OT: DeAndre Jordan to change his mind on Dallas?

[enderwilson]

I think his point is that Portland and Dallas fall out. Those are the two spots available. OKC obviously takes one of them. It will be a fight between us, Utah and Phoenix for that last spot.

Right, but I was already counting Portland out.

I was thinking that if DAJ went to DAL, then we would be more eye to eye with both LAC and Dallas (if not maybe looking down at them), than simply looking down at Dallas while looking up at LAC.

Which scenario is better, I don't know. I probably would have been happier with DeAndre in DAL, but we'll have to see how well we match up with LAC with our retooled roster. We might be giving them a run for their money just yet.

[codydaze]

I think his point is that Portland and Dallas fall out. Those are the two spots available. OKC obviously takes one of them. It will be a fight between us, Utah and Phoenix for that last spot.

Right, but I was already counting Portland out.

I was thinking that if DAJ went to DAL, then we would be more eye to eye with both LAC and Dallas (if not maybe looking down at them), than simply looking down at Dallas while looking up at LAC.

Which scenario is better, I don't know. I probably would have been happier with DeAndre in DAL, but we'll have to see how well we match up with LAC with our retooled roster. We might be giving them a run for their money just yet.

Gotcha. We were able to compete with the Clippers last year pretty well but I think that's due to the fact we match up with them pretty well. I think overall they still have a better season than us but I wouldn't be devastated if we saw them in the first round. You're right though, if DJ went to Dallas, we'd have the edge on both squads.

[gustofwind]

Great news for Kings fans!

When Portland fell out of the playoff race it only meant New Orleans wouldn't have to sweat too much to make the playoffs.

But now Dallas is out, the Kings have a very real chance to make the playoffs!

Can the Kings fend off the Jazz and Suns for a playoff spot?

But...

The way I saw it, the Clips, who we were already pretty competitive with, got a whole lot weaker without DAJ while our roster improved significantly. The Mavs gave us trouble last year largely because we could not contain Ellis in their pick and pop system. Replacing Monta with DAJ did not make them very much of a threat to us. This move made two playoff teams relatively mediocre in the West as opposed to making just one poor team.

But when all is said and done, it's not about the matchup but more the record at the end of the season.

I'm torn. This definitely puts the Mavs out of contention, but makes the Clips just as strong as ever. Not sure what Pierce will bring to the table for that crew. Our squad just needs to bring it every night. We've got the talent to do well in the West.

Your arguments are all valid and make sense. Certainly Jordan going back to Clippers is not a 100% positive development for any West team. It's also possible that the Kings beat Dallas anyway, and face a weaker Clippers (as you pointed out).

But, ultimately the Kings' goal is not to win a championship next year; they only need to show improvement. The goal for the Kings should be to make the playoffs. In that regard, Dallas was probably the greatest obstacle in the realization of that goal. With that said, the Jazz and Suns are worthy opponents. We shall see.

Now if the Kings want to win a championship in 3 or 4 years, I think we'll be facing a different set of scenarios altogether.