Thought the West was tough this year? Next year even tougher

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

The Blazers probably win 50 games next year.

The Clippers if healthy and motivated have a very strong team.

The Kings and Sonics play well at times and might start the season strong until their spirit gets broken. I think the West's win totals will be higher next year than they were this year.

[The_Believer]

That means that our rivals would win less too. And I doubt Brand stays there. Also, Oden might not pan out.

[Sid the Squid]

Nobody knows what's going to happen next year...None of us thought New Orleans would breakout..Or that sucky Houston would go on the streak in NBA history...We have no idea about next year..

Phoenix has an old Nash, Hill and Shaq to keep healthy..

Denver's on the brink of a collapse with meathead and his two old teammates Iverson and Camby

San Antonio is going to have to turn to wheelchair basketball if they want to stay on top..

Dallas has a year , maybe two years left..

Portland should be strong..

Sac is a 30 something win team

Memphis is in trouble

Sota sucks donkey balls

Oklahoma City could win 30 games with their roster as is

Clippers have a 80% Brand coming back? 90%? 100%? We dont know..I do know that Al Thornton , Mobley and Maggette suck pig balls.

[mistatwo mayn]

Beyond next year.... 3 teams will fall off;

Phx, Dallas, SA.

Houston only wins because opponents look into Tmac's eyes (don't do it, it will totally mess you up).

If Baron & Co. just sit out next season (ya right!), without the draft pick they would be one of the top teams alongside LA (LA will suffer the Kobe Butt Curse), Utah, and whomever else.

Oden really has screwed up his regiment in Portland. Nice lil microfracture surgery; let me put on more weight on my leg so it uhhh it heals my surgery better.

Clippers will be dismantled.

Denver... when will Melo learn that AI is Allen Iverson?

[crzy]

Let's just worry about ourselves.

We can't control how other teams do.

[bill curley II]

LA, Utah, SA, and NO should all be solid teams next year, although NO had great luck this year with health.

Hou and Phx are fragile. Phx has Shaq and Nash, and if Tmac goes down, Hou's finished. They can survive without Yao, and they've done it before this year as well, but they're sub .500 without TMac in those years.

Dal and Den will scuffle again next year. Den needs to let go of either AI or Melo. It'll probably be AI, but probably not next year. Dal is just getting older and Josh Howard seems to have gotten worse for some reason.

Portland's overrated for next year. They still have uncertainty in 3 positions. Oden's no guaranteee to be better than Pryzbilla next year, and they're probably not going to do anything to improve their SF or PG situations.

I don't think its going to take 50 wins next year to get the 8th spot. LA and Utah will both win 60+ games, with SA in the mid 50's. THe conference will be a bit more unbalanced and the Warriors will probably win fewer games as they sink down into that 7-10th range in the west again.

[turk3d]

New Orleans is here to stay and is built for longevity. Don't be surprised if they make a run in the playoffs and are likely to go deep imo.

Paul, West and Chandler is very young and better right now than our top 3, Monta, Biedrens and Wright is and more experienced. You better include them in the West picture from now on. Although San Antonio, Phoenix, Dallas and maybe even Houston (if Yao can't make a full recovery) are fading, as stated, they still probably have a few more years (at least San Antonio and Phoenix does), but now you have Portland and even Seattle on the rise. There's probably going to be 10 or 11 teams vying for a Western Conference playoff birth next season. Don't forget the Lakers either who could be dominant for the next 5 years. Even the Clippers can make some noise if Brand returns to full health.

So yes, I'm definitely more concerned with what we do from this point on than what the other teams in the West do, but I'm definitely wary of them.

[zero]

Let's just worry about ourselves.

We can't control how other teams do.

agreed. we don't know what the full make up of our roster will be next year not to mention the changes that other teams will make during the summer, who stays healthy and who doesn't. we'll see what's up next year when it comes.

[Mylie10]

Looking ahead makes one realize how important it is to keep Monta, Wright, and Beans around for a very long time.