1. Top contenders: Thunder, Mavericks 2. Hunting for 1st round homecourt: Wolves, Nuggets, Suns, Grizzlies 3. Looking to avoid the play-in: Pelicans, Kings, Warriors 4. Hoping for the play-in: Lakers, Rockets, Clippers 5. Built to tank, but not tanking: Spurs 6. Tanking: Jazz, Blazers
The Clippers should be dropped down a tier if you are realistic about their injuries and the fact that they don’t have the scoring / shot creation depth to actually deal with that. Not to mention that they’re basically play 3v5 on offense with Mann and DJJ there (or if Powell is on the floor, their defense will be bad).
The Lakers got basically a 95th percentile health season from AD and LeBron last year. If that changes, its a slippery slope. Dinwiddie and Prince actually gave them valuable depth & shooting in their 19-9 finish to the season, and they just let them walk, and now have probably a bottom 5 bench in the league.
I like the Rockets’ talent but I think they will want to prioritize the development of guys like Reed Sheppard and Amen Thompson. They also have some fit issues to sort out: Sengun is a great young player but its not clear they were at their best with him in the lineup.
1 comment
The ‘tiers’ in the West for me are:
1. Top contenders: Thunder, Mavericks
2. Hunting for 1st round homecourt: Wolves, Nuggets, Suns, Grizzlies
3. Looking to avoid the play-in: Pelicans, Kings, Warriors
4. Hoping for the play-in: Lakers, Rockets, Clippers
5. Built to tank, but not tanking: Spurs
6. Tanking: Jazz, Blazers
The Clippers should be dropped down a tier if you are realistic about their injuries and the fact that they don’t have the scoring / shot creation depth to actually deal with that. Not to mention that they’re basically play 3v5 on offense with Mann and DJJ there (or if Powell is on the floor, their defense will be bad).
The Lakers got basically a 95th percentile health season from AD and LeBron last year. If that changes, its a slippery slope. Dinwiddie and Prince actually gave them valuable depth & shooting in their 19-9 finish to the season, and they just let them walk, and now have probably a bottom 5 bench in the league.
I like the Rockets’ talent but I think they will want to prioritize the development of guys like Reed Sheppard and Amen Thompson. They also have some fit issues to sort out: Sengun is a great young player but its not clear they were at their best with him in the lineup.