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With the latest news out of Houston it sounds as if our once dominant division is starting to show its rapidly maturing age. All of the teams are getting up there in years now and it seems as if they are getting closer to rebuilding mode.

Dallas-most of its core has reached its 30's (Kidd, Dampier, Nowitzki, Stackhouse, and soon Howard) and their backups arent that great either IMO. Not to mention Kidd, and Stackhouse will be retiring soon. They probably have 2 more seasons or so before they need to re-tool.

Houston-Yao is done for next season and might be done for good. McGrady is a shell of his former self and a FA soon. Battier is good but is old and not a guy to build around. Artest needs a new contract. Rebuilding completely might have to happen sooner than thought. Tey might blow it up after the 2009-2010 season if they dont make the playoffs.

San Antonio-One of the oldest teams out there, they might have extended their window for a bit longer with Jefferson coming their way. Duncan is still a great player but is really starting to slow down and is perhaps their most important player. Ginobli is still a good player but is in his 30's. Parker is their best player an is still only in his mid 20's so he has plenty of time left. But the roster is fairly aged so the window might only be 2 more seasons.

New Orleans-Their core (Paul, West, Chandler) is still only in its mid 20's so they have alot of tread left on their tires. However, the rest of the roster is much older for the most part and many of their younger players just are not that good for the most part. The team reminds me of the grizzlies in the 3 playoff years, where it was a 45-50 win team, but couldn't get it done when it mattered. However, with the ore they have, they can still get it done in the regular season, which can block us from the postseason if we start winning.


Given what I said, how much longer do you think it ill be until our division goes into an overhaul mode like some other divisions have been doing in recent years (Northwest, Atlantic). And if our division gets weaker as I assume it will get in only a year or so, combined with our growing team, do you think that we can make a good push for the division title???

i think New Orleans will be at the top in the next 2-3 years. anyway, we got to wait how OJ, Thabeet, Gay, Gasol 2.0 are improving. Lets see how we do it at PF and PG spot, we are licking at those positions.

Don't forget that San Antonio also snagged what could have been one of the biggest bang for the buck picks by landing Dajuan Blair.

San Antonio - 3 years max before they have to rebuild.

Houston - Could rebuild now or next summer at the latest.

Dallas - Rebuilding by next summer.

New Orleans - Middle of the pack in the West for X amount of years. Not a believer in them.

San Antonio- They extend more time by adding RJ to the squad. If they add about three more key players to the team, they could boost their chances back to the finals if they stay healthy.

Houston- They are standing on a trapdoor with the latest news on Yao. If he can't recover from his continous injury to the point where it could be over. The Rox may face rebuilding the team. I suspect the Rox may resign Artest and take their chances. They have to look into adding two centers in the worse way one to start and one for backup.

NO- They are facing luxury tax problems. Still a chance that Chandler could be traded this offseason. With money tied to other players like Peja and Posey. It will be hard for NO to add more players to help improve their roster in the worst way. Like the Rox, they too are standing on a trapdoor of rebuilding.

Dallas- They are another year from rebuilding the team if they don't make the neccessary moves to help better the team.

Rebuilding is not the right word for all of the teams in the division. Actually retooling may be more accurate. I know some may say these are basically the same words but some franchises do not tear everything down to near ground zero and start a new as the word rebuilding denotes. Retooling on the other hand means franchises will evolve with different pieces yet retain the same objective of winning now.

Dallas - as long as their ownership stays the same, they will probably never blow things up and start over as they don't have to. The city will always be a preferred destination so they can attract free agents and with their owner, money will never be an issue. Perpetual Retooling for the forseable future.

Houston - 4th largest city in the country, preferred off season home to many NBA elite, so the city has pull. Texas one of the few non state income tax states. Corporate businesses galore so no lack of revenue streams. A bit of injury bad luck but as long as free agents are willing to come no reason to go to rock bottom and start over. Perpetual Retooling as well.

New Orleans - my home city, and big brother to the city of Memphis. This one is a little cloudy due to demographic changes and financial revenue streams that are limited, these factors are also why they will stave off any rebuilding attempt as they can ill afford to not have a product on the floor that the people will want to come and see. They are forced out of necessity to be near or above average. If they ever have to rebuild the franchise will move in less than three years. Painful retooling out of necessity.

San Antonio - Yes they are getting older on the floor but they are so much smarter than everyone else in the front office. Having luck on your side does not hurt either, particularly in the draft and with the recent off season acquisition of Richard Jefferson. Some will argue you make your own luck, so as long as they keep being the smartest kids in the room? Perpetual retooling to infinity and beyond.

Not only did the Spurs bring in Jefferson, the drafting of Blair gives them two frontcourt players now. Plus consider this. They have Tiago Splitter, a great young center/power forward in Europe. Plus they are rumored to be in the mix to sign Greek power forward/center Bourousis. They could have plenty of power up front for a while. And with the sharp signing of Roger Mason and drafting od George Hill last year they have renewed depth in the backcourt. As long as Duncan and Parker hold up I think they'll be in good shape for a few years still.

As mentioned they have one of the best front offices around.

Downtown wrote:Not only did the Spurs bring in Jefferson, the drafting of Blair gives them two frontcourt players now. Plus consider this. They have Tiago Splitter, a great young center/power forward in Europe. Plus they are rumored to be in the mix to sign Greek power forward/center Bourousis. They could have plenty of power up front for a while. And with the sharp signing of Roger Mason and drafting od George Hill last year they have renewed depth in the backcourt. As long as Duncan and Parker hold up I think they'll be in good shape for a few years still.

As mentioned they have one of the best front offices around.

AGREED.


I´m so jealous of Spurs FO! They already have their team set for the next decade, following the retirement of Duncan and Manu.

Tony Parker is the most unstopable player in the league and Hill / Blair / Splitter / De Colo are a great core. Add one year in lottery and you have (again) a title contender.

I wanted splitter so bad that year...