NBA Preview: Northwest Division

By: andrewgifford

I understand that the season’s already started, but I’m determined to finish the second half of my NBA Preview this week. I know I said I wanted to finish last week, and I didn’t. I know I’m saying that I’ll finish this week, but I promise you (my readers), that I WILL finish this preview and you will be entertained without a shadow of a doubt! By the way, is there a chance I can go back and change what I wrote about the Cleveland LeBrons? (I refuse to call them the Cavaliers until somebody other than LeBron plays a decent game of basketball against a good team. So I’m naming them after the only player who shows up consistently) After three games the LeBrons are 1-2, and they got their butts handed to them by the Celtics and the Raptors (whom I picked to be the sleeper in the east). Shaq’s fat, Mo Williams is a ghost, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas is still…Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Even if this ship does sink early, at least we’ll still have the “Who’s got more chins, Shaq, or a Chinatown phonebook?,” and “In a Celebrity Biggest Loser draft, 1-2 odds Shaq goes first!!” jokes to keep us entertained. Now, on to the Western Conference Northwest Division!!!!!!!!

1. Denver Nuggets

2. Portland Trail Blazers

3. Oklahoma City Thunder

4. Utah Jazz

5. Minnesota Timberwolves

1. Denver Nuggets (54-28)

Okay, so most of you might not believe me on this. But before I started writing the NBA Previews, I did map out what I thought was going to happen in each division. In this division, I still think the Nuggets are the team to beat. And what do you know; they’re 3-0 coming out of the gate. However, I couldn’t see coming how much of an absolute beast Carmelo Anthony would be in the early going. So far in 3 games he’s averaging 37.7 points per game, shooting 54% from the field and 43% behind the arc. If Melo plays this way throughout the season, the Nuggets might contend for a top playoff spot in the west and Melo might be holding up his first MVP trophy. Another reason why I like this team is Chauncey Billups. Was there a more significant trade last year than him going to the Nuggets? As soon as Billups arrived in Denver, you could tell the Nuggets were a different team and they were automatically contenders in the west. Billups brought instant credibility (1 NBA Title) to the team, and more importantly, brought instant leadership. The Nuggets never had that veteran leader, a guy who could be the floor general and keep people in line; Billups did just that and then some. So much so in fact, that the Nuggets made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals, however they lost to the eventual NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers in 6 games (I’m sorry, but saying that never gets old). In an offseason where the top teams of the NBA were wheeling and dealing, the Nuggets played it safe and basically brought back the same team they had a year ago. In the draft they acquired former North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson, which only gives them more athleticism coming off of the bench. I expect the Nuggets to gel even more in year two of having Chauncey Billups leading the team. The Nuggets still have Billups, Melo, Kenyon Martin being the enforcer of the team and J.R. Smith, who I think is going to have a breakout year. Smith’s always been the “next year he’ll be great” guy but I think this year it holds true. This will be finally the season where he plays consistent, keeps an even-keeled attitude, and plays the type of season that he is capable of. With the birdman Chris Anderson and the aforementioned Ty Lawson coming off of the bench, this team is loaded with athletics guys who love to run up and down the court and put up points. I believe that Portland gives the Nuggets a run for the top spot in the division, but Denver edges them out.

2. Portland Trail Blazers (52-30)

Coming off of a thrilling seven game series with the Houston Rockets last summer, the Portland Trail Blazers have great things to look forward to this year. Let’s start off with the man in Portland; Brandon Roy. This guy is becoming one of the best closers in the NBA; right now I would put him behind LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. If the game is close and the time’s winding down, Brandon Roy more times than not will lead a team to victory. He proved it time and time again in the Houston playoff series, even hitting a game winning HORSE shot to win one of the games for Portland. I expect nothing less than a stellar All-Star campaign from Brandon Roy. Roy’s teammate, LaMarcus Aldridge, just signed a super extension with the club worth $65 million over 5 years. Aldridge has quietly become one of the best power forwards in the Western Conference, and apparently the Trail Blazers agree with that statement by giving him the extension they did. I don’t think the extension will hinder Aldridge in the slightest, he’ll continue to work hard and give Portland a threat in the low post. However, I believe that there are two large question marks in Portland that could affect how the season goes; those question marks are point guard Andre Miller and center Greg Oden. Point guard Andre Miller came over from the Philadelphia 76ers via free agency in the offseason, and this move perplexed some people. Miller has always liked to play offense in a half court style; by walking the ball up the floor and controlling tempo. Miller’s style is vastly different from the Trail Blazers style; an up tempo offense that likes to run up and down the court and try to score easy baskets. This supposed clashing of styles is a question mark for me. Will this mess up the chemistry that existed before Miller arrived in Portland? There already have been some reports out of Portland that Andre Miller isn’t happy with the way that things are going. This storyline will be fascinating to watch during the season. The other question mark is center Greg Oden; can he stay healthy for an 82 game season? After he was drafted in the 2007 season, Oden hurt his knee and needed micro fracture surgery which ended his season. Last year Oden played 61 games, but had a couple of lengthy stints on the injury list. The Trail Blazers need Oden to succeed. They need him to clog up the middle, grab rebounds, and start the fast break. If Oden is able to play 82 games, Portland is a scary team in the western conference. However with Oden’s medical history, that’s a pretty big IF.

3. Oklahoma City Thunder (45-37)

The Toronto Raptors were my sleeper pick in the East, and the Oklahoma City Thunder are my sleeper pick in the West. This team is Lo-hoooooaded with young talent. With all the rumors, some valid and some not, with Spain’s Ricky Rubio aside, imagine a team with Rubio, Kevin Durant, and Russell Westbrook on it. Freaking exciting if you ask me!!!! Okay, back to reality. During the NBA draft, the Thunder passed on Rubio to acquire former Arizona State University scoring machine James Harden. The acquisition is not as sexy as acquiring Ricky Rubio, but it’s just as affective. Harden is a “glue” guy; he plays in whatever role you want him to, doesn’t care about stats, and the guy just plays basketball. On a team that is on the verge of becoming very good, this is a good decision by the Thunder. Harden’s new teammate, and Thunder number one option Kevin Durant, will have a monster year this year. Last year he showed glimpses of greatness, and I think this year glimpses will become the entire season. In fact, I like Durant so much this season, I think he’ll contend for the NBA scoring title. He has the potential of averaging of 30 points a game this year. Forward Jeff Green and point guard Russell Westbrook I believe will have breakout years this year. They are both a year older (Green in his 3rd year and Westbrook in his 2nd) and will contribute immensely for the Thunder. This team is going to be exciting to watch, and if they are not on television at least 10 times this year it’s a travesty and the NBA should be ashamed of itself.

4. Utah Jazz (43-39)

I think I’m going to call the Jazz the “Detroit Pistons of the West” because I’m not exactly sure what they’re trying to do in Utah. In the offseason, they were trying to trade forward Carlos Boozer. Boozer has been pretty open about not being happy in Utah and definitely wanting to opt out of his contract at the end of the 2009 season. The Jazz were talking to Miami and Chicago, but ultimately decided to bring him back for a sixth season. On top of that, they re-signed forward Paul Millsap to a $32 million contract, who is a 6th or 7th man at best. That move ultimately cut down Boozer’s playing time and if there was any hope of Boozer re-signing with the Jazz, that signing might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. The Millsap signing was the only thing that the Jazz did in the offseason, and from that they really didn’t get any better. They still have talented point guard Deron Williams, who will probably average 20 points and 10 assists this season again. Other than Boozer and Williams, I really do not like this team in the slightest. Center Mehmet Okur would rather hang around the three point arc than play on the low block, you don’t know what the hell you’re going to get out of forward Andrei Kirilenko game to game, and Kyle Korver can shoot, but that’s it. This team’s underlying weakness is its defense, as shown by the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs last year. I don’t think this team can stop anybody on defense. The lack of defense and the whole Boozer situation I believe brings down the Jazz this season, leaving them either fighting for a 8th playoff spot, or being out of the playoffs entirely.

5. Minnesota Timberwolves (27-55)

I’m not sure that any front office has handled a draft situation as poorly as the Minnesota Timberwolves handled the Ricky Rubio situation. For those of you that don’t know about it, Spain point guard Ricky Rubio was the most hyped foreign player since Yao Ming to enter into the NBA draft. A lot of teams were looking into him and definitely wanted him on their team. A lot of people thought that Rubio would go within the first three or four picks of the draft. Rubio inexplicably dropped to number 5, where the Timberwolves were picking (they had picks 5 and 6), and they took him. However, they then took former Syracuse point guard Johnny Flynn with the sixth pick. So in trying to entice a very exciting player, they drafted another player who plays the same position. That makes about as much sense as being the master of your own domain and then going to look at porn on the internet. Needless to say Rubio didn’t want to come over and play for the Timberwolves so he stayed in Spain. This has been a PR disaster in Minnesota; which has kind of overshadowed that good young team that they have. This team is definitely two or three years away from being competitive but they have some good pieces in place. Center Al Jefferson definitely came into his own last season and should put up 20 points and 10 rebounds a game this season. Randy Foye is turning into a consistent point guard, Forward Kevin Love looked impressive as a rookie last season, and guard Wayne Ellington should give the Wolves a three point shooter. This is a very young team and they need time to mature. Let’s just hope this Rubio thing doesn’t give them bad karma and set them back two or three years.

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