NBA Notes: Go Time in the West

By Mike Walsh

The volley of trades has passed. The smoke is rising and what's left is a new landscape for the impending playoff push in the NBA. While it is too early to tell how all of the trades in the West will work out, it's never too early to guess how they will work out.
The Western Conference playoffs will come down to matchups. Given the bottle neck of records at the moment, just about every seed could be up in the air until the last couple days of the season.
Let's take a quick look at the teams in theplayoff picture in the West and see if we can't predict some outcomes...

Lakers- Stole Pau Gasol from Memphis. The move instantly made them a top three team in the West. Once Bynum gets healthy, as long as he didn't get sponsored by Hostess during his injury, the Lakers will be impossible to defend inside. Oh yeah, and they still have Kobe Bryant. The Lakers are looking scary as we head into spring.

New Orleans- Bonzi! We already know he is pretty good when motivated. Now it's time for Bonzi to step up to try to earn a lucrative contract with the Hornets. They didn't give up anything to get him. So they've got that going for them, which is nice. I don't think they needed to make a move, but if they were going to trade with Houston, I would have gone for Battier, an outside shooter who can defend instead of the malcontent who only tries when money is on the line. That's just me. Too little experience to get past the Lakers or Spurs.

Spurs- Everyone talks about how they quietly made moves to get better. You hear about how they go for character guys and don't put up with selfish players and players who get into trouble on or off the court. Then they go and sign Damon Stoudamire. He's been a disaster in the locker room everywhere he's gone. Although he does stimulate the economy with his pot habit. They also traded for Kurt Thomas, a slow, old,under-sized big man. Am I crazy here? How did they get better? Still, they are the Spurs and will be tough in a seven game series.

Suns- What did they do?! I am so confused! Mike D'Antoni needs to figure this out soon, before it's too late. Once teams realize that they barely need to guard Shaq and start paying attention to Amare Stoudemire again, they could really be in trouble. Detroit destroyed them at home on Sunday. The Suns never even made a run in the second half. Bad times in Phoenix.

Mavericks- We are still trying to figure out the Jason Kidd era. I am still not sold on Kidd being the missing piece in Dallas. Especially given all the pieces that are gone now because of him. What matchu-ps did they improve on in the West by trading for Kidd and losing Devon Harris and DiSagna Diop? Chris Paul lit Kidd up already. Who is going to guard Baron Davis, Monta Ellis, Steve Nash, Deron Williams, Tony Parker, and Allen Iverson? Who is going to guard Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Yao, Amare Stoudemire, Shaq, Carlos Boozer and Tyson Chandler? Why do people think this was a good trade for Dallas? Kidd might make their offense marginally better, but their offense wasn't the problem in the first place. I hope they miss the playoffs.

Jazz- I already talked about how great this trade was. The Jazz are better on offense with Kyle "Don't call me Ashton" Korver. The problem is, and this shocked me, is that they can't seem to guard anyone! They are giving up an alarming amount of points for a Jerry Sloan team. Is it because of all the rule changes and the pace of the game that teams are leaning towards this year? Maybe. Still ,they need to figure something out on defense before the playoffs start.

Rockets- Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't trust the Rockets at all. Tracy McGrady doesn't scare me like he used to and Yao Ming is the same player that he was last year. And the year before. Isn't he supposed to be developing? He won't be developing any further this season (see below). I definitely don't think they got better by trading for Donald Driver...er, Bobby Jackson. Although I love his high socks and our pal Tony is stoked about him being a Golden Gopher. They are just good enough to make the playoffs every year and nothing more with this nucleus.

Nuggets- They were hoping that less would be more in the Western arms race. In a related story, George Karl is an idiot. Maybe Ron Artest wasn't a perfect fit, but doesn't he make them at least a million times better on the defensive end? Right now they are relying on Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith and an aging Allen Iverson to slow down the elite perimeter players in the West? That coupled with the fact that their offense is basically Iverson and Carmelo taking turns shooting the ball, leaving the artist formerly known as Kenyon Martin (maybe he's just weighted down by his gigantic contract) and Marcus Camby to clean up their mess. It is essentially the same team they had last year for the playoff push except every other team got better. Hmmmm...

Warriors- A week ago I would have been certain that they would make the playoffs. Since that time they have lost to the Hawks and the Bulls. Now Andris Biedrins is out indefinitely because he had appendicitis. Biedrins was quietly putting together a nice season and was the Warriors only legitimate rebounder, shot blocker and tanning salon/hair gel connoisseur. This injury makes Nellie's Webber signing slightly more tolerable. Stephen Jackson has a bad ankle now. Come to think of it, Latrell Sprewell needs a job. It's 1994! Hang on while I put on a flannel shirt and throw on "Ghetto Jam" by Domino.

Portland- Everyone's most improved pick for 2008-2009 season.

Sacramento- Better than people expected. They did what everyone knew they had to do, which was trading Artest or Mike Bibby. The off season will be big for the Maloofs.

Predictions: It's too early to tell who will come out of the West, but I will say that Houston and Denver will not make the playoffs next year with their current rosters. For this year, given my bias, I say that the Warriors get in and Denver is left on the outside. Eastern Conference breakdown coming next week.

Houston, we have a problem: Storming through February, the Rockets received some bad news on Tuesday. Yao Ming and his 22.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game will be out for the year with a fractured foot. Houston, which had won 12 straight before the injury, will obviously have a harder time making the playoffs in the very competitive West.