08/09 Preview: Northwest Division

Hopefully you enjoyed the Eastern Conference. Now, it's one to the West.

Northwest Division

Oklahoma City Thunder, 5th



I really really strongly dislike this team. I almost want to boycott their existence and not even write about them. But that wouldn't be fair to Kevin Durant. Anyway, on the real, they'll be lucky to win 20 games this year. The roster isn't missing one piece, or two pieces. It's missing everything. Their best player is an underweight 20-year-old, their best frontcourt player is Chris Wilcox and their best point guard is Earl Watson. Desmond Mason, is a great story because he went to college in Oklahoma and he paints, but it seems like the player personnel decisions are being handled about as well as the public relations decisions down in Thunder-land. This squad is basically an expansion team this year. And for a franchise that's been around for over 40 years and has won an NBA championship, it doesn't get any sadder than that. Well, I guess it does.



Denver Nuggets, 4th



Things could get downright ugly in Denver this year. With the Marcus Camby giveaway, management sent a very clear signal to the coaches, players and fans of this team: We are not trying to win this year. Kenyon Martin and Nene do a lot of things well, but playing a full 82 game-season is not of them. And after those two, names like Renaldo Balkman, Juwan Howard and Chris Andersen start appearing on the depth chart. I don't care if your two best players are a former MVP and the captain of the gold medal-winning USA basketball team, you're not doing anything in the West with that kind of frontcourt. Really, though, we should salute the Nuggets. They want to lose and the've ensured that they've done that. With two ball-hogging superstars that could get caught with guns and weed at any moment, an inflammatory and grating head coach in George Karl, neck tattoos and if that weren't enough, they traded for Jamaal Tinsley and re-signed J.R. Smith. They have built a themsleves a stealth losing machine with German engineering-like precision.

Minnesota Timberwolves, 3rd



The Wolves will be pretty horrible, too, but a delusional fan can convince themselves that things could be looking up in the Twin Cities. With Al Jefferson, they got an All-Star-caliber big man who actually wants to get better and be a well-rounded player. With Randy Foye and Mike Miller they have wing players that can complement the big guy. Ballers like Ryan Gomes, Craig Smith and Corey Brewer are also half-way decent and the rookie Kevin Love should do a few positive things. Of course, this team will suffer its fair share of trouncings and management is still a mess. I'm not sure why Kevin McHale willingly acquired players like Kirk Snyder, Sebastian Telfair and Rodney Carney, but I also wasn't one of the greatest power forwards of all time. Still, this team could get a rep as a feisty team and they could steal a few victories from some of the big guys. If McHale completely changes how he runs the organization, they could have the foundation to be a playoff team in a year or two.

Portland Trail Blazers, 2nd



The Blazers are gonna be everyone's fun pick to sneak into the playoffs. That is a definite possibility, but I'm just not sold on these young whippersnappers just yet. Brandon Roy could be as good as any guard in the game, but it's not a foregone conclusion that his supporting cast can gel the way that it needs to for Portland to be a contender this year or, any time soon. Oden is a rookie and, while one would assume that he'll be an All-Star almost by default at some point, it's anybody's guess what kind of effect he'll have this year. Going up against Amare and Shaq, Gasol and Bynum, Boozer, Jefferson, Duncan, Nowitzki . . . Yao, it'll be an exhausing year for the big guy. He'll have all he can handle on defense, so players like Martell Webster, Travis Outlaw and the incoming Rudy Fernandez will really have to step up on offense. This team will be buckets of fun to watch and they're definitely positioned well for the future, but I'm not sure it'll be all smiles and lollips for these little guys come April.

Utah Jazz, 1st



As the only true contenders in a relatively weak division, the Jazz should breeze their way through the regular season. With Deron Williams, AK-47, Boozer and Okur, they have as intimidating a top four as any team in the league. Kyle Korver is the nice white jump-shooter that all the fans can get behind and Ronnie Brewer, Paul Millsap and Matt Hapring are the hard-nosed role players that every great team needs. Brevin Knight is just the kind of back-up point guard that championship squada always seem to have and Jerry Sloan is, of course, one tough grizzled dude.



So everything's in place for the Jazzbos. D. Williams, though, will need to elevate his game even for this team to go all the way. Technically, they lack that outstanding two-guard, but Deron's the rare point guard that can pull it off playing that kind of role. This team should be right back in the final four for the 08/09 season.