot this summer and should have an improved jump shot this season which will help the Blazers a lot. He can also play down low which takes pressure off of Oden and Pryzbilla and will create opportunities for players like Steve Blake and their new gem, Rudy Fernandez. I also like the pick up of Jerryd Bayless. Bayless might not be able to make an impact this season as he is just a raw talent at this point, but he is a long term project that the Blazers are really fond of. This Blazers team has the potential to make the playoffs, but beyond the first round might be a stretch. This team will be a force in the coming years.

#9 Clippers: Baron Davis, Chris Kaman, and Marcus Camby usually would translate into automatic success. Don't see it happening with a core of those three players because they don't have much supporting help. They will undoubtedly be competitive, but they are injury prone as well as very thin. It might be another year or two until the Clippers can reach full potential.


#10 Nuggets: The Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony experiment hasn't worked. AI is aging and the Nuggets toyed with trading Melo to the Pistons. This team has tremendous talent, but has almost no defense. They let opponents score 107 ppg last season, and they lost their best defender in Camby. Things aren't looking up for the Nuggets, but J.R Smith has been getting a lot of press this offseason for being one of the only players on the Nuggets who showed up against the Lakers in the first round. It is time to push the 'rebuild button' in Denver.

#11 Kings: They have one year under Reggie Theus and have a chance to improve. They aren't thinking playoffs just yet. They are still a little underdeveloped. They have one of the best up and coming guards in Kevin Martin that they have put a lot of money into. They also have Francisco Garcia, a guy who is going to play a lot of positions for Theus this year. Brad Miller is aging, but still productive. This might not be Sacramento's year, but I think they improve from last year. It will be another year or two until they make significant movement on this list.

#12 Warriors: The controversy with Monta Ellis is not good for team chemistry. Ellis is out 30 games, that will definitely take its toll on this Warrior team. They lost the Elton Brand sweepstakes and also lost Baron Davis. Don Nelson's Warriors are in a tight position now. They have the ultra athletic Corey Maggette, but that won't be enough to do much in the Westen Conference. Stephen Jackson will get his 20points and a few boards and a steal or two a game and Al Harrington will still give 13ppg, but not play like a true power forward. Biedrins had the highest field goal percentage last season, but doesn't score enough to make a different. Bottom line is that without Ellis, this team doesn't have much else. Jackson, Harrington and Maggette can't do it themselves.

#13 Grizzlies: They don't seem that bad off from the Pau Gasol trade. They got Marc Gasol who played very well in the preseason. They also got the exciting and talented OJ Mayo. They throw him back there with Mike Conley, and the Grizzlies might have a respectable backcourt. They also got their #1 scorer in Rudy Gay who puts up 20ppg and grabs 6 rebs. This team is on its way up. Darko is not a force for this team, but Hakim Warrick could be. Warrick gets a shade above 11 ppg and needs to increase his rebounds from 4.7 a game for him to be truly effective. This team also has intriguing trade pieces at the point guard in Javaris Crittendon and Kyle Lowry. This team is definitely moving in the right direction, and if this continues could find themselves in the playoffs sooner than we realize.

#14 Timberwolves: This team has a great prospect in Al Jefferson. They also made the trade to get Kevin Love to help complement Jefferson in the front court. Corey Brewer is still underdeveloped and inconsistent. Randy Foye and Rashard McCants aren't much to look at for playing alongside Jefferson. Telfair is also not producing up to any expectations that people had of him when he was drafted. This team is sort of stuck in a dead zone. Doesn't seem like they are going to be able to break out of it any time soon.

#15 Thunder: Not much here outside of Kevin Durant. They hope that Russell Westbrook will pan out. They just made a controversial and publicized move from Seattle. It is going to take a while for them to rebuild this team around Kevin Durant. Luckily, KD has a long time left in his career. Their success depends on what moves they make from this point on.

Enjoy the season.

-Izzy