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It could be a whole lot scarier than this season. Nevermind the fact that the top 9 teams had 50 win or near 50 win seasons, but teams like Portland and the Clips will be on the rise next season.. The Blazers will have Oden in uniform next season, and along with aldridge, they could potentially be the best PF/C combo in the league.. The Clippers (assuming brand and Maggette return) would have a downright scary lineup (Brand and Kaman could also challenge for best PF/C combo).. The Clips also got a legit shot of landing a top 3 pick.. Can you imagine them with Rose?

I know it's a bit early to start talking about next season, because a lot of these teams could look a whole lot different come october.. But potentially, the West could have 11 teams with winning records..

Thoughts?

I don't see the Clippers doing much besides the usual sucking.

The Blazers could shake things up but teams are also on the fall like Dallas and Phoenix, possibly Denver.

It will just as crazy as this season...

There will be no conference next season.

They will not have 11 I dont think.. they will play each other too much, and unless different teams win night in and night out (meaning #1 would be on par with #11) it'll be hard

Yao Ming will also (hopefully!) be healthy which will add another legitimate contender to the mix.

Don't count the Kings out just yet

Hopefully the first round of the playoffs will be better

if the kings are healthy they aren't a pushover either.

Lakers with Gasol + Bynum =}

Dallas and Phoenix could easily freefall

I've been kind of let down by the West this year. There was supposed to be much more competition in the playoffs, but only one of the series has gone over five games.

1. New Orleans
2. LA Lakers
3. Utah
4. Portland
5. Dallas
6. San Antonio
7. Houston
8. Phoenix

Mavs, Suns, and Nuggets will likely decline and compete for the 7th and 8th spot. I don't see the Clippers doing anything because they usually run into some bad luck. Even their best season this decade they only won 47 games. I expect the Kings to get above 40 wins and the Blazers to hover around 50 wins. The Warriors may go back to their usual sucking because BD is unhappy and Nelson might not return. The Spurs will get a step slower(I know). If healthy, the Rockets can be real contenders but McGrady will be another step slower and they just can't seem to get past the first round.

Which leaves us with the Lakers, NO, and Jazz as the top dogs next season.

I expect the West to be less crazy next year because of all the over-the-hill teams in that conference. Plus young teams that are good "on paper" tend to fall short or regress when they see added pressure.

gordeng wrote:I expect the West to be less crazy next year because of all the over-the-hill teams in that conference. Plus young teams that are good "on paper" tend to fall short or regress when they see added pressure.

At the top, I think the Lakers can pull away, but #2-5 should be very close between NOH, SAS, HOU, UTA. Those aren't young teams. They've each been to the playoffs a few times (minus NOH).

There will probably be a drop off to #6 kinda like this year's #7 seed. PHO, DEN, POR, DAL, GSW in that order imo.

rewill17 wrote:1. New Orleans
2. LA Lakers
3. Utah
4. Portland
5. Dallas
6. San Antonio
7. Houston
8. Phoenix

My prediction for next season would be
1. Lakers
2. Utah
3. SA
4. Houston
5. Denver
6. Hornets
7. Portland
8. Phoenix

I could see the Hornets tumble a little only because they were unusually heathy this year for a NBA team (I dont think they are injury prone but one average teams have more injuries to key players).

The top teams in the west were so good this year because the bottom teams in the west were so bad. There were 4 teams in the west that didn't even win 25 games. There were only 2 teams in the east that won less that 25 games. The wins were more spread out in the east with teams falling having a wide range of wins. In the west there really were only a couple of average teams Sacramento and Portland everyone else was either good or bad. In the east most everyone was average with a couple great and a couple very bad teams.

Next year the west is going to become rebalanced and you will see redistribution of wins. This will happen because the worst teams in the west will have gotten better while a couple of the good teams in the west will have gotten worse.

Next year we will see the normal out put of the west several 40+win teams but only a few 50+win teams.

For next year, I got...

1. LA Lakers
2. New Orleans Hornets
3. Utah Jazz
4. San Antonio Spurs
5. Portland Trailblazers
6. Phoenix Suns
7. Houston Rockets
8. Golden State Warriors